3 GUYS, A GIRL, AND A ROSE
Chapter Forty-Two

Wednesday, June 4, 2003

It was a boring day for Christina. She was working a double shift tonight for missing work on Tuesday and Monday. She had already missed work last week and she wished she could do it again. Christina still felt drowsy from Sunday night and didn't feel like going to work. However, she did need the money. Her phone bill was due in a week, so she had to work to pay for it. She was lucky that Mr. Smith helped her in every way that he could help.

Christina thought to herself that she might as well work the whole week to keep money in her apartment. Maybe she'd hang out with Tommy and Fabrizio. There was no way of seeing Jack if the rest of the week was being spent with Rose. She had no intention of seeing either one of them after yesterday morning. Christina definitely didn't want to see Rose. For all she cared, she hoped to never see Rose again. That was highly impossible if she wanted to keep Jack in her life. She wished that Rose wasn't a part of it. Although Rose and Christina got along better than before, she still hated Rose with a passion. Christina still thought of Rose as the slut who not only stole her best friend, but the man she was in love with.

Ever since that day last month, she wondered what Jack saw in Rose in the first place. Sure she was beautiful. However, everything about Rose irritated her. Christina thought of her as too proper. Every strand of hair was in the right place. It never stuck out. Her clothes never had a single wrinkle. Everything about her was perfect. Christina clenched her fists when she thought of that morning when she was about to tell Jack how she felt about him.

The portrait of a nude Rose flashed into her mind. There she saw it. It was a portrait Christina had always wanted drawn of her. Instead, he had drawn Rose. Christina was heartbroken and jealous all at once. Heartbroken that Rose had succeeded in getting what Christina wanted. Jealous of the portrait, portraying Rose with the perfect body. Jack was a perfectionist when it came to his art work, so everything he drew was right on point.

She couldn't stand it. Rose got everything she wanted. Jack was the everything. The lie that had escaped her mouth a few weeks before pained her. Denying her love for Jack hurt her more than she had thought it would. It was too much heartache to take.

After thinking about all this, a tear fell onto the floor. She laid her head down on her knees, wishing the pain would go away.

Her head jerked up when she heard the phone ringing. She pondered to herself who could it be. Without looking at her caller ID, she picked up the cordless that was next to her on the floor.

"Hello," she answered.

"Hey, Chris! It's me, Fabri!" he said on the other end.

"Hey, Fabri." Her voice was dull.

"What's up?"

"Same shit, different day."

"Sounds right to me. What are you doing tonight?"

"I have a double shift to work at the pub tonight," she answered him.

"Oh. Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out with Tommy and myself tonight. But since you're working, maybe tomorrow."

"Well, why don't you and Tommy just drop in at the pub?"

"We would, but we were planning on going to Times Square with Jack and Rose. It was a whole group thing."

"Oh, I see. So the lovely couple doesn't want to come to a pub to see poor little Christina."

"That's not what I meant, Chris!"

"It doesn't matter. You and Tommy should go have fun. We're all friends, right?"

"Right, so it'll just be the four of us. Too bad you have to work. So, I'll call you tomorrow. We'll hang out."

"Yeah. Sounds like a plan."

"I'll talk to you later, Chris. Love ya!"

"Love you, too, Fabri! Bye!" Christina waited for Fabrizio to hang up, then clicked the phone off. She threw it to the side, not caring if it broke or not.

There was a possibility that if she didn't work, she would have hung out with them. Just like every other night where it concerned Jack and Rose, she'd be in tears by the end of the night. Not like she wasn't on the verge of tears now. Especially since Fabrizio said it'll just be the four of us. Christina remembered when that meant Fabrizio, Tommy, Jack, and herself. Now she felt as if she were being replaced by the red tart. It use to be just three guys and a girl. When did it become three guys, a girl, and a Rose? Everything was changing. Christina didn't understand why everything had to be moving so fast.

*****

"So Christina won't be hanging out with us tonight. She has to work a double at the pub," Fabrizio told Tommy. Tommy listened to him as he drove down the Belt Parkway. "She seemed kind of upset. Especially when I mentioned it was Jack and Rose we were set to hang out with. I don't think she would want to come even if she didn't have work."

"It's a shame. She doesn't want to hang out just because of Rose being there. Just like Rose to ruin everything for her," Tommy said.

"What? Rose doesn't ruin everything for Chris!"

