I didn’t believe him. Stupid, right?
It was mainly due to Elisabeth telling me Gabriel was jealous because he was in love with me, that he was gay, and that he wanted her out of the picture. I believed her, but I refused to sack Gabriel. In the end, he was the only one who had my back.
“What’s happened to you?” Gabriel looks down at me, his eyebrows are drawn together so tightly you swear they joined in the middle.
“I don’t know.” I scrub my face with my hand, trying to get a grip on reality.
“How have you let one woman control so much of you?”
“I thought it was love.”
Gabriel shakes his head. “Love isn’t supposed to be like this, Louis. Love doesn’t take everything someone has worked so hard for. Love doesn’t decide to find someone better. Love doesn’t fuck around on that person. What you had with her wasn’t love.”
“I know.” I sigh. I simply don’t have any more fight left in me.
“Honestly, you’re acting like a fool.” My eyes widen at his candor. “Six months Elisabeth has been gone, but instead of picking yourself up and dusting yourself off, you have been whoring yourself out every damn day. Getting drunk. Painting shit. Yelling at everyone who wants to help you. And why? All because you got your heart broken by some gold-digging bitch.”
Gabriel’s words shock me, and maybe the reason they do is that I know they’re true.
“The Louis Marchant I know is a man who fought until the end of the earth to find the people who attacked me and put them in jail. The man that took a homeless boy into his home and helped me become a man. Louis Marchant doesn’t treat people like shit, especially beautiful women.” This gets my attention, and I cringe. “The things you’ve said to Emily…” his eyes narrow at me, “… they aren’t words I’d ever expect from the man I look up to.” Gabriel’s going for the heart on this one, and it’s hitting like an arrow. “I like her,” he confesses. “But you don’t like that, do you?” He smirks, but I stay silent because I’m not sure how to answer that question. “Don’t worry, I have my eye on someone else. Otherwise, you would have competition.” Gabriel chuckles.
“You have a crush on someone?” This little tidbit of information intrigues me.
Gabriel rolls his eyes. “Yes, but you have been so far up your own ass recently, I haven’t been able to talk to you about it.” He’s right, and I know it, I have been a little self-absorbed over the past couple of months.
“Agreed. But I’m here now, tell me.”
His cheeks tinge with pink as he lets out a long breath. “Her father is the butcher in the village.” I can immediately see how smitten he is because it’s written all over his face. “Her father has been sick, and she’s come back from Paris to help look after the shop while he recovers. She’s a teacher.”
“Have you gone on a date with her?”
Gabriel shakes his head. “I… no. You need me here.”
“What? No, I don’t. I can fend for myself.” Gabriel gives me the side-eye and then raises a brow. “I’ve looked after myself before you, I’m sure I can again. Take the rest of the week off… wine and dine the girl. Spend as much time as you can before she goes back to Paris.”
Gabriel’s eyes widen. “Really?”
I nod. “I have to start standing on my own two feet. You’re right. I’ve let my heartbreak consume me. It’s taken me over like a flood, and I have been drowning in it. I don’t like the person I’ve turned into. This isn’t me. I need to let go of what Elisabeth did to me to move on. I’m sick of living in the past.”
Gabriel gives me a big smile. “Good. First stop on this new journey needs to be with Emily.”
My stomach sinks remembering this morning and how I treated her. “I know.” I wring my hands together thinking how the hell am I going to smooth things over with her.
“She’s a good person. You can trust Emily. Don’t forget she, too, is going through heartbreak.” I’m a self-absorbed bastard, one who doesn’t deserve a second chance. “Just… go easy, okay?”
I nod and think when did Gabriel get so wise?
“I sorry about before.”
“I know you are. I’ve been worried about you, Louis.”
I reach out and place my hand on his arm. “I promise you… I’m going to put these dark days behind me starting today.”
Gabriel nods in agreement. “Good because there’s a beautiful woman living under your roof who can help.”
I shake my head. “As much as I might want to, it’s probably not a good idea.”
Gabriel shrugs. “You’re probably right. I think you’ve fucked up your chances, anyway.”
I let out a groan, he’s probably right. I need to make amends with Emily, and not because I want to fuck her, but because it’s the right thing to do.
Who am I kidding? I want to fuck her
