AUTHORS POV
GIL ROBERTS STRODED drunkenly through the first floor of Beverly Hills restaurant; his eyes were bloodshot. Gabriel walked with him, annoyed by Gil’s drunken state.
“I warned you not to take the drink from that lady.” Gabriel chided.
Gil held his head and groaned loudly, ” It’s not my f**king fault. She looked harmless.”
Gabriel threw him a look and spoke in his thick British accent, ” A dishabille woman with nails the length of my d**k is a freaking red flag.”
Gil barked out an exaggerated laugh, ” Then it means your d**k is pretty small.”
Gabriel shook his head, tired of his friend’s behavior.
They stepped into the elevator and Gavin pressed the sixth button. His face suddenly turned serious, and he slipped his long, slender fingers into the pockets of his blue, worn-out pants.
He thought it was funny how people couldn’t tell he was Alfred Patel’s son when he was dressed in shabby clothes and looked like a middle-class man. He thanked God no one did at least not now. He’d left America for four years to run away from the tragedy he had committed.
A year ago, he returned through sea, with a new identity. A lumberjack facade.
Gil clutched his head and groaned for the umpteenth time, ” Remind my eyes not to follow any woman’s a** that passes by.”
Gabriel chuckled softly. He put his arm around Gil’s shoulder and said teasingly, ” I bet you’ll fall in love with a flat a**”
Gil glared at him and moved away from Gabriel’s grip. Gabriel held his chest and laughed. Gil had a girlfriend but she was no different from the multiple girls he slept with. He cheated on her and she cheated on him.
He hadn’t always been led by his hormones until his ex cheated on him, he was twenty-two then. He’d been one to say, his first relationship would be his only relationship. He loved her extremely much but she used him for his luxury. On his birthday, she stole his things and fled with her lover. And his antidote ever since was sleeping with girls.
They stepped out of the elevator. Gil raised his chin at Gabriel, his brows furrowed, ” Why the hell are we even here?”
“I don’t know about you because I don’t recall inviting you.” A frown was planted on his face now; He gave the VIP restaurant doors scrutiny.
“Come on tell me,” Gil nudged Gabriel’s shoulder. “Is there a lady you are looking for?”
Gabriel’s eyes stopped at a particular VIP door, he could hear faint sounds of moaning. Gil looked like he heard it too, ” Is the food that good they had to moan?”
Gabriel looked at him and smiled, ” Why don’t you go find out?”
Gil shrugged carelessly, ” I bet I’ve tasted everything they must be eating.”
“What if it’s hors d’oeuvre?”
Gil’s eyes widened with excitement. Gabriel smirked as Gil walked to the VIP section and pushed the door open without knocking.
_______________
Avery quickly got off of Gavin. She was flushed with embarrassment mixed with anger. Gavin looked at the two men standing next to the door. The first guy whose eyes were bloodshot, held the door knob while the other stood smirking with his hands in his pockets.
“What the f**k!” Avery exclaimed angrily. The drunken man’s eyes glowed with glitz, and he walked into the room, walking past Avery, who looked confused.
“What the hell is going on here!” Gavin finally spoke after recovering from the shock.
The drunken man was too busy eating hors d’oeuvre to answer him.
” I’m sorry for barging in, my friend here is just a little bit drunk.” The brown-eyed man by the door replied in a voice tinging with mischief.
Gavin looked at him in confusion, he looked vaguely familiar. He thought maybe he’d seen him at a conference, but by the look of his clothes, he was a nobody.
Avery, who tried to recall where she’d seen him before, lit up. ” You are that carpenter who came to fix my roof.” She looked at Gil and glared. “And he’s the carpenter that wouldn’t stop running his mouth.”
The man gave her a smile that made her detest him.
” And what the hell are you doing in a place like this?” She asked, vehemently.
” I should also be asking you that.” When he saw her redden with anger, he turned to Gavin and spoke cursorily, ” I’m sorry about the inconvenience; I’ll leave you two to your act.”
Gavin’s silence made Avery’s anger boil over. The man stepped inside and hurled Gil out. He stopped by the door and said, ” I suppose you are Mr. Reed, CEO of Sports Fashonifier.” He stretched out his hand for a handshake.
Gavin ignored his gesture and said rhetorically, ” So you’ve heard?”
The man grinned and dropped his hands. He wanted to speak but the drunk man who stared at Avery with calculating eyes beat him to it. ” She’s the f**king bitch whose ceiling almost touched the floor.”
Avery gritted her teeth, ready to wade into him, but she realized the game she was playing and chose to remain silent.
“That’s no way to talk to a woman Gil, apologize.” The man said with dripping sarcasm that made Avery’s blood boil.
Gil looked at his friend in confusion, “I’d rather watch Barbie.” He scoffed and stormed away.
The man turned to Gavin and said unapologetically, ” I apologize again. Your secret is safe with me. I’ll leave now and by the way, my name is Gabriel… Your wife should know me.”
Gavin’s scowled in confusion, ” My wife?”
“Ask her, she’d know.” Gabriel’s smile was replaced with a frown when he turned around and left the room.
Gil walked with him down the hallway, ” You’ve lost your mind if came here to chase after that b**ch?”
“Maybe I have lost my mind.”