Chapter 4

Silence settled heavily within the confines of the BMW sitting idly by the sidewalk, save for the occasional taps emanating from fingers flying across the Gorilla-glassed screen of his phone and the hullabaloo of the outside world.

Gabriel sat in the driver's seat of his car, busy with his mobile as he waited for his girlfriend to emerge from her apartment complex. He was dressed casually, yet with an intention to impress, in a pair of fitted jeans snug against his manly thighs, a black undershirt and a similarly black leather jacket with a pair of Dr. Martens boots adorning his feet.

A minute passed and Gabriel shifted his attention from his phone to his wristwatch, checking the time. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he looked toward the apartment building he was currently parked in front of.

For over a half hour now, he had been waiting for Sigourney to come out but when she'd been busy taking her sweet time getting ready, he'd resorted to busying himself with sorting through important emails, hoping she'd join him soon.

She still hadn't.

Sighing again, Gabriel opened his door and rose. They were only going to visit her friend yet she took this much time as if preparing for a major event. He just couldn't understand women sometimes.

Oh, who was he kidding?

Most times; he couldn't understand women most times.

Stepping out, Gabriel shut his door, pocketed his mobile device and leaned an arm over the roof of his car, staring in the direction of her apartment. He contemplated going in to hurry her up, but just as quickly, he shut down the thought. He knew if he went in, she'd ask for something he wasn't ready to give or toil over this morning, and he was starting to get tired of turning her down.

Therefore, he only had the option of calling her instead.

However, just as he whipped out his phone to do that, the half-walking, half-jogging figure of his girlfriend burst out the entrance door, hurrying over to him. Rounding the front of his BMW, Gabriel let his eyes rake over her frame as they drew closer to each other.

Like him, she was also dressed casually. He raised his eyebrows at her simple outfit—a sundress with thin straps holding the whole piece up around her nape and gladiator sandals— half expecting her to be donning a sequined mermaid gown with a face accentuated by makeup with the amount of time she'd taken to get ready.

She finally reached him and shot him an apologetic smile. “Hi, babe.” Sigourney rose to her toes and he met her lips halfway for a kiss.

“Hey,” he greeted, eyes drifting to the filled plastic bags dangling heavily from her arms. He reached for them. “I admit I was half expecting you to be dressed in a red carpet-worthy outfit, considering how you made me wait almost an hour.” He quipped as he rounded to the rear of his car, setting the bags in the booth.

“Oh, keep quiet, you.” Sigourney rolled her eyes playfully, amusement tugging at the corners of her lips. “I was pretty much done dressing ages ago, however, I had to pack the items I'd gotten for Josy's arrival.” Gabriel hummed in response, returning to her side. “Speaking of; we need to stop by the mall on our way. I have a few stray things to pick up.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes playfully at her. “Why do I have a feeling you didn't solely bring me along to meet the infamous Josy for the purpose of introducing us? Admit it, you just needed an errand boy.”

Thoroughly amused, Sigourney laughed, shaking her head at her boyfriend who proceeded to pull the passenger side door open for her.

“What gave that away?” she chirped mirthfully and Gabriel hid his smile, grumbling halfheartedly as he closed the door and got into the driver's seat.

They zoomed off.

❀ ❀ ❀

It was now past high noon, a little over two hours since they'd arrived at Josy's penthouse home yet Gabriel was about ready to drop dead.

Sigourney had decided to surprise her best friend by arriving first at her house to decorate the place for her homecoming. Initially, Gabriel had been opposed to the idea, stating the fact that her friend would probably need a day or two to herself before wanting to entertain visitors. He had suggested that they pay her a visit a day or two after her arrival but Sigourney had stubbornly pushed her own opinion into motion (like always), arguing about how it had been too long since she'd seen her bestie.

Now, Gabriel had to literally bite his tongue to keep from cursing as loud and as much as he really wanted to. The effort it took him to conceal his profanities made his eyes water and his throat itch, or perhaps that was as a result of the generous amount of dust he had inhaled since they'd set foot in the house.

