Lift Me Up | A Gabenath Story

Chapter 3: Desperate Calls

She caught her breath as he slid the glass to her, sharing a warm smile.

"Th-thank you."

"Anytime," he replied, noticing a change in her composure. He knew she had warmed up to him. He wanted to let her know that he'd be there for her when she needed companionship.

"My work for today is almost done. I should be finishing in ten minutes. If you would like, Nathalie, I could keep you some friendly company until you're ready to head home."

Nathalie was caught by surprise. This wasn't normal for her. At this time, she'd be working in front of a screen as bright as the sun with Mr. Agreste working alone across the room; neither of them speaking to each other unless it was strictly a subject of work. She hadn't been offered company by anyone in a long time.

"Sure, that would be wonderful. I can wait."

─

As Nathalie and Jean spent the next hour chatting about their lives, Gabriel was tirelessly working in front of his screen in his office. He was checking his sketches and determining the fabrics he wanted to use for his pieces. Working made him forget about his argument with Nathalie. At least temporarily.

There was a knock on his office door.

"Come in."

He expected to see Nathalie and was ready to tell her to leave since he did not wish to see her. But instead, it was Adrien who walked through the door.

"Father, sorry to interrupt, but have you seen Nathalie? I've looked for her and can't find her anywhere."

"She must be in her bedroom," he quickly replied to his son, keeping his eyes firmly on the screen.

"I knocked but she's not in there."

A short wave of worry shot throughout Gabriel's body. But refused to show it.

"Then she probably went out to buy a few things," he told his son, pretending to disregard the subject.

"But it's late, Father. Why would Nathalie need to buy something at this time?"

Adrien was right. Why would she need to go out at this time? Gabriel glanced up at the clock and realized how late it actually was.

"She most likely has personal reasons, Adrien," he muttered, returning his gaze to the device in front of him.

Adrien looked at him sourly. He knew that Nathalie and his father had fought. But he didn't think his father would act this heartlessly in this type of situation. Adrien sighed, Gabriel feeling his disappointment through the miraculous.

"Goodnight, Father," Adrien said as he left the room, not expecting to earn a reply back.

When the door shut, Gabriel took his focus off of his work and began to wonder where the hell his assistant was. He did, in fact, remember telling her that he did not want to see her tonight. But he thought that she'd simply stay in her bedroom and rest.

What if something had happened to her? What if she went out and collapsed in the middle of the street? What if somebody tried to hurt her while she was walking alone?

All the questions started flooding his thought process, the feeling of guilt starting to form again.

Just to double-check, he quietly made his way to her bedroom, making sure that Adrien wouldn't see him. He quietly knocked twice and entered the room.

It was dark. The only light illuminating the room was moonlight through a slit in between the curtains. Nathalie's absence made his panic rise.

He wanted to see her. Now. He wanted to hear her. He wanted to feel her closeness. If anything bad had happened to her, he wanted to tell her how sorry he was.