Everyone's a Winner with a Heart That Small

Three days had gone by since Gigi had last answered a text or phone call from John. After the conversation with Ezra days before, Gigi had begun to feel guilty. She thought if she talked to him then she was somehow leading him on. She decided if she was meant to ever meet John, then she would.

Like always, she finally crawled out of her bed at ten minutes til one and shuffled down the staircase to the kitchen where her aunt was sitting at the bar drinking lemonade and reading a magazine.

"Oh, good afternoon, sweetie. Ezra's already gone out but why don't you take this and go grab some lunch?"

Aunt Lindsey reached into her purse on the counter and grabbed a twenty dollar bill, handing it over to Gigi.

"Oh no, that's okay. I can wait til dinner"

"Georgianna, I'm not asking you," she scolded. Within the same second, she broke out into a smile. "Now go on! You can take my car"

She tossed Gigi a set of keys and turned back to her magazine with a smile. Gigi drove to the diner Ezra had taken her to a few times and was glad to not get lost on the way. She pulled the glass door open, the air conditioning immediately hitting her body, and went to sit down at one of the pale gray booths.

While she was waiting for the waitress to bring her a dr. pepper, she retrieved her phone from her bag and scrolled through the contacts, stopping when she reached T. Her finger hovered over the screen for a moment before she typed out a quick text for Tim to meet her, and bring Pat if he wanted to come. Less than fifteen seconds later, she received an affirmative response from him so she waited to order.

It wasn't long after she'd received the reply that she felt a hand gently squeeze her shoulder. She looked up from her hands and smiled at Tim as he took a seat across from her.

"Hey"

"Hey"

"Pat says he's sorry that he promised to hang out with John today because he'd rather be here"

"Guess it's just you and me then"

He gave her a smile as the waitress came over to take their order. Throughout their lunch, Gigi relaxed more and began to lose some of the worry she'd came with. Being around Tim was good for her because she could flirt with him and he would absolutely flirt back and that was all there was to it. She didn't feel guilty talking to him like she did with John. She knew Tim wasn't seeing it as anything but what it was- simple harmless flirting.

As they were preparing to leave, Tim walked Gigi to the car.

"So I guess we'll see you tomorrow then?"

"What's tomorrow?"

"Ezra invited us over"

"Oh! Okay then yes"

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before walking away and she got back into the car and drove back to the house. She noticed Ezra's car was back in the driveway when she got back so she rushed inside to find him. He was on the phone when she burst into his room. He mumbled something to whoever he was talking to and hung up the phone before sitting up to look at Gigi.

"May I help you?"

"Who exactly did you invite tomorrow?"

"How did you know?"

"I met Tim for lunch"

"Really? You did?"

There was a smile growing on his face as he asked.

"Don't, Ezra. It's not like that"

He held up his hands in defense. "I'm not saying anything. You go on lunch dates with whoever you want"

"It wasn't a fucking date"

"Okay, well whatever it was. You're 23. Do what you want"

She ignored his last statement and changed the subject back.

"So who did you invite?"

"Just a few of the guys"

"Like?"

"Tim and Pat, Kennedy, Jared"

"That's all?"

He nodded but shrugged. She gave him a look but he just smiled at her until she gave up and left the room. When she made it back to her room, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Cora's number.

"Hello?"

"I think my cousin is evil"

She laughed. "What did he do now?"

"I think he's conspiring against me. He invited some of the guys over but he's pretty much avoiding telling me if he invited John"

"Would it necessarily be a bad thing if he came?"

"Um, yeah. I've avoided his calls and texts for days now"

"Why are you doing that really?"

"Cora, come on! I told you all this. I am so not ready for any-"

"Gigi, you have to move on! Sweetie, it's been five whole years. Graham is gone and he's not coming back. You have to let it go and move on with your life"

She didn't reply to that. She knew Cora was right but that didn't make it any easier for her. Letting go was easier said than done.

"G, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's fine. You're right"

"Please don't be mad"

"I'm not"

"I just want the best for you. You're my best friend and I love you"

"I know"

There was a long drawn out silence between the two of them.

"I'll talk to you later, Cora. I have to do some stuff"

"Okay," she sighed reluctantly.

Gigi said goodbye and quickly hung up the phone then went to grab her duffle bag from the closet. She unzipped the bag then unzipped a smaller pocket inside, pulling out an old, faded photo containing a happy couple with their arms around each other. She ran her fingertip over the smiling boy's face before her eyes moved on to the girl. Her. She had never been as happy as she was in that moment when the picture was taken.

Only a month after that, her happy, perfect world came crashing down around her and she'd never been the same. Now looking at the photo, Gigi couldn't even remember what it was like to be as happy as she was then. She folded the picture in half and put it down on the nightstand next to the bed.

She dabbed at her wet cheeks as she curled up in her bed and closed her eyes, almost instantly falling into a dream-filled sleep.