Silk ✔

Five

Gabriel adjusted the bow tie and straightened the cuffs of his suit. His father wore a similar outfit, however his jacket and pants were gray instead of black like Gabriel's. Otherwise, there were no similarities.

His mother sat stiffly next to his father, the smile stuck to her face which was covered by makeup so no one was able to see what lay underneath. Whenever she looked at her husband of thirty years there was a slight twitch to her eyes, as if the sight alone was irritating. Her laugh sounded hollow.

Gabriel slid the wine glass in tiny circles over the pristine tablecloth, the dark red liquid sloshing slightly.

He sat next to his father, of course, and on his other side sat Amanda Brooks, daughter of Gerard Brooks and sole heir to everything her father had accomplished in his life - which was a lot. She looked a lot like her mother with waves of long blonde hair cascading down her back and shoulders and thin, pale lips.

Gabriel's offspring would look like her if his father got his will, something he seemed to take for granted.

He took a sip of wine. The scent of David's soap clung to his skin which made the whole ordeal a little bit more bearable.

His father and Gerard were discussing business, their wives nodding along and giggling when it was appropriate whereas Amanda looked as bored as he felt.

"-and Gabriel is still trying out things but I'm sure he'll settle down soon and take his position in the family's company," his father was saying reassuringly as if he was praising his best cow in front of a potential buyer. Gabriel felt himself go stiff at that and he abandoned the wine in favor of facing his father - and father-in-law.

"Unfortunately I'm very busy with my own company and won't be able to take over the family's company anytime soon." He smiled although he felt more like scowling right now. "And I don't want to push my father out of the business he worked so hard on his entire life."

"That's so considerate," Mrs Brooks gushed and he felt his father's hand on his shoulder, digging in like a claw.

"Yes, that's my son," he stated proudly but there was a hard edge to his voice. "Gabriel is always looking out for others."

"Amanda gave this amazing speech at a charity event last week. What was it about? Poverty in South Asia? Well, of course we also donated for that charity but Amanda was marvelous on stage." Gerard smiled at his daughter who blushed and looked down at the table. Gabriel couldn't help but think that David would have given a witty reply instead of letting others praise him.

"Gabriel supports local animal shelters. His company even does the shelters' online advertisement for free," his father said and squeezed his shoulder even more tightly. He wanted to swat his hand away but knew he couldn't because this was his father - all high and mighty - and they weren't alone in private but at Tony's with his future fiancee and her parents. Thus he forced himself to smile.

Amanda looked up and blushed an even deeper shade of red when she noticed his gaze on her. She wasn't ugly or arrogant - kids with rich parents were usually arrogant - and he could imagine that in the future she would be an amazing wife but he wouldn't hide who he was just to please his parents. Furthermore, it wouldn't be fair to ruin her life, too.

"Yes, there are so many stray animals on the streets," Mrs Brooks sighed, a troubled look on her aging face.

Gabriel straightened and shrugged his father's hand off. "That's why I support the shelters. They put every penny into making the animals' lives as good as possible so we decided to help them not only with donations but with ads. Since the launch increasingly more people visited the shelters and adopted pets."