Page 18 of Yours, For Now

one. It's not like you guys need to

book a plane ticket

Max: let's do it. Let's schedule

something but also keep an eye

out for a spontaneous weekend

Javier: deal

Gabe: it'd be great to see you all

so soon after the gala. I'm in

Jake: perfect

Chapter 7

Sleepescapedmemostof the night, after the request I'd made of Gabe. I tossed and turned, a pit in my stomach every time I thought of something I'd revealed and wished I hadn't. The blame rested sorely on my emotional state; the pain of witnessing so clearly how little my dad and uncle thought of me. It had left me in a spiral and my filters had come down, and I'd ended up telling Gabe I'd beg if he wanted me to. I'd even teared up in front of him. Groan.

Little tremors plagued my hands as I worked the next morning. I dropped my pencil ten times before I gave up manually editing proposals for some of our smaller accounts. I kept staring at my phone, knowing Gabe didn't have my personal phone number and wishing he'd text me anyway. Waiting for his response occupied most of my mind, getting in the way of my to-do list. Why focus on managerial tasks for a company that could betray me and leave me bereft? If Gabe said no it was a near certainty but, even if he said yes, it could still be the case.

If he said yes, though…

I gulped. The gesture rasped through my dry throat, so I drank half my water bottle instead. It did not help. When the phone rang from Lucía's line, I startled and dribbled some water onto my blouse.

"Shit." I grabbed the phone. "Yeah?"

"Gabriel Sotomayor is here."

Shit shit shit. I both needed to see him and dreaded it, and I would have to do it with a wet spot on my white top. I checked— my mauve bra showed. Faint, but it showed.

"Oop—" Luce added before I could say anything. "Your dad is taking him upstairs."

I held back a sigh. "Thanks, Luce."

I hung up, jumped off my chair, dabbed a tissue on the wet spot with the speed of a machine gun, and prayed.

"Lina!" My dad called from the common area. "Look who's here to see you."

The balled-up piece of paper made no sound as it fell neatly into the garbage can. I squared up my shoulders and walked into the common area.

Gabe stood with his hands in his pockets, a relaxed gesture on his face. His eyes dipped to the wet spot on my shirt, but I didn't check the state of it. I pretended nothing was wrong and approached them.

My dad put a hand on Gabe's shoulder, heavy on the blue fabric of his suit jacket. "I caught your boyfriend loitering downstairs. But don't worry, he wasn't flirting with Lucía!"

He laughed, while Gabe gave him the slightest side eye. "I'd been there for less than a minute when you arrived. Lucía was on the phone letting Lina know I was there."

Dad slapped Gabe's shoulder again, a smile still on his face. "Yes, yes, don't worry. I was just teasing."

Like what I thought of it all was inconsequential.

I ignored the way my stomach dropped. "Hola, Gabriel."

He raised an eyebrow, maybe in response to my use of Spanish and my saying his name in that language's pronunciation. He opened his mouth to say something, but my dad's phone rang and interrupted the moment.

"Ajj, don't mind me." Dad left us and stepped into his office. He grabbed his phone and started talking into it.