He had sneezed more times since they'd walked through the door than he'd ever done in his entire life, and he could feel his cotton undershirt sticking uncomfortably to the skin of his back from perspiration.

When they'd arrived at Josy's penthouse, unlocking the front door had revealed a living space akin to a harbor for dust and pesky cobwebs. Every visible surface housed dust accumulated over time, however, the whole place was perfectly arranged, with nothing seemingly out of place.

After the initial shock had worn off, Sigourney had shrugged nonchalantly before marching into the house, ordering a gaping Gabriel to open the curtains, start stripping off his leather jacket if he still valued it, and in her exact words, “get to work.”

Two hours later and Gabriel could feel the telltale of a sore throat and clogged nose approaching him with open arms. He needed a shower direly and he was sure he had a metropolis of cobwebs in his hair but thankfully, they only had a few more decorations to put up and he could finally rest.

“You know, your friend could've considered hiring a housekeeper to tidy the house in her absence.” Irritated, Gabriel couldn't keep the snark from slipping into his tone as he hung a balloon with the capital letter 'O' on it to the low ceiling.

“She did,” Sigourney defended, an underlying warning in her tone as she passed him the next lettered balloon—'M'. “But, perhaps something must have happened to Bertha to warrant her absence.”

“The place looks like it hasn't been touched for more than a month,” he grumbled on. “And if you had listened to me, we most likely would be coming to visit your friend two days from today and we would meet a clean house, a well-rested Josy and we would've prevented sweaty and cobwebby Gabriel Reid.”

Passing her boyfriend the last letter, Sigourney rolled her eyes and dug through one of the plastic bags for the streamers. “You've made that clear to me for the umpteenth time since we got here, Gabriel, and I let you know that rest assured, once we're done with the decorations, you can freshen up before Josy gets here. Some people would have had the decency to drop the subject by now.”

She'd called him by his full name; Gabriel could tell her annoyance was slowly brewing but he was also similarly annoyed, so he hopped down from the coffee table and faced her, droning on.

“It's not about my state of unkempt, Sigourney. It's about your hardheadedness. Your unwillingness to be open to other people's opinions and suggestions.”

Gabriel stared back into Sigourney's face; her face was hard now, the look in her eyes, unyielding. This was the problem he had with her. As pleasant as she was, she was as stubborn as a bull once she had her mind set, even when what she was doing was wrong.

“You're nagging again. Always nagging me like I'm a fucking child, Gabriel. You know other boyfriends would've been ready to help their girlfriends and not bitch about it later. Wes certainly didn't—” she abruptly stopped, cutting herself short as she looked away to take a deep breath, but the damage was already done.

When she looked back at her boyfriend, he had his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. She'd let her ex-boyfriend's name slip again but that wasn't what peeved Gabriel. It was the fact that she was about to compare him to her ex again; something she never hesitated to do whenever they had an argument.

The tension between them stretched taut as they both fought to calm down. Sigourney's expression softened and she looked apologetic as she took a step forward to touch Gabriel's arm but was brought to a halt when she heard distinct footsteps outside the door.

Her eyes widened and she quickly began tidying up the rest of the decorations. “Babe, please can we address this later? I think Josy is here.” Without awaiting his response, she dumped the bags on the table, some tumbling to the floor.

“Can you take those to the kitchen?” she whispered hastily and Gabriel watched, jaw set, as she picked up the party blowers with a huge grin on her face and fled towards the light switch stationed on the wall beside the front door, careful not to make a sound. She looked back at him as her hand hovered over the switch; her grin dimmed. “Please?”

Clenching and unclenching his jaw, Gabriel wordlessly grabbed the plastic bags from the table, picked up stray decorations, and made his way into the kitchen just as Sigourney turned off the light, casting the penthouse in slight darkness save for the streams of sunlight trying to leak their way in through the curtains they'd closed again after cleaning.

