Page 67 of Heartless Boss
Then he shuts the door in my face, leaving my heart on the cold ground.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Gunner
Q: What is love?
A: Attraction based on sexual desire:affection and tenderness felt by lovers -Webster Dictionary-
I sit in the chair on my private jet as I wait for the pilot to take off for DC. I haven’t been there in five years, ever since Matt’s grandma’s funeral.
Love is like flying on a jet. It lifts you off the fucking ground to an unknown destination.
When did I know I was head over heels in love with Rainbow?
I think a part of me has always known, even back when I used to stalk her in college.
For most of my senior year, I sat at the table across from her while she’d do her homework, and I’d say whatever popped in my head. And when she thought I said something funny she would smile without uttering a word. But I wanted her words so bad.
So fucking bad.
So I asked her out on a date.
She stared at me, grabbed her stuff from the table, and shook her head no, on the verge of tears. Her rejection stung so much I went out to a bar and got fucking plastered to the point I missed my classes the next day.
Then one day she didn’t show up to work. I asked one of her coworkers if she was off, but she told me Gia quit out of the blue. It felt like an arrow was shot through my heart. As the years progressed, I fucked my way through New York City in the hopes of getting Gia off my brain. I had a sick obsession with her. I loved Gia even when I didn’t know what love was.
My love for Gia intensified when I moved her in with me. It made me fall more in love with her without me realizing. She’s like my personal brand of whiskey, I can’t get enough of her no matter how much I drink her. And I get drunk off her love until I pass out. I love the way she’s quiet, but when she speaks, she’s sassy. She talks back. I love her weird quirks, like the way she says random facts when she’s nervous, or the way she has a big heart even though she has been through a grinder.
I’m the bluntest motherfucker on the planet—if I think you’re a piece of shit, I’ll let you know—but when Rainbow told me she loved me earlier, I got tongue-tied. The words wouldn’t come. The sadness that I saw on her face when I didn’t say it back pierced my heart.
I have never uttered the words to any other woman besides Ma or Alana. The L word scares the shit out of me. But I want to take this flight of love with Gia. When I get back from fucking Ryan up, I’ll tell her.
Right before the pilot announces that we’re about to take off, I send Hannah a message.
Me: Gia is love.
Hannah: At last you figured out you love her. Congratulations on your breakthrough.
* * *
This motherfucker lives in the suburban area in a quiet neighborhood. The roof of his Spanish-style bungalow is dull red, and the house is made out of beige cement with a white picket fence surrounding the property. A pole with an American flag sways back and forth, planted in the fresh-cut lawn. I hate DC, it’s a dump. People here like to shove their views on politics down your throat.
I’ve been sitting in this rented BMW for thirty minutes, waiting for this bastard to show up. A teenager who looks like a Green Day reject wearing black clothing and heavy black eyeliner skates past me. I open my door.
“Hey, you, come here.” I wave my hand at him, and he turns around, staring me down.
“What, dude?” His nose ring glints in the sunlight. Fat white clouds float in the crystal-clear sky.
“You know the guy who lives there?”
His eyes follow my finger as I point to Ryan’s house. “No, they stay to themselves.”
“They?” I arch an eyebrow.
“Yeah, dude. Him and his girlfriend or whatever. She barely leaves the house. He owns an Italian restaurant in Dupont Circle.”
“I was never here,” I say, reaching back into my back pocket, grabbing my wallet, handing him a hundred-dollar bill.
