Chapter Twenty Five
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Flashback...
Gloria marched through the noisy work place, determination within her body and a sly smile on her face. As her eyes spotted the doors to her co-worker's office, she increased her steps until she got to the door, and knocked. After hearing an affirmative response, she pulled the door open and walked in.
"Good morning, Jenna." She smiled wider, and did not miss the look of confusion on the face of the woman, sitting behind the large desk.
Gloria knew that it would be difficult to develop a relationship with the one woman that got the heart of the only man she had ever loved. The past thoughts of how Jenna began working in the establishment, and how she had skyrocketed to a position higher than hers, fueled the anger within her being.
The positions, credits and offers she had always worked for, had slipped through her hands, and was given to a woman who had not been in the company for long. It angered her the more she thought about it, coupled with the idea of Jenna being with Jonathan.
"How may I help you?" Jenna asked.
"I know we didn't start off on the right foot. But... Can we go out for lunch, as sisters? I really regret saying a lot of things to you. What do you say?" Gloria smiled, while eyeing the doubt written in Jenna's brown eyes.
"I don't know what to say," Jenna replied, uncertainty dripping from her tone.
"Just say you'll be my friend. I realized that all my behavior towards you was just nonsense. Come on, girl. Will you forgive me, please?"
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"So, I decided to befriend my enemy. Someone I despised so much," she growled and glared at the headstone. "The hate increased each time you two acted all lovey dovey. It sickened me, and it made me almost want to kill you. Fast forward to when Jonathan started telling me how he wanted to propose to you. Trust me, I did everything in my power to try to tell him that it was a bad idea but he didn't even listen to me. Imagine planning the proposal of the woman you hate, and the man you love, does that happen?" She asked through gritted teeth, and began to play with one of the flowers in her hand.
"It sickened me when I saw the love in his eyes on the night he proposed. I wanted to run away, and hide in my shame and heart ache. To Jonathan, I had forgiven him but in reality, I never did!" She shouted then smiled suddenly. "Then Vera came into the picture. She was so kind and so naive that I knew that I could use her whenever I wanted, and she wouldn't know why."
Gloria stood up and twirled around then chuckled, and crossed her arms. She craned her head in thought.
"I easily became close to Vera but you didn't know that, Jenna. I easily coaxed her into getting extra close to Jonathan whenever he was easily down or something. She was always the first to comfort him to the point that it turned into a habit for him. That was when he started being distant from you in one or two ways. You my dear friend, became jealous and insecure, which was part of my plan," Gloria said, and laughed then plopped down to stare at Jenna's headstone again. "Which makes me remember that I found out about your health issue; BPD and all. It was the icing on the cake! I knew where to push your buttons."
Gloria tilted her head backwards in a rich laughter, and craned her head back into its former position. She wiped a fake tear off her eyelid, and shook her head.
"Tsk, remember when you spilled tea on Vera? I convinced her to report to Jonathan who ended up at your office. Oh, remember those pictures? I hired someone to take them to fuel your insecurities, and hate towards Vera who didn't even know that I spoke to you. I did a lot of things, Jenna." she laughed in humor and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, before she began to tap a finger on her lips like she was trying to remember something.
She flickered her fingers with a gasp and smiled.
"How could I forget the best one of all..." She trailed off.
Flashback...
Gloria strolled back and forth on the lone and silent street, the only thing that gave her a sense of security were the streetlights on the tarred road, and the cars that passed every few minutes. She raised her hand to her face, and stared at her bright phone in expectation, and as if on cue, it rang, giving her a warm smile.
"Thank God," she whispered, and placed the phone on her ear after answering it.
"What do you want, Gloria? I thought you said that we weren't on talking terms after you keep trying to seduce me?" His deep voice caressed her ear, making her bite her bottom lip.
"I'm sorry, Jonathan. But, please. Forget about all that. I'm stranded; I need your help. Can you come pick me up?" She asked, and crossed her fingers at her side.
Five seconds of silence after, she heard him sigh from his end before he hummed.
"Ok. Where are you?"
"I'm close to that bar we went to on your birthday, the last time we celebrated it as a couple," she replied.
"We were not a-Forget it. I'm close by. Give me ten minutes."
Gloria ended the call with a smirk on her lips. After she stared into space for a short period of time, she took out a red lipstick, painted her lips and stuffed it back into her purse.
Ten minutes later, Jonathan pulled up with a scowl on his face. She offered him a grin, then rushed into the passenger seat. Gloria ignored his silence until they stopped in front of her apartment.
