I Really, Really Love You.
Gabriel learnt the hard way that it was harder to sooth the pain of a broken heart by just staying in his office and staring at the landscape of Oslo while hoping that Leonica would walk right through his office door and tell him that she was just pulling a prank on him.
The truth was, that wasn't happening. Not anytime soon.
So here he was, sitting on a bar stool in a pub, drowning his sorrow away with alcohol.
The bartender had already given up on him, choosing to let the male drown in his own misery instead of telling him off.
Gabriel raised the beer mug to his lips, taking another sip, hoping that the alcohol would magically erase the fact that he had just screwed up and chased away the best thing that had ever happened to him.
His grandmother sure would be disappointed from up above, he chuckled at the painful truth.
Lilia has loved Leonica so much. On multiple occasions, when she had enough strength to move around, she would request that Gabriel come visit her in the garden, only to talk about how much of the ideal daughter in-law Leonica was.
And she was right, Leonica was the best daughter in-law, even after the she passed away and Gabriel seemed swarmed with work, she had been the one taking care the funeral preparations and still managed to take care of him at that moment.
A sigh escaped his lips as he placed the empty beer mug on the table and tried remembering when everything had gone wrong.
After a while, he could pin point the exact date through his alcohol blurred memory.
Everything had began going down hill the day he got a call from Angelina. She had just returned to Oslo after several years, but had no one to pick her up.
Obviously, he wanted to volunteer, but Leonica, who at that time, he had thought was being too noisy in his personal life, had objected, reminding him of the promise he made to his late Grandmother, which later led to him kicking her out of the car, something he greatly regretted now that he thought back to it.
After that, he had successful picked Angelina up, but a couple of rogue children who had been running around, knocked her into the airport's decorative fountain. Gabriel who tried to pull her out, ended up slipping and falling in the fountain with her, getting soaked in the process.
He offered for her to dry off at his place after they had both gotten out, and now that he thought about it, that was the one move on his path that caused things to escalate at a rapid.
Leonica returned home after that and misunderstood things between he and Angelina, and he didn't make much effort to clear things up and even dared to hit her.
Chuckling, he shook his head at his own past action. "Gabriel, you stupid stupid fool," He mumbled, reaching for the new beer mug the bartender had just served. "You lost her, and it's all because you were an idiot."
The bartender didn't comment on his words, but chose to clean the glass that he had in his hands.
"Why didn't I realize earlier? I should have listened to grandma. I should have loved Leonica." He repeated over and over again as he drank one glass after another.
After a while, the bartender had to step in. "Sir, it's getting late, is there someone I can call to come get you."
"Someone you can call?" Gabriel muttered and seconds later, Leonica's face popped up in his mind. "Leonica. I want to talk to Leonica," He said as he reached for his phone in his pocket, scrolling through his dialer to find Leonica's number.
He clicked on it and pressed the phone close to his ear, listening to it as it rang. For a split second, he had been sure that she wasn't going to answer, but on the forth ring, the phone was answered.
"Leo? Leonica can you hear me?" He asked, his words slurring.Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.
There was no response from the other side, but Gabriel could hear the shuffling sound, so he continued.
"I'm sorry Leo, I shouldn't have treated you the way I did when we were married. I shouldn't have brought Angelina into our house and I shouldn't have raised my hand against you, Leo and I sure as hell shouldn't have gotten Billy to watch you. I'm so fucking sorry, so please come back to me, or let's start over. Please, I'll change, I swear." He paused, waiting for a reply, but once again, nothing. "Please Leonica, just forgive me one last time and come back to me, with Ashley and let's make things work." "Gabriel,"
"Yes, I'm here." He responded, his voice slightly louder.
"This isn't Leonica, this is Owen." The male spoke and Gabriel's face immediately paled.
"Where...where's Leonica?" He asked, fully aware of what it meant for Owen to have Leonica's phone around five minutes past two.
"Sleeping." Came Owen's answer. "Today had been pretty stressful for her."
And he was the cause of it, Gabriel thought and chewed on his lips.
"Can I talk to her, please." He requested, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice, but failed.
