A Story Worth Telling

Episode II

Exeter, England

THERE WERE A LOT OF THINGS to love, things I loved, about Gabriel - his wit, his attentiveness, his sense of humour, his protectiveness, his mind, his smile, his height... I liked our relationship; it was almost always smooth sailing. He had this calm energy about him that I fed off of, it being exactly what I needed after growing up the way I did. And he seemed to enjoy the craziness that was a part of me, choosing to be amused rather than frustrated at my ability to be completely scatterbrained and to enjoy the myriad of ways I always seemed to turn everything into some kind of adventure. We didn't fight often but when we did, I never felt like my opinion was stupid or like he didn't really consider what I had to say. I liked how he did things, small and big, to let me know I was always on his mind. I liked that he listened to me when I talked, so much so that he'd sometimes remember things I'd forgotten ever mentioning. But his stubbornness, something he was then demonstrating, was not high up on my list.

Lara, Gabe's mum, had invited us to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday. I was thrilled with the invitation, partly because I hadn't seen Lara in almost a year but mostly because it provided the perfect opportunity for me to visit Simon. So we'd said yes... And then Gabe had decided he'd pay for both of us. I'd put my foot down, insisting I pay for my own ticket. He was of the mind that since we were getting married in three months, what was his was mine and vice versa. So it wasn't a big deal. And for him, it really wasn't. Gabriel worked with his father Conrad at their family garages, handling everything from simple repairs and oil changes to custom builds. Lan Luxury Garages had seven spots open across the country, and they charged top dollar for great quality. So he could afford to pay for both of us without giving it a single thought. But his ability to pay wasn't why I hadn't wanted him to do it, and why I'd wanted to pay my own way. I knew I would have to get used to having money spent on me, marrying into a wealthy family. Being born into one myself hadn't meant anything - Simon and I had started working at age fourteen because that was the only way we'd had money to do things we wanted to do. Our father paid for essentials only, and that was required by law. Anything else came out of our pockets.

Apparently Gabe had tired of arguing with me on the subject, because he'd told Conrad, who'd then proceeded to buy the tickets and hand them to me. They'd come with the instruction to keep my objections to myself. Of course I didn't, so he pulled out the big emotional guns. He'd said, "I look after my children, Sheba. I know that wasn't your experience, but you never tire of taking care of your children in any way you can. I have more money than I can spend, and I know you're saving to invest in your business idea. So save, and let me pay." There wasn't exactly any kind of argument you could put forth to win against that, so I'd - begrudgingly - accepted the already bought and paid for tickets. Gabriel had been smug that he'd gotten his way, and I hadn't liked that.

So for the past four days, I had been making my irritation known. But that hadn't worked well, because Gabriel had found it more amusing than anything else. He wouldn't apologise, saying he did nothing wrong. Secretly though, I was too excited about the trip to care who paid for my fare. I missed my big brother, so much. He still lived in our hometown, but he was making quite the name for himself as a software engineer. He and Aalana were still together, going strong after eight years together. He came to England more than I went back home to Florida, which worked for me because I could avoid the three people I didn't want to ever run into again.

And speaking of Simon...

I grinned and swiped up to accept his call before hitting the loudspeaker icon. "Hey big bro. What's up? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

His chuckle was deep and rough, like he'd just woken up. "I'm headed in that direction. It's been a while since I spoke to my baby sister though, so I just wanted to check in. Have I caught you at a bad time?"