Finding The 10

2 - The Plan

Eli's POV

"What about Chantelle? Is she still single?" Marco asks his cousin Frankie, completely ignoring my protests.

"Nah, she started dating some guy called Derek."

"Alicia?"

"She moved to England for her publishing job. What about Denise?"

"Denise is pregnant to Tony."

"Which Tony? Tony Zampari or Tony Santos?"

I watch their back and forth banter and pour myself another drink. They have been at this for half an hour and have barely acknowledged me sitting at the bar with drink in hand. Finally, I decide to have my say.

"Do I get a say in who you are trying to set me up with or not?" I ask lamely.

"No." They both turn and say in unison.

"You have terrible judgement in women. You think they are perfect but then after a few months their true colours come out." Marco assess.

"Besides, we aren't trying to set you up with your next girlfriend. We are trying to get you a rebound." His cousin Frankie quickly adds with a wiggle on her brows.

These two are unbelievable. They are cousins but have also acted like brother and sister. Especially since Frankie started working here.

They bicker and fight like siblings but when push comes to shove, they have each others back.

"I know! Candice. She loves having a good time." Marco announces loudly.

That name alone scares me so I voice my concern.

"Oh no. I have partied with Candice before and she is batshit crazy. She fought a bouncer twice her size last time and broke his nose." I add.

"Well, its just for some fun. Besides, she digs you." Marco says wiggling his eyebrows and I fight the urge to cringe.

"She digs anyone with tattoos and a dick." Frankie adds snarkily while pouring her own drink.

"Well, then who? I only know so many girls." Marco throws his hands in the air in defeat and I find myself shaking my head.

"I don't need a rebound guys. Im fine." I quickly down my drink and let Frankie pour me another.

"What you need is a one night stand to let out that sexual frustration that's building up. It's been weeks since you ended things with Jules. You need to get back into the swing of things." Marco says as he sips on his own whiskey on the rocks.

"I am back into the swing of things. I wake up, swing into work and then swing home straight after. Sounds like a great plan to me."

I gulp another drink and slam the glass down a little too hard. Frankie pours me another before I even ask and I send her a grateful smile. At least she gets my need to dull the pain.

"What about 'the plan'?" Marco asks bringing up a touchy subject for me right now.

"You had to bring that up, didn't you."

"Whats 'the plan'?" Frankie asks using air quotes to emphasise her question. I haven't known her for as long as Marco so she wouldn't have any idea what he is talking about, thank god.

"It's nothing. There is no plan anymore." I swirl my drink in my hands.

"Come on. We both swore that once we hit 30 we would focus on two things. 1; buying our own bar. Check. And 2; settling down. Im half way there with Beth so now you need to catch up."