Depend On Me

Chapter 1: Begin (1) *** In a luxurious neighborhood, with a high tech security system and living in one of the most expensive newly renovated apartments is Elizabeth Raymore a thirty year old business woman often called the “Ice Queen” in the industry… “What did you say? It must be that my hearing is getting bad, because I just thought I’d heard you say you can’t do it?” Elizabeth’s voice was harsh and nearly stone cold, there wasn’t a single note of any human emotion in there, not even anger. “Miss Raymore, I-” The man tried to speak but the woman didn’t allow him to. “Mr. Birmingham… I thought you knew the importance of this presentation when you agreed to work on it a month ago… but I guess I was wrong. If you’re not able to present on the 20th when our biggest investors are coming in, then… I’ll be expecting your resignation letter instead.” Elizabeth said as she ended the call, not even waiting for the man to try and explain himself. Because it didn’t matter what kind of reason he had, the presentation was due to a couple of days and there were few people that could take the man’s place. She holds a chain of luxurious cafes all around S and V city in some of the most expensive neighborhoods there are… Other that that she is a major investor in MT Corporation. She currently lives in V city where her main office is. She’s a tall woman with very light blond, almost silver life hair and a curvy body. The reason she’s known to be cold in business matters is due to her incredible skill and her ‘no bullshit’ attitude towards working matters. She’s known to be someone that isn’t easy to approach and many men have tried to do just that, despite her reputation. But just as many have tried, that many have failed… Elizabeth was a woman that knew exactly what she wanted and would never settle for less just to find a partner, it was never her priority to do so either… But… a woman that is so cold and distance when it comes to work, what kind of person is she in her day to day life? Unexpectedly that so called ‘Ice Queen’ was a rather gentle, helpful and caring person… “I’m… really thankful you allow me to stay here with you.” Gabriel said as he walked in a bit shyly into the woman’s apartment. The place was huge, so spacious in fact the very hallway they were in looked much bigger than his entire apartment. “No, problem… The thing that happened to you really wasn’t fair. And I could use some help around the house as well. It’s always fun having someone to talk to as well.” Elizabeth quickly said as she took her heels off and put on her home slippers instead. Gabriel is a worker in the woman’s café, he is known as a handy man, someone who does various tasks not one specifically. So on some days he helps with deliveries, others he unloads heavy boxes with flour, sugar, milk and coffee beans, and on others he works part time in a bar to make up any difference in paycheck… * * * The day before… There was a lot of chattering between Gabriel’s two male co-workers. Since he’s a handyman at a café. He goes there every Saturday to unload trucks of products and do other small tasks that would require physical strength… “Gabe! Can you imagine that? The young one is falling for our Boss!” The elder one of his co-workers yelled out. He was as usual teasing the newbie as every self respecting worker would. “Don’t you have anything better to talk about than the Boss?” Gabriel asked with a kind of indifferent expression as he put the last box down on the ground. At that point even he didn’t know why he was so annoyed at the two men talking about Elizabeth like that. “Don’t be like that! We’re just having a bit of fun!” The elder man said as he smiled at Gabriel who didn’t seem to care either way. “I’m done for the day.” Gabriel said as he headed out, the other two men sending him off with but a simple wave of the hand. That day he felt miserable… It might not have been one single reason that made him feel that way but one thing was for certain, everything around him felt more tiresome than ever… The worst part being that he had to go to his second job that day, which was a barman which meant long hours and a lot of socializing, neither of which sounded enjoyable to him. But he had to do it, given he was struggling for cash. Well struggling might not be the best word to put it. In reality the man had some money put aside for emergencies, he kept them in the sofa in his apartment. He felt like it was a safe place where most people wouldn’t even think of looking. Buried within one of the cushions and sewed tightly so that nobody would notice. He lived together with his ex girlfriend Lexi, who he’d broken up with a long, long time ago. It’s already been a year and a half since they’ve dumped each other yet they still lived together because neither of them had anywhere else to go. Lexi didn’t take long to recover from the break up and began inviting her new boyfriends over to the apartment much to the annoyance of Gabriel. He wasn’t annoyed because of any lingering emotions he might have had towards the woman but rather because he hated strange people entering his apartment. And Lexi’s boyfriends were the very definition of strange, only… in the worst way possible… With the little money Gabriel makes, it wasn’t like he could afford to leave his apartment at this point in time. Even though he was working two jobs, it’s not like either of them was particularly well paid. The café only brought him about 700$ from unloading trucks of products every week. And his other job as a bartender only brought him the humble sum of 900$ that the small bar he worked at could afford to pay him… So there wasn’t any way for him to move out from his current apartment either, he was stuck there with is ex girlfriend… * * * That day while leaving his apartment… Gabriel was just about to head out but when opening the door, a woman that he’d never seen before was standing outside with a worried expression on her face. “Hello.” She said in a panted voice, she looked like she had been running to get there. “Hi.” Gabriel said as he stared at the woman. She seemed to be a bit older than him. “Can I help you?” He asked, his voice still rather indifferent to the woman’s presence. “I’m looking for Lexi, I’m a friend of hers. Is she here? It’s a bit urgent… what I want to talk to her about…” The woman said as she continued to stand firmly in the doorway. It was obvious she had no intention to leave easily. “She’s not here, come back another time.” Gabriel said as he finally managed to walk outside his apartment. “Can I wait for her?” The woman asked, “It’s very important…” “I don’t really care what you two have to talk about. You can wait for her outside or go away and come back another day, it’s none of my business.” Gabriel spoke in a indifferent tone as he walked away, not even turning while speaking to the woman. “Very urgent! Please let me wait for her inside!” The woman persisted more and more… Gabriel didn’t have the time nor the patience to continue talking with the persistent woman, so with not much resistance he let her in his apartment which might have been one of his huge mistakes in life… Gabriel harried and by sheer chance managed to get to the bar… “Sorry that I’m late.” Gabriel said as he headed to the back. He took off his jacket and clothes, quickly changing into his uniform. His boss on the other hand stood there to the side talking to him as if he had nothing else to do. The Boss didn’t seem to be annoyed at the other being late so he spoke to him excitedly even. “There’s going to be a huge bachelorette party tonight. It was organized by some big wigs and the entire place is rented out for today. You better get ready~” He tapped his employer’s shoulder. Gabriel sighed once more and went to stand behind the counter. Just as his employer had promised, the bar was full of women and busier than ever. It made Gabriel even less likely to talk to anyone. There were several women that tried to have a conversation with him but quickly lost interest after hearing Gabriel’s dry responses. He made it painfully obvious he wasn’t interested in absolutely anyone at the bar. In fact his attitude made him seem like he had no interested in anyone on earth. The night continued like that until he noticed a familiar face in the crowd… Among all the women in sparkling dresses with the fanciest jewelry and the most expensive hair done… it was Elizabeth who didn’t need to wear a sparking dress to stand out from the crowd… ‘I must be imagining things… There’s no way that’s her…’ Gabriel thought to himself. The woman surprisingly resembled his employer at the café. No… it was in fact her but he didn’t believe it off the bat. After all, what would a woman like Elizabeth be doing in a bar like that?