I Play for Keeps

Chapter Twenty Two

Gabe texted me and told me to meet him at a small Chinese restaurant called Lu Xiang Yuan at 7:00. I looked it up on Google, and apparently, it was one of the nicest Chinese places in NYC. Knowing how bad the traffic would be, and because I had no idea how to walk there, I hailed down a taxi at 6:30.

And right at 7:00 I ended up at the restaurant. It was starting to rain, and I quickly paid the driver and ran out of the cab, holding my small purse over my head. I had decided since we weren’t going anywhere special, I wouldn’t dress up too nicely. I just wore a pair of boots, jeans and a cute shirt I found at a thrift store. Gabe, however, was wearing nice pants, a collared shirt, and a blazer. He looked at my outfit and smirked.

“You never told me this was semi formal!” I hissed as we walked into the restaurant. We took a seat toward the kitchen, and the smell of the food was intoxicating.

“So…how’s the writing going?” Gabe began after our waiter gave us our drinks. I was currently looking at the menu, trying to figure out what I wanted to eat. Everything looked so good. I glanced up at Gabe, who was staring deeply at me. I shyed back a little, trying not to look too freaked.

“It’s…going. It’s a lot harder than you’d think.” I answered, looking back at the menu.

“Well your songs so far are really good. They have so much…passion. And you have a lot of talent.” He answered honestly. I smiled, still keeping my eyes glued to the menu.

“Thanks,” I mumbled. Gabe’s eyes were still on me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

“Is something wrong, Rae?” He asked, finally breaking the tension between us.

“No. Nothing at all.” I lied. In all honesty, I still couldn’t understand why he wanted to take me out. There was really nothing to talk about. I could’ve been home, watching movies and writing music. He could’ve been talking to his girlfriend. That’s right. He had a girlfriend. And according to Hanna, he was all hers.

“That’s a lie.” Gabe said. I didn’t respond, and the silent tension began to build again. We finally ordered our food and the menus were taken away from us. There was nothing for me to distract myself with. I was forced to look into his eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said smoothly. Though I was feeling anything but smooth. Gabe saw through the lie.

“What is it, Rae? Do you have a problem with Hanna?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. I knew that he knew the answer. He was just being a smug asshole. I sighed, throwing my napkin on the table and marching to the bathroom. “That answers my question.” He called after me.

Once in the bathroom, I stared at my reflection for a few minutes. I splashed water on my face and glared at my face in the mirror. So what I had a tiny crush on Gabe? I wasn’t gonna sit there and let him be all smug about it. He needs to be put in his place. And with that, I left the bathroom and sat back at the table with a very smug Gabe.

I sat back down, thrumming my fingers on the table. Why couldn’t the food be here? “So Rae,” Gabe began, drawing out everything. Time was going by so damn slow. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Well Gabe,” I began, placing a smirk on my face. “You’re the one who invited me here, so why don’t you figure out something to talk about. Or I’m leaving.” I answered. His eyes widened, I had gotten to him. No girl had ever walked out on him apparently.

“You will do no such thing. You are my client, Rae. I am in charge of you. You will not leave this restaurant without me. You are not embarrassing me.” He snapped. Obviously I had hit some kind of nerve. My smile grew wider. I had a small victory!