4. Profile Pictures
Carla duckedher head as she came through the fence, leaving Gia’s yard. Once on the other side, out of Gia’s line of vision, she took off toward her own house in a sprint. She knew Gia would not be on board with her brilliant idea, but she didn’t care—it was in her best interest.
As she reached the back stairway leading up to her sliding glass door, she took the steps two by two, arriving on the small deck out of breath. Oof, I need to get in shape.
“Where’s the fire?” Matt, her husband, asked as she sped past him. He was standing in front of the barbeque, grilling up some sort of meat that smelled absolutely delicious.
“No fire. Although, possibly not the best phrasing under the circumstances.” She glanced at the flames nipping at the grates on the grill. “Just have to handle something on Gia’s behalf,” she added. Matt eyed her suspiciously, taking note of her tone of voice and expression and rolling his eyes.
“You know what… I don’t even want to know. It’s better if I don’t. Try not to get yourself—or her— in too much trouble, though. She’s had a rough year, you know?”
“Oh, I know. That’s exactly why I’m doing this.”
“What, exactly, is this, anyway? No, wait, never mind. Don’t tell me. I said I wouldn’t ask. I don’t want to know,” Matt said with renewed determination, turning back toward his grill.
“What’re you making anyway? Meat?”
“I’ll show you my meat.” Matt winked flirtatiously at Carla and gently elbowed her in the ribs.
“No time for that now—but save me some of whatever that is. It smells incredible!”
“I see how it is. You only want me for my meat.” Matt let out a faux exasperated sigh. As Carla spun away from him to head through the deck door, he gave her a good, solid slap on the behind.
“Love you,” he called after her.
“Love you, too. See? This is why I’m doing this for Gia! She needs someone like you, a source of good old-fashioned ass slaps and meat,” Carla said as Matt pretended to put his fingers in his ears and began humming.
“Don’t—want—to—know!”
Carla rolled her eyes before dashing inside.
She stopped in the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine before walking over to the couch, setting her laptop on the coffee table in front of her, opening it, and hitting the power button. As the computer booted up, she took a long sip of wine.
“Gia, I’m doing this for you…” She chuckled as she opened her social media account, then clicked and typed until she wound up on Gia’s profile. From there, she went into the ‘Pictures’ folder and began browsing. She knew they were there somewhere… the gardening pictures. Where were the gardening pictures?
Boom!She scrolled down and saw a series of professional-quality photographs of Gia and her children in her garden. The session had been a gift from Carla to Gia the year before, right after Carla’s ex-husband had left. It was supposed to represent the next chapter in the house—just the kids and Gia—and the photos came out fabulously.
Having expected the photo shoot to include only the children, Gia hadn’t been prepared for any personal involvement beyond wrangling them and ensuring they behaved. She certainly hadn’t dressed as she would have been had she known. Instead, she wore simple jeans that were tight enough to highlight her… assets… without looking desperate and a light blue button-down tank top that accentuated her strong arms and dipped just low enough in front to cause a man to look twice.
When Carla pulled the photographer aside and told her to get the children’s mother into some shots, Gia looked like she would pass out! She clearly wasn’t used to having her picture taken, and Carla knew she hadn’t expected it. If she had, she probably would have turned down the whole thing! Regardless, Carla wanted Gia to be in those photos with her kids, and if scheming was the only way to make it happen, so be it. Scheming was kind of her ‘thing,’ anyway. Honestly, it should have been expected, but Gia wasn’t on her A-game back then. She had a lot going on.
Throughout their entire lives, Gia had always been the one behind the camera—never in front. Even after Carla’s interference, most of the photographs still included Gia and the kids, but that could be remedied easily enough! After all, anyone could use Photoshop these days, and Carla was pretty well-versed if she did say so herself.
Carla carefully browsed the photos, saving the five of them she thought made Gia look the best—and that would be easy to edit as needed—to her desktop. One by one, she opened the photos and got to work, removing the children from the images so they included only Gia and her breathtaking garden.
She looked each one over when she finished, admiring her handiwork.
“Not bad, Carla. Not bad at all,” she said aloud, clearly impressed with herself. The words were just escaping her lips when Matt entered the room and approached her with a tray of food that sent an irresistible aroma wafting toward her. She opened her mouth to talk, but Matt placed his hand on her lips, effectively cutting her off.
“Shhh. I don’t want to know. Let’s eat,” he said, pulling her up from the couch with his free hand and leading her into the kitchen.
“Will there be dessert?” she asked, winking at her husband.
“More meat,” he said gruffly, kissing her on her neck, just behind her ear.
“My favorite,” Carla responded, moving toward the kitchen with Matt. “Let’s eat quickly so we can get to dessert.”