Chapter 7

“Fuck!”

That, alongside a slew of other cusswords, seemed to have become Gabriel's favorite word or one-worded tagline in the past week since his unplanned visit to Joslyn's home.

Gabriel admitted that that action of his had been stupid and risky of him to take, especially since his girlfriend, Sigourney, could have decided to visit her best friend that morning, not minding the fact that they'd already surprised her the day before.

What reason would he have mustered to justify his presence there? What would he have said he was there for? And how would Sigourney have reacted, knowing her boyfriend came to visit her best friend behind her back?

But luck had shone on Gabriel—a rare one, considering the fact that when it came to matters pertaining to Jos (whom he now knew the full name of: Joslyn), all he seemed to garner was bad luck because how else would he explain the happenings of the last two years revolving around her?

How else would he explain developing a near addiction for the woman who was supposed to be a mere one–night stand, if not blaming it on bad luck?

Gabriel prided himself on being the King of one-night stands and NFA arrangements (i.e. no feelings attached) and Joslyn hadn't been his first nor his last (no matter how much of an impossible feat it had been for him, hooking up with another lady without picturing her as said Jos), but when he'd awakened the morning after, two years ago, to a cold and empty bed, an emotion had welled up his chest, ephemeral yet very significant and foolishly, Gabriel had termed it as something trivial as him hoping to have a quickie with her that morning because she'd been such an amazing lay.

But the man had only just been fooling himself.

Over the years, the emotion had grown, being nothing but a dull yet very existent ache in his chest on some days and a consuming flame taking up and squeezing his chest painfully on other days. And although Gabriel still tried to fool himself, he'd been forced to admit during his impromptu visit to Joslyn that the emotion had more importance in his life than he gave it credit for.

The emotion had been longing.

A severe and fierce case of it.

For the past two years, Gabriel had longed for that sassy woman at the club, he'd longed for the mystery woman that seemed to have burrowed so deeply beneath his skin after spending just a night together; a woman who appeared to have gained a firm hold of his head (both the one sitting on his neck and the one below his belt).

And that feeling of longing had continued to grow immensely at the sight of Joslyn when Sigourney had introduced them. It had grown and grown, threatening to suffocate him until his mind had become clouded by it and actions dictated by it, thereby resulting in his impulsive action of visiting the woman and saying all those things he'd said.

“Fuck, Gabe.” He whispered, running his hand down his face. If only he could just as easily rub away the regret eating him up from the inside. But when Gabriel mulled over the emotions running rampant in his mind, he found that he only had regrets for approaching and speaking to her as he had—he should have been more civil than that and not have outrightly proclaimed that he had the primitive instincts of a caveman, who wanted to fuck her six ways into the Stone Age.

Gabriel found that he only had regrets for his words and not his actions. He discovered that if given the chance again, he would most definitely go to visit her once more. He wouldn't have confessed all that he had, especially after noticing what state she'd been in (with her dull, bloodshot eyes along with the puffy, tender skin around them, her sagging shoulders, forced smiles and overall melancholic aura) but he would love to simply see her again, to take in the changes that had occurred in her since the time he last saw her.

If he could turn back time, Gabriel would love to rectify his visit to her place that day. Instead of bombarding her with his horny problems, he would love to have asked her about what was evidently bothering her.

He'd simply disregarded the presence of the tears that had been in her eyes when she'd pulled open the door for him, his mind too focused on the reason he'd gone to see her. That was outrightly insensitive of him and he'd gone further to shoving his own issues at her, successfully painting himself as a selfish person who only cared about himself and no one else.

Not to forget that he'd even made matters worse by practically blaming her for his own self-inflicted predicament.

“Please, make it easier for me,” he recalled saying to her—as if she'd been the one to approach him that night at the club, as if she'd been the one to seduce him when in actuality, she'd initially turned him down but having been solely thinking with his dick and not his brain, he'd persisted, using his horniness and his bruising ego of being rejected by a woman he wanted as motivation.

The more Gabriel thought about that day, and the more he analyzed his actions, the more he wanted to just throw himself a punch in the face because he'd simply been nothing but a jerk to the poor woman when she'd done absolutely nothing to deserve it.

However, on the bright side, Gabriel couldn't help but think, this was the first time thoughts of Joslyn hadn't given him an irrepressible boner.

