The Loner and Her

Chapter Thirteen : History

"Giuliana, what are you doing here?"

She has no idea how to respond to that one and simple question. In all actuality, it's an easy answer. She's simply visiting her grandmother, yet, the petite young girl has no words.

She physically cannot speak.

She hasn't seen her father, in person, in years. He's always busy, too busy for her, she assumes .

Now, he's here, in New York, and didn't even bother to call her and let her know he's at least in the same state as her.

She breathes in an out, remembering the words from her therapist.

Just breathe, Giuliana. In and out. In and out.

He looks so shocked to see her, as if he didn't even want to see her!

Griffin is here. He's standing right next to you. She reminds herself.

It's too much- No! It's not! She fights with herself internally. You can do this. You just freaked out no longer than an hour ago. You cannot freak out again. Gia, do not do this. Look at everyone around you! Look at yourself!

You can get through this.

Her watery eyes fade away and she takes one  more long deep breath, exhales, then speaks up in a cracked voice, "I'm here to see Grandma."

What felt like hours to her, was really only a minute, the most.

Edward replies, "How nice of you to visit her, even when you don't live close by anymore."

Someone has to, Gia thinks but doesn't dare say it out loud.

Edward notices Griffin and then their attire. "Oh, where were you two?" He asks, not bothering to introduce himself to Griffin, yet.

"At the Mayor's Birthday Celebration," Gia answers him.

He nods his head, then sticks his hand out to Griffin, "Well, I didn't expect to meet my daughter's boyfriend tonight, that's for sure. My name is Edward Fitzpatrick, but you can call me Edward, son."

Griffin is tense as he shakes Edward's hand, while Gia tries to stop blushing from Griffin being referred to as her boyfriend. "Actually, Dad, Griffin is- "

Griffin speaks up, for the first time in front of Carol and Edward, "A very loving boyfriend who is pleased to meet you, sir. My name is Griffin Prescott." He lied through his teeth.

Gia tries very hard to hide her shock, but a bit of it slips out, and luckily neither Carol or Edward notice.

"You didn't tell me he's your boyfriend, sweetheart," Carol smiles at the two of them, her eyes bright and loving.

Gia shrugs. She's surprised Griffin bothered to talk when he didn't have to, especially without stuttering!

He did it for me, Gia can't help but think. But why? And why did he call himself a Prescott?

Now, Edward smiles, "Prescott? You don't mean as in Frederick Prescott? Any relation?"

Griffin gives a curt nod, with no emotion cracking through his features, "He's my adoptive father."

Edward says, "Your father is a very respectable man and a very good friend of mine." Then he turns his attention  to Gia, "I was just on my way to the dinner, actually. I'm in town for business and figured I'd go."

"Kind of late, aren't you?" Gia asks rhetorically, knowing the event started a couple hours ago.

Edward shrugs, "The Mayor understands how work is. We're friends as well."

Gia sighs, "Well, Griffin and I were just leaving."

Carol frowns at her announcement, "But you both just got here."

Gia and Griffin both grab their smoothies off the plastic table, "I know, Grandma, but Griffin and I have some errands to run." She lies and hates it. She misses her grandma and wishes to stay longer, but she can't be in the same presence as her father for another second.

Carol smiles never the less, "Alright, dear, but next time you're in town, you're visiting me immediately!"

Gia can't help but smile in return, "Of course."

She hugs Carol good-bye and Griffin is, in shock, squeezed to death by the short blonde, "Thank you for making my granddaughter happy," she whispers to him without Gia noticing.

Gia simply waves good-bye towards her father, when he makes no move to hug her. He simply does the same, "Good-bye, Giuliana. It was nice seeing you."

Gia frowns mentally, but puts up a fake cheery grin, "Same to you, Dad. Maybe you should start making a habit of it," and with that, takes off and out of Summer Smoothies.

Edward stands there in shock and complete disbelief, "Did she just speak to me in that way?"

Carol sighs, not wanting to get into the middle of her son and granddaughter, but she can't help but feel glad that Gia finally said something to Edward.

Griffin shrugs without a care and follows Gia out the door, a proud smile etched onto his lips.

•••

Walking down the crowded sidewalk, for the third time that night, Gia stands oddly close to Griffin for warmth.

Their smoothies are now gone and they've remained quiet on their twenty minute walk. Gia's feet are killing her, wearing heels is something she isn't at all used to.

"Hold on," she says, stopping in her tracks. Leaning down she pulls off her heels, not caring that she will be walking on the dirtied cement barefooted.

Griffin sighs, helping her as she leans against him. Her eyes instinctively close and she moans softly to herself in content, "I thought I was gonna die," she glances down at her feet, "Damn, they're swollen."

Griffin looks up and down the street. His eyes widen a fraction at the familiar sign just a few blocks down. "There's drug store a couple blocks down. Why don't we get you some shoes."

She shakes her head quickly, "I'm okay..." She doesn't have money on her, and if it wasn't for her grandmother, she would have had to pay for their smoothies. She's lucky her grandma owns Summer Smoothies.

He shakes his head, "You're not fine. I'm not going to allow you to walk barefoot on the New York City sidewalk."  Crouching down, he gestures towards his back, "Hop on."

Gia's eyes widen comically, "What? No!"

He rolls his eyes, "Get on, Giules. I'm not asking you."

She hesitates before reluctantly leaning over and getting on Griffin's back. Gia has never felt more embarrassed. Her arms circle around Griffin's neck as he stands back up, holding up the back of Gia's thighs. Her dress had risen slightly and he can feel her bare skin. She blushes deeply, and so does he.

