Lift Me Up | A Gabenath Story

Chapter 6: Don't Give Me Space

The following morning after Shadowmoth's failed attempt, Nathalie hesitated to prepare herself for work. She did not want to speak to her boss, let alone see him.

Fuck. Of all days to deliver work, it just has to be today, doesn't it? she spoke to herself.

Nathalie figured that it was early in the morning in which her boss was most likely asleep. Especially since there was brisk morning air. She knew that Mr. Agreste tended to stay in his room longer when it was cold.

Nathalie subtly smiled at the thought. Then, her phone vibrated with a new notification which was a text message from Jean.

"Good morning, my dear. Do you need me to accompany you anywhere today, love?"

"Good morning. Yes, I need to drop off a few things at the Agreste's again."

"I'll be there in fifteen."

─

She walked up the stairs to the front doors and knocked, hoping that she wouldn't see Gabriel.

To her luck, Adrien's bodyguard received the folders she needed to deliver for Mr. Agreste. She gave him specific orders about Adrien's schedule and turned to leave as the doors shut behind her.

In a split second, the doors to the mansion flug open. A voice called out to her.

"Wait, Nathalie!"

Nathalie froze in place and turned her head back at the door. When she realized it was her boss, she fully turned her body towards him in a professional stance, placing her hands behind her back.

"Yes, Sir?"

Gabriel cleared his throat, searching for the right words.

"I need to speak with you."

"About what, Sir?" she asked in a cold tone.

Nathalie had a feeling she knew what he wanted to talk about.

"I think you know wha-"

"The schedules? New meetings? Work, perhaps?" She cut him off.

Gabriel noticed the distant tone in her voice. He looked behind him, making sure Adrien nor his bodyguard were around.

"Don't be that way," he replied to her, a slight plea in his voice.

Nathalie refused to hear his excuses.

"If there's nothing else I can do for you, then I must leave. Have a nice day, Mr. Agreste."

She left him at the doorway the way she left the night before, knowing that she could not stay upset at him forever.

Gabriel silently watched Jean open the door of the cab for Nathalie as despair swelled in his heart. Of course, he refused to show it.

He lost her.

He observed the way she looked at Jean. It was the same way she used to look at him. That tender look in her eyes; the way they used to gaze into his own when in moments of gloom and in need of consolation.

Seeing her smile at the man broke him. Nathalie never smiled at anyone other than Adrien and him. Gabriel knew that for the longest time, he was the only man who could make her smile. And now, there was another man in her life that could make her smile. Maybe even more than he ever could.

He couldn't take it any longer.

Gabriel turned around to walk into the mansion, turned his head to look back at the couple, and turned back ahead with a sigh.