by Joyce Jordan
“Gabe...”
“Shhhh. Just dream of me tonight,” Gabe said to her and gave her one final kiss then moved to the door. “Lock the door after me.”
Locking the door, Ana leaned against it for a while. “Oh, God! I don’t even want to think about what just happened,” Ana said out loud. After a few minutes, she straightened then she walked to her bedroom and took a shower before climbing into bed. By the time she fell asleep it was almost four.
Four
Kelly woke Ana the next morning just before ten. They had agreed to do some shopping this weekend since it could be a while before Kelly had another weekend off. Her schedule could be changed at any given point in time. The next several weeks she would be working non-stop with a day off here and there, and after that they would be going on their trip to Hawaii.
She followed Kelly to the kitchen in search of coffee. “Morning Kels,” she finally said after her first sip.
“What’s with you and Gabe?” So much for wishing Kelly had seen nothing last night.
“Nothing.”
“What do you mean ‘nothing’? That guy was all over you like a leech.”
“Oh, God. You saw that?”
“Who didn’t?”
“I was hoping it was my imagination. I tried to get you to help me out, but you were smiling from ear to ear last night. I hope that was because of Brad.”
“Partly. And I also couldn’t help but be happy that some hot guy was so into you. How did you two hook up anyway?”
“Well, we didn’t exactly hook up. Gary and I went to the bar to get a drink and while we were there he just showed up. I tried to get rid of him and went back to dance with Gary, but the next thing I knew the music turned slow and I was in his arms and he wouldn’t let go. It was like being held by an octopus.”
“A rich hot octopus,” Kelly said laughing.
“That’s the problem. The fact that he knows he is rich, and that he is hot.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Kelly asked.
“It’s all gone to his head and now he thinks he can have any woman by the click of his fingers.”
“Judging from last night, it seems it was the other way round. You were the one clicking your fingers and Gabe couldn’t help but jump all over you.”
“Well, whatever that was, there won’t be a repeat performance.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Kelly told her as she walked out of the kitchen. “We should leave in an hour.” And then she was gone.
They decided not to cook and find somewhere to eat when they got to the mall. But as they were about to leave, their intercom buzzed.
“A delivery of flowers for Ms. Ana Summers,” the voice said, when Kelly answered.
Ana recognized the same young boy from yesterday morning. This time he held a large bouquet of yellow roses. When Ana accepted the flowers, Kelly grabbed the card.
‘To new beginnings. Gabe’
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Kelly said looking over Ana’s shoulder.
“Well there is nothing beginning. Whatever was about to start, has got to stop. Actually it’s already over.”
“Meaning something did start, you are holding out on me girlfriend. Tell me?”
Thank God Brad decided to call Kelly. Ana knew Kelly would have tried to push her to give it a try with Gabe, if she told him what Gabe wanted. Her in his bed. She wasn’t about to be another notch on his belt, another fling he got to enjoy for a day or a few days only to be tossed without a thought to her feelings.
They spent the day browsing shops and even got time to get their hair and nails done. When the cab dropped them off at their building, Ana noticed Gabe’s limo outside.
“Isn’t that Gabe’s limo?” Kelly asked.
“There are probably dozens of those here,” Ana said, hoping it wasn’t Gabe’s. She couldn’t figure out why he would be here. Maybe one of them had dropped something last night?
As they opened the outside door, they saw the limo door open. Ana walked faster and reached the elevator while Kelly was still lingering at the door. She heard him say something to Kelly, but didn’t catch it. He walked over to her, took her shopping bags while saying, “Let me help you with your packages.” In his other hand, he had already taken Kelly’s bags.
“What are you doing here?” Ana hissed at him.
“Ana!” Kelly shouted, as the elevator doors opened.
“Did you get my flowers?” Gabe asked instead, unfazed at her outburst. What kind of lame excuse was this? Gabe couldn’t believe that was the best he had come up with.
