A Blind Fall

chapter thirty one

Oscar groaned sleepily into the pillow inhaling the fresh fragnance of soap but was too torn between unconsciousness and otherwise to think much of it. Lying on his abdomen, his limbs sprawled aimlessly on the King-size bed, a darkness drew him to drift back to slumber but almost abruptly a discomforting heaviness filled his head before morphing into intolerable pain.

He groaned, this time noticing something amiss on his pillow. It lacked a sense of him. However too struck by the mother of all hangovers, he didn't think much of it. Probably the damn thing was messing with his nose too.

It was like a theatre and he sat at the front row when events from the previous night unfolded like a film in his mind. The party. Erica. The bar. Gabrielle. His eyes snapped open, a deed he regretted just as soon as it was done. Gabrielle! Surely his mind wasn't playing tricks on him because he truly thought he'd seen her. He felt he'd seen her.

He reopened his eyes, this time at a slower pace with his hands supporting his mass for him to drag his back against the headboard. Wincing at the coldness of the leather upholstered headboard, he groaned some more. Leather upholstery! What on earth was happening? Was it just the hangover or did his bed get an overnight makeover. He couldn't remember replacing it either. Matter of fact after countless drinks at a bar he and Gordon frequented his memories were blurry.

Gabrielle. God, he'd seen Gabrielle of that his heart was sure. After searching all over for her and finally coming to terms with her absence fate throws her right into his face and for heaven sake with both of them having partners? Not that Erica was his partner, he knew better than to have the same flame burn him twice. But he was sleeping with her and even if it was for sheer male entertainment and perhaps spite, he couldn't deny it. And his Gabrielle, his doll was with a man and that night he'd had her in every creative way possible rushed back to him and he couldn't stop gagging with thoughts of that man taking her similarly.

Climbing out of bed, he tried to locate the bathroom and he realized then he was in a strange room. Trying a door adjacent to the exquisitely furnished bedroom he went in and indeed it was the bathroom. He came out after using the toilet and washing his face. He'd also used the mouth wash on the upper cabinet in the bathroom.

"No, no. Please don't do that." He protested as soon as he saw a uniformed younger woman who seemingly was a maid draw the curtains away. The light worsened his headache. "I prefer it a little dark."

Moving away from the window she nodded, her eyes refusing to look at him. "I, I," she stuttered her cheeks crimson.

He realized muttering a series of profanities that he was in nothing but boxer briefs. "Just answer me this and you can leave. Where I'm I?"

The door opened then to reveal someone he hadn't banked on seeing in a long while. She was still gorgeous as he remembered her to be and everything his brother had gone mad for she still had. The beauty, the effortless confidence. But there was that ability to keep a stoic face that Morgan never liked as it drove him insane contemplating her feelings.

Oscar wasn't big on being under that unreadable gaze either. "Miss Mayor," he wanted to slap himself remembering she was married. "Mrs Gregory."

"Rose is just fine, Oscar." It was said lightly but he still couldn't decipher anything from her expressionlessness. To the young woman watching the exchange she said, "You can go now Magdalene. Thank you."

He noticed for the first time the folded clothes in her hands. They were familiar. "This would be less awkward if I was in clothes at least."

She smiled then and handed him his clothes. "Of course. Then take that when you're done," she gestured at the platter with a glass of water and few tablets in it. "Judging from how much fun you had last night you'll need it."

With a nod he said, "Thank you. I apologize for the trouble."

"Don't thank me yet," this time he sensed the sterness. "hurry and come down for breakfast." With that she retreated from the room.

Minutes later he maneuvered the magnificent surroundings with the guidance of Magdalene who he assumed Rose must have sent back to him considering this was an unfamiliar environment. Currently they were descending a giant stairway with black railing that paralleled it's replica. Cleverly placed pieces of French art were aligned on the wall in a descending manner. Magdalene led him through an expensively furnished living room and past a door that led into a grand kitchen. Again they used what he placed as the kitchen's back door to abandon the house completely and step into a manicured lawn. Since he missed the driveway he thought it a back lawn. 

A few feet away he spotted the dining table where three adults -a man and two women- and a child sat conversing easily while indulging in perhaps breakfast. One of them he knew was Gabrielle and suddenly he couldn't stomach his nerves. "Thank you, I'll be fine from here." It was dismissive but he could use the walk from there to the table to compose himself.

Not dwelling on what would transpire seemed to help as he closed in on the table. "Good morning," he greeted feeling like an intruder.

"Oscar Sylvester," Warren's warm reception put him a bit at ease. "It's been a very long time my friend."

"Yes," Oscar readily agreed praying the other man continued the conversation and dilute the imminent tension. From his peripheral vision he caught Rose feeding a chubby, cherubic boy a spoonful of a fluid-like mixture which the boy enjoyed pushing out of his mouth and onto the napkin tucked around his chest. "Clearly, since Archie's grown a couple of inches."

Warren's pride as he dreamily stared at his son was evident in his eyes. The boy had his eyes and dimples. "Has he?" the man questioned inspecting his son by ruffling his hair causing the boy to laugh, the food in his mouth spluttering all over the mother's chest.

"Warren!" Rose reproached her husband reaching across the table to smack his hand which their son found even more humorous. "And you," she directed to the jovial child. "If you keep this up_" she'd barely finished when Archie's plump hand dove right into his food, splashing it.

Oscar watched the drama with adoration as Rose scooped the boy from the highchair, stormed over to a laughing Warren and dumped the boy in his arms. "Well, since you find it so amusing, go clean him up."

"What? But_"

The rest of the couple's banter somehow molded into a different couple entirely. Oscar could see Gabby, her peach dress smeared with baby food. He saw the scrunch of her brows as she chastised both him and their little boy in a stern tone that didn't match the love in her eyes. Great love for Oscar and their son. In that moment, in his trance, a sense of completeness overwhelmed him.

But it was over as soon as it began as the harshness of reality settled in -that he was imagining. That this was another man's family. Not his and the woman sat across from him utterly unaware of the turmoil he was going through because of her absence in his life. As he gathered courage to look at her, to let his depraved eyes drink her in, he felt a breathlessness he couldn't explain.

She was a masterpiece. So beautiful his heart ached for being unable to reach out and touch her soft skin, kiss those plump lips until she was suffering of breathlessness as he was. Then her eyes came up, holding his and as her lips parted he waited for words to spill from her beautiful mouth. He waited for her to say something and pacify his palpitating heart.

"I_"

"Excuse me, Miss Gabrielle," In that moment Oscar willpower to control the urge to strangle the interrupting maid almost failed him. And her next words weren't helping. "Sir André is waiting for you at the front lawn."

Here Oscar was, going insane for her when she couldn't wait to be with another man. She must have really loved him as she barely hesitated to pull her chair back and lean over to place a kiss on little Archie's head then on Rose's and Warren's cheeks.

"I have to go," she announced. He got a farewell nod before she rushed out of vision.

For the first time in Oscar's life his tearducts felt functional.

More folks. What do you think about what's transpired -or not for that matter- between Gabby and Oscar?
I want to hear from you guys and do remember to vote please. 💕