Gia hates the way her skin rises with goosebumps at just the simple touch left by Griffin. She feels his thumb move, ever so slightly, across her skin, and her heart thumps so fast within her chest, Gia think she'll have a heart-attack.

A soft groan escapes his lips and Gia asks worriedly as he begins walking, "Am I too heavy for you?"

"No."

They remain in an awkward silence the next ten minutes before they make it to the drugstore. Griffin brings her in, they both ignore the weird looks they're getting from customers and workers.

After a few minutes of searching, they go over to the shoes and sandals section in the far off corner of the store. With Gia still on his back, Griffin turns his head to ask her, "Which ones do you want, Giules?"

Leaning closer, now their heads are side-by-side with one another, Gia says, "Um...the blue ones are fine," they both laugh at the funky looking tennis shoes that cost ten dollars.

After reluctantly having Griffin pay for her, Gia put them on- without any socks, to her dismay.

As they exit the drugstore, Griffin pulls out his cell-phone, noticing he has a text message from an unknown number. Reading it silently to himself, his eyes widen slightly. He then turns his attention towards Gia.

"Your mom replied to your message." He hands her the phone without another word.

911- Party is ending early. Cops are here. Can't talk too much. Stay with Griffin and go see Grandma Carol. You're staying with her tonight.

Gia sighs, her breathing hitching slightly, "Dammit," she curses, glaring at the screen.

"What's that all about? There's cops at the hotel?"

Gia sighs, ruining a hand through her hair, "Yeah, I don't know why, but something must have gone down," She shrugs like it's nothing. "It's no biggie, actually. Cops show up to events like this all the time."

His eyes narrow in on her suspiciously, "Then why do I never hear about it?"

Gia shrugs, "They're rich. They know how to keep it on the hush-hush...but this is the Mayor's party. So it'll probably be on the eleven o'clock news tonight."

"Should I call my father?" He asks her.

With a nod of her head, Griffin then turns around to make a quick phone call.

After a couple minutes of hushed voices being heard a few feet away from Gia, Griffin ends the phone call with a huff of his own.

"I guess your mom talked to my father. She told him the two of us can stay with your grandma, while they deal with whatever's going on there. For some reason, he said they can't leave anytime soon."

Gia sighs, "We'll find out what's going on later, probably."

With that, the two turns around and begin walking, with a slow pace, towards Summer Smoothies.

"My grandma lives in the apartment above it. She has a guest room and a pull-out couch. I can sleep on the couch- "

"It's fine. I can sleep there. Sleep in the bedroom," he tells her, seriously.

Gia shakes her head stubbornly, "It doesn't bother me to sleep on the sofa for one night."

Griffin sends her a harsh glare, "I'm not playing, Giules. Take the bedroom."

After a few more moments of bickering, Gia reluctantly accepts.

They walk in silence for about half of a block, until Gia decides to bring up some history of her grandmother, Carol. "I never knew my Grandpa Duke."

Griffin glances at her, "Your dad's dad?"

She nods in response, "Yeah. He passed away when my father was seven."

"Did your grandma ever remarry?"

She shakes her head this time, "No."

His eyes widen in shock, "Really?"

"Yeah. Her and Grandpa had my aunt Hazel when they were seventeen. Then, they had my dad when they were nineteen. So my grandpa was twenty-six when he passed."

"How? And why didn't your grandma ever move on?" Griffin asks with total curiosity.

Gia clears her throat, the dry feeling suddenly coming back before replying, "He died of a car accident, caused by a drunk driver." She explains, "Grandma loved him with her whole being. She says he's her soulmate, and although, he would have liked for her to move on, she couldn't."

"So, she tried?"

Gia nods slightly, "Yeah, she tried. But she kept comparing the other men to Grandpa, and even though it was okay, she still felt as if she was betraying him."

Griffin's eyebrows furrow, "He would have wanted for her to be happy."

"Yeah, and she knows that, but she couldn't do it. She never even kissed another man after Grandpa's accident." Gia sighs, "She went on a total of five dates, and after that, she never went on another one again. She still visits him, you know? She sits there and talks to him about life and what everyone is doing. She tells him about me all the time, so she says." Gia blushes at the thought.

Glancing at Griffin, Gia says, "It sounds like true love, doesn't it?"

Griffin, then, nods his head stiffly, "I suppose. Is true love even real, though? Can two people actually fall deeply in love with one another and actually make it? Can they love each other unconditionally, forever?" He voices his thoughts.

Gia doesn't answer him right away. She takes her time and looks across the street where a couple are holding hands, staring lovingly at one another. Then another couple passes them by, one that seems to be in a whispered heated argument, yet, you can tell by the spark in their eyes, that they're in love.

Gia found their love more pure than the one holding hands.

"Love isn't telling someone you love them every single day, or buying them flowers, or wrapping your arm around them in the move theater," Gia speaks up, not bothering too look at Griffin as she watches the people all around her.

"Love is putting someone else first, before you. Love is a partnership, not a sham. Love is give and take. Love is fighting because you care. Love is something so extraordinary, that I truly believe that not many people ever truly feel it fully.

"Love is real. It's out there. Just not many people find it. Not many people want to put the hard work and effort into it, honesty."

Griffin looks down at his shoes, that are a size too small for his feet. He mumbles to himself, "You sound like you know a lot about love. Ever been?"

Gia wraps her arms around herself as the two of them become closer to Summer Smoothies. She notices her dad's limo isn't there anymore and she lets put a breath of relief.

"No. Just a hopeless romantic. That may be naïve of me, but it's out there for everyone. It has to be."