Diamonds Are Forever (31 page)

Besides, even when you’ve technically made it, there are a thousand factors that are waiting to tear you down in this town.  This has been seen repeatedly in the athletes who excelled with old teams, only to hit a wall upon facing the challenges of the city’s twenty-four-hour lifestyle.  Even those from Los Angeles or Chicago arrive in New York and get lost in indulgence, the accessibility to just about everything they could wish for, at any hour they wish it.

Though highly paid and well-known, these young athletes are hardly immune from the allure.  Nor are they exceptions to being swallowed whole.  Is it possible that this reason alone is behind how little our city’s teams seem to succeed? Or am I grasping at straws as your typical, bitter, New York sports fan?

It’s probably a little bit of both.

Zoe had managed to pull Gemma away from Metropolis and into the privacy of an ordered town car just before the tears started.  Once they did, it was hard to stop.  She sobbed into Zoe’s gauzy, muslin-draped shoulder, feeling so many different things that it was hard to pinpoint exactly what was bothering her most.

He had clearly still wanted her in that moment – after all, he had chosen Gemma’s attentions over Clara’s.  She figured there had to be emotions involved that went beyond anything sexual if he had so decidedly gone for her.  But Damian was nearly unrecognizable in his lust and despite enjoying that side of him, she wasn’t prepared to encounter him that way.  She was hoping for a conversation, the one that she wished she had had when he so quickly ended not only their relationship, but their friendship.

But in his arms, with his hands on her, with his lips exploring her skin, Gemma would have been fine not talking.  She would have been fine just letting him ravage her the way she knew he wanted to.  He had gotten her so worked up that she wanted the same, nearly forgetting what it was that she wanted to discuss with him.

And then he left her again.

She didn’t like not having
some
idea of what was going through his head.  She wondered if he knew what she was thinking, if he even cared.  She wondered how it was possible for him to become so totally different in such little time.  She wondered if Azura was lying about how much she knew.  Gemma knew they were close.  She knew he was more likely to disclose things to Azura than Gavin, since Gavin was her brother.

And the next morning, she had her answer.  Azura had texted her surprisingly early, considering her party had allegedly wrapped just hours before.  She asked Gemma to meet her at her hotel room, back in one of Metropolis’s tower.

Returning to the location was the last thing Gemma wanted to do.  She didn’t want to relive another one of her awkward moments shared with Damian, especially when the wound was so fresh.  But when she had walked into the lobby, the scene was markedly different than the one that she had left hours before.  The sweet, spicy scent was replaced with the minty citrus of freshly cleaned surfaces.  A live orchestra played on the mezzanine and hotel guests were dressed in cashmere suits and dresses, having brunch at tables set around the fountain.  She was impressed by the quick transition, even wondering for a moment if she had walked into the wrong building.

When Gemma arrived, Azura had answered the door in a plush white robe.  She looked years younger without her makeup and her red hair pulled back into a ponytail.  To her surprise, Azura looked strangely dewy and refreshed, as if she hadn’t just come from hosting a wild party not so long ago.

“I didn’t have a single drink,” Azura explained, as if she knew what Gemma was thinking.  “And I haven’t had a chance to sleep yet.  I look better when I just power through the next day instead of getting an hour or two.”

“You must be exhausted,” Gemma said.

“I got coffee,” Azura shrugged, pouring Gemma a mug as well.  “And I wanted to say a proper goodbye to you before starting the tour.  You kind of ran off on me last night.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Gemma replied, quietly.  She knew her eyes were still swollen from crying and she had done little to cover the mess before she left the house.

“I got an idea of what happened from fuckin’ Clara Zavala of all people.  I didn’t even want her at my party, but she was Damian’s plus one.”

“Are they together?” Gemma asked.

“I don’t know,” Azura sighed.  “I’m sorry, I really don’t.  But she did say some thing about you cockblocking her, called you some names, then tried to pick a fight with me.  So I called her a bunch of names back for you and threw her the fuck out.  Then I went back to look for you and Damian and you two weren’t there anymore.  But I did find him, eventually.”

“Where?”

“Sitting at the bar alone, waiting for me so he could say bye.  He was lookin’ rough.  He said he wasn’t feeling great and he needed to leave.”

“Did he tell you what happened?”

“No,” Azura said, frowning.  “But I figured it out.  There was lipstick on him – your color.  Plus, his costume didn’t look quite right anymore and he had that look on his face that guys have when they’ve been, you know.  Shortchanged.”

“I wasn’t the one who stopped…”

“No, I know it wasn’t you,” Azura said, shaking her hands in front of her.  Her voice was unusually quiet, almost soothing.  “And that’s not what I meant, you know that.  I’m just saying, I knew you guys probably started something up without finishing it, like you two have a habit of doing.  But damn, Gem.  He looked
bad.
”

Gemma’s frown deepened.  “Bad like how?”

“Like exhausted, completely zapped of energy.  Like nothing I’d ever seen from him before.  Not after a day-long practice, not after a long stretch of away games.  It was like a light went out in him.”

“Why do you think that happened? Was it because of me?”

“Not ‘cause of what you did last night.  Not the whole… confronting him and getting him all worked up.  It wasn’t ‘cause of that.”

