Thirty Two

Book:Rich Love Published:2024-6-2

It became her new routine. Breakfast in the morning, with Gabriel lurked around the area, pretending he was supervising his staff, or having a breakfast meeting at the restaurant, sometimes he just pretended to have breakfast at the same time she was there.
She would raise her cup of coffee from afar and not ask him to join her, she didn’t like the way she was spying on her. He would leave the room to work, and Melvin would come in.
Melvin was a gem, she actually loved having him around. He dressed in a beach shirt and short pants now that he got permission from Gabriel. She made flower crowns from him, flower necklaces. Even with a killer expression, she thought he looked like a big teddy bear. He always laughed at her jokes, very helpful with heavy lifting, and she knew more about Melvin in one week than she ever did with Gabriel in two months.
They would have lunch together at the local food stands, completely against Gabriel’s instructions. He wanted her to eat at The Peninsula with a tailored menu he specifically ordered to the Chef. Sometimes she would get her lunch to eat at the beach with Melvin, and take swimming breaks while Melvin stood on guard.
Her day usually ends before sunset. That’s when Gabriel showed up everyday. He would instruct her to call it a day if she wasn’t done by the time he was there. She would argue with him about it, and then she would stand down and leave him with a tantrum because he ordered all of her staff to call it a day, and they would obey.
And then he would dismiss Melvin, go back to his room and make sure the food and beverages department had prepared dinner and snacks for Jamie to be sent to her room.
She didn’t despise the whole overprotective behavior Gabriel projected on her, the way he tried to hide it was kind of cute. Some of his gestures were actually sweet. He left notes on her lunches, or her snacks, and also with her milk that they send to her room every night.
What was said on the notes was what got to her. He would leave handwritten notes such as, “Who needs sushi when you can have the best baked Norwegian salmon with sweet potato and not regular potatoes?”
“When in Bhorma, one should take advantage of their locally grown Avocados.”
“Try my favorite type of egg, boiled not fried.”
“The Greeks really do make the best yogurt.”
She would laugh her head off and show Melvin the notes, but he kept his cool, Melvin wouldn’t dare to laugh at his boss.
Gabriel was trying to be subtle on dictating to her what to eat, there was something intimate about a handwritten note and she gave him credit for effort. It was amusing though, she had a good laugh about it with Perry on the phone. She couldn’t figure out whether he was trying to flirt with her or not, but there was one note that she thought was kind of flirtatious, “Berries may sometimes be sweet but yours is the sweetest I’ve tasted.”
It took her back to that night that had been buried by the revelation of her pregnancy. That night they both decided it wasn’t a one-night stand anymore. What could’ve been the start of something new between them was abruptly interrupted by the news. And now it was all about the unborn child. Whatever they have to say to each other has something to do with the baby she was carrying.
It was almost sunset. He arrived on the beach like clockwork.
“That’s all for today, Melvin, thanks,” he dismissed Melvin sooner than usual.
“Bye, Melvin,” Jamie said from afar.
“See you tomorrow, Ms. Knox,” he never addressed her by her name in front of Gabriel.
She walked over to him with both hands on her waist, “That was early, I still have at least another half an hour.”
“It’s going to rain,” he said.
She looked up at the darkening clouds, “So?”
“We have to get inside, where it’s dry.”
Jamie smiled, “I’m not afraid of a little rain … are you?”
“No … I just prefer dryness, anyway … with your condition …”
“What harm would a little rain do? I just need to finish up a little bit.”
Gabriel exhaled, “Are you always this difficult, Jamie?”
She raised her eyebrows, “Difficult to control, you mean?” she didn’t need an answer to that. “You should know by now I don’t like being told what to do.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to do … I was simply suggesting …”
“Well that’s not what it feels like, it feels like you are ordering me around.”
Gabriel looked away and threw a dismissive hand, he just stood there while she cleaned up and gathered her stuff at the beach. Drops of rain started to fall. She took her time. She felt Gabriel’s uneasiness but she didn’t want to glance at him.
The rain got bigger and they got wetter. It hardly ever rains in Bhorma, but when it does, it rained hard. By the time she was done, they were the only people at the beach and they were soaking wet.
She stood up to look at him. He was struggling to open his eyes, water was dripping from his hair, his long lashes spiked which enhanced how beautiful his eyes were. He wiped the water from his face, not that it did anything. The rain was pouring hard, he was soaked down to his Gucci shoes.
He was looking at her in confusion, she was uninterrupted by the downpour and then she smiled, “You’ve never been out in the rain before, have you?”
“Not that I can remember,” he bowed his head a little, the rain was getting into his eyes.
She laughed.
He held a smile, “I’m glad you find this amusing.”
“You should see the look on your face,” she was still laughing.
He wasn’t laughing, he was gazing at her instead. The kind of gaze that gave her the jitters which she pretended not to feel.
A hotel staff ran out from the restaurant with an umbrella and two hotel bathrobes. Gabriel took them and told him to go back inside.
They ran to the shed to get away from the rain, they couldn’t go inside The Peninsula with rain dripping from their clothes. Gabriel’s wardrobe in particular. He took off his $10, 000 shoes, his socks, his white shirt and unbuckled his belt.
She didn’t want to stare at his chest and stomach so she turned her back on him and took off her clothes too. Even after all that water, she can still sense a faint smell of his cologne.
He watched her from the back as she stripped down to her underwear, he did the same thing and put on his bathrobe. He had thoughts about her body since that night, ones that were too dirty to describe. When she turned around to get the robe, the thoughts got stronger, there was no one there, but the rain could stop at any moment.
His eyes were glued to how seductive her curves were. He’d been suppressing his urges toward her and that moment was pushing it hard for him. She felt it in his silence, she took the robe and put it on.
They locked eyes. They both wanted the same thing, they didn’t even have to say it.
She took his hand, “Let’s go inside.”
He nodded, “I could use a shower.”
She giggled, “Me too … my room?”
He was taken aback by her invitation, “I need to get something from my room first.”
She smiled, “Okay … you can go up from my room, I think it’s time to use the private elevator.”