Better Off With Whom?

Chapter-2: HANGOUT

The next morning, Gabriel woke up and came out of Evelyn's bedroom and found her asleep on the couch. He freshened up and went out. It was 15 minutes later when Evelyn woke up and found Gabriel gone. She texted him, "Did you leave?".
She went to have a wash. When she returned she checked her phone and found no reply so she called him.

She heard a phone ringing outside her apartment. She went closer to the door and the door opened. It was Gabriel. She asked him where he went. Gabriel replied, "I went to buy us breakfast".
"You didn't have to, I could have cooked something!", she said.

He sighed and said, "You were asleep, I didn't want to wake you up. So I went and got us breakfast. And guess what? I got you your favourite Nutella and strawberry Croissant and cold brew coffee".

While they were having breakfast, Gabriel suggested that they go out somewhere and not waste the day alone being lazy. Evelyn agreed and said, "But where should we go?". "How about going to my parents cottage we used to go to?", he insisted. Evelyn exclaimed, "But that is in New Jersey! Are you sure you would want to drive for such a long time till we reach?". He nodded. She asked, "Do you have another pair of clothes, what are you going to wear after you shower?"

"Miss I always come prepared and bring an extra pair of clothes when I come to your house because I never know when we would feel the urge to go out. Eat your breakfast, you caterpillar. I am done with mine. I am going to shower. Get ready till then else you're going to take a whole decade.", he said, leaning towards her and staring into her soul and went.

Evelyn, raised her eyebrows and said to herself, "Did this guy just call me a caterpillar?" She scoffed in disagreement and yelled, "I AM BRINGING SUSHI TOO BY THE WAY. I CAN'T LEAVE HER ALONE AND NOT WITH SOME STRANGER TOO."

Gabriel came out of the shower and got ready in a casual hoodie and trousers. He asked Evelyn if she was done. She came out. She wore a black tank top, paired it with a white cardigan and her favourite baggy comfortable jean. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail with a strand of hair falling down on her left side of the face.
Gabriel looked at her and stood up in awe, he was heaven-struck. She looked so cute, but he decided to keep quiet about it like always.

Then they decided to leave. Gabriel locked the apartment while Evelyn held sushi's travel bag with her inside and said in a baby voice, "Yes baby, Mama's gonna get you out as soon as we reach the car.". Gabriel laughed and said, "How about you talk to me nicely this way?". "There's no way that's going to happen.", she laughed.

They finally reached Gabriel's car, and Evelyn released Sushi in the backseat of the car and sat on the passenger seat while Gabriel had seated himself on the driver's seat.
They began their journey. Evelyn played her playlist in the car and jammed to it while Gabriel felt delighted and elated that he even found the weather to be perfect even though it was winter and he disliked the season.
He glanced at her every now and then and was overjoyed.

After about half an hour, he noticed the unknown silence and gazed at Evelyn and found her sleeping. He disconnected the source of songs and stopped the car to the side of the road, got out of the car and draped a handy blanket he had in his car. Evelyn snuggled in herself making Gabriel smile out loud, his chuckle filled the car's silence. And like that they continued their journey.

Evelyn finally woke up and questioned when they were going to reach. Gabriel responded..
"I think it is going to take at least 15 minutes till we arrive. How was your nap huh? Surely it was a good one, making me drive while you and Sushi get the sleep of your lives!" He said teasingly as he raised his right eyebrow up.

"Sure it was a GOOD one!" She said.

They finally reached and Evelyn looked at the cottage house dreamily as the nostalgia hit her.
"How long has it been already? It feels so good to be back here after such a long time. I remember we used to come here every other weekend with our parents.",she said.

"I think it has almost been over two years since we visited this place. It really does feel nice. Mom and dad also got it renovated and a bit furnished. We might find a few changes we had never seen before.", he exclaimed.

Evelyn got Sushi out of the car and carried her in her arms so she doesn't wander off seeing the new environment. They went inside as she let go of Sushi and found a new interior design.
"Woah! This looks AWESOME! Better than before!", she said.
Gabriel himself was amazed and admitted, "Can't agree more! Mom and dad did a great job with the new interior!"
She said, "A FABULOUS job dude!", correcting him.
He nodded in agreement.

They finally started to explore the place. They first went upstairs to see if the 'Wall of Dreams' was still there or not and found it right how they left it. Gabriel's parents didn't renovate the room as they knew it held memories, they would look back at it and long for when they grow up.

'Wall of Dreams', a wall where every year, they would write what they dream to become in the future. It was last edited in 2020 where they both had dreamt of going to the same University. They felt wistful staring at the wall and added their wishes to it.

Then they went to the backyard and sat there looking at the blue sky of clouds in silence for a while. The peaceful hushed environment was a calming getaway. They talked for a while and then went back inside. They had an amazing day to say the least. Then, Evelyn suddenly noticed that it had started to get darker and was quite drizzling as they spent the whole day in the house having fun, reliving the memories and overjoyed by the experience.
She insisted that they should leave before it gets even darker and rains invincibly.

Gabriel agreed and they were ready to leave. Gabriel had gotten out of the house running towards the car as it drizzled while Evelyn exclaimed, "I wish we could stay here. But Alas! Didn't think about it and brought stuff we would require to stay."

As Evelyn got out of the house with Sushi in her arms and locked the main gate, Gabriel yelled, "WISH GRANTED!", in a frustrated tone and pointed at the punctured tyre of his car.
"NO WAY! How did this happen now?", Evelyn spoke.
"I don't know! What should we do now.", he voiced.

And out of nowhere it had started pouring terribly and Gabriel ran towards the shed of the house partially wet, where Evelyn was standing. They both looked hopeless because they were aware that no one would reach out to this place when it's storming to fix a car.
They had no choice but, to STAY THE NIGHT!
They went inside the cottage again.

"Look at the brighter side! We get to stay the night here. We could watch some movies I guess..", Evelyn said optimistically trying to uplift his mood because she knew Gabriel was pouting at his car's tyre as his car is the dearest to him.

He said "Yes I guess so."

Evelyn was gently patting on his back and then his chest with bare soft hands to let the water dry quickly. Suddenly Gabriel looked at her which made her look at him and gazed into each other's eyes.

"Uhm- I'll call mom to find out where the blankets are and if there are snacks or anything edible here.", he said, clearing his throat. He was highly shy and embarrassed.

Evelyn nodded and went to the kitchen and took out Sushi's food bowl and gave her packaged food to eat. She sat down on the floor watching her eat and murmured to Sushi, "Let's see if we have food for us humans to eat or if we are going to starve!"