Chapter 9: New Romance

"Your prince charming is in town and he was wondering if you would do him the honor of having dinner with him."

"Gary, I can't believe you'd try hitting on me so soon after the end of my relationship with Graham."

"You should believe it, after all, you were kissing me last night. And Graham doesn't have to know."

Victoria thought Graham didn't have to know but he would. He wanted to spend time with Alice? Fine, she'd spend time with his best friend. That should make him jealous enough to come crawling. There had to be some kind of competition between those two.

On their way to the restaurant, Vicky tried having a meaningful conversation with Gary. He was in a flirtatious mood. He didn’t seem to have anything to say other than she was pretty and a good kisser. That dinner would be close to hell in her point of view. She considered herself intelligent. Yet, Gary was treating her like a stupid airhead. Was it the impression she was giving?

“Gary! I have a university degree! Would you stop treating me like a dumb blonde that only cares about her hair, clothes and nails?”

“Oh, you don’t?”

Vicky shot him a dirty look. He had to change his strategy or else she’d ask him to bring her home. But it was hard to resist. Wasn’t the plan to make her ridiculize herself? Maybe it was too soon, he had to be patient.

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t too nice. From now on, I’ll be a sweet boy. I’ll even talk to you about the theory of relativity…”

Vicky laughed. Gary had always been very funny. She didn’t even have a thought for Graham or Mandy, people she was hurting by going on a date with Gary. She would have a great time. She wanted Graham to hear about it and she wanted Alice to get dumped. Everything would work how she planned. Using Gary was a small price to pay.

“What if I told you I’ve been waiting for this day? For the moment when you and Graham wouldn’t be an item so I could make my move.”

“I’d say you are lying. But I do admit, I am surprised. You never seemed to like me when I was dating him.”

“You think I would have made my intentions clear to Graham? I’m not stupid; now that he’s gone gaga for Alice, I can make my move and he won’t notice.”

“Gaga for Alice? Oh please, that girl is a desperate case. No way. I refuse to believe it.”
“That’s ok, I don’t care about Alice and Graham right now. It’s all about you.”

But Victoria couldn’t think of anything else. Graham couldn’t be gaga for Alice. He still wanted her, of course. Alice was just a distraction. She’d make him see that sooner than later. Hanging with Gary could only help. She couldn’t wait for them to fight; both trying to win her. It would be great. And she wanted Alice to be there and see how she never could be even half the woman she is. Victoria smiled.

“We should go for a walk.”

Tenth chapter: January 7th --- A Cold Hard Look

Graham takes a step back from the madness to analyze his relationship with Alice and Vicky.