21st Century Knight

Chapter 21 ...It Pours

Brandon didn't show up that night, neither did he call or text. Gabriella tried calling him but there was no answer. Was he preoccupied with work? She knew him well enough to know he wouldn't ignore her calls unless he had a lot to do. She decided to give him a little more time.

But something happened at work the next morning that made Gabriella want to see him immediately. She walked into her cubicle as usual when she noticed that the office was buzzing with chatter – more than was customary. She also kept getting a lot of stares from people. She wondered what that was all about. Did she have something on her face? Was there a stain on her clothes? Or... A horrifying realization came to her. Had Archer's gossip about her relationship with Brandon somehow spread throughout the city and into her workplace? Brandon was a distinct public figure...

"Who would've thought? She always appeared to be so conservative..." A tidbit of gossip floated to Gabriella's ears.

"She must've thrown her hooks into him from the first day, him being a millionaire and all..." Now Gabriella began to feel nauseated. So they were gossiping about her and Brandon. She wished she could get up and leave and not hear another word of it but how could she? She was stuck there, listening to everything though she tried to ignore it.

"Gabriella, are you feeling well?" Marci, one of Gabriella's whiny coworkers asked her. She and Wanda, her other coworker, appeared by Gabriella's desk.

"Yes, why would you ask?" Gabriella tried to appear unconcerned.

"Well, it's just that – you know, what with you dating a millionaire and all—"

"You might've let us in on it!" Wanda blurted out. "I don't think anyone knew until your profile picture went viral..."

"Then again, with all the articles that came out..." Marci continued.

"And with all the rumors..." Wanda mumbled. Gabriella looked up sharply.

"Wait, articles?" The articles, of course! Gabriella remembered what Brandon told her about the paparazzi three days ago... but that didn't seem like much, what exactly made her so newsworthy? Was this Archer's work since the wedding? Spreading false rumors through the tabloids?

"All I'm saying is, Gabriella, if you were planning to fool around with a millionaire, you should've been careful. All this notoriety must be so embarrassing for you." Gabriella paled at Wanda's unsympathetic words and her ears started ringing. 'Fool around', she had said. That means the gossip had gotten well out of hand. How did this happen? How far has it gone?

"I must say, it is impressive. How did you land a millionaire like that? What's your secret?" Marci asked rather bitingly. Gabriella couldn't bear to hear anymore. She got up from her chair and left the office reeling, voices buzzing in her ears. No doubt the gossip would double if she left like this, but she didn't care. She had to see Brandon right away, things were worse than she thought.

She stepped outside and tried calling him frantically. It went to voicemail. Gabriella massaged her face in despair and left a voice message for him.

"Brandon, if you're getting this, I need to see you. It's urgent." She shut her phone, wondering what to do. She was in no state to return to work so she caught a cab back home – paying the extra fare was better than getting recognized in a public bus.

She paced briskly around her apartment, too nervous to sit still but too high strung to do anything else. If only Brandon would call her! But there had been no news at all from him since yesterday.

Gabriella started to get worried. What if something happened to him? Was he hurt somewhere in a hospital? She started to imagine all sorts of horrors then shook her head. No, she would calmly try to find out what happened. First, she would try to reach him. He was not answering his phone, so that was out. How else could she contact him? His workplace. But what would she say over the phone? No, it was better to go in person. Then she could at least find out everything more thoroughly instead of dealing with an answering machine.