Buried in his thoughts, Gabriel didn't hear the series of knocks that resounded on his office door nor did he hear said door being opened and his concerned-looking personal assistant walking up to his desk.

“Sir.” The personal assistant called but got not even the slightest reaction from Gabriel.

“Sir?” He tried again, but still to no avail.

Having no choice but to shout his boss out of his reverie, the PA decided to do just that. “Mr. Reid!”

Gabriel jolted in his seat at the sudden noise, and the rate at which his head snapped from where he'd been looking out of the floor-to-ceiling glass doors showcasing the view of the sun setting behind the mountains in the distance to the man standing before his desk was almost enough to give him a whiplash.

He let out a groan at the slight ache in his neck and his personal assistant quickly began to apologize. “I'm so sorry for yelling, sir. I was knocking for a while but didn't get a response so I decided to come in, and then I met you in this state. I had no choice but to shake you out of it like that.”

Rubbing at the sore spot, Gabriel looked up at the apologetic-looking man and with a heavy sigh, he waved a hand in dismissal. “That's fine, Samson. My fault for spacing out. Instead, thank you for the wake-up call.” He shot the other man a smile and gestured at the seats opposite his. “Take a seat.”

Nodding, Samson settled into one of the chairs, waiting patiently on his boss as he straightened himself out.

Appreciating the presence of his personal assistant, Gabriel took the opportunity to give himself an internal pep talk, set his thoughts straight and willed himself to focus instead on the countless important tasks he needed to complete as the CEO rather than berating himself for a mistake he'd already committed.

Therefore, clearing his throat, Gabriel leaned his forearms against the desk and interlaced his fingers, addressing Samson when he began to say, “So, was there anything that demanded my attention?”

“Ah, yes sir.” Samson responded, sitting up in his seat as he extended a file to Gabriel. “Here's the list of potential international associates you asked me to compile, sir. I also discovered that some of them have already reached out to us for a partnership deal but you will need to screen them, sir.”

“Of course, of course.” Gabriel said as he flipped open the manila folder and skimmed through its contents. “Splendid, Samson. Good job. Thank you very much.”

A smile spread across Samson's face at his boss's approval and he nodded jerkily. “Just doing my job, sir.”

Gabriel hummed, flipping open the papers in the folder before shutting it. “I'll be sure to go through it meticulously but I want you to be at alert just in case I need you to do a quick research on some of them.”

“No problem, sir.”

“Alright, Samson. You can go and begin to wrap up your work in time for closing hours.” Gabriel said as a means of dismissal but his personal assistant continued to sit.

“Uhm, sir?” Samson called again, trying to regain his boss's attention, which he did as Gabriel looked up at him, a brow perfectly arched.

“Anything else you need, Samson?”

“I think you might be forgetting something, Mr. Reid. The contract I brought to you this morning for you to review and apply your signature on in the case that there are no errors, sir?”

Gabriel's eyes widened in realization and he quickly sorted through his unusually cluttered desk, searching through the files, folders and other stationery strewn across the space—a disorderliness that stunned even Samson, who knew his boss to be a man who was very particular about hygiene and order in everything he did.

“The contract to finalize the land purchase deal, right?”

“Yes, boss.”

“Shit,” Gabriel cursed when he finally found the aforementioned file wide open beneath everything else on his desk. He read through the first few lines but nothing popped up in his mind as an indication that he'd read even the first paragraph.

“Shit, Samson.” Gabriel muttered as he ran a hand down his face, looking at his assistant with an apologetic expression. “I haven't even read the first sentence yet.”

Samson blinked wordlessly in response to his boss's confession. He was dumbfounded because he had never seen him like this before and he had no idea what to do—if he was supposed to smile reassuringly or try to soothe Gabriel who was indeed evidently stressed. He decided to proffer a solution instead.

“It's alright, boss. You can just take the rest of the day to review it and we'll send them their own copy first thing tomorrow.”

Gabriel sighed for the umpteenth time in the past week, internally cursing himself for his inefficacy. He had messed up his meeting with Joslyn and now, he was letting it affect his business, which was completely unacceptable. He needed to get his head screwed on tight.

He hummed in agreement, nodding. “Yes, let's do that. In fact, we should be able to get it to them tonight since this is just one last check to make sure no errors made it past the editing process.”

“No problem, sir. I'll be on the lookout then.”

“Thank you very much, Samson. You're a lifesaver.”