Looking down, she answered, “Sorry, that was rude. Yes, and they were lovely.” Maybe she had been too harsh. She had been taken by surprise and didn’t see why this warranted a personal visit. Surely, he had staff that could have followed up if he thought it was necessary to know. Besides, wouldn’t the flower shop have confirmed that if he had called them? “I’m sorry. I would have called your office on Monday,” she lied.
Gabe didn’t think for a minute she was sorry. He figured she had fully intended on ignoring him. But he was glad she hadn’t thrown the flowers away. He could see them on each end of the dining table. He hadn’t seen the first bouquet last night, he had been too focused on Ana.
“That’s okay. I should probably give you my cell phone number anyway.”
“That won’t be necessary, since you are already here, you can see I received the flowers.”
Gabe wouldn’t be surprised if she had done a background check on him. It would be something that would be easy enough for her to do. But something about her said she was trying to stay clear of him, but was failing, miserably too. He needed to press his advantage. Smiling, he looked at them both, “I also came to see if I could take you ladies to dinner.”
Kell ywas about to excuse herself, but stopped – shocked she had been included in the invitation. It seemed her best friend had managed to catch the eye of one of New York’s most elligible, but was doing her best effort to sabotage the relationship from taking on. Not if she could help it. “Thank you I would be honored and delighted to join you and Ana for dinner.” She turned and smiled at Ana as if she wasn’t aware of what she had just done.
“Why don’t the two of you go? I really have a lot of work to catch up on?” Why would Kelly accept a dinner invitation and make her have the deciding vote? Ana was really trying to prevent something from happening. What it was, she had no idea.
“Excuse us,” Kelly said to Gabe and dragged Ana off to her bedroom. “The invitation was meant for the two of us, Ana. Actually, more for you. This guy is chasing you, something I doubt he does often if at all. As your friend, it is my duty to make sure you don’t do stupid things like chase a hot guy away. But if you are not going, then I cannot go too.”
“Why not?”
“He wants you, not me. I was just included as an extension, and since I have never had nor may never get another chance ever to have a billionaire buy me dinner, I wish you would reconsider.”
“I’m not sure Kels. And that’s just blackmail.”
“Why not? It’s just a meal,” she responded. “Are you attracted to him? I have never seen you act like this around a man.”
“A little,” she lied. More like a lot. “He makes me feel things that I have never felt before. Truthfully, I’m scared,” she said deciding to be honest. That had always been their motto anyway. “Anyway, I also think it was high handed of him to just appear here and dangle that dinner invitation at us. Besides we hardly know him and we don’t run in the same circles. What good will all this do?”
“Would you have agreed if he had called first?”
Ana took sometime before responding, “Probably not,” she finally said and sighed. “Okay. I guess we can go. But I am only doing this for you, you owe me big time.”
Jumping, Kelly hugged her friend, “Really?”
“Yes,” she said smiling. “Like you said, it’s only dinner.”
“Get r
eady. I will go and tell him we need to get cleaned up. Maybe he can come back for us in an hour.” Kelly was already out of the door when she finished speaking. Ana wasn’t even sure if her input was needed at all.
Not sure where they were going and what to wear, Ana decided on a simple LBD that would suit any restaurant they ended up going to. Everytime they went shopping, Kelly would always stress that one could never have too many little black dresses. The different styles would give you lots of different advantages and options. She was right. So far none of them had failed her. She just hoped it didn’t fail her today. This one was very flattering to her small breast and her tiny waistline.
With fifteen minutes to spare, Ana decided to wait for Kelly in the sitting room and maybe get a drink to help settle her nerves. Nothing too strong since she wasn’t intending on getting drunk before the night started. As she entered the kitchen she stopped, noticing Gabe sitting in their sitting room. She thought he had gone and was coming back. Had he been here all along?
Their eyes held. Time stood still. His eyes changed, and suddenly she could see desire in them. She panicked and ran to the kitchen.
Gabe followed and asked, “Why are you running?”
