RAISE YOUR HAND

Chapter 17

The day finally arrived! It was the day of the dinner Gio invited her to, and she needed to do some baking. Pronto. She promised Gio something fantastic. But what? Ooh, she got it! Her very own chocolate chip cookie recipe. Those were always a huge favorite whenever she baked them with her mother, which wasn't very often.

She wondered how her mother was doing. Her parents never checked on her, among other things, and it caused a riff between them. Maybe she would call. Perhaps mend things. Someday.

Trinity let go of the thought and went onto Apple Music. It was only recently she realized Dante paid for a subscription for everyone in the company, thanks to Gio telling her.

Ariana Grande's, Break Free caught her eye. Kind of appropriate to her situation.

"I'm stronger than I've been before!" she sang and bopped around her kitchen grabbing everything she needed to bake.

She loved baking. It was relaxing. She liked to cook too, but not as much as baking. Nothing was more comforting than something warm, gooey and chocolatey.

Mirabella and Gio were going to go crazy for these cookies. Maybe she should bring a copy of the recipe with her. That way they could bake them whenever they wanted. Although, something told her, Gio would never set foot in a kitchen unless he was grabbing food. Just like the other day in the cafeteria. How hilarious and mortifying that was.

She missed Gio the rest of the week. He had to work with Dante and was throwing tantrums according to Ms. Jewell. Hopefully, things would go back to normal on Monday and her lunch buddy would return.

It made her think of Dante. Where did he eat for lunch? In his office or did he go out? Hmm. Maybe she'd ask him. Trinity's stomach sunk. On second thought, better not. He might think she was fishing for an invitation. She didn't want to confuse him.

Brushing off her hands, she popped a sheet of dough into the oven and ran upstairs to look through her closet. What to wear tonight? Trinity tapped her lip. Maybe she would give Becky a try. Now that David was gone, she didn't need to keep her distance. Right?

The phone rang once then went straight to voicemail.  Weird. Did Becky press the decline button? Dialing Eugenia, she didn't answer either. Her phone, however, rang a bunch of times before it too went to voicemail.

She was on her own. Actually, no she wasn't. She could shoot Gio a text and ask him. His response was immediate, telling her to wear jeans or whatever. Perfect. As much as she loved dressing up, she longed to be comfy for once.

After Trinity had all of the cookies baked, she packaged them up into an airtight container and went upstairs to get ready. Powder-blue jeans, white t-shirt and a gray comfy sweatshirt with gray slouchy socks. Oh yeah. She looked ultra comfy. Finding a matching hair tie, she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and quickly curled the tail. A touch of mascara and lip gloss, which was a waste because she was going to be eating, and she was ready to go. She hesitated. Did she need blush? Sucking in her cheeks, she decided a little dab wouldn't hurt. There. Now she didn't look like a zombie.

Assessing herself more closely, she smiled. She looked younger like this. Her appearance reminded her of how she used to look in high school. That was only two and a half years ago. Amazing how fast time flew. Amazing how her life experience was vastly different from practically everyone else's, and not in a good way.

Trinity murmured. Dwelling wasn't going to help, and only ruin her good mood. Tonight was about having fun. She would stuff her face, play video games and watch movies or whatever Gio had in store. She was going to be in good company tonight. For however difficult, she wasn't going to let memories of David haunt her thoughts.