The whole place was cast in silence and even Gabriel (who wanted so badly for a shower but had to settle for just washing his hands and face) had to stay completely, begrudgingly, still. They both waited as the click from the key card being swiped emanated from the outside before the short signature tone sounded and the door slid open, giving way to a deep, feminine groan, a set of footfalls and wheels squeaks then the distinct sound of the light switch being flipped.

“Home sweet ho—” A loud honk cut off the feminine voice, followed by a shout of ‘surprise!’ mixed with a high-pitched scream.

A series of other noises sounding closely to a body being tackled, said body colliding with the hard floor rather harshly with an ‘oomph’ and a string of loud curses had Gabriel peeking curiously out of the kitchen to behold the sight of two pairs of legs on top of each other, their owners' bodies shielded by the couch backrest.

He had to stifle a laugh, realizing what had occurred.

Ouch, that has got to hurt.

Someone groaned (Gabriel recognized it as Sigourney's) and an unfamiliar voice muttered in surprise, sounding winded. “Sig?”

“Get off me, you bitch.” His girlfriend sounded similarly breathless like the wind had been knocked out of her too, Gabriel noticed.

He watched as the pair of legs donning white ankle socks and simple slides slid up—their owner sitting up—and the top of a silver-haired head peeked over the back of the couch.

“It is you, you little... shit!” The unfamiliar voice exclaimed, her tone now laced with humour. “You almost gave me a heart attack.” A small swat rang out and Sigourney groaned again.

“That's your homecoming present. But I do sorta regret it now.” She admitted, her voice still breathless and the chuckle that escaped the mouth of the silver-haired lady had Gabriel's heart shuddering in his chest. He frowned.

“As you should.”

“Ugh! Get the fuck off me, Josy.” Sigourney began flailing her legs from beneath her friend's straddling body. “Babe, help! I'm being molested here.” Despite himself, Gabriel smiled with an eye-roll.

“Oh, hush up, you.”

He watched from his hiding spot as the silver-haired woman rose to her feet, her back to him as she helped her best friend up. He raked his eyes over what he could see of her figure, which happened to be her top half since the couch concealed the rest of her.

A simple black cotton shirt that neither drowned nor was snug against her frame adorned her torso, but Gabriel didn't have to be curious for much longer since she and Sigourney moved from behind the couch, wrapped up in one another.

Sigourney had the widest grin Gabriel had ever seen on her face, her happiness at her friend's arrival very conspicuous and he couldn't help but feel a tinge of remorse for snapping at her earlier when all she'd been trying to do was surprise her best friend. It wasn't her fault they'd met the house dirty.

The unknown woman had just slapped his girlfriend's hand away from ruffling her hair when he decided to make himself known. Sigourney's eyes flitted to him and glinted as he approached. With palpable excitement, she wrapped her arm around the shoulders of her best friend, whose back was still to him.

“Finally,” Sigourney almost squealed, “I get to introduce you two to each other.” She slowly and purposefully steered the other woman in the direction of her boyfriend, most likely opting for a suspenseful effect. “Jos, meet my boyfriend, Gabriel Reid. Babe, meet the one and only Joslyn Patel; Jos or Josy for short.”

The woman turned completely and finally, their gazes met and just like that night two years ago, honey colored orbs clashed with swirls of greens and blues. The rising smile on Gabriel's face froze just like time seemed to have, and withered when he took in her visage.

The rest of her facial features he could only remember vaguely, but those expressive honey brown eyes that had been dazed yet had stayed riveted on his during her climax, was something he could never forget—not even when he'd hoped and wished he would.

Those eyes had teased and taunted him for years and now, he was staring into them again, watching as a fleet of emotions warred behind them. Fatigue, curiosity, confusion, amongst other things, crossed her eyes but one particular feeling finally surfaced, rising as the others fell away.

Recognition.

At that moment, Gabriel felt his world tilt sideways.