Page 63 of Michael's Awakening
She smiled warmly. “Yeah, I’ve known him since he was going through beauty school and right when he got his license, I offered him the job here. He’s a great guy. Everyone around the store adores him.”
Looking over at Gabriel, my stomach fluttered. “Yes, he is.”
He was currently putting foil in the woman’s hair and both of them were smiling as they chatted. His smile was contagious and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.
Once the teal color in his blond hair had begun to fade, he replaced it with bright purple highlights. Him and the color purple– I shook my head and smiled.
“Did you guys ever figure out who damaged his car?” Kaylee asked.
I turned back to her and shook my head. “No, since there were no witnesses or security footage, there wasn’t much the police could do. There weren’t even any fingerprints on the car to trace. Looks like the bastard who did it got off lucky.”
I clenched my jaw at the thought.
Kaylee crossed her arms and sighed. “Well, since that incident, I raised hell until they put a damn security camera back there. I can’t have shit like that happen again. I know it doesn’t help Gabe any, but at least now if something happens again, the person will have a bigger chance of getting caught.”
“True,” I nodded to her, not knowing what else to say.
“You know not everyone is like that, right?”
I looked at her, confused. “Like what?”
“Against gays. I know a lot of people in the area who fully support gay rights.” She smiled and continued, “Sure, there are still the homophobic assholes out there, but times are slowly changing. I’m a Christian woman, but it’s not my place to pass judgment on anybody. TheBiblesays to love thy neighbor and all that jazz and that’s the preaching I live by.”
She moved her hands wildly as she talked, and I fought to control my smile. Gabriel did that all of the time.
Continuing on, Kaylee said, “Customers that used to complain about Gabriel working here have actually grown to like him, once they removed their heads from their asses and got to know him. I mean, look at the darling. Who couldn’t like him?” She nodded her head toward Gabriel and we both looked over at him.
He had one hand covering his mouth as he giggled at whatever the woman in the salon chair had told him.
My heart melted.
Kaylee went on, “I said all of that, to say this: you have more support than you know. Don’t let a few bigoted morons drive you guys away, okay?”
“Okay.” I smiled at her. It was people like her who really gave me hope for humanity and showed me that not everyone was the same.
“Damn, I guess I better get back to work.” She patted me on the arm. “It was nice talking to you, Michael. Don’t be a stranger. Come back around again.” She gave me one last smile and then went to assist a few customers at the front of the store.
Glancing back over at Gabriel, I saw him leaning against the counter with his hands on his hips. The woman in the chair had her entire hair tin foiled and had her head under a huge dryer machine. Smiling, I approached him.
When he looked up and saw me, his entire face lit up. “Michael!” He squealed excitedly and ran over to me. “What are you doing here? I thought you had court today.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I gave him a light kiss on his lips and looked down into his stunning eyes. “I just got out. And the jury convicted him.”
Gabriel bounced up and down happily. “Congrats, baby! I knew you would win.” After kissing my cheek, he rested his head on my shoulder.
His lavender scent enveloped me as I held him close, putting me at ease.
Every time I had to be away from him, even if it was just for a few hours, it was like a part of me went missing. Then when I finally saw him again, it was like that missing piece had finally found its way back home.
Remembering where we were, I released my hold on him and pulled back slightly.
“You’re at work, Princess. Don’t want to get you in trouble.” I winked and he rolled his pale, blue eyes. “I want to take you out tonight. It can be a celebration for the win of my case.”
Gabriel smiled and batted his eyelashes. “Where are you going to take me?”
“Well,” I grabbed his hand, needing to feel his touch. “We can go to our restaurant for dinner and then the Fort Smith Symphony is performing a Christmas production this evening at the Opera House, so I thought we could go to that afterward.”
Since our first date, the restaurantAmbrosiahad become ‘our restaurant.’ The cheesy Greek theme had actually grown on me, not to mention the food really was the best food around.
