13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
To: harrison.ryan@ryan&ryan.com
From: gianna.ricci@ryan&ryan.com
Re: Today’s Meeting with Fragrance Fusions
Harris,
I’ve NEVER seen that guy crumble like he did today. Seriously?! A twenty percent reduction in cost for all our spring fragrances? A new contract negotiated and signed in a matter of hours? I’m dead. That vendor has been completely holding out on me! That’s going to make a huge difference in our margins for the spring product line. Thanks for being super grumpy and extra scary! I especially liked it when you told him “over my dead body” and he choked on his coffee.
Sincerely amused,
Gigi
To: gianna.ricci@ryan&ryan.com
From: harrison.ryan@ryan&ryan.com
Re: Today’s Meeting with Fragrance Fusions
Gigi,
First of all, that sales rep is a pompous prick. He rubbed me the wrong way when he referred to you as “darling” at the start of our meeting. That’s completely inappropriate in a professional setting, and I saw the way you squinted when he said it. It rubbed you the wrong way too. Not appropriate. He deserved all my snark and nasty stares.
By the way, we make a good team in the boardroom. Dare I say that was the best rendition of “good cop, bad cop” I’ve ever been a part of? Yes, I dare to say it. We squeezed every last drop out of that guy. He didn’t even see it coming.
Regards to the edge of my patience,
Harris
To: harrison.ryan@ryan&ryan.com
From: gianna.ricci@ryan&ryan.com
Re: Today’s Meeting with Fragrance Fusions
Harris,
We gave Starsky and Hutch a run for their money! I’m on an adrenaline high . . . or I might have had one too many cups of coffee this morning. Either way, I’m feeling good and excited about the progress today. What other vendors can we bring in to talk about cost savings?
Slightly going off the rails,
Gigi
To: gianna.ricci@ryan&ryan.com
From: harrison.ryan@ryan&ryan.com
Re: Today’s Meeting with Fragrance Fusions
Gigi,
I’ve got a list. But first, I think we should celebrate our win today. Dinner on the company? Are you a seafood fan? Steak? There’s a restaurant a few blocks from the office with a killer shrimp cocktail and ribeye. Plus, their dessert menu is to die for.
Counting down the minutes to happy hour,
Harris
To: harrison.ryan@ryan&ryan.com
From: gianna.ricci@ryan&ryan.com
Re: Today’s Meeting with Fragrance Fusions
Harris,
I’m in! You had me at “dessert menu.”
Tiramisu is my spirit animal,
Gigi
“You ordered how many desserts?” Nonna asked, her brow lifting to her silver hairline. She stood in front of the stove, stirring a pot of simmering marinara. It was Friday night Yappy Hour at Gigi’s apartment. Christmas music played softly in the background. Gigi was at the kitchen counter, assembling homemade ravioli. Alice and Paige lingered close, margaritas in hand, their knitting projects abandoned in the living room.
“Seven,” Gigi confirmed, adding fresh, chopped basil to the mixing bowl full of ricotta, mascarpone, parmesan, and egg. She smiled, recalling the table for two that’d been overflowing with sweet masterpieces. “I told Harris I couldn’t choose between the tiramisu and the crème br?lée, so he ordered one of every dessert on the menu. We had a few bites of each, and he sent all the leftovers home with me so we could finish them tonight.”
“I like him already.” Nonna gave a swift, approving nod.
Alice sighed with her whole chest. “That’s so sweet.”
Paige—ever the skeptic—leaned back against the counter and tilted her head. “I’m not approving until we get to meet him. Sorry. I said what I said.” She sipped her drink and popped her lips. “He’s not winning me over with desserts, no matter how good they are. I need to judge this man for myself. He needs to be worthy of you. You are an absolute catch, and he better know that.”
Gigi picked up the mixing bowl and cradled it in her arm. “He’s not—” She took hold of the spatula and started stirring, images of Harris rolling through her mind. For a second, she forgot her point. Because she couldn’t think of what Harris wasn’t. He checked so many of her boxes. “He’s my boss.”
“I think that’s an excuse,” Alice said, calling Gigi out. “I think you’re letting a certain bad relationship sour you to the potential of something good.”
Gigi grimaced. “It was a really bad relationship,” she replied, referring to Keith. Gigi didn’t have to say his name. Her friends and Nonna knew exactly who she was referring to.
