Chapter 28

Helen walked back to the party looking for her son when her eyes landed on him she noticed he was chatting with someone so she walked towards them. As she got closer, she realized that it was Samantha. She wondered if Samantha was the reason why Nicole looked a little sad, she knew Nicole was hiding something from her but she didn't want to pressure her into saying anything she didn't want to.

"Samantha? I didn't know you were here?" Helen said as she reached them.

"It's good to see you again, Helen," Samantha replied with a smile.

"Me too dear..... Um, can I steal my son from you for a while? I need to talk to him." Helen requested.

"Sure. We can continue with our conversation later, right Gabe?" She asked. Gabriel only smiled in reply before leaving her presence with his mom.

"Where is Nicole?" He suddenly asked realizing now that she wasn't beside him the whole time.

"I should be the one asking you that," Helen replied.

"She was with me a while ago," Gabriel said looking around in hopes of finding her.

"I saw her going to the bedroom, she wasn't looking so good. Did she say anything to you about not feeling well?" His mom asked making him wonder what could be wrong with Nicole, but she was fine just a while ago.

"I'll go check on her," he said to his mom.

"Okay, son," Helen replied before he left for the bedroom.

Nicole leaned against the door as she got into the room, a tear rolled down her face and she had no idea why. Nicole Immediately wiped the tear with the back of her hand to stop herself from crying but as soon as her eyes landed on the teddy bear she burst into tears.

Gabriel must care so much about that lady to not even care anymore about her presence, she thought to herself. Maybe she was an ex-girlfriend or lover because she was obviously flirting with him right before her eyes, which made her feel jealous and at the same time hurt as she cried even more. She ran to her teddy bear and cuddled it close.

"Stop being jealous, Nicole. You mean nothing to him. You're just here to play the role of a fiancee, so don't overstep your boundaries." she warned herself, wiping the tears from her eyes.

After getting herself together, she decided to go wash her face, redo her makeup, and return to the party before someone walked in on her looking like this.

Gabriel walked into the room and saw it empty to his surprise, then he heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. He decided to go sit on one of the armchairs and wait for Nicole to come out. He kept wondering if she left the party because she was crowd shy since she was nervous earlier or maybe it could be that she got bored.

He mentally scolded himself for not paying much attention to Nicole because he was talking to Samantha. He would've noticed if she suddenly felt sick or something like that but he was so stupid and careless that he had no idea when she left his side.

He knew that she wouldn't feel comfortable being around so many people since she wasn't used to this sort of thing and Samantha made everything even more complicated by acting all flirty and intimate with him right in front of Nicole. He didn't want to tell her off in the presence of the guests because he didn't want to make a scene so instead he acted oblivious to what she was doing but he needed to clear things up so that Nicole doesn't get a bad impression of him because of Samantha.

Nicole came out of the bathroom and was startled to see Gabriel in the room.

"You're here!" She exclaimed closing the door behind her. She hoped it wasn't obvious that she had been crying.

"Yes, I realized you were no longer beside me and Mom said you didn't look well so I came to check on you. Are you okay?" He asked standing up from the armchair and walking towards Nicole.

Nicole was surprised at how Helen could see right through her.

What excuse was she going to give him now?

"Yeah. I'm fine." she quietly replied.

Gabriel stared at her skeptically not believing her one bit. Nicole stole a glance at Gabriel and noticed that there was doubt in his eyes and she knew he wouldn't give up until she told him something reasonable.

"Okay, okay, I left the party cos I didn't want anyone asking me intimate questions about us which would be difficult to answer, you know... And I also needed to retouch my makeup." she lied with a fake smile hoping he would buy it.

Gabriel relaxed a bit after hearing her reply. His suspicion was correct, she wasn't comfortable with unfamiliar faces so that was the reason why she suddenly left the party. Nicole noticed that Gabriel became uneasy all of a sudden as he was scratching the back of his neck and looking anywhere but at her.

"Gabriel?" She called trying to gain his attention.

"The lady you saw with me a while ago..."

"Gabriel, it's okay. I'm in no position to know who she was or is to you." Nicole said cutting him off.

