Chapter 113

" I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, " Crystal remarked and I smiled. The last time we had seen each other had been during her grand opening, it wasn't really that long ago but so much had happened within that short amount of time it now felt like it had been ages. 

" How've you been?" I asked in an attempt to make casual conversation. She placed both hands on her waist and blew about a breath, then she inclined her head towards the direction where Dahlia had headed, " I've been dealing with a pregnant lady who's also under the stress of planning an entire wedding. Trust me, it's not as magical as it sounds. "

I chuckled. Then I thought of how Dahlia must have been feeling underneath all that stress and pressure. I was certain that she was happy. Why wouldn't she be? She was getting married to the man she loved,and she had a baby on the way. She would soon have the perfect family.

Stability. I craved stability...I don't know where these thoughts had come from but lately I kept imagining myself in such a lovely situation. Never before had I thought of such things in as clear a manner as I was thinking of them now, but for the past couple of weeks it had been all I thought of. To be able to get what I never had as a child. 

" But this is actually good, I get to take notes and learn of what I should do when it's my turn. "

" When is your wedding?" 

" Three weeks after Dahlia's, I wanted it to be a week after but they wanna go on a two week long honeymoon and she's my bridesmaid sooo, " she shrugged. I thought of her own fiance, the tall, fierce yet very attractive male who definitely left an impression on everyone he met. He was one of those people that couldn't be forgotten. And I was sure that after they got married they'd have kids and live their happy lives filled with laughter and joy while I'd be stuck, with the man of my dreams who wanted me for himself but didn't actually want to take that one extra step. 

I didn't know whether I was thinking that way because it was really an issue I was dealing with or because I was hanging around people who had their lives together. Either way, I wanted what they had. 

" Oh, by the way, there's something I wanted to ask you," Crystal said just when i was about to excuse myself and go back to work. I noted the change in her tone. She sounded cautious, like she wasn't sure whether or not to ask whatever was in her mind. My natural conclusion was that if she was nervous to ask then I'd definitely be nervous to respond. But I couldn't just tell her not to ask because apparently that wasn't how socializing worked.

" Yeah? What is it?" I watched as she but her bottom lip and darted her gaze around the room, then she moved closer like she wanted to share some huge secret. 

" Umm...I saw you with Gabriel last time,.and Nick told me that you two seemed pretty close, I mean,it's none of my business or anything but I just can't help but ask, are you two.." She raised a brow and let me conclude for myself. I wasn't even sure whether she knew about me and Arden, but she didn't seem like she did. Maybe she had known that I was married but Dahlia had explained to her the absurdity of the actual situation. They did seem like best friends, the type that told each other everything. 

I didn't know how to reply to her statement. What exactly was she asking? Whether Gabriel and I were dating or if we were just sleeping together. I also didn't know for certain, we were just complicated. I knew he had officially declared me as his girlfriend, but apart from us no one else knew, and I also didn't want to say all we did was sleep together because that wasn't right either. We were so much more. 

" It's okay, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, " She assured me, and she sounded sincere about it. She was still openly curious but she wasn't going to force me to tell her. Her eyes then fell to my neck and remained there, like she was examining something, then she smiled to herself and looked away. I inwardly frowned, wondering what she was thinking. But I didn't ask her because that wasn't who I was, excusing myself, I went back to work. I had just returned from a prolonged leave after only working there for a couple of weeks. If I were in the shoes if the other employees, I'd definitely hate myself because that just didn't sound fair. And it made me wonder whether I was receiving the nice treatment because of my relationship with Gabriel. Dahlia hadn't brought up the issue and I chose to believe she was practicing professionalism by not mixing.my work capabilities with whatever I chose to do during my personal time. I really didn't care for the reason as long as she never brought that subject up. I returned to my focused mode, even with all the employees there were, we still somehow felt like we were understaffed. But that day, just like all the rest, came to an end. By the time my shift ended I felt worn out, I sat down for a couple of minutes to regain my strength. I had been around food for so long that I didn't even feel hungry. 

There's no way I was going to eat anything. Fifteen minutes after I sat down, Gabriel called. The simple sight if his name made me feel happy, the only thing that would make me happier in that moment was if I were in his arms. I just wanted him to hold me till I fell asleep. 

" Hello?" 

" Where are you? You'd better not be working still!" 

" I'm coming, " He asked me to hurry up since he had been waiting out there for a long while. I picked up my purse and left after wishing goodbye to the only two coworkers that I had interacted with most that day. I was shocked to realize that the restaurant was completely full, but it was around dinner time so I guess that made sense. And I was glad I had been able to escape that particular crowd, whoever took over would have to do a lot. 

When I stepped outside, the welcomed fresh air hit me instantly. I stood and turned to the right where I saw Gabriel's car. The smile was automatic. I had tied my hair and was tempted to let it loose, but I was so tired that even that simple action felt like a lot of work, so I just met it be. Gabriel suddenly honked and I shuddered, not having expected the sound. I knew that if I delayed another second he'd do something to her me into the car so I just walked over towards it and slipped into the passenger seat when Gabriel opened it up for me. He was turning out to be quite the gentleman and I both loved and felt suspicious of the fact. I hadn't even sat down well yet when he pulled me towards him and kissed me. His hand using my ponytail to angle me. I had been a little confused at first but it was Gabriel, my mind subconsciously recognized him and I ended up kissing him back even before I properly registered what was quite going on. The kiss was passionate, demanding and without a doubt desperate. He was kissing me the same way he had been holding my hand recently. Like he feared I was going to just slip away so he was doing his best to ensure that didn't happen. 

