Daniel Caffrey _ Neal's Little Brother

Chapter 9: She's back

I just entered the ballroom when a waiter passed me.

I grabbed one of the champagne glasses from his tray and downed it.

"Okay. You need to keep an eye out for anything unusual," Burke says through the ear-piece.

"Everything about this is unusual. Such as, to my right. A guy trying to drug a drink," I say onto the mic.

"Try to blend in," Neal said and I hummed in response.

"I have an idea," I say into the mic.

"Whatever you're thinking," Burke said but I tapped the mic so I didn't hear him.

"Vodka on the rocks," I said to the bartender as I leaned half on the bar counter.

"Isn't that a bit strong for you," the lady said as she turned to face me.

"Depends, how strong do you think I am," I say.

She leans in close to my ear and says,"Play the game and you might find out."

She was about to walk away but I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards me.

"When you play, you lose. And trust me I am no loser," I say into her ear.

"Well, we'll just have to see," She says walking away and onto the dance floor.

I noticed how she moved and downed my drink before setting it back down on the counter.

As she was about to switch partners I cut in and pulled her body close to me.

"Intruding like that. Not very gentlemanly of you," she says.

"Well, if you knew me you would know I am anything but a gentleman," I say before pausing and saying,"Gabriella."

She moves away from me slightly before she turns away and rushed out of the doors.

But before she left the ballroom she looked back at me once.

I basically ran past people who gave me pissed off looks.

Once, I was out of the ballroom I pulled my mask off and looked towards the left corner where I saw Gabi's mask.

I picked it up holding it tightly in my hand before I take off in a sprint in that direction.

I burst outside to see Gabriella standing alone in the alleyway with her skinny jeans and rang top on.

She must have ditched the dress.

She looked alert for a moment but when I slid my jacket over her shoulders she let out a breath of relief.

We were simply standing there in silence when the alarms rang out.

I looked at her and she moved away from me letting my jacket fall to the floor.

"I'm sorry," she whispers before she punched me in the face and ran.

I held my nose for a minute but took off in a sprint after her.

I rounded the corner when I saw them with their hands in the air.

I moved behind the wall and checked my ear.

It wasn't there.

I dropped the ear piece a little while back.

Shoot. Neal's going to kill me.

I took one more look at them before I dashed back inside.

I saw Peter and Neal standing by each other.

I was wondering, my mind was, back to her.

She was here and alive after all these years.

"Daniel. Daniel," I heard and looked up from the floor to see Neal looking at me concerned.

I couldn't help it and gave him a hug.

He must've sensed something was wrong because he didn't say anything just patted me on the back.

"Everything okay here," Peter asked and Neal nodded.

"I want to go home, Neal," I muttered and Burke nodded.

We made our way outside and he sat in the drivers seat.

We drove the whole way in silence.

When we got home. I raced upstairs and locked my room door as I slid down it.

I brought my knees up to my chest and couldn't help what happened
next.

First, there were a couple of tears but after that it was just nonstop.