“But it’s still on me?” Gemma asked.  “How, then?”

Azura chewed her lip, winding and unwinding a red lock of hair from her finger as she eyed Gemma.  “The very first night I met Damian, he mentioned you,” she explained.  “I mean, not even just mentioned.  The first night I met him, I got a crash course on everything Gemma Hunter… which was interesting because before that, all I knew about you was from the gossip rags.  But what was even more interesting was how clearly
in love
that boy was with you.”

Gemma blinked.  “When did you two meet?”

“Officially, just a few months back.  We got close fast.  I knew we were going to.”

“You thought he was already ‘in love’ with me that long ago?”

“No, honey,” Azura shook her head.  “He has not fallen
out
of love with you since the first time he fell
in
.  And I think you would know better than me when that was.”

“I mean…” Gemma thought, rolling back into her head.  It would have been in high school, but that just seemed too far back.

“Okay, look,” Azura said.  “I think I need to ask something.”

“Go ahead.”

“I know you miss him like crazy and you just want to be with him, I know that.  But you see how much he’s killin’ it right now? With his team? With everything?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, well he needs his focus and energy to keep doing that.”

“I know,” Gemma replied, not sure if she liked where Azura was going.

“I’m only asking this because I’ve gotten to know him so well and I really care for him and I know you do too.  I’ve been thinking, I keep saying I don’t get that boy but I think he must’ve ended things with you for a reason.  He probably thought things were getting too hard and he was losing himself, which he can’t do right now.  He’s got an entire city riding on his shoulders and he needs to be there for them.”

“And I want to be there for him through it all.  I want to be his support.  I want to be that friend he always was for me.”

“Then have some respect for him.”

“What are you saying, exactly?” Gemma asked, rising from her seat.  “I feel like you’ve been implying something this whole time so just get to it.”  She glared at Azura, who remained seated, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Girl, you know I’m not the
implying
type.  I say what I mean and I’m just telling you to take a page from his book and give him the same respect he gave you all those years he was in love with you but didn’t touch you.  He watched you love other people and he kept his feelings to himself because he knew you weren’t ready for him.  He respected you by keeping his distance and that was how he was able to be that support for you this whole time.”

Gemma’s mouth opened and closed without sound for a moment.  “But… he won’t even
see
me now.  He won’t talk to me.  How am I supposed to be anything to him?”

“By not seeing him.  By
not
contacting him anymore so he can go on with his life and do his thing and get to himself for once.  He didn’t think he could handle being just friends with you anymore so he ended it.  So that’s no longer an option because the way he sees it is he put himself out there to you and in his eyes, you didn’t feel the same way.”

“But I did,” Gemma said.  “The whole marriage thing messed everything up, I know, but that wasn’t any indication of how much I care for him.”

“He doesn’t
know
that.  He’s spent your whole friendship thinking this would never happen.  As sensitive and sweet as he is, he’s still a boy at the end of the day and sometimes they need to get hit over the head with whatever message you have for them.”

“So why can’t I say something now?”

“Because you missed the wave, girl,” Azura replied with a frown.  “It came and went and now this one’s too dangerous to ride.  He can’t afford to not be in control of himself right now.  He’s been standing strong all these years, but even the strongest eventually break.  If you’re his weakness, then you gotta stay away right now.  Give him his space.”

Azura lifted herself from the couch, walking around the coffee table to take a seat next to Gemma.  She put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze.

“I’m still rooting for you two,” she said.  “But it’s just gonna have to wait.”

AGNO’S ALLSTAR HOLIDAY GUEST LIST

The Manhattan Local

December 25
^th

Harper Gunn and boyfriend Ian Marsh were spotted spending Christmas at Gunn’s Flatiron raw, vegan, alcohol-free restaurant, Agno.  Gunn’s father and food industry mentor, Hudson Gunn, was also at their family table with Mira Hunter of Roebling-Hunter and her niece and nephew, Gemma and Gavin.

Agno has been the place to be seen since its inception.  Gunn, once known more for her hard-partying habits than her business savvy, has been enjoying the success of her restaurant and lifestyle blog.  When asked to what Gunn credited her array of new achievements, the rehab graduate answered with a laugh.

“Reinventing yourself.  Change.  There’s no way to get what you want when you’re stagnant.  Action only comes when you stay in motion.”

DAMIAN EVANS’ UNCONVENTIONAL CHRISTMAS PLANS

Celeb-O-Matic

December 25
^th

NBA point guard, Damian Evans, was spotted at a club in downtown Los Angeles after securing a win against the Lakers for their Christmas game.  Evans, whose family hails from Beauford, New Jersey, allegedly turned down a teammate’s offer for a Christmas dinner at his own family home in favor of partying with the spontaneous crowd outside of Staples.  The unnamed teammate expressed his surprise.

“I invited him because I figured he’d need plans since he wouldn’t make it back to the East Coast in time.  I thought he was crazy for going out partying… especially because most people would be at home with their families.  But he managed to find enough people so I guess that’s cool.”

Looks like wherever Damian Evans is these days, there’s a party.  Add that to his list of growing talents!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, DAMIAN EVANS’! LOVE, DUI!

The Pop Dinner

December 26
^th