CHAPTER 8

  Gabriel opened his eyes slowly, taking the carefully folded handkerchief from his pocket and slowly wiping his eyes, then the rest of his face. I realized I was still standing frozen, with my hands holding the tray while the last of the liquid dripped from it and onto the white, tiled floor. God, even his shoes had coffee on them.

  “I am… I wasn’t….” I started, unable to find the right words as I watched a storm form in his eyes. I realized I didn’t know anything about this Gabriel ⁠— how he had changed, what kind of person he had become after we last saw each other. He might have as well turned into his brother.

  I shuddered at the thought, but he didn’t lash out at me, just looked down at his ruined papers. I noticed that at least his phone and tablet had remained out of danger, but his clothes… oh, they were done. Getting coffee out was almost as hard as making a toddler put his pajamas on when they didn’t want to go to bed.