Chapter 17

The bell rang, and in came his savior, Jay. He walked in with fast, heavy strides, balled fists, eyes tight around the edges, nose flared; his jaw looked clenched through his loose shaggy cheeks. Old age pulled in reluctance from his anger.

"It looks like something happened in the club," Gloria and Daru both thought, looking at Jay's visage. But one didn't really care for what had happened. The other, Gloria, walked into the kitchen to fetch cold water from the fridge. While she walked into the kitchen, Jay settled down into the single sofa, his anger weighing him down.

With a glass in hand, Gloria walked towards Jay. Closing in, she gave the glass to Jay and asked, "This is pretty early for you, what happened?" Finishing the water in a few deep gulps, Jay looked at Daru for a second then replied through gritted teeth, "Eric was there…"

"Oh… you have to let that go, Jay. It's already been a long time," Gloria said, now knowing the reason, looking exasperated.

That seemed to break a certain fuse in Jay, as his face turned firetruck red. "Gloria, you don't understand it…" Jay began to say with steam but held himself back, probably because of Daru's presence and maybe because he had tried justifying it too many times to Gloria already.

Keeping the glass on the table in the center, Jay closed his eyes and fell back into the seat. For a minute, it was just awkward silence. One was dealing with his emotions, and the other didn't give a damn about it, until Jay broke it, "I am going to sleep."

Saying so, Jay pushed himself up. Daru was impressed; there was no old person groan – "what, is he 80 something?" He was not; Daru just wanted him to be someone who couldn't even stand, in more ways than one.

"Alright… but if you are gonna carry that angry face," Gloria pointed at him with a sharp tone, "then sleep in the other guest room…"

Jay paused his step for a second with his back facing them as he walked towards the stairs. He then waved his hand above his head and walked.

"I didn't hear you."

Jay turned around, arms wide, "Okay, okay, I'm just gonna get my clothes… alright."

Gloria looked at him with squinty eyes, then hummed and nodded, "Hmm."

Daru looked at this interaction and smiled, amused at how Gloria had Jay under her thumb. As Daru was smirking to himself, Gloria looked at him, "What…" raising her eyebrows, she questioned.

"Nothing…" Daru quickly replied; he didn't want any conflict. But Gloria just stared at him, so to change the topic, he asked, "What's with Jay though? It doesn't look like something small."

For a second, Gloria held the stare, then tilting her head back and rolling her eyes, she said, "Jay is just being a baby…"

Daru looked at her, not knowing what to make of that. Gloria, seeing his confused look, went into the details.

"It's about Eric, the guy he was talking about,"

"Hmm."

"So, Eric is his old friend cum business partner, or was. They split away due to some fight or disagreement."

Daru nodded as Gloria continued.

"It has been years to this, and while there was tension and fights between them, it went super big recently."

Gloria leaned in, "A few months back, Jay found out that right before a few weeks when Eric left the company, a very huge hotel chain from France had come in to make a deal with Jay's company."

"Ahh…" Daru almost pieced together everything that would have happened.

"Yeah, like you can guess, Eric, who was breaking away from the company, didn't tell Jay but took that deal to his new company he opened."

Like two gossiping grannies, both Daru's and Gloria's eyes twinkled.

"And you know what, it turns out that company has been a golden goose laying eggs for Eric's company till today; it is one of the major clients of his company."

Daru nodded in understanding.

'I should note this down; it might be helpful to rope Jay into the dark side.'

While he mentally stored away that information for later use, Daru looked towards Gloria as she had that gossip smile on her face. He was not surprised at how easily Gloria revealed everything to him, when Jay was avoiding mentioning anything in front of him… she has always been that way… she tells him everything he asks… never hiding anything from him.

This still thumped his heart… He laid soft eyes on her… Reaching out, he lightly held Gloria's hand… Gloria startled a bit but then eased into his hand… he needed her.

Daru drew circles on her palm with his thumb, just like the ones in his head thinking how to win her back… He knew it would be hard for him to even start with the mindset, as he didn't want to hurt her...

After the major fuck up he did all those years back, he doesn't wanna make a repeat. Most of all, he doesn't know if she even wants him again…

Daru smiled wryly, knowing he was being hypocritical. He has never had any second thoughts in pursuing any women until now, not minding if they were in a relationship. Hell, he doesn't even hesitate in his thoughts of seducing Claire, Alex, or Haley.

But with Gloria, he wants to take each step carefully, but he knows one thing for sure, he wants her, wants her for sure.

'But…'

"Ha…" exhaling a heavy breath, Daru lets Gloria's hand go. He gets up from the seat, not daring to look towards Gloria and what he would find out. 'Expectation, relief, hesitation…' he didn't wanna know.

"I will go to sleep," Daru said with his back to Gloria. A second later, Gloria hums, "Hm…" Not turning back, Daru walks away. Behind him, Gloria stays still with a blank stare towards her hand

AN: happy new year.