Gabriel (Rewritten Version) - LGBT, manXman

5

Gabe woke late the next morning, and was annoyed to discover his alarm clock had been turned off.

Checking the time, he saw it was almost midday.

Jumping out of bed, Gabe dressed quickly, fully expecting to find his siblings lounging around the house, taking advantage of his lie-in.

To his surprise, when he entered the kitchen he found a note from Jordan, telling him the twins had been taken to school early, and that he and Phoebe would be staying late after school to play football.

Gabe frowned at the note for a moment, before he fetched his coat and headed out to the Roadside Cafe.

"What're you doing here?" Daisy asked him as he walked into the café.

Gabe shrugged.

"Nothing else to do. Jordan managed everything this morning."

He slid onto a stool at the bar, wincing slightly as his lower back ached painfully, and looked over the menu.

"I'll just have... the BBQ chicken baguette, with mayonnaise, a side of chips and... a coffee, please."

Daisy bustled to fulfil his order, and placed it in front of him a few minutes later.

"£4.25, please, Gabe," Daisy said. "When you have it."

"I've got it now." Gabe fished in his pocket for change, when a low voice behind him interrupted.

"I'll pay for that."

A crisp ten-pound note was placed on the counter at Gabe's elbow.

He looked over his shoulder and saw a young woman, a couple of years older than his own nineteen years, stood behind him. She shot him a dazzling white smile and tossed her long, wavy black hair back over her shoulder.

"Hi. I'm Angela Lee." She held out her hand for Gabe to shake.

Gabe stared at it for a moment, before he turned towards Daisy.

"I'll pay for my own food, thank you," he said coolly.

Daisy moved a hand up to her mouth to cover her smirk, and left to serve another customer.

"Well, if I sleep with you and pay you for it, would you accept my money then?" The woman asked.

Gabe swivelled round to face her again, fighting to keep a polite smile on his face.

"You're not my type," he said coldly, letting his eyes roam slowly over her body.

The woman squirmed slightly under his penetrative gaze.

Gabe handed Daisy a five-pound note and proceeded to ignore the woman as he ate.

After he finished the meal, he chatted to Daisy for a while, before he bade her goodbye and left to go and pick the twins up from school.

The woman, Angela, followed him as he walked back into the town.

Gabe kept his eye on her as he passed parked cars, glancing in their wing mirrors to see where she was. She was keeping her distance, but following him determinedly.

When he reached the council estate, Gabe ducked down one of the alleys he used regularly. He ran to the end, turned down the next alley, and the next, twisting and winding through the small back-streets until he re-emerged on the high street, close to the twin's primary school.

He'd lost the woman.

*

Gabe and Jordan were washing up after dinner that evening, when they heard the doorbell ring loudly.