“Uck, Keith,” Nonna added, like she’d just eaten moldy bread. “I never liked him.”
“I know. I should have listened to you from the start.” Gigi stirred with extra vigor, vowing never to date anyone her nonna didn’t love.
“He-who-should-not-be-named was the absolute worst,” Paige interjected, crossing her arms and balancing her margarita in the crook of her elbow. “Remember when Alice and I ran into him at the grocery store after he broke up with you the second time? I literally threw a squash at his head.”
“And then I told the manager he was stealing bananas.” Alice crossed her arms, mimicking Paige as if they were Gigi’s bodyguards.
Gigi chuckled. “I wish I had seen that firsthand.”
“We do too,” Paige and Alice replied together.
Gigi smiled gratefully at her friends. “You guys are the best friends I could ever ask for.”
“You’d do it for us.” Paige shrugged.
“Absolutely, I would,” Gigi replied.
“True friends throw squash at people that hurt their friends. I wish I would’ve tossed a watermelon at him.” Paige looked like she was considering additional fruit arsenal options.
Alice laughed and coughed through a margarita sip.
“If I ever see that guy again, I’ll trip him with my cane.” Nonna scrunched her face, disgusted with the thought of seeing him.
Gigi grinned at her. “For everyone’s sake, let’s hope there are no run-ins with him ever again.”
Nonna nodded in agreement before tasting the red sauce with a spoon. She made a face of approval—for the sauce—before she said, “Enough talk of history that won’t be repeated. Gianna, my love. Do you like this man—this Harris—or not? Because life is short. There’s no time for wishy-washiness.”
Gigi stopped stirring. She held tight to the spatula, as if it were a stake in the ground. Paige and Alice stared at her, awaiting a response, and Gigi chewed her bottom lip until she might’ve made it bleed. Then she gave in. “Okay, I like him.”
Allison squealed and hopped in place. Margarita sloshed out of her glass to the floor. “I knew it! I knew it! Yay!”
Paige didn’t squeal, but after a few beats, her face softened. Gigi could practically see the gears turning in her head. She was compiling a million interview questions to drill Harris if she had a chance to meet him.
Nonna gave a concise nod, approving of Gigi’s quick decision-making. “Then you need to make that known to him,” Nonna started. “No more wasting time. If you know you like him, then you do something about that.” She added a pinch of salt to the sauce, as though she’d solved all of Gigi’s problems and she was moving on to the next task.
Gigi sighed in exasperation. Paige and Alice had been hounding her about Harris since the almost-kiss and the overnight stay during the snowstorm, but Gigi didn’t have any solid answers. There were too many variables. “I can’t just pursue my boss. It’s not that easy. It’s crazy, actually.”
Nonna waved her hand dismissively. “What’s the worst-case scenario?”
“I lose my job,” Gigi blurted.
“So, you get a new one.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Love is not easy. It’s not easy to find and not easy to keep.” Nonna turned, making eye contact with Gigi, Paige, and then Alice, ensuring her point was clear. “I would do anything for one more day with my Alfonso.” Her words dropped like a hammer on the tile floor, cracking through Gigi’s defenses.
She grimaced before reaching out and putting a hand on her Nonna’s arm. “I know.”
Gigi’s biological grandfather passed before she’d moved to Chicago. She hadn’t gotten the chance to meet him, but felt like she’d knew him through all the stories Nonna told her. To Gigi, that was her example of true love—her nonna and papa—hand in hand to the very end, together through every bump, bruise, and laugh.
Nonna patted Gigi’s hand and smiled. “Cheer up. I don’t say that to make you sad. I had fifty years of a great love. I am beyond blessed. What I mean is that you shouldn’t be dilly-dallying around if the potential of a great love is staring you in the face. Either move forward or move on. Enjoy life. Enjoy all those that love you.” Nonna squeezed Gigi’s hand before glancing at Alice and Paige. “That goes for all of you. Don’t waste your precious time with anyone that doesn’t show you love. Okay?”
Gigi swallowed, processing Nonna’s advice. “Okay,” she replied. Paige and Alice agreed as well.
“Good,” Nonna said, her tone firm but gentle. “Now, finish those raviolis. This sauce is almost at perfection.” She winked, and Gigi went back to the counter. Alice and Paige joined her to help assemble dinner, and as each dollop of filling was spooned onto the sheets of pasta, Gigi’s mind got clearer. No more dilly-dallying , she determined.