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She’d gone to the cabin to sort herself out, not jump from the frying pan into the fire, trading one broken heart with Sam’s name on it for another with Elio’s.
Liza had been trying—unsuccessfully—for weeks to get Gianna to set up an online dating profile. Something she’d been resistant to do. Now, she was thinking perhaps it was time to take the leap.
Besides, she was running out of excuses. No one would ever accuse Liza of being a quitter because she just kept coming back.
Gianna eyeballed her couch, debating skipping dinner. Her stomach vetoed that idea by rumbling hungrily.
Back when she and Sam had dated, Wednesday nights had been pizza night, when they would walk the two blocks to Sal’s and split a pie. She had continued that tradition without Sam for a few weeks after their split, always hoping she’d run into him. Looking back now, she could see just how pitiful she’d been.
“Ugh,” she muttered. “Enough.”
She didn’t want to think about Sam any more than Elio. Although, while thoughts of Elio made her sad, memories of Sam no longer made her feel anything—no more anger, sadness, nothing.
“Hmmm…” she mused. “Maybe you’re celebrating more than one thing tonight,” she suggested to herself, when she realized that in addition to landing her dream job, she was finally over Sam.
“Go me,” she said, offering herself a little cheer.
Grabbing a warm jacket and her purse, she walked the two blocks to Sal’s, smiling to herself when she got close enough to smell the garlicky pizza sauce, pleased she’d decided to make the effort. The crisp, chilly air was perking her up and she didn’t feel so exhausted anymore.
She made a mental note to add “take a walk” to her daily routine.
“You’re late,” the owner, Sal, called out cheerfully to her when she walked in.
Gianna frowned, confused.
Late for what?
Glancing around, she suddenly understood when she spotted Sam, sitting alone, a whole large pizza on the table before him. From his chagrined expression, she realized he wasn’t here by chance.
“Sam,” she said, walking over to him. “Let me guess, large pepperoni, mushroom, and onion?”
He nodded. She could see she’d taken him aback with her civil tone. Their last meeting had been a hell of a lot more contentious. Of course, he had broken into her apartment—two days in a row.
“I haven’t been here since…” He fell silent, not bothering to say the rest.
“Since we split up,” she finished for him. She didn’t mention she knew that, that she’d come here too many Wednesdays hoping to see him.
“At the time, I was worried about running into you,” he admitted.
“Yeah. I guess it could have been awkward bumping into me with Emma by your side. Oh, wait…” She laughed at her own joke, and Sam gave her a curious look, aware that the anger that had been there when he’d broken into her apartment was gone.
“Emma didn’t know about you until that night at the mall.”
Gianna nodded. She’d figured that out on her own.
“It was why she dumped me,” Sam continued. “Kicked me out of her apartment. She was pissed I’d lied to her, said that I’d been cheating on both of you.”
“I’m suddenly feeling some respect for Emma.”
Sam sighed sadly. “I shouldn’t have come here. I don’t know why I did. I’ll get Sal to box up the pizza and go.”
Gianna waved him off. “You don’t have to do that. I don’t own Sal’s. You can eat here whenever you want.” She looked down at his pizza, wondering how many hundreds of that exact same pie they’d shared over the years.
“If you wanted…you could…sit with…” He gestured at the food. “I mean, it is a large.”
She should say no. She knew that, but loneliness is an invasive thing, preying on a person. She was tired of eating alone, tired of talking to herself.
Tonight was a celebration. She got the dream job. And she had turned the corner on Sam, once and for all.
