Behind Closed Doors

Delia woke up to the sounds of Katy Perry's “Hot N Cold” being played from her phone. She groaned as she rolled over in bed and looked at the clock that sat on her side table next to her bed. It currently displayed 10:18, meaning Delia had been asleep for just under three hours.

She grabbed her phone and saw that it was Roxanna calling. “Hello?” she asked groggily into the phone, sleep still evident in her voice.

“Delia, did I wake you up?” Roxanna asked.

“Yeah, but what’s up?” she asked as she set her head back against the headboard.

“What were you doing all night? I thought you were meeting Gabe’s band. Oh no, Gabe’s not there right now, is he? You didn’t sleep with him?” Roxanna began firing questions at Delia rapidly.

“Roxanna, calm down. I didn’t sleep with him and he’s not here right now.”

“Then why are you still sleeping? Late night?”

“Yeah. I got called into work last night because Ilsa messed up a cake, so Madison and I had to spend the entire night redoing it. I got home about three hours ago,” Delia explained.

“Oh, well I was going to come over to talk to you, but if you want to sleep,” Roxanna began.

“No, come on over. I’m awake now,” Delia told her.

“Okay,” Roxanna said happily. “I’ll be there in like ten minutes.”

“Bye,” Delia said hanging up the phone. She got out of bed and walked over to her closet. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt. By the time she got them on, brushed her hair and her teeth, the doorbell to her apartment rang.

She ran over to get the door and found Roxanna standing there smiling. “You look happy,” Delia commented.

“I am,” Roxanna replied. “Gabe was nowhere to be seen in the newspaper or online.”

“Okay,” Delia said slowly. She thought that the point was for Gabe and her to be seen in public and for their pictures to be in the newspaper and online.

“No, that’s a good thing. That means he didn’t get caught last night with a random girl.”

“That’s because he wasn’t with a random girl last night. He came over to the bakery,” Delia told her as she sat down on the couch.

“He was at the bakery?” Roxanna questioned.

“Yeah. He brought me and Madison dinner since he knew I was going to be there all night. And then he offered me a ride back home after I was finished.”

Roxanna stared at her for a moment before saying anything. “You’re not falling for each other, are you?” she asked skeptically.

Delia laughed until she realized Roxanna was serious. “No!” she exclaimed. “Why would you think that?”

“He brought you dinner at the bakery. He offered you a ride home.”

“He was just being nice,” Delia replied.

“No, Gabe Saporta is never ‘just being nice.’ He’s trying to get in your pants,” Roxanna said.

“No, he’s not!” Delia cried.

“I’m telling you, don’t hook up with him,” Roxanna warned her.

“Roxanna, do you not remember your number one rule you made me recite a million times? I’m not going to hook up with him!” Delia yelled.

“You better not.”

“Roxanna, what is the big deal, anyways? Why would it matter if I did hook up with him?” Delia questioned.

“It would be stupid of you. I’m just looking out for you,” Roxanna told her.

“Well, thank you, but in case you haven’t noticed I’m grown up. I don’t need you to look out for me,” Delia said.

A couple of minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Delia went to go answer it and found Gabe standing on the other side. “Hey,” he said. “I didn’t know if you’d be awake now or not. I know you got back late. But I was just wanting to know if you were planning on telling Roxanna that you told Madison or not,” he continued without looking into the apartment.

“You told Madison what exactly?” Roxanna yelled from the couch.

“Shit,” Gabe mumbled as he walked into the apartment and saw Roxanna sitting there.

“Seriously, Gabe, you have got to start looking and seeing who’s around when you talk,” Delia joked.

“What did you tell Madison?” Roxanna repeated, not lowering her voice.

“I might have told her that Gabe and I weren’t dating for real,” Delia replied in a small voice. She wasn’t scared of Roxanna, per se, but the way Roxanna was acting did intimidate her.

“You what?” Roxanna boomed.

“I couldn’t keep lying to her,” Delia told her. “She’s my best friend, and I was trying to explain to her why I wasn’t pissed at Gabe for hooking up with another girl while he was with me. She was eventually going to see through everything.”

“So you decided to just go ahead and spill everything?” Roxanna yelled as she stood up and began walking towards Delia. “Are you stupid? I’ve told you before, the less people that know, the better.”

“I told Delia to tell her. I told her that if she didn’t tell Madison, then I would,” Gabe interjected.

Roxanna turned toward him. “Why would you do that?” she questioned.

“I wasn’t going to have her keep lying to her best friend,” Gabe replied calmly.

“How do you know that she’s going to keep this a secret?” Roxanna asked. “How do you know that she’s not running to the press right now and telling them everything?”

“Madison’s not like that,” Delia said.

“Really?” Roxanna asked, turning back towards Delia. “How do you know? Money changes everyone, and I’m sure there’re some tabloids out there that would be willing to pay a lot of money for a story like this.”

“She’s not going to tell anyone,” Delia insisted.

“You don’t know that!” Roxanna yelled. “Or are you too stupid to realize that?”

“Stop yelling at her!” Gabe screamed. “It’s not her fault. I told her to tell Madison. Now, what’s done is done. Can you get over it? It’s not like you can erase it from her mind. Now, I trust Madison, and I suggest you do the same.”

“I’m telling you, this was a huge mistake,” Roxanna told them. “And when this plan goes up in smoke, it’s going to be all her fault,” she said to Gabe as she pointed at Delia. She left the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

“I’m sorry,” Gabe apologized. “Don’t listen to her.”

“Thanks,” Delia said, attempting to smile at him.

“I can’t believe she’d talk to her own sister that way,” he said.

“Like I’ve said before, we’re not extremely close.”

“But still, you’re doing this as a favor to her. And then she just goes off on you like that.”

“She just doesn’t want this plan to get messed up.”

“Why are you defending her right now? She just went off on you.”

“It’s fine,” Delia replied nonchalantly. “But, I do want to say thank you. You didn’t have to tell her that you were the one to tell me to tell Madison. And you sure as hell didn’t have to stand up for me. But it was nice, anyways.”

“I told you, I’ve got your back, one hundred percent,” he said with a smile as he put his arm around her.

“Thanks,” she said looking up at him, smiling back.