"No, I need to tell you. I've been wanting to get it off my chest for some time now"

"Okay," she replied in understanding. Gabriel held her hand and guided her to the bed where they both sat down.

"Charles and I knew Samantha from college," Gabriel began. Nicole nodded as a sign that she was listening.

"The three of us became best friends as time went by. After Ashley broke up with me... I became depressed and Sam was there to comfort and encourage me. She tried to get me to move on and... Something happened along the line, we ended up in bed like three times."

Nicole felt her heart break into pieces after hearing that. No wonder she was flirting with him in her presence without a feeling of shame. She had no chance with him now more than ever because unlike her who meant nothing to him, this Samantha was his best friend and had also been intimate with him.

She didn't think she was ready to hear any more information he needed to add to the already said one because as it is her heart was already shattered and she didn't want to break down in tears in his presence so her feelings for him wouldn't be revealed.

"I felt bad each time it happened because I never saw her in that manner," he continued.

"So, I told her that we needed to stop whatever it was we were doing cos I felt nothing for her and didn't want to lead her on so as not to hurt her feelings in the end. Besides, we both knew what we were doing was wrong and the sooner we stopped the better for the both of us."

Nicole was relieved to hear that Gabriel didn't feel anything for the lady even though he didn't love her either. She needed the conviction that he felt nothing at all for the lady because Samantha was a worthy threat to any woman's relationship.

Nicole instantly felt bad for thinking this way. She was being selfish because of her feelings which shouldn't even be there because she would be out of Gabriel's life soon and he deserved to be with someone who cared about him more than her.

"How did she take it?" Nicole asked. She knew the answer with what she had seen earlier tonight but she just wanted to know if he saw it too.

"She took it well, I guess," Gabriel replied.

He wasn't convinced by his reply because Samantha had always had feelings for him and from the looks of it, she hadn't moved on and he had no idea how to make her realize that he didn't feel the same way without ruining their friendship.

Nicole could see that he was in doubt of his reply but she felt he needed to give the lady a chance if he liked her even just a bit. She shook off that thought because she didn't even seem convincing about the idea of him being together with Samantha.

Nicole gently placed her hands on his with a smile on her face.

"I'm sure she understands," she said hoping that that would lighten the atmosphere.

She would think about Gabriel and Samantha later, for now, she still had a contract to finish.

Gabriel was glad that Nicole was understanding. He didn't need to see Samantha now, not when he had Nicole in his life and had finally forgotten about Ashley.

Why was this relationship based on a contract in the first place? He wondered

"Shall we? We don't want to keep our guests waiting, wondering where we are." Nicole said standing up from the bed.

Gabriel held her hand and pulled her to himself, making her sit on his lap. This action took Nicole by surprise.

"If they don't see us, they'll leave," he said with a smirk.

"You're a bad host," Nicole replied in a whisper. Gabriel didn't want to return to the party because of Samantha.

"So.. Do you like your gift?" He asked looking at the giant teddy bear in their bedroom.

"I love it. Thank you, but..."

Gabriel couldn't help but wonder what that 'but' meant. Maybe she didn't like the color or maybe it was too big.

"I got used to cuddling someone else a day ago," she replied taking Gabriel by surprise. He looked at her in a confused manner wondering what she got used to cuddling when most girls loved to cuddle their teddy bear.

"And what is that? If I may ask?"

"You silly!" she replied with a smile wrapping her arms around his neck. Gabriel reciprocated by wrapping his arms around her waist and his face close to hers.

"Is that so?" He teasingly asked with his lips only an inch away from hers.

Nicole felt butterflies in her stomach due to the closeness. She hid her face in the crook of his neck to hide her blush.

Gabriel smiled at her shyness and placed a kiss on her hair.

"Let's go to bed," he said, gently placing Nicole on the bed and taking off her shoes before taking off his shoes and jacket. He tucked them in the duvet and they cuddled up together, falling asleep in each other's arms.

Hey Lovelies, it's so good to be back

I forgot to write an author's note in the previous chapter but I hope you guys enjoyed it.

What do you think about Samantha?

Will she be a threat to Gabriel and Nicole's blossoming relationship?

We'll see what happens, until then...

Please vote and comment

Love y'all 😊😘