Page 27 of Michael's Awakening
“Who is John?” I asked once we had our food and began eating.
“Huh?” Gabriel looked up at me, puzzled.
“The night we met. You asked me if you should just refer to me as John. What did you mean?” The question had been eating at me since it happened.
“Oh, that.” Gabriel gave me a small closed-lip smile and put his hand over his mouth to finish chewing his bite of food before talking. “It’s a character from my favorite TV show,Sex and the City. Carrie, the main girl, meets a mysterious, but extremely sexy man who puzzles her from day one. His name was John Preston. I thought it suited you.”
He gave me another grin before he picked up his fork and took another bite.
“Sorry to say that I’ve never watched that show,” I said with a small smile. “Chick-flicks aren’t really my thing.” Gabriel rolled his eyes at that remark. “But, maybe sometime you can try and change my mind and show me what all the fuss is about this John character.”
“I’d love to.” He regarded me with another puzzled look before he looked back down at his food.
I couldn’t read the expression on his face. Was he angry? Upset?
I ran a hand down the side of my face as I watched him and tried to figure out what the fuck I did again to cause the sudden silence between us. “What are you thinking, Gabriel?”
His eyes flashed to mine, confusion furrowed his brow. “I’m just not used to this…”
“Not used to what?”Please just tell me, so I can make it right.
“Just… this.” He waved his hand back and forth between us. “Most men I see only want me behind closed doors. I’m too flashy and odd for them and they let other people’s opinions decide their actions. And yet, here you are, showing me off in front of God and everyone without a care in the world about what people think.” He looked at me incredulously and continued, “And when you said you wanted to watchSex and the City, even though you hate girlie shows, but you wanted to just because I told you it was my favorite show…” He hesitated and looked down at his plate. “That meant something to me. As ridiculous and simple as it sounds, it did.”
Reaching across the table, I grabbed his hand. “Look at me, Princess.” When he locked eyes with me, I continued, “First of all, those men are fucking idiots if they couldn’t see what they had in front of them and let you go. That’s a mistake that I refuse to make. Second, I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of me. I am who I am. Of course I want to show you off to everybody.” Gabriel playfully scoffed, but his eyes never left mine. “As forSex and the Cityand any other show you like, it doesn’t matter what the hell it is, I’ll sit down proudly to watch it just as long as you are there with me.”
Uncertainty wavered in his beautiful eyes. I could tell that he wasn’t sure whether to believe me or not. That was fine, I’d just have to prove to him that I wasn’t like everyone else.
We talked a lot through the rest of dinner. I discovered that Gabriel had an older brother named Zack, who was also the attractive man I had seen at his performance, which made me inwardly grin. Looks like I didn’t have to kick that man’s ass after all.
Gabriel went on to tell me about his friend Melissa, who battled his sassy attitude with her clever sarcasm, so they were a perfect fit. When it came to relationships, Gabriel said he’d only had one, but it hadn’t lasted long because the man had been too much of a fucking coward to stand up against the homophobes in the town.
He also told me that his mother was the inspiration behind him taking cello lessons, and how she had passed away when he was younger.
“I miss her every day. There are times when something funny happens and I want to tell her about it, just to remember that I can’t.” His eyes grew sad as he moved his food around on his plate. I hated seeing him like that. From what he told me about her, his mother sounded like a very lovely woman. She had accepted him and loved him unconditionally, unlike my own sorry excuse for a mom. “This Wednesday will mark six years since she’s been gone. It’s become tradition for my dad, brother, and I to all go out to her grave to see her on that day and remember her… not like any of us could ever forget her.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss. I’m sure it’s not easy, even after all these years.” I grabbed his hand and stroked his knuckles with my thumb, trying to comfort him.
Everything was confusing to me, all of these feelings I was having for Gabriel. I had never comforted anyone in my life, but it just seemed so natural for me to do it with him.
“Thank you, Michael.” I loved hearing my name leave his lips. “What about you? Are you close with your mother?”
I clenched my jaw. “Not particularly. She died when I was younger as well. We were never close, though.” I wasn’t going to give him the details about my fucked up relationship with my mother. At least not yet, anyway.
I listened intently as he continued to talk, loving the way his voice flowed, so melodic and spellbinding. I could listen to him talk for hours, and probably even longer. A spark of excitement ignited in his exquisite blue eyes when he spoke of his family and his job as a beautician, and I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole; I just kept falling deeper and deeper. The more time I spent with him, the more I sensed myself being put under his spell.
If this was a dream, I never wanted to awaken.
