When Gaston Meets Hope

■22 - "Papwa, Gimme Shom Shnou"■

He remembered it. He remembered it like someone had splashed a bucket full of water on his sleeping form. So, he did the only thing he was really good at. Forget about it and dump it under the throes of his vast bunch of memories.

One thing was clear as day to him. His luck with the girls was cursed. Every time he would have feelings for someone, he would mess it up before even being sure if likes her or not.

However, no matter how his thoughts tried to corrupt him, he wouldn't overthink it this time. Gaston's therapy sessions helped him overcome his lot of bad habits. One of them being questioning everything or every motive but not today. Not when he was starting to smile genuinely for the first time again in ages.

So, like most days, at that moment, he was passing by Hope's cute and castle themed bookstore. Gaston changed his gait to that of a slow one like a stupid moron that he was. It was his secret thing for her to pass by her bookstore if he got the time. Who was he kidding? He always found the time, no matter what.

There she was, sitting at her long desk and engaging with a customer. Her smile was bright and blossoming and he could instantly tell that she enjoyed being there. Enjoyed doing that. It was disappointing though that there was a glass door, separating them both.

In an instant, his face mirrored hers as he lightly tapped his index finger on his cold coffee cup. He hadn't even realized that he had stopped walking but just looking at her made him feel serene from the inside.

Every bone in his body was pushing him to go in just like the first time but he knew it was not really the right time. As he was about to walk again, he noticed something. Something that made him frown involuntarily.

Hope was laughing at something her customer or whoever he was, told about. To Gaston, it seemed like they were enjoying each other's company.

Furrowing his brows, he heaved a sad sigh. Maybe no one would ever want to be with him. With that, he started walking again, but this time with fast strides. As if he was running away… again. Absent-mindedly, he took a sip of his now stale coffee.

"Fuck this shit," he swore loudly before tossing away the cup in a trashcan just outside the bookstore. A few heads turned toward him but he quickly snuggled his face inside his hood.

Just a few steps away, Hope was still holding a conversation with her old classmate, Bryan Depp. She remembered having this massive crush on him during her high school days but too bad that he was married now.

Besides, she didn't even feel a single ounce of attraction toward him anymore. She just found him really funny.

"My two year old? All he wants is for snow to never end. He's like, "Papwa, gimme shom shnou." as if I am God and can make snowfall possible, especially when it's May." He released a small laugh while shaking his head. "I had to arrange something then."

Hope joined him and said, "For him, you are. He sounds really cute though."

"Oh, he is, and-" He was cut off when his cell phone started ringing. "Oop, gotta take this. My wife, Tasha. It was good seeing you, Hope. Tash will definitely love this place because, of course, books." He rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

Hope gave him a wide smile. "It was good seeing you too and of course! Bring her over someday."

"For sure. Bye!" He called out over his shoulder, picked up the call and walked out the front door.

Hope was a lot of things but she had never really felt confused about things, especially when it came to herself. She was wondering hard as to why she didn't feel so jumpy and excited after seeing her long-time crush. Maybe, because he's married and has a kid now? But that never stopped her from fawning over celebrities she adored.

Biting the insides of her cheeks, she swiveled her chair back toward her computer to sort out her files of different types of customers coming in her bookstore.

She didn't know for how long she had been staring at her computer screen or tapping on the keys or getting into the little conversations with anyone finding her little abode a sacred place. But she came out of her work mode reverie when she heard the very familiar chime of her phone.

Quickly grabbing her phone, Hope's lips stretched into a wide smile. She could tell who it was from before even unlocking the screen.

She couldn't tell if that chime was her moment of revelation or not but she took that as a sign of an answer toward her previous question. She was crushing on a certain someone who she had never met but his voice was gorgeous. And maybe that was enough for her.

Maybe it's more than a crush then? She giggled stupidly at her own thought.

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