Abel

Chapter 8 - Part 1

Once again, Nellie gave herself the same speech. This was to be expected. It shouldn't surprise her that it was Thursday and she still hadn't seen nor heard from Abel since the night after they got back from their trip—almost a week ago. He was in training hell, and then he'd gone to New York for a few of those days. It was a trip she'd been invited to, only she didn't realize that not going would mean not hearing from him either. Even a text or two letting her know he'd been thinking about her like she'd been thinking about him all this time would've been nice. But she knew this relationship was different than most. Just because it felt as if things had changed in San Francisco didn't mean he'd suddenly start behaving like a real boyfriend who checked in on a daily basis.

Even still, she'd given in a few days prior and texted him to ask how New York was. His single response, hours later, was "good." She hadn't bothered texting him back, and he hadn't bothered to ask her how she was doing, so it was the only word she'd heard from him since then.

Nellie had heard from Noah and Gio about her coordinating some of the 5th Street events leading up to the fight like Abel had mentioned. Even Hector had called to give her more info on exactly what she'd be in charge of in Vegas the day before and of the fight. It made more sense that Abel would've called her with that info, but again she shouldn't expect anything more from Abel than she had from the beginning.

Maybe this was his way of toning things down after they'd gotten a bit heavy in San Francisco. After hearing from Roni about some speculation about them since they'd been seen traveling together, Nellie thought maybe Abel was trying to save face now with other employees from 5th Street who might've heard about it. Though he never actually asked her to keep it on the down low, he was so private she just naturally assumed that's how he'd prefer it.

There was a knock at her office door, and Nellie looked up in time to see Emily poke her head in the door. "Come in."

Nellie could use the break. Besides, for the last twenty minutes or so she'd done more theorizing about Abel than concentrating on her work.

"Your room is booked for Vegas." Emily handed Nellie the paperwork. "I went ahead and printed out your confirmation for you."

Nellie thanked her, taking the paperwork, slipping her reading glasses back on, and skimming through it. MGM Grand. She hadn't been to Vegas in a while. The last time she'd gone, she was still married. She wondered after the stories that had risen because of their San Francisco trip and now his sudden disappearance if this trip would be different. With the hype of the fight and the influx of paparazzi, would Abel would keep things far more professional this time and keep his distance? Certainly he'd have little time to socialize.

"Did you hear what they're saying about Abel's dad?"

Nellie glanced up at her over her glasses then back at the paperwork, feeling a little annoyed. "What now?"

"Well, they're all rumors, and I only noticed because Abel was trending on twitter."

"He was?"

Nellie put the papers down, took her glasses off, and gave Emily her undivided attention. Trending on Twitter was huge. She knew the fight for the heavyweight title was big, and she'd gotten an idea of the kind of excitement his presence alone could garner from the reporters both in San Francisco and LAX, but she had no idea it was this big. She'd heard bits and pieces of the hype here and there, but she'd been so busy with this mixer she hadn't had time to pay attention too closely to the details. And if she had to be honest, she was trying to keep her mind off him, so she was purposely avoiding the stories.

"Yeah, isn't that crazy?"

With a nod, Nellie motioned for Emily to take a seat. Emily quickly made herself comfortable in one of the seats in front of Nellie's desk. "According to the rumors," she began anxiously, "his dad was killed by the Mexican mob. That part of the story seems to be the only part that's fact or at least the part of him being murdered in Mexico when Abel was just a kid. But they're saying he wasn't just involved in the mafia but he was a key player as in one of the leaders of a big time cartel. They're also saying he was a big-time womanizer and well . . ." Emily sat back in her seat, waving her hand in front of her. "If Abel and his brother got their looks from their daddy, I can only imagine the man had it going on too. Supposedly, he had another family in Mexico." Her eyes brightened. "Can you imagine? More yummy Ayala brothers, only these most likely speak the language of love."