"Right, because she wasn't the one who stole Christina from Jack. Everything was fine before she entered Jack's life. She was happy. But, oh no, she didn't ruin Chris' chance of happiness with Jack." Fabrizio couldn't believe what Tommy was saying.

"What happiness with Jack? What are you saying, Tommy?"

"All I'm saying is that Christina would be happy if she were with Jack. It just didn't happen that way, because of Rose."

"You honestly think she'd be happy with Jack? I can't believe this shit, Tommy! What the fuck are you trying to say?"

"We all know she is in love with Jack. There's no denying that. Christina's never going to get over him. I don't even know why I even bothered thinking I had a chance."

"Because you're in love with her. In my own personal opinion, I think you're what she needs."

"Ha! Right! Because I'm the man of her dreams! I am just gonna quit this whole shit."

"You're giving up on Christina?"

"Yeah. It's just not worth it anymore. I've been in this country for ten months and immediately obsess over one girl. I need to move on."

"If you say so."

Fabrizio couldn't believe this conversation even happened. Tommy saying he was giving up on Christina? That was impossible. There was no way he would get over Christina, ever. Not if his life depended on it. He was too in love with her to forget he had any feelings for her whatsoever. It couldn't be done. Tommy just couldn't fall out of love with her as quick as he fell in love with her. Fabrizio didn't believe it one bit. Tommy didn't believe it himself.

*****

Rose tried reading her magazine, but couldn't concentrate in it. She kept looking over at Jack, who was reading his book on the other side of the couch. Whenever he caught her looking at him, she simply smiled and tried to get back to reading the page.

However, Rose couldn't stop herself from looking at him. She knew he had lied to her yesterday morning over breakfast. She honestly wanted to believe him, but just couldn't. It was hard to believe that Jack had even lied to her. It was obvious that he had, since it had taken him ten seconds to answer a simple question. He had seemed nervous when she had asked him the question, and Jack hadn't even looked her in the eye when answering.

Rose would have completely understood if Jack had answered the question honestly. She could see if there was any attraction Jack had to Christina before they had met. Christina was pure beauty and a very outgoing person. It was no wonder as to why Tommy was in love with her. Rose knew from the second she met Tommy that he was in love with Christina. No question about it. It was obvious. Obvious to nearly everyone except Christina, which bothered Rose because it was Jack who had kept her from seeing that there was more to Tommy.

Rose took another peek at Jack, observing him closely. How could he have lied to her? Rose just didn't understand.

"You know, I can feel your eyes burning me!" Jack said. He closed his book and set it down on the couch.

"Is that so?" Rose played dumb.

"Yeah. Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Because I love you."

"I love you, too, but that doesn't look like the look of someone who is saying I love you. It looks more like a look that is saying you fucking, backstabbing asshole!"

"Well, I'm sorry. If it bothers you, then I'll stop."

"Good, because it's freaking me out." The phone rang and Jack gave Rose a quick kiss on the cheek before he went to go pick it up.

"Hello," she heard him say when he picked up. Rose buried her head into the magazine to pretend as if she weren't eavesdropping.

Jack went into the bedroom with the phone. From what Rose heard, he was talking to Fabrizio. She wondered what about, but wasn't going to stick her nose where it wasn't needed. Rose threw her magazine to the side and rested her head back on the couch, burying her face in her hands. Moments later Jack came back inside the room and sat next to Rose, placing an arm around her.

"Hey, babe! That was Fabri. He said it'll just be him and Tommy tonight with us."

"What about Christina?" Rose asked.

"She has to work a double shift tonight."

"Oh. Well, another time," Rose said, resting her head on his shoulder. A sense of relief washed over her.

*****

Christina slowly got dressed for work. She threw on a black shirt and a pair of jeans. Her hair wasn't manageable, so she just swept it up in a ponytail. Work wasn't her ideal place now, especially knowing that she wouldn't be seeing any of the guys tonight. There was no point in working if she'd just end up having a rotten time.

It'd be great for her to see Tommy, but he wasn't even available for her. Even Tommy was going to be hanging out with Jack and Rose. Christina felt as if she was losing everybody. Right now she was feeling lonely.

It was nearly three. It was time for her to leave for work. Wishing she could stay home, she dragged herself out of the apartment. Christina wished her life was over with already.

Chapter Forty-Three
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