“Ummm...mm. I wasn’t. I actually came looking for a drink. Would you like one?” she asked him.
“Sure. But first I need this...” He took her shoulders and turned her to face him then swooped down for a kiss. Ana hadn’t seen that coming, and when she gasped, Gabe deepened the kiss, holding her head with one hand, while the other was pulling her towards him. Their tongues played with each other and Ana lifted her hands to place them around his shoulders, and then played with his hair. Since meeting him, she had wondered what it would feel like to kiss and be kissed by Gabe. As much as she thought last night or rather early this morning had been a dream, this kiss just proved that it hadn’t been some dream or fantasy for that matter. They both came up for air, and looked into each other’s eyes. “God, you are very beautiful,” he whispered to her. After was seemed like an eternity he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips then moved away a little, but did not release her.
“Gabe, this has to stop,” she said to him. Breathlessly.
“I have been wanting to do that since I left you last night. You have a very sweet mouth Ana. And I would like to keep exploring it.”
Moving away, Ana said, “It can’t happen again.”
“Now that I have tasted your sweet lips, I don’t think I can stop. I would like to keep doing that.” He smiled at her. “You look beautiful tonight. That dress was made for you.”
“I…” Ana started, but she didn’t get to finish what she wanted to say. Kelly entered the kitchen and announced she was ready.
Gabe complimented Kelly’s dress then held both his elbows out and they each took one. They left arm-in-arm and when they reached the Bentley, the driver got out and opened the door for them. Ana rushed in so she would sit at the edge, and hoped Kelly would sit next to her. She needed to place as much room in between them as possible. She needed to think, and it was hard to do so when he was close to her. She really enjoyed that kiss, not that she would say that out loud to him or anybody else for that matter. Maybe Kelly, but only after she had processed things. But Kelly went to sit opposite, leaving the seat beside her for Gabe to take.
Gabe moved closer to the drinks and offered them something to drink. Kelly opted for a glass of the Dom Perignon that was sitting in an ice bucket. A glass of water would probably be a better choice. But Ana needed to settle her nerves, so she said she would have the same as Kelly.
By the time they arrived at the restaurant, Ana was feeling a little calmer. They walked in, both holding onto Gabe’s arms as before. The Maitre d’ met them at the door and greeted Gabe by name.
“Mr. Boyd, good evening,” he said. “Ladies, evening,” he added looking at both Kelly and Ana. “Your table is ready. Please follow me.”
As the maitre d’ left them their waiter arrived to take their drinks order. Gabe pulled chairs for both Kelly and Ana. Kelly was impressed, and Ana could see that her friend was really enjoying herself. Maybe she should let go a little and try to enjoy herself too. When Ana sipped the wine that Gabe had ordered for their table, she found that she liked the taste. She had never had wine that tasted so great. She wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it cost an arm and a leg. She made a decision that she was going to have a good time today. Besides she didn’t want to spoil the evening for her friend.
The food was delicious. Ana lost count of the number of courses they ate. She couldn’t have said what she ate half the time. There had been some type of fish she had never heard of, a little bit of mussells, some crab and something else she couldn’t remember. Some fancy looking vegetable that she was not sure was of the vegetable family, but was succulent and tasted divine. The table conversation was being directed by Gabe. He kept asking questions, of which Kelly was too happy to answer. Ana was too hesitant at first, but after a couple of glasses of the free flowing wine, her tongue was loose enough for her to do her own talking. They talked about how they grew up, their college days, their careers and their move to New York.
Although the talk was mostly centered around Ana and Kelly, Gabe did share a little bit about his family. His dad had died a few years back. His mother - Eva Boyd, still lived in the house he grew up in, in Jersey. He was the eldest of three chidren, younger brother – Manuel who was now twenty eight and baby of the family, his sister – Evelyn who was now twenty five. Both siblings lived in New Jersey. He was the only one who had decided to cross over to New York.