"Thanks, Jonathan. Do you want to come in?" Gloria asked, and gave him a warm smile but frowned when she saw him scrolling through his phone, and from her spot in the seat, she saw Jenna's name on the screen.
With a deep grunt, she pulled the door open, and placed one leg on the concrete ground. Just as she was stepping out, a thought crossed her mind, which she brought into reality by feigning dizziness and collapsing. When her body met the ground, she heard his footsteps then felt his strong arms around her body. She laid her head in the crook of his neck when he lifted her up in his arms, then smirked at the sight of her lipstick stain on his shirt.
"Bingo," she muttered silently.
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"Oh, and when you saw that lipstick stain on his shirt. It was my doing. I planned it all by telling him that he should pick me up from somewhere, lying that I was stranded. After that, I fainted and purposely placed my lips on his collar where it showed," she smirked and tugged the collar of her shirt dramatically. "You two fought, and your relationship was crashing, yippee."
She snapped her fingers. "Listen to this one; when he came home all drunk and smelling like a woman according to you. I had a girl get him drunk at a bar when I heard that he was out with friends. I made sure that she made him so drunk, and smelling like she dumped a whole bottle of perfume, until he got home and you lost it. When he left, he called me, which was surprising, but I knew that you'd follow him, so I lied and told him that I had travelled, and that he should go stay with Vera which he happily did. I watched all these happen. While you were spying on him, I spied on you," she narrated and pulled out one of the petals from the flower and crushed it. "Remember the ultimate Valentine gift?
"After speaking with you about it, I immediately called Vera."
Flashback...
"I don't understand," Vera said and took a bite from the carrot she held while they sat on Gloria's bed.
"Valentine's day is here and I was wondering, since you see the tension between your best friend and Jenna, you need to do something to make them reconcile. I see the way you worry about him and I don't like you worried," Gloria stated as she scrolled through her phone.
"So, what do I do?" Vera asked, still confused. "Because I really like Jenna and my best friend happy. It's getting annoying how she thinks that we both have something going on. But I don't blame her, no woman or man likes a third-party close to their relationship."
"True, that's why you have to help give Jonathan an idea on what to give his wife. Any ideas?" Gloria asked with a dubious glint in her eyes as Vera thought for a moment before shaking her head. "I thought so. Why don't you tell him to buy these."
Vera took the phone that her friend was offering her and stared down at the lace lingerie. She scrolled through them and hummed in curiosity.
"Have Jonathan order these for his wife and trust me, it will make her happy that he did something so romantic," Gloria said and Vera hesitantly nodded. "What do you think?"
"It's nice but how do I order it and or tell him about this since it's a surprise?" She asked and Gloria stood up, walked over to her closet and brought out a white paper bag. She stuffed her hand inside and pulled out the exact same lingerie that she had helped ordered online for Jenna. "This will do."
"Huh?" Vera craned her head. "So, what do I do now?"
"Put it on and take a picture to show Jonathan," Gloria replied and Vera glared.
Vera gasped. "I can't do that!"
"Come on, you were the one who said that he's basically seen you naked before. Now, just put it on and let's save this marriage before it collapses. If it doesn't, you'll be blamed," Gloria said, and watched as the gears in Vera's head changed until she nodded, took the bag and walked into the bathroom.
Gloria smirked. "You deserve a lot of cookies, Gloria. You are too good."
After a while, Vera stepped out in the lingerie, which made Gloria clap dramatically with a small laugh. She waved her over to the bed and asked for her phone, took some pictures and handed it to her.
"Okay, I'll call you when you have to send the pictures, okay. Once I tell you, you do it because he might be with his wife then," she told her while Vera seemed like she was in thought.
"How would you know that?" Vera asked.
"Just do as I say, time is running out," Gloria replied in a pissed off manner and smiled when her own phone rang. She excused herself and walked out to the hallway.
"Hello?"
"Are you already dolled up?"
Jenna sighed. "Yes, Gloria and a bit nervous."
Gloria rolled her eyes."Calm down, Chica. He's your husband not some guy. He'll love it. Just go into the room when he walks in. Let him sit for like five minutes before you surprise him, okay?"
Gloria rubbed her forehead as Jenna went silent for a moment. She grimaced as she had not responded and was about to end the call.
"I'm good and thanks again, Gloria," Jenna stated and chuckled.
Gloria gave off a fake laughter and mouthed the word bitch.
"Just do as I say and-"
She heard Jenna gasped slightly.
"He's here," she whispered.
"Okay, I'll go now and like I said. Let him chill for at least five minutes before you walk into the room, Kay?"
"Yes, I know. Bye,"
Gloria smirked. "Time to lose it, bitch."
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