As soon as I stop, Gabriel throws open the back door of the car and tosses in his duffel. The suit follows, laid out with a little more care. Then, he climbs into the passenger seat like we’re old friends who’ve known each other for ages.
It’s only going to be us two on the drive to my parents’ house. Dean, being held up at work will be driving up by himself tomorrow.
Seattle traffic could test anyone’s patience, and mine isn’t the best. In order to distract Gabriel from judging my driving, which is made worse because I’m very self-conscious with him sitting right beside me—living proof that we’re seriously doing this—I glance at the glovebox at a red light.
“If you open that up, there’s an envelope with five hundred dollars inside.”
“Alright.” He pops the glove box, stares at the envelope for a second, and shuts the plastic hatch back up with a little pop.
“Aren’t you going to count it, or at least open it?”
“I trust you.”
The light turns green. I go back to trying to get our asses out of the city.
“What do you like to do for fun?” It’s a while before Gabriel says anything, and I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting that.
I was prepared for him to ask me a million questions about my family. About the wedding. About myself, since we’re supposed to be going out. I already have a plan to cover for that. Since I can’t just sit here and keep it bottled up, I blurt it out.
“I’m going to tell my parents we met two weeks ago. I didn’t want to tell them about you because it was too soon and too new, but I’m now definitely sure I’m falling for you, so I suppose there’s no time like the present. I hate that saying. It’s stupid. There are lots of better times than the present, but coming single to my sister’s wedding makes me look like a fool, and the whole bit about if you weren’t there, my parents wouldn’t actually believe you existed and would probably pester me until I died from their endless pestering.”
“I think you can actually die from being smothered, but I’m not sure about pestered.”
I bite down on my bottom lip to keep a smile in check. “I think that’s the wrong kind of smothering.”
“You never know.”
“Fun.” Right. He asked me about what I do for fun. Because he’s a nice guy. Doing me a massive favor. Yes, it might be for cash, but he’s right. He’s putting his fair share of good karma out into the world. I should at least answer him, no matter how boring I might sound. “Let’s see. I’m an interior designer, so I do that, I guess. It takes up a lot of my time. Or I make it take up time. I book a lot of appointments after hours and work with clients that a lot of other people turned down. I don’t mind that it takes up time. I guess it keeps me busy, which is not always a bad thing. It pays well, and who doesn’t like getting paid to shop and pick out awesome colors?”
“Colors?”
“Oh. Sorry. Colors are like the coordinating finishes. It can be flooring choice, backsplash, window treatments, furniture shapes and colors—” Suddenly, I’m aware that I’m getting carried away. The light ahead of me turns red, and when I stop, I turn to Gabriel, expecting a very bored expression on his face, but he’s studying me with what appears to be keen interest.
“I have no idea what it means, but I like that you’re obviously passionate about it. You’re probably really good at it. Maybe I should hire you to redo my place.”
“Give me a chance to earn some of that money back? Sure. If you’re serious.”
“It’s a new build, and it’s drab as hell, but I have no idea what to do with it. I haven’t gotten around to figuring it out.”
“A new build?”
A strange look passes over Gabriel’s face, and his dark eyes seem to shutter off completely. He blinks, and it’s like he just checked out. “Freshly renovated inside. I guess I should get my terms straight. I told you I wasn’t good at this.”
“That’s alright.” I start moving at a snail pace ahead of me towards the next red light. Only an hour more of this, and we should be home free, heading towards what could be my doom. I’m not entirely sure I’m actually excited to get to my parent’s house, but I am excited to get the heck out of this traffic. “If you’re serious, sure. You have my number.”
“I do.” Gabriel nods. I glance sidelong at him while we creep along. The car is moving, but barely. “But you didn’t answer me. I guess you kind of did, sort of…if you do that for fun, but I meant hobbies. I should know something about you, just a few basics if we’re going to sell this.”
“I like to read. I like painting, but I suck. I like sewing, and I’m a little better at that, as sometimes it’s a job requirement. I also like plants, and I have a cat. I like her too. She’s a rescue from a shelter. A calico. And her name is Princess Bob.”
“Princess Bob?”
“I didn’t name her. She was really sick when she came into the shelter, and this lady fostered her, and she had a daughter who named her. She begged me to keep the name, and I couldn’t deny her.”
“That’s sweet,” Gabriel coughs out.
“What? Should I have broken a little girl’s heart?”
“No. But you could have renamed her after. She would never have known.”
“That’s just…that’s terrible energy to put into the universe.”
Gabriel gets this satisfied smirk on his face, and I realize I’ve just declared myself to be a pretty huge hypocrite, given that I’m embarking on a whole journey to lie to a massive amount of people.
“What do you do for fun?” I croak out. I desperately want to change the subject.
“I’m a bit of a nerd. I like computers. Gaming. Software. I also like reading.”
“But clearly, not romances.”
“No.” Gabriel laughs, and I’m pretty sure the hair on the backs of my arms shivers to life since the sound is so musical and rich. “Not romances. I read non-fiction mostly, but if I do read fiction, it’s usually the thriller books.”
“I bet you like true crime. You seem like a true crime kind of guy.”
“I’m afraid not. I like more political stuff. I guess some of it would be the adventure genre as well.”
“Do you have any pets?”
“No. Not right now. I used to travel a lot for work, so I never felt like I had time to care for one properly, but I’ve toned things down in the past year. Maybe I’ll get a fish or something.”
“A fish? That’s hardly a pet.”
“I think the poor fish that just wants to be loved would prove you wrong.”
“Okay,” I laugh. I finally hit a break in traffic, so I edge towards the maze of turns that will eventually end up in us getting the hell out of here. “What do you do for a living? I guess I should ask. It would seem weird if I didn’t know.”
“I guess I’m like you. I work too much, also in technology. And my hobbies overlap.”
“I’m really glad you could take a holiday. And that you’re here. Seriously, I am. I can’t say it enough.”