Samson smiled, standing up to assist his boss in arranging his desk. “Again, simply doing my job, sir. However, I wouldn't mind a reward in the form of a raise,” he joked.

Gabriel chuckled, his features finally relaxing after being pulled taut all day. “I'll consider it.”

A moment of silence settled in the office, save for the slight noises of shuffling paper as the men tidied up. Gabriel thanked his assistant once more when they finished and he began to walk towards the door to return to his post.

But before he opened the door, he stalled for a moment, thinking carefully about what he was about to do. Deciding to push forward, Samson turned around to regard his boss who now had his head buried in the contract in front of him—an image Samson was used to better than a disoriented Gabriel.

Clearing his throat quietly, he once again gained Gabriel's attention. “I don't mean to pry or anything, sir, but is everything alright? You've been awfully distracted this past week which is quite unusual.”

Gabriel's eyes glazed over for a moment as he considered his assistant's words. He indeed had been nothing but incompetent this entire week and he needed to rectify that.

As soon as possible.

Therefore resolving to do just, Gabriel gave Samson a small smile in gratitude, saying, “I've just been mentally occupied with too many thoughts—”

More like one single thought—or woman, rather.

“—but I promise to have it all sorted out this weekend so next week will be much better.”

“Alright then, sir. Good luck.”

“Thank you, Samson. Have a great weekend and see you Monday.”

“You too, boss.”

❀ ❀ ❀

Gabriel looked up at the high-rise apartment building he'd visited twice now. The first time he'd come here, he hadn't been aware of what significance this mere building would come to have in his life. The second time he'd come here, he'd had a plan in mind; a reason for visiting—but one he wasn't able to fulfil in the end and had instead, messed up.

Now, he was here again the third time, with another plan in mind; another reason for visiting but he might as well have not even made one because whenever he saw Joslyn, everything he'd planned or decided to do ended up vanishing from his mind.

In the face of that woman, he became a total fool; a man only being fueled and guided by his emotions and primal instincts. Gabriel didn't know how to feel about it all but he could only hope that he would be able to carry out his intention for visiting this time and not mess it up like the last time.

Perhaps this time around, he could even get her to open up about what had been bothering her the last time he'd been here. Perhaps it was something he could help with. But even if it wasn't, he would still go an extra mile to make her feel better, to make it all OK.

He was sure of that.

And perhaps, they could even come to an agreement, one where they could become friends and let go of the past.

Wishful fucking thinking, Gabriel's head (both the one above his neck and the one below his belt) mocked.

Sighing, he finally got out of his car, where he'd parked directly opposite the building, and crossed the street, making his way inside. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he approaches the receptionist seated behind the high desk, gaining her attention when he clears his throat.

“Good evening.”

The woman's eyes widened at the sight of Gabriel and she quickly sat up straight, pushing her chest forward to accentuate her breasts. Her eyes practically undressed the man as they scanned up and down his visible frame.

Her voice came out sultry when she responded. “Good evening, sir. Can I be of any help to you tonight?”

Gabriel stared her down blankly,  pretending not to notice her not-so-subtle advances or how she placed emphasis on the word ‘any’. She wasn't the one he'd met here on his last visit so he guessed that there were two receptionists alternating shifts.

He hummed, looking around the lobby which only had a number of people he could count on one hand. “I'm here to see a Joslyn Patel. She lives in the penthouse suite.”

“Oh. Is she your girlfriend?” The receptionist asked brazenly.

Gabriel's eyes immediately narrowed in warning. “I don't see why that is any concern of yours. You either buzz me in or I go right up myself.”

“Well, good luck with that, Mister.”

Gabriel frowned in confusion and brewing annoyance. “Why?”

“She isn't home and hasn't been since Monday night either. So I'm guessing she's resumed her flight attendant job again. What a lucky bitch she is for getting to travel around the world like that.”

Gabriel blinked, utterly shocked by the news to even reprimand the woman for calling Joslyn a bitch.

She left? And so quickly too?

Sigourney had said she was on her leave for the year, which meant that she had at least a month to spend at home... so why?

“Fuck.” Gabriel cursed when the realization finally hit him. His mind stilled all thoughts and zeroed in on that one sentence; his parting words to her the last time he'd visited.

“Please, make it easier for me.”

This was her making it easier for him. This was her putting that much needed distance between them.

He was the cause of this. He'd been the one to chase her away himself.

Only that this time, would she ever allow him to find her again?