Ana noticed there was a nice spacing of years between one child to the next child. She wondered if that was intentional or just by chance. Her brothers were both ten years older than her, twins – Mark and Matthew. Her parents, Jim and Maggie Summers, had been hoping for a girl and after they gave birth to her, decided against more children. They had been trying to get pregnant a year after the twins were born, but had been unsuccessul in getting pregnant. They had almost given up when Ana was concieved. They both still worked, although her mum now worked part-time at a local library while her dad was still at the same company he had worked at for the past thirty five years.
Ana told him how worried her parents were about her being in New York. They had hoped she would settle back home in Dallas, or even L.A. They couldn’t understand how someone could live such a fast paced life, and thought the New York environment didn’t allow a person to slow down. But they didn’t try to stop her when she had told them of her plans, especially when they knew she was moving with her best friend, Kelly. They adored her and treated her like their own daughter. Ana’s parents hoped the two of them would look out for each other.
Kelly talked about life as an only child, born of parents who worked in the film industry. She had traveled a lot as a young child, going on location with her parents when they were shooting movies. Her mother - Julie, was a writer, and her dad – David Andersen, directed films. They were glad when Kelly chose not to go into the film industry and supported her choice of being a doctor and also her choice to move to New York. Likewise, the Andersens approved of their daughter’s friend, Ana. And always included her in their activities when they came to see Kelly.
When Gabe asked for the bill, Ana looked at the time. She hadn’t realised how late it was. Ana didn’t want the evening to end, but she knew they had hardly had much sleep last night and her friend had to get up early for an extra shift she was pulling tomorrow at the private hospital she interned at. As they left the restaurant, Gabe seemed to be holding her a little closer. Or was Ana just imagining it? She didn’t think so after they got in the Bentley and he pulled her to his side. Ana didn’t pull away as she should have done, and so chose to blame it on the too many glasses of the fine wine she had consumed that evening. It was easier to blame it on the alcohol content.
When they got into their apartment, Kelly excused herself after telling Gabe that she had enjoyed the evening.
>
Now that they were left alone, Ana wasn’t sure what to do. She thought about offering Gabe a nightcap or coffee, but ditched both options after thinking about their conversation earlier today while standing in the exact same place. When she thanked him for dinner, he didn’t respond, but instead moved towards her. Ana stood there, looking into his eyes, mesmerized – she couldn’t look away, even to save her own life. Interlocking his fingers to hers, “Where is your bedroom?”
“Why?” she asked still looking into his eyes. He had the most amazing blue eyes that shifted in color, in different shades of blue as desire filled him. Ana was lost in them didn’t think she could ever get tired of looking into his eyes if she got another chance.
“I want a repeat of this morning, and much more but I would like some privacy.” Slowly Gabe dropped his head until his lips met hers. He nibbled on her lips, slowly, using just his teeth and soothed with his tongue. She felt strange, strange good, and finally she sighed and opened for him and Gabe entered. He took what she offered, tasted the wine she had been drinking during the evening. Mingled with her naturally sweet mouth, it was a heady feeling. Gabe couldn’t get enough of Ana. Pulling her tighter against his chest, he held her close and Ana couldn’t help but feel hard muscle above his waist and his arousal next to her belly. Even a coin couldn’t fit between them. He lifted his head and asked again. “Where?”
Speech beyond her, she was only capable of pointing. Gabe took her hand and walked with her towards her bedroom. Before she had time to think rationally, Gabe shut the door and lunged for her.
Instead of scaring her away, it only inflamed her. She tangled her fingers in his hair and pulled his head further down, holding on for dear life. Is this what a kiss should be like, or is it just the alcohol? Boy, have I been dating the wrong guys, Ana thought to herself. Next thing she knew she was making strange sounds and Gabe was cupping her breasts, playing with her nipples, then he was cupping her sex and she realised she was wet – more like drenched. Gabe stopped kissing her and watched her face as he pleasured her.