Keeping Secrets in Seattle - By Brooke Moss Page 0,48
the sink back off, leaving us in the darkened kitchen. And again, we were right back to where we’d been five minutes earlier. He positioned himself between my knees, and his fingers fastened themselves on my waist. My pulse raced, and my head went light.
“Vi…” Gabe sighed as he leaned toward my lips. I could feel the heat from his mouth on my own.
The sound of a key in the lock filled the kitchen.
“Alicia…” he hissed.
“I thought she was going to Whidbey!” I whispered back, covering my almost-kissed lips with my fingers.
His eyes were round. “I don’t…her plans must’ve changed.”
His fingers immediately jerked back from my hips, and he pulled away from me like a skittish animal, his tennis shoes crackling on the shards of glass still on the floor. I covered my mouth as soon as I realized that Alicia was the only other person besides me, who had a key to Gabe’s door.
Shame washed over me like a bucket of ice-cold water. I had a boyfriend. Gabe had a fiancée. What was I thinking? I hopped down, sidestepping the glass, and darted into the living room, where I sat down in a chair and conspicuously grabbed a magazine to flip through, my heart thundering in my ears.
The door opened, and Alicia’s voice called out, “Gabriel?”
My throat clinched shut, so I turned the magazine right side up with a stifled shriek.
Gabe cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m here.”
She floated into the room and stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted me. When she spoke, her voice became eerily dark. “Working all day on your proposal?”
“Yeah, almost done with it. Violet came to give me a haircut, because I was getting so shaggy, and I know you hate it when I look shaggy.” Gabe was speaking too quickly. “Then we got to talking and watching the game on TV. Hey, how was your trip to Whidbey?”
Alicia’s cool gaze scanned the room: the television, which was playing a Spanish soap opera because I’d flopped onto the remote control earlier; Gabe’s work papers spread all over the carpet; the messy dining room table and discarded laptop; the chair sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor with a circle of hair around it; the piles of crumpled paper all over the dining room; the broken glass and blood on the tile floor; and, of course, my bandaged foot.
“Hello.” She said it to me through clenched teeth.
I had to make a conscious effort to lower my lids to a normal level. “I was just leaving.”
Limping over to my shoes and coat, I scooped them up without bothering to put them on. “Thanks for inviting me this morning. I think my dress will work nicely. I…” I racked my brain for something nice to say. Something to try and fix the mess I was undoubtedly leaving Gabe with. “I can’t wait to see you in your gown. It sounds awesome.”
Alicia’s eyes were filled with venom. “We’ll be seeing you.”
“Okay.” I opened the door and stepped out. “See ya, Gabe.”
Just before the door clicked shut behind me, I heard him reply weakly. “See ya.”
Chapter Thirteen
September 30, 2003
My nightmares are starting to get out of control. I’m still hoping that journaling about it will help…
My throat was raw from screaming, and the sound of bass right above the bedroom was buzzing in my ears. After Cameron left his room, I crawled off his bed and made my way to the door, passing a couple making out on the couch in the rec room. When I stumbled past them, the girl called me a slut. I decided to go home. Get myself cleaned up. Wash my face and put on clean clothes. Then call Gabe’s cell phone to tell him where I was. I just wanted to get away before he came back…
When I came home from Gabe’s apartment later that night, I burst through the door and faced Kim and Betsy with wide, crazy eyes. I’d had the entire bus ride home to analyze every moment of my afternoon with Gabe, and I’d come to the conclusion that it was officially time to investigate Alicia further.
There was something off with her. To the naked eye, she seemed as sweet as chocolate cake. Well, sugar-free, fat-free vanilla yogurt, maybe. But I’d heard otherwise at the dress fitting. She was keeping secrets from him, and Shawn suggested to me that she was only marrying Gabe for the status. It was time to get to the bottom of it.