Lust Of Paris

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝

"Il m'a dit qu'il ne voulait pas se marier et je le veux. Je ne suis pas assez stupide pour attendre quelque chose qui n'arrivera pas." (He told me that he doesn't want to get married and I want that. I'm not stupid enough to wait for something that's not gonna happen)

Despite sounding more annoyed than sad, Gabriel was sure that his best friend was hurting. She had finally managed to find someone after being cheated by her fiancè and she let herself fall for a new man. And now her heart was broken again!

Gabriel, on the other hand, was just angry at Lincoln for getting together with Èlise while knowing very well that he didn't want the same things. He should have just stayed away from her and been with women who only wanted one-night-stands and casual relationships because that's not Élise. He should have known that.

So far Gabriel hadn't seen her shed even a tear so if she hadn't done that without him, she hadn't cried at all. Maybe she was really alright and all that talk about love and forever and marriage was just talk or maybe, just maybe, she unconsciously knew that they would end up back together

What she had done was drink a lot of alcohol and come over to his home where she told him to stop her from calling Lincoln. She was a smart woman even when she was drunk.

"Vous êtes très intelligent," (You're very smart) Gabriel answered nonchalantly while trying to get her to the bed. She should be sleeping and prepare for tomorrow morning when she was going to feel all those drinks.

At least she managed to walk while he made sure that she wouldn't accidentally fall to the floor. Just as they reached the bed, she turned around and started to talk about that one thing he didn't want to talk about tonight.

"Comment allez-vous et Alex? J'espère que tu vaux mieux que nous. Nous avons rompu et je ne veux pas que tu rompes." (How are you and Alex? I hope that you're better than us. We broke up and I don't want you to break up)

"Nous allons bien, va dormir maintenant." (We're fine, go to sleep now) It wasn't exactly a lie. They weren't fighting anymore because Alex had forgiven him and they made up. Everything was fine again, or at least it should be.

But it wasn't. After he had forgotten their date, which sounded bad even to his own ears, Alex had been distant. Even if they talked and texted and had online dates, it wasn't how it used to be. In a way, it kind of felt like Alex was doing it because he had to, not because he wanted to. And it was the worst feeling in the world.

Alright, there had been many good dates too where they had had a genuinely good time and had laughed for hours until his stomach had gotten hurt. But there was a distance that hadn't been there before and it was all of his fault.

But that was going to change tonight. Even though he couldn't take enough time off from work to go to Michigan no matter how much he tried, he was going to make sure that their date was perfect. He would do everything right and make Alex forget everything that happened. All he had to do was be at home by 8pm, how hard could it be?

🌷🌷🌷

How could he have such bad luck? At first, his employee called to tell him that he had a family emergency and couldn't go to work. Of course his first option was to ask other employees if they could do an exra shift to earn more money but none of them were free. Or they simply didn't want to come and had just lied to their boss.

Either way, now it was up to Gabriel himself to do the evening shift and close the bakery which always happened at 8pm. That was also when their date started and he had to be on time even if it was only an online date. He already screwed up once and hadn't exactly been the best boyfriend lately.

But because he couldn't be at two places at the same time, he had no other choice but to ask Alex if they could start an hour later. Right now he didn't have time to call him but he would do it as soon as he had his first break.

Or he would have if he had remembered but with all the work, it completely slipped his mind. By the time it was almost time to close the bakery, he hadn't even thought about the call or their date in hours.

The last customers had just left and he was finishing cleaning. Suddenly the door was opened and Leo walked in with a smile on his face. Gabriel sighed and tried not to show how much he wished that he would have just stayed home.

Usually he would be just happy to see him but after how Alex had recently reacted to him spending time with his ex-husband, he wasn't too happy about it now.

"Ai-je encore le temps pour quelques petit gâteau?" (Do I still have time for a few cupcakes?) Normally he would say no because it was already a couple of minutes past eight but this was Leo.

"Bien sûr, lesquels? N'est-il pas un peu tard pour quelque chose d'aussi dou?" (Sure, which ones? Isn't it a bit late for something so sweet?)

"Trop tard? Qu'êtes-vous, quatre-vingts?" (Too late? What are you, eighty?) Leo chuckled. They continued making small talk but then his work phone rang in the back and Gabriel went to answer it, assuming it was a customer making an order. And he was right.

I'll just do this and then I'll leave, he thought while writing down the order of three cakes for next week's birthday party. Then he heard Leo talking and froze. All this time he had thought that he was gone but apparently he had stayed and... waited for him? Maybe? Who even knew what he was still doing here.

When he went back, he was shocked to see that Leo was still alone there and was talking on the phone. But no, he wasn't talking on his own phone but to his that he must have accidentally forgotten on the table when he went to answer the call.

"Donne moi ça!" (Give me that!) Gabriel said, glaring at Leo while taking the phone from his hand. And his heart dropped when he saw Alex's name on the screen.

The date! He quickly checked the time and noticed that it was already 8.15pm which meant that he was, as he expected, late for their date. Worst of all, he never even called him to tell him about the work. And now Leo had answered the call. Leo who Alex was already disliking a lot. Things couldn't get any worse tonight.

"I'm so sorry, babe. I got stuck at work and I forgot to call you. You can't even imagine how busy it has been there because, well, it doesn't matter. I know you hate me now and I would too but I swear with my life that I'm telling the truth. I'll leave now and then we can start our date. Give me fifteen minutes," he talked quickly.

Then he stopped and waited for his boyfriend to talk but he stayed quiet. "Are you there? Alex? Alexander Caspian Sutton?"

When he still didn't say anything, Gabriel checked if he had hung up already but he hadn't. So he was just angry which was much worse.

This was already a second date he had forgotten in such a short amount of time. If he thought about how he would feel if the roles were switched after everything, he wouldn't be dancing from joy either.

"Are you with Leo again?" was all he said, sounding so calm but he could tell that he was anything but that.

"No! I mean, yeah but not like that. He just came to buy cupcakes," Gabriel mumbled, terrified that he wouldn't believe him. And with the way he asked that question, it sounded like he had already come to his own conclusions.

"I gotta go," was all Alex said. "And let's just try again some other day. Bye."

And just like that, he hang up and Gabriel was left alone to stare at the phone while wondering how things went to this. What a nightmare! He had such a clear plan for this evening and he could only blame himself that Alex didn't even want to talk with him.

Things might have happened out of his control such as his employee and he couldn't help it if he forgot to call Alex but the least he could have done was put a reminder. Because Gabriel was desperate, he tried to call Alex a few times but he never picked up or answered his messages.