After the kiss I placed my palms on both his cheeks and looked at him, trying to confirm how he was, whether there was anything hidden in his eyes that he didn't want me to see. But he seemed quite normal. 

" This day was too bloody long!" He seriously complained. Pressing his forehead to mine and closing his eyes. 

" Tired?" He asked and I didn't see the point to lie. I nodded, I was currently fighting the fatigue but deep down what I really wanted was a nice warm bath, and then I wanted to lie in bed with Gabriel right next to me.

" Let's take you home then, " he announced. Then he leaned in and kissed my neck, and when he pulled back his eyes remained there, a proud smirk on his face. 

" I tend to forget how light and fair your skin is, " he commented. Then he focused on the road and started the car. I frowned and angled the rearview mirror to face me, then I checked my reflection, raising my head to inspect my neck. My eyes widened and I wondered why I hadn't thought of that. No wonder everyone had been staring at me and hiding their smiles. My neck was covered in visible hickeys. I traced my fingertips over them and buried my face in my hands, feeling flustered because everyone now knew exactly what I had been up to.

" They look good on you, we ought to make that your permanent look, " Gabriel joked on seeing how silently distraught I was. Had I known I would have done something to cover them up rather than walking around and displaying them to everyone I came across. And why were there so many of them? One would have to be blind to miss them. Sighing, I decided not to think about it too much. 

" Arden informed me he'll be returning the day after tomorrow, " 

" Really? That's cool, I actually miss him. "

 " I'm sure the feeling's mutual. He holds you in high regards. " I had expected him to show his usual pangs of jealousy, so the fact that he hadn't either meant he had finally matured or he was still going through something. 

" Did he finish up whatever he went to do there?" I asked, I knew Gabriel knew absolutely everything that happened in Arden's life. That was how close they were. I just hoped that whatever had been on Arden's mind before he left had been resolved. 

" I don't know for sure, let's just wait and see how things will go when he's here, "

Nodding, I focused on the view outside of the cars window. There was nothing interesting to look at out there. And we were still quite a distance from home. I thought of s question I had to ask, I had actually been planning on asking him way earlier but had forgotten with all the work.

" Are your parents still around?" 

The look he shot me had me realizing the mistake I had made immediately after. He just didn't like it when anyone refered to those two individuals as his parents. I apologized and he gave me a curt nod, then he told me that he had hired a car to pick them up and take them to a nice hotel where all their needs would be met. And that he wished that was the last time he was going to see them because there was a chance that follow next time he would deny them even that one single night in his place. Come to think of it, he had been acting super quiet and calm since his parents arrival.But now that they were gone, I hoped he was going to return to his normal self. When we got the the house, the first words that came to mind was " Crap! "

I don't know what was more telling, the very concentrated cologne or the fact that the entire house had been completely reorganized. Those two were still around. Gabriel took a moment to load what was happening, and when he did realize, he stood up and grit his teeth. Then he followed the sound of Sonia's laughter all the way to the living room . She was seated on one of the couches, Ezra was right next to her and they were both trying to withhold their laughter concerning whatever the hell that were talking about. But the moment they spotted Gabriel, those smiles fell off their faces instantly and they became very aware of the anger he harboured. 

" Mind telling me why you're both still here?" 

The two stared at each other, then sonia went back to telling her story to a very uncomfortable Ezra. She knew nothing about acting nervous. Her eyes told us that she didn't see anything wrong with staying there since she had as much right to it as all of us. 

" Did you not hear me? Why are you still here?" Gabriel demanded once more. His voice had been so loud and angry I had shuddered and attempted to move a little to the side. It's the hand around me that prevented me from moving at all. His attention was on his "parents", he didn't even turn, yet somehow he knew and all about my intentions and he didn't approve.

" Are we still on that?" Sonia asked, sounding bored. 

" We never left it. Now speaking of leaving, " he gestured to the door and asked the couple to leave. Honestly, I didn't see the need to just kick them out at night, even if he didn't like them. He could have just waited till the following day or tried to approach the situation differently. He clearly felt very strongly about their presence there. It affected him more than it naturally ought to. And neither them nor I understood the reason why. I just hated seeing him like that. 

" We appreciate you trying to help us out with the hotel but there's no need to waste your money on--" Ezra began but Gabriel cut him off, his tone spiteful and his glare intense. He was not at all happy. That was genuine anger that he was unable to hide. The fact that he was no longer making light of the situation meant that it wasn't funny at all to him. 

" It's not wasting if it gets you to leave, and I'm fed up of repeatedly asking you to do so!"

" Come on Gabriel,. "

" Just fucking go!..Leave!" He shouted and Sonia's eyes widened as she leaned back to get a better look at him. I think she had just realized that he truly did want them gone. I reached for his arm and tapped on it because he was losing it. I wouldn't know what to do if he got genuinely pissed off. And he was only seconds away from being just that. 

" I won't tell you this again!--" he began but I called out his name until he willingly looked at me. That same haunted look that had been represented in alll those paintings was back in his handsome face. But this time it was accompanied by something else. Hurt, openly displayed for whoever wished to see it. He turned back to his parents but I found it in me to intervene, asking them to just head to their room for a while. Something Gabriel wasn't okay with,but he said nothing. And the two hesitantly left us.