Depend On Me

Work Day (1)

Chapter 12: Work Day (1)

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‘I know I don’t have time to be laying around like this...’ Elizabeth thought to herself. She had to get up and get dressed for work but she wasn’t feeling too well. ‘I’m just being dramatic, aren’t I... Getting so upset like this for nothing...’

Knock, knock!

The woman heard someone knocking at her door, there was only one person who that could be... “Hey... Lizzy listen... what I said just now was out of line. It’s none of my business to butt into what you do or where you go and...” Gabriel spoke to the woman without opening the door. Somehow his shoulders felt heavy at that moment.

Suddenly the door opened and Elizabeth walked out, she had hurriedly put on one of her work dresses. It was a very official looking black dress with several vertical white stripes. “It’s not a biggie, you were trying to help so I get it...” She said as she stood in front of the mirror and began putting on her earrings.

“You’re not... upset, are you?” Gabriel asked as he tilted his head to the side, somehow the woman looked to be in a rush to get ready and leave. ‘Damn... I really did something stupid, didn’t I?’

“Not at all... in fact you’re correct I really should show up to the wedding... They did invite me after all. But I won’t be taking you along with me as a date... rather I’ll be in a relationship until that time.” Elizabeth shared her plan with the man with such a calm expression on her face that you’d think she’d known it was going to come down to this from the beginning. Though internally the woman was less than calm... ‘I’m just doing this cause I don’t want to leave anything awkward between us...’ She thought it would be easier to deny the man’s request like this... Little did she know it would only make it a bigger mess than it already was.

“Didn’t you say the wedding was a month away? Isn’t that too little of time for something like a relationship?” Gabriel asked as he stood off to the side, he didn’t get too close to the woman as they spoke with each other. ‘Somehow the idea annoys me more than I imagined it would...’

“Yes, a month is plenty of time to find someone suitable, no?” Elizabeth turned to the man, having finished putting on her jewelry. ‘Why is he acting like this all of a sudden? I’m just trying to make the line clear between us...’

“I mean... I guess but... no?” Gabriel hesitated to speak. ‘Is she trying to annoy me? NO... this has nothing to do with me... I’m obviously not even an option to her... and who could blame her for not wanting a bum like me...’

“Which one is it?” Elizabeth asked as she crossed her hands. ‘He’s standing surprisingly far away from me... Maybe because of what happened in the kitchen... So it is awkward after all...’

“Why did you decide this all of a sudden?” Gabriel asked as he looked at the woman that walked past him quickly and she took her purse in her hands and headed to the entryway.

“Hm? You seem upset... I was just listening to you.” Elizabeth said as if she was trying to provoke the man. “I don’t think it’s a big deal, it’s just a relationship, they come and they go.” She continued her tone sounding a bit colder than usual.

“No... that’s not it...” Gabriel didn’t agree with the woman. “You shouldn’t be pursuing a relationship just because you don’t want to be alone... that’s a shitty reason to date anyone.”

Gabriel spewed some rather unsavory words. It was difficult to figure out if he was trying to make the woman change her mind or further provoke her to act as she has intended. Either way he seemed angry with her for some unknown reason. Maybe it was his own feelings towards her and maybe it was just his pride as a man that held him back from acting upon those very feelings...

“What does the reason matter anyway?” Elizabeth asked, this time with her voice sounding ice cold. Somehow her eyes as well seemed to be devoid of emotion as she spoke her next words. “After all... relationships aren’t such a big deal.”

‘Now I remember... why they call her the ice queen...’ Gabriel thought to himself as he turned his back to the woman. “See you at work. I’ll be there right before my shift.”

“Huh? You don’t want me to drive you?” Elizabeth asked as she watched the man heading to his own room, presumably to change into different clothing.

“No, you’ve done enough for me already, Elizabeth...” Gabriel spoke in a cold voice but it was filled with a certain emotion, it was an odd mixture between sadness and anger, and the anger part seemed to be a bit more in the mix than the rest.

“Wait... I...” Even though Elizabeth wanted to say something about all this, she couldn’t do it. Something in her didn’t allow her to speak, so her voice seemed to disappear as she tried to let it out.

“Have a nice day at work.” Gabriel began speaking more formally to the woman, but it didn’t feel like a sign of respect towards her. Rather it felt like he was trying to put more distance between them.

“Thank you, same to you.” Elizabeth said as she left through the door and headed to work. Forgetting about the entire ordeal was probably best. She needed to focus on her own work and not worry about what the man had on his mind... Yet... Yet she still had a small corner in the very back of her brain that seemed to still be thinking about Gabriel even when she was well into her workday...