Gabriel & Athena, Book One: Fate (A Wattpad Featured Story)

CHAPTER 17: CHOICES

Chapter Soundtrack - Chapter 17: "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" by Florence + The Machine  

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Gabe and I spent most of the next day at the cabin.  I would have been happy to spend the entire day looking at the pictures in his camera from the ball.  Unfortunately, I had a huge test on Monday and since my plans to study for it the previous night hadn't happened, Gabe suggested I bring my math book to the cabin to study there.  We'd at least still be together.  As I sat at the small kitchen table working out calculus problems, he sat on the couch sketching.  I stared at him, curious to know what he was drawing.  In the past few months he had only picked up the sketchbook a few times and barely put pencil to paper, but now he was intensely focused.  I could have stared at him for hours, loving the way his brows furrowed in deep concentration.  It was obvious he was enjoying himself.

"Shouldn't you be studying?" he asked, his eyes still focused on his sketchbook.

I jumped, startled he had known I was watching him. 

He looked over at me, a smug look on his face.  I narrowed my eyes, but gave him a small smile as well.  "Can I see what you're drawing?"

His eyes returned to his work of art. "Mm, not yet, goddess, but soon, very soon," he mumbled, his complete attention returning to his mysterious creation.

My curiosity was practically overflowing out of me, but I would respect his privacy until he was ready.  I floated everywhere I went for the next week.  Graduation was fast approaching, which meant there were endless senior events taking place, making it easier to meet Gabe at the cabin more often.  Gretchen's real birthday gift to me was a pair of tickets to see Snow Patrol in concert.  They were performing in Raleigh in early May.  Even better was that it was the same night as the prom, which meant there would be little to no chance of running into someone I knew, allowing me to invite Gabe.  We had decided to tell my family the truth immediately after graduation.  I tried to convince him to let me have the conversation with them by myself, not wanting to subject him to the undeserving judgments they would throw in his face, but he insisted on being there.  "Don't worry about me," he had said.  "We're a team.  We'll face whatever comes our way together."

It was now a full week since the ball and as I was setting up some displays at Robertson's, Gretchen was having me recount the entire night over again.  She must have heard about it at least a hundred times but her interest had yet to fade.  In truth, I never got tired of talking about it.

"I can't believe you had a professional makeup artist and hair stylist from New York prepare you for your own private ball," she squealed.

I laughed, rearranging the books on a table near the front window, my back towards the entrance.  As a customer entered the store, I could see the color drain from Gretchen's face.  I looked towards the entrance and felt the blood seep from mine as well.  Staring back at me was Isaac Valente, Sr.  I stood very still, hesitant to move even a muscle.  I could hear Gretchen's breath start to quicken.  He looked just the way he did in the newspaper articles I had read about him.  He was tall and muscular, dressed in a three-piece black suit.  His dark hair and almost translucent grey eyes only intensified his menacing persona.  His lips were formed into a smile, but I couldn't detect any sincerity behind it.  He was here on a mission and I was apparently his target.

I set the books in my hands down very carefully and swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry.  "May I help you?"

He turned to Gretchen.  "Yes, but we'll need to speak alone."  His voice had a deep baritone, the kind that could make even the happiest of words sound dangerous.