Chapter Text
It was the fifth night that Dani couldn't sleep, she kept thinking back to the disaster of the wedding, how Finley and Sophie along with all her closest friends had lied to her, the humiliation of finding out about it at the altar and the built up anger that she couldn't get rid of in any way.
She didn't even have the courage to go outside the house for fear of running into any of the wedding guests or her friends and recognizing the pity in their eyes when they saw her.
However, when Bette offered to help her look for a house, since living with Sophie and Finley was certainly not an option and she didn’t want to keep living with her father, she reluctantly agreed.
Bette had mentioned on the phone that she knew a very good real estate agent and that she had made an appointment with her to look at a property that Dani had mentioned she was interested in.
The next morning Dani didn't feel like going, but she knew it wouldn't be fair to Bette and the effort she had put into getting her this viewing, so she decided to get dressed quickly and left the house.
As soon as Bette and Gigi entered the lobby Gigi went to the reception desk and spoke cordially with the girl at the front desk handing her realtor card, then turned to Bette looking for eye contact and leaned her head on her shoulder, Bette however was distracted talking on the phone and completely ignored her gaze moving slightly away from the physical contact.
Gigi then immediately moved away understanding the discomfort from Bette's body language and her mind began to wander.
Since she was a little girl she always expressed her feelings and emotions both talking openly about it and unconsciously also with physical contact, in the past, even with those she had known for a short time, she was immediately affectionate and this had often led her to bump into people who considered her too intrusive, provoking in her a sense of inadequacy that she had managed to come to terms with over time without affecting her confidence, but in some moments she feared that feeling would return, showing a part of her that almost no one had ever seen, the insecure one.
Gigi was still immersed in her thoughts when she heard the sound of footsteps getting closer.
She looked up and noticed two people much taller than her, a middle aged man and a woman with whom she didn't have time to exchange a glance because she was interrupted by Bette's voice.
"Rodolfo Núñez this is Gigi Ghorbani, my girlfriend"
Gigi was taken aback for a moment by these words and gave a questioning look at Bette. Gigi decided to postpone that discussion to another time and held out her hand, greeting the man in front of her who she assumed was Dani's father.
Gigi for a moment contemplated to cordially offer her hand to the woman to introduce herself but for a fraction of a second she met Dani’s gaze and noticed a sadness in her eyes that made her heart tighten, Gigi knew about the fiasco of Dani's wedding through what Bette had told her but she didn't feel pity in seeing that look on the executive face, but a sense of protection that even she couldn't explain to her self which led her to instinctively approach Dani and greet her with two kisses on the cheek instead of a handshake.
Dani was thanking Bette when she saw the woman in front of her slowly approaching her and giving her two kisses on the cheek, she instinctively brought one of her hands behind the smaller woman's back and squeezed lightly around her waist.
"I've heard so much about you from Bette" Gigi said and continued with a wide grin "I promised her I'll take good care of you".
Before pulling away Dani felt Gigi squeeze her arm slightly, almost as if she sensed her nervousness and wanted to reassure her.
Dani stood still for a moment with a smile on her face as she watched Gigi slowly walk away from her and she felt almost embarrassed by the blush on her cheeks that that single touch had caused her.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Bette's voice.
"Unfortunately I have to run but I will call you later?" she asked Gigi.
Gigi nodded and Bette quickly greeted Dani by gently placing her hand on Dani's arm,this gesture, to her surprise, didn’t cause the same comfort she had felt a few seconds ago thanks to Gigi's touch.
How was it possible that the touch from someone she had just met felt more comforting than the one from a friend she had known for a while?
"Shall we go upstairs?" Gigi asked as she handed Dani the sheet of paper with all the specifics of the condo.
Dani nodded weakly, still deep in her own thoughts.
"The building has a rooftop pool, hot tub and a 3000 foot-square fitness center.." Gigi said as the three of them entered the luxurious elevator right before pressing the floor of the apartment.
Dani was standing next to the realtor, their shoulders were almost touching and she felt surrounded by the scent of vanilla coming from Gigi's neck and she couldn't help but notice the three gold necklaces Gigi wore around her neck, the last of them falling right at the beginning of the neckline of the elegant black blouse Gigi was wearing and for a moment the executive was hypnotized by that vision and that addictive scent.
Dani, however, quickly recomposed herself and noticed that luckily Gigi was busy looking for the keys to the apartment and hadn't noticed anything.
As soon as the elevator doors opened Gigi headed confidently towards the door.
"But fuck all that, pardon my french...this is why we're really here" the realtor said opening the door and showing a breathtaking view of Los Angeles.
"Wow I see what Bette meant, you are amazing" Rodolfo said while looking at the huge glass windows starting from the floor and reaching all the way up to the ceiling.
Gigi thanked him politely and guided them to the master room.
Dani, unlike her father, was not so impressed, the only thing she saw was a huge empty house where she would have to live alone and that would remind her even more of the feeling of emptiness she was attempting to ignore.
That house looked a lot like her, perfectly put together when seen from the outside but hopelessly empty inside.
