It was four days before the wedding, Gabriel was busy in his office because after today he wouldn't be going to the office in preparation for the wedding and he didn't want his desk piled up with papers and files when he returned from his honeymoon so he decided to work late.
It was already 9:00 pm when he was done working. He was exhausted and needed to rest so he tidied his desk and left his office.
Gabriel got home and found his parents and Nicole in the living room. Nicole looked upset, he wondered who or what had upset her. She didn't walk up to him to give him a welcome kiss like she used to.
"Is everything okay?" He asked gaining their attention.
"Everything would've been okay if you remembered to pick up your tux today." His mom angrily replied. Nicole stood up from the couch and walked towards him.
"For once Gabriel, think about yourself and not your company... It's not fair how you abandon our wedding preparations for me like I'm the only one involved." She said sounding frustrated as she raked her fingers through her hair.
"I know you're busy but this, this is our wedding. Sometimes your actions make me think you're not interested in this relationship anymore."
What has come over Nicole? Where was she getting all these imaginations?
"What are you saying?" He managed to ask.
"You get me engaged and act like you don't care about us anymore. Is this how it's going to be after our wedding?.... Just tell me if you're no longer interested in this relationship so I'll leave because I'm sick and tired of all this!" Nicole angrily said before storming out of the living room in tears leaving Gabriel in utter shock.
Nicole's words broke his heart, it reminded him of Ashley's words the night she broke things off with him. It was like everything was replaying itself.
"Son, you better go after her and apologize because I don't want to lose Nicole as my daughter-in-law or... You can do otherwise if you want to cease to be my son." Helen said in a serious tone.
Helen's words brought Gabriel out of his thoughts. He had forgotten about his parent's presence in the living room. His mom looked really angry while his dad looked at him with pity. He immediately went upstairs to their bedroom. On getting there, he found Nicole taking out some of her clothes from the closet.
"What is going on? Are you leaving?" He asked.
Nicole then noticed his presence.
"No. I'm only going to my bedroom," she replied in a whisper making Gabriel even more confused.
"I don't understand?"
Nicole stopped what she was doing and went to the door, peeking outside the room before shutting the door again.
"Okay, the coast's clear," she said with a smile.
"What are you talking about?" Gabriel asked already impatient for a reply.
"I'm sorry about all that drama back there. I had to react that way because your mom was really upset when you didn't show up at the boutique today and I had to make her believe that I felt the same way, although I was worried when you didn't show up," she said taking his hand and leading them to the couch so they could sit.
"And... I also needed to make use of this opportunity to leave your bedroom because my mom always told me how fun it was for a bride to stay away from her groom days or weeks before the wedding so he misses her a lot before the big day." She excitedly explained.
"I know all of this isn't real and my mom isn't here.... I just wanna know what it feels like." She concluded with sadness in her voice.
Gabriel instantly felt sorry for her, he had forgotten that her mom was dead so no one would be present from her family during the wedding. He should've tried harder to prevent his mom from making any wedding plans.
"I'm sorry about your mom." he quietly said bringing Nicole out of her thoughts. She shrugged it off.
"Anyways... I picked your tux myself. It's in the closet and it's just your size, you'll see." Nicole said with a bright smile surprising Gabriel. He wonders how she could instantly change moods.
"Thanks," he replied.
"I better continue with what I was doing," she said giving his hand a light squeeze. Gabriel held her hand a little longer preventing her from standing up.
"Don't ever scare me like this again." he requested making Nicole smile widely.
"Well... I'm only doing my job" She replied making Gabriel internally sad and guilty
He had referred her as one of his employees the day they had an argument in his study and now he felt hurt hearing it come out from her lips. He should never have thrown those words to her face.
He was still deep in thoughts when Nicole announced that she was done packing. He didn't even notice when she left the couch. Gabriel stood up and walked her to the door.
"Don't miss me too much, okay?" Nicole said placing a kiss on his cheek causing him to smile.
"Goodnight," he quietly said returning the gesture by kissing her on her forehead before she left the room.
Gabriel was now alone in his room, he hadn't realized how much he had gotten used to having Nicole beside him in bed until now. He had no idea how he was going to sleep tonight without her by his side. He'll just have to force himself to sleep, he concluded before heading for the bathroom to take a shower.
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