Behind every strong woman

Chapter 20 - Friend or foe

"... hey.. sorry I'm late... What is that smell, what are you cooking G?." Rhonda said as she walked into the house after a long day at work.

" I was trying to remember the recipe of the chicken supreme Jayden's mama used to make us back in the day... have a taste" she said holding up the spoon to her with a little of the sauce mixture on. "What do you think?."

"Wow.. that really is something..." she smiled. "Are you okay?..."

"I went to visit his grave today, I wanted to spend some time with him. No one has taken care of his grave including me. I got caught up in a world with Nathan.. and I forgot about the people that matter to me..."

" It's because he isn't here anymore he isn't physically there to see. We all fall foul of that sometimes. But at least you went there today...

"Jamie was there too...

Rhonda looked at her. "Is he following you?"

Gianna sniggered. "no, he was basically thinking the same as me... He's promised to take care of his grave from now on and pay for the upkeep... now that he's out of prison and I truly believe he will do that because they were so close, despite everything..."

"There is something that I need to tell you.." Rhonda said. "Goldee is coming here tonight... I did say that she comes here a lot, we are friends... I don't agree with what she did to you and I never knew a thing about it... But, she needs to talk to me and I thought I would give you the chance to either be here or not..."

"I'll be here... I don't really have anywhere else to go... I will stay upstairs with Qian.." she said and continued to cook.

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"... you're so deep in thought.." Cody said to Ja as she handed him a Henny.

"Yeah... being back around Gianna but not being able to be close to her it's kinda fucking with me... seeing her today.. just the two of us at Jayden's grave.." he sighed. "She's had enough and I get it.. I am a stubborn motherfucker who doesn't deserve her because of everything that I've done to her... But it still hurts because I still love her.."

Cody sat next to him. "Finally from the heart.. I was beginning to think you didn't have one..."

He smirked. "How do I prove to her Cody... she isn't seeing anything more than the man that I was before I went into jail.."

"I'm the wrong person to ask.. I have wanted you since I met you, but I kept it to myself. I'm hardly the one to give you advice on what you need to do to get your ex back.." she told him honestly.

He looked at her. "Cody... we are great friends, we should never be anything more than that. I know I've said some terrible things to you too, but the truth of the matter is I like our friendship... I don't want it to be ruined by a relationship that goes wrong. I hope you understand that... I struggle in relationships.. I just do, so why would you want to put yo self through it with me?." He asked her.

"Because sometimes, like now.. you speak from the heart, you mellow out and I see a good man.. who puts up a tough front...." She told him.

"Just friends." He said to her, reiterating it and she nodded.

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"...... oh it must be bad...." Rhonda said as Goldee handed her not one but two bottles of wine to put on chill.

"It is bad..." she sighed. "Just open one of those bottles..." she sat on the sofa and looked around the place. "Kids toys?.. what are you doing with kids toys..." she sniggered.

Rhonda handed her a glass of wine and sat with her. "So what's happened?."

"He dumped me.. he's been screwing some NBA presenter.. some 25 year old blonde..."

"What are you more worried about him screwing around or the fact that you've lost your meal ticket!."

"Rhonda!.. I really believed he was the one..."

"Well I guess FX is still available...

"That's below the belt... I've not really seen you or G since then... how is she?... is things good with her and Nathan?.."

"It's complicated...

"Rhonda... I need...
Gianna stopped as she got to the bottom of the stairs and realised that Goldee was there.

"G..." Goldee said with a smile, happy to see her.

Gianna just looked at her. "Don't talk to me... don't ever talk to me.."

"I'm sorry... I want you to forgive me...

"Forgive you?.. why would I forgive you?.. you knew about me and him, you were supposed to be my friend... but all you did was make a joke outta me... I trusted you... I told you things... did you go back and tell him... mocking me.."

"Never..." she shook her head. "I never said a word to him about you...."

"You we're sleeping with him for years.. weren't you..."

"Please G....

"No... there is no going back for me and you now.. no friends does what you did..." she told her. She looked at Rhonda "I just wanted to know where the fleece blanket was... me and Qian are watching a movie..."

Rhonda handed it to her before she turned and heads back up the stairs.

" you could have told me that she was here!" Goldee said to Rhonda.

"She is living here... she won't get in the way of you and you don't need to see her from now... you don't need me to tell you that what you did was wrong, you already know that... you've lost her... you to just have to learn to live with that..."

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Gianna lie with Qian cuddled into her watching tv. She kissed the top of his head. Seeing Goldee made her angrier than she thought it would.

Her phone lit up, she sat up and saw it was Nathan. She took a deep breath and let it ring off. She wanted him to leave her alone. No sooner than the phone rang off, she received another call from an unknown number. She picked up. "Hello?."

"You're a bitch...

"Excuse me?." She said to the female voice on the other end of the phone.

"You need to watch yo back bitch... I'm gonna make sure you pay for everything...

"Who is this?." She said angrily.

"You'll find out soon enough.. you're gonna need to keep one eye open when you sleep from now on you fucking ho!..."
The call ended abruptly.

Gianna just sat and stared at her cell she had no idea who this was and what this could be about. As far as she knew she had kept herself to herself and had never done anything to upset anyone.

She looked back at her son and climbed back on the bed with him, hugging him into her. "Mom.. did you see that part... he's the superhero.." he said to her absolutely mesmerised and drawn into the movie they had been watching together.

"I sure did." She replied, but her mind was definitely elsewhere right now....