A Business Love

chapter 29

YOU ARE READING
A   B U S I N E S S   L O V E

New Year's Eve. A band was playing the Bruno Mars song Uptown Funk on the stage of the Italian reception hall named Luna. The lead singer indulged in dance moves using a voice that frankly resembled that of the original artist. The crowd was euphoric, themselves amazed at the talent in front of them. Each year was a surprise; there had been some poor performances in past years. But this year, people seemed quite satisfied with the turn of the evening.

Jessie danced briskly to the music as the antennae of her New Year's headband bobbed over her head. She loved this upbeat song.

Like every year, she and her parents participated in this New Year's event well known to the Italian community of the east side of their city.

Her parents not being big party people, she found herself alone among a crowd of mostly unknown people. Her folks preferred to sit at their reserved table and chat with their friends.

So, Jessie was unsurprisingly alone. Of course, there were the children of her parents' friends whom she knew, but they did not speak to her. Rather, they had stopped talking to her and she wasn't one to force the deal.

She glanced at them: they were happily singing, dancing and laughing together. They seemed to be having fun. She somewhat envied them. She wished she had friends. She thought about Mariana and how she wished she was here with her. This girl had become such an important person in her life, yet she felt it was pathetic since she was convinced Mariana only considered her as a colleague.

"Jess!" she heard from behind her.

She perfectly recognized that voice; she had heard it for five years straight. She turned around to see Michael elegantly dressed in his all-black suit.

"Mike!" she said surprised.

They hugged each other.

"How are you?" she asked, excited to see him. After all, before being her lover, he had been her best friend.

"I'm good, I'm good!" he answered while intently looking at her.

He didn't think of asking her how she was doing; he was stunned by her beauty. He couldn't believe that this girl was once his. She now seemed inaccessible, just like the first time he had laid eyes on her. He stared at her for a few seconds.

Jessie had noticed his stare; the stare of infatuation he constantly gave her when he had first met her. But she then remembered how that passionate stare had turned into a look of contempt in the months leading up to their breakup.

"And you?" he finally asked realizing that he was staring.

"I'm doing great too! What are you doing here?" she replied.

He raised his hands. "Same thing I'm doing here every year!"

Jessie had been the one to introduce him to this event five years ago. But in retrospective, she recognized that he didn't have to change his habits because of their breakup.

"Of course! You didn't come alone, did you?" she asked.

"No, I came with a few friends," he said while pointing to his crowd.

Jessie recognized them. They were once her friends too although she barely ever found the time to hang out with them, and when she did, she felt like an absolute outcast and embarrassment to Michael.

"What about you?" he asked while peeking around her.

She felt embarrasse as there was no one to peek at since she was all alone. "Came with my folks, like always!" she said with a mock enthusiasm.