The line was silent for a few seconds before Owen softly replied. "I'm sorry, but you can't."
Understandable. Owen was keeping to the exact words he had told him back at the hospital, he was protecting Leonica from things that were considered harmful to her and at the this point, he was sure that he fit under the category of those who weren't supposed to be around her. He shook his head. How fucking Hilarious that he had gone from husband to being classified as harmful, by his ex wife's fucking Fiancé.
"You messed up Gabriel," Owen spoke after a while. "But I think it's my position for me to give you advice, you're my rival in love, and I sure as hell aren't open my eyes and hand Leonica over to you on a silver platter. Though I doubt she'd allow that. She'd probably have my head before I can pull something like that."
For the first time, both Gabriel and Owen agreed on one thing, chuckling light.
"But with all that said, I still wish you luck, try your best to make up with her, or don't. It's none of my business."
And with that, the line went dead.
Gabriel didn't put the phone down, but held it close to his ears for a long while, thinking hard about Owen's words. Did he...really have a chance to make up with Leonica?
Lloyd was sleeping soundly in his bed with Anastasia beside him when he suddenly got a phone call.
The ringing of his phone disturbed him and he was quick to answer the call, hoping that it had not disturbed Anastasia.
"Hello," He answered, his voice hoarse, as he glanced at the digital clock on his night stand. "It's two in the morning, who is it?"
"I apologize for disturbing your sleep sir, but a friend of yours happens to be passed out drunk at my bar."
"A friend of mine?" This prompts Lloyd to pull the phone away from his face, sighing loudly when he saw the number calling belonged to Gabriel. "That idiot, what the fuck is he doing?" "He had been drinking all night, sir."
Lloyd sighed, running his hand through his hair as he glanced back at Anastasia, confirming that she was still sleeping. "Alright, I'm on my way, please send me his location."
Ending the call, he stood up and began to get dressed, but half way in, Anastasia stirred in her sleep and woke up.
"Lloyd?" She rubbed her eyes, glancing at the digital clock as she sat up. "It's two in the morning, where are you going?"
"Sorry for waking you up," Lloyd
walked up to her, kissing her head as a form of apology before answering her question. "It's Gabriel, the idiot is drunk and passed out at some bar."
en
"What?"
IMS
"He and Leonica must have gotten into a fight, she's the only reason why I can imagine him being this way." Lloyd replied, pulling his jacket on.
"I'll go with you."
"No," Lloyd shook his head. "Go back to sleep. I'll handle this and join you shortly."
Anastasia hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be back in an hour or so."
Anastasia didn't argue, simply nodding her head and allowing him to leave the room, heading towards the direction of the garage. When he was gone, she flopped back on the bed and sighed. Leonica and Gabriel, those two weren't really the best combination.
Leonica woke up in the middle of the
night to find the space beside her empty. Owen wasn't in bed, but
instead, she could feel the chilly
breeze coming from the balcony not to far from her bed.
Pushing the sheets off her, she slipped her feet into her slippers and headed towards the balcony.
When she pushed the door open, she found Owen leaning on the railing, his back facing her as he stared into the distant darkness. "Owen?" He turned around at the sound of her voice, a smile gracing his lips.
"Hey luce mia."
"What are you doing here?" She asked as she came to stand beside him, only for him to wrap her in his arm, pulling into his chest.
"I was just thinking, sorry if I woke you up."
Leonica shook her head. "You didn't. What are you thinking about?"
"The future," He paused. "Our future."
Leonica hummed. "What about it?"
"What if we need up like you and Gabriel?" His question was enough to clear a certain degree of sleep from Leonica's eyes and she looked up at him.
"That would never happen to us, Owen." She assured, reaching her palm up with cup his face with a soft smile. "Because I really, really love you."
Hearing those three words 'I love you' from Leonica for the very first time since they began dating, felt like music to Owen's ears and a smile graced his lips.
He placed his hand above Leonica's
hand, pressing it more to his cheek
as he looked down at her with a gentle gaze. "I'm glad you do." He responded, leaning in and giving her a kiss on her lips. "Because I do too, luce mia."