CHAPTER 7: Mel's Boyfriend

-=Gabby's Point of View=-

"Hey, Gabby!" I was shocked when Regina, who happened to be my best friend and my workmate in the bank I was working at, tapped me on the shoulder.

"What the hell, Reg? Don't startle me!" I hissed at her.

"You asked me to accompany you, and yet you're spacing out. Hello... I'm right here," she said, looking at me incredulously while taking a sip from her iced coffee.

We're here in a coffee shop near a mall where my house is, I would be returning to work next month since I filed a leave until Saturday, and since tomorrow is Sunday, we don't have work during that day, so instead of staying at home, I decided to call Regina to meet me here.

When I got back home, Mel and her boyfriend had been long gone, and when I tried to ask Mel to come back, she said she would just return some other day.

"How is he?" I thought to myself, but was shocked when I heard Regina's next work.

"Who's he?" She asked as if she could hear what was on my mind, just like Professor X in X-Men.

"Are you a mind reader?" I asked in confusion.

"You're hopeless, Gabby, I just heard it from your mouth; next time, make sure that you're just keeping it in your mind, and not saying it without realizing it."

Honestly, I don't know why it's difficult for me to forget about Jayden. I tried to erase him from my mind, but without any result.

I'm just thinking, that maybe I felt guilty after what I did to him, I mean, I did lose him a billion-dollar account, and there was nothing I could do to bring it back, unless I was willing to pay for it, which is impossible even if I decided to work for the rest of my life, and give him my full salary.

I thought of personally saying sorry to him, but I always chickened out, thinking about the horrible things that he would do to me, once he saw me again.

It was fortunate that I didn't tell him my real name, or else it would've been easy for him to find me.

I was scared out of my wits when I suddenly heard a police siren in the distance and felt my knees weaken when it parked not far from where we are.

We were seated on the al fresco side of the store, so I saw how the two policemen got out of their vehicle and walked to where Regina and I.

"This is it; I needed to pay for my crime," I thought to myself, and when the policemen got near, I couldn't stop myself from closing my eyes as I waited for the inevitable of messing with a powerful person.

I waited for probably two minutes when I suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder.

"I'm really sorry officers, I admit I was wrong, but I did it just because I cared about my sister, Mel," I hurriedly explain without even opening my eyes.

"Gabby!" I was startled when Regina suddenly yelled near my left ear, making my ear ring, so I opened my eyes and saw her worried look, and when I tried to look for the two offices, I found them inside ordering a cup of coffee.

I felt so weak because of the relief I felt when I realized my stupidity, and all along I thought they were here to arrest me, only to find out they were just going to order coffee.

"Gabrielle Crisostomo, what kind of blunder did you make this time?" She asked while her perfect eyebrow was raised.

"I kidnapped someone," I answered in a weak voice.

"My goodness, Gabby! What were you thinking? Don't you know you could go to jail!" She said it with worry in her voice.

"I know that! Which is why I couldn't sleep properly just by thinking about it, all I knew was that I wanted to help Mel, and thinking that he was Mel's boyfriend, I decided to abduct him," I continued.

"What do you mean? You thought he was Mel's boyfriend, don't tell me you kidnapped the wrong person?" She asked, shocked.

I felt ashamed and stupid when I thought about the mistake I made, and feeling embarrassed, I just nodded my head in response.

"Who did you kidnap?" She asked, trying to remain calm.

"I kidnapped Jayden Andrada," I answered in a weaker voice, and as expected her eyes widened as she looked at me in disbelief.

She looked shocked, scared, and other emotions I couldn't put into words, but before I could say anything, she hit me in the head.

"What the hell!" I screeched at her while I massaged the part of my head that got hit.

"That serves you right. I mean, what were you thinking? It was bad enough that you decided to kidnap your sister's boyfriend, but you had to kidnap the wrong person, a person you should never mess with."

I lowered my head in shame at hearing her words.

"You're supposed to be the smart one among us two, while I am the most beautiful," she said, which immediately made me lift my head to look at her, and I could see that she was trying to humor the situation, which I really appreciated.

I mean, I know I messed up, but that will not help me to lighten the weight I was feeling, so I shouldn't try to think about it.

"Really... you're the pretty one?" I asked, couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Of course! Since you're already the smart one, then I'm the pretty one," she said, finally laughing with me.

After our coffee bonding, we decided to watch a movie, hoping that it would help me to forget just for a little while the dilemma I was facing, but it didn't help because the movie that we were watching was about a woman who committed a crime by accident, reminding me of my situation.

We decided to go home after the movie ended.

"Goodbye, Reg. See you on Monday," I said.

I couldn't help but feel sorry, thinking of what awaited her once she returned home.

She's been the oldest and the breadwinner of her family ever since their mother left them when she was just sixteen years old.

She managed to study and work at the same time; we were classmates during college and we became best friends, so I saw the struggle she had to go through, and I tried to help as much as possible.

I didn't stay long in the mall and decided to go home, luckily it was just a ride away from where I live, so after fifteen minutes I arrived home, but when I got inside I was greeted by a smiling Mel.

I felt so much relief upon seeing Mel; I was really worried sick when she disappeared.

"How could you leave like that, knowing how worried and sick I was that something bad had happened to you?"

"I'm sorry for making you worried, I needed to leave for myself," she said.

We stayed in that position for at least three minutes before she finally let me go.

"By the way, Gabby, I want you to meet Aidan," she said, smiling, but she was shocked by my next action.

I walked to where Aidan was standing, and before anyone could react, my hand suddenly flew from his face, giving him a hard slap in the face.

"Gabby!" I heard Mel say, while Aidan looked so shocked while holding the side of his face that I slapped.

"It is your fault that I'm in a complete mess!" I reprimanded him.

"I'm... sorry," he answered, looking, even more confused and clueless.

"What's wrong with you, Gabby? What did he do to you?!" Mel asked angrily while caressing Aida's face.

"Because of him... I became a criminal!" I finally exclaimed.

They looked so shocked after hearing what I said, and for some reason I noticed them distancing themselves from me as if they were expecting me to stab them.

"Who did you kill?" Mell asked, mortified.

"I didn't kill anyone!" I answered.

"Then, what do you mean when you said you became a criminal?" She asked.

"I kidnapped Jayden Andrada!" I exclaimed, and it took probably a solid minute before it finally dawned on them.

"Gabrielle Crisostomo! What were you thinking?!" She asked, looking horrified.

"You kidnapped my cousin?" I was stunned when I heard Aida, and then I realized they have the same surname, meaning that they are relatives.

"Is he really your cousin?" I asked, feeling a little hopeful, and when he nodded I felt even more hopeful.

"Maybe you can help me talk to your cousin, I mean, I kidnapped him thinking that he was Mel's boyfriend, I didn't really understand Mel when she came home drunk, and she was slurring so much, so I mistook the name she muttered for Jayden Andrada," I explained.

"I'm really sorry, Gabby, as much as I wanted to help you, but you see... we were distant relatives, and from what I heard from my close relatives, Jayden was not a forgiving person, which is why he disowned his own relatives after they did something terrible to him and his parents," he explained.

I felt so hopeless after hearing his words. I knew there was nothing I could do, but face Jayden's wrath.

"Are you OK, Gabby?" I heard Mel ask.

"I want you to take care of yourself, Mel, and if I died, just cremate my body and throw my dust into the sea," I said in a melancholy voice.

"Don't be optimistic; maybe he forgot about you already; I mean, he's a businessman, and surely he has a lot more important things in mind," she said, making me feel less worried, but it didn't help.

I can tell that my time on Earth is running out.

"I am so dead."