"I don't know about this place, it's really big for one person.." Dani said trying to suppress the thoughts that this could have been the house where she and Sophie were going to live with the family they planned to have.
"Do I even wanna buy something right now?" the executive asked turning to her father.
"Por favor it's perfect, you need a place that's yours, okay?" Rodolfo answered determined to buy the apartment in question.
"My parents are the same way, my dad always used to say.." Gigi continued, using a strong Persian accent "four walls make a man free but only if he owns them".
"Where are your parents from?" Rodolfo asked.
"Iran" Gigi replied.
"Farsi is a beautiful language" Rodolfo said, trying to pronounce the words in Farsi correctly but failing miserably.
"I'm surprised, you know Farsi? I thought your daughter looked Iranian" Gigi said in a playful tone.
"My mom was Iranian, he's Chilean, these are the only words he knows" Dani immediately replied looking towards her father who was watching the interaction with a smile on his face, hearing her daughter speak persian after so long warmed his heart.
"Of course lady, it's obvious I was messing with him" Gigi said grinning and causing a small laugh in Dani.
Gigi didn't know it but that was the first sincere laugh the executive had made in the last week and for a moment Dani felt her nerves relax slightly, this feeling however vanished immediately when she heard her father words.
"I'm pretty sure you will make this a lovely place, Dani" his father said assuredly.
The realtor immediately noticed the nervousness returning to Dani's face.
"Take your time, there's no rush" Gigi promptly replied in a calming tone.
"No she'll take it, you can start drawing up the contract Gigi" Rodolfo quickly replied taking one last look at the open space kitchen.
Dani was silent and looked around bewildered in the big house that was going to become hers, the realtor wanted to make her as comfortable as possible so she opted to give her back the power of decision that her father had so quickly taken away from her, she didn't care if it meant not closing the contract, she wanted to be sure that this was what Dani wanted.
"Hey..I'll do whatever you say" Gigi said, capturing her attention and giving her a smile so sweet and soft that Dani for a moment almost forgot about that empty house and just wanted to be immersed in that smile for as long as she could.
Dani wondered why Gigi hadn't accepted her father's offer immediately, closing the contract as soon as possible was certainly in her best interest and yet Dani hadn't said a word but the woman in front of her had made it clear that whatever instructions she would give her Gigi would have followed them.
Dani watched her for a moment awestruck at how effortlessly Gigi had managed to create a safe space for her to express her opinion.
"You can... start the paperwork" Dani said, a little stunned and at the same time intrigued by the woman in front of her.
She took one last look at the amazing view of Los Angeles and for the first time she thought that maybe, with time, she could fill that big empty house.
The three of them made their way back to the condo’s exit and the view of Los Angeles quickly disappeared behind the elevator doors.
This time, as they entered the elevator, Dani didn't glance over at Gigi as she had done before, she was afraid to be enchanted again by the small details of Gigi that she could observe from such close distance, so she tensed her jaw fighting the urge to look at the realtor one more time.
Gigi noticed how Dani kept her gaze down with her jaw tensed, fidgeting with the thin silver necklace she wore around her neck, a wavy tuft of hair fell slightly on the left side of her face and Gigi wondered what she was thinking, what she was feeling, what was behind that cold look that seemed to keep away anyone who tried to come too close.
Gigi was about to ask her if she was feeling alright when the elevator rang alerting them that they had arrived at the lobby on the ground floor.
Dani was the first to quickly exit the elevator, her face impassive. Gigi, who before had immediately understood Dani’s nervousness, now observing her again she realized that she was not able to decipher her expression, not even remotely.
Gigi thought that asking her something personal, considering that they were basically strangers, might bother the executive, so she decided to keep the topic on a professional level.
"I can send you all the documents to sign today via email, for the keys is not so immediate but you can come to my office in a week and I will give you everything" the realtor said with a neutral and calm tone.
The executive nodded and thanked her avoiding any eye contact and quickly offering Gigi her hand to shake.
Gigi shook her hand uncertainty, thinking if maybe before she had made a mistake in following her instincts and greeting Dani with two kisses on the cheek instead of a handshake, greeting that the executive seemed to be more used to.
Gigi then politely greeted Rodolfo as well and watched them leave the building.
"To new possibilities, thanks to your friend" Rodolfo said while handing Dani a glass of scotch.
“Uh, what’s her name?" Rodolfo asked Dani, who in the meantime was signing all the paperwork for the new house.
"Gigi?" Dani asked, trying to maintain a neutral tone.
"Yeah I liked her, I always imagined you'd end up with someone like her" Rodolfo said as a small smile formed on the corner of his mouth.
"Someone,uh,Persian?" Dani asked, knowing her father's very difficult taste and how diffident he was of people, she thought that might be the reason her father liked Gigi.
"No," Rodolfo laughed quietly, "someone adventurous,gutsy" he continued.
"Someone like mom?" Dani asked with a small smile on her face at the mention of her mother.
Rodolfo nodded, smiling at his daughter.
That night for the first time in a week, Dani managed to fall asleep.