Gabe: The Alvarez Security Series (27 page)

He just stared for a second as she quickly explained how it came about.
Fuck, just what I need. I’ll be outside and she’ll be in where Alicia is.

“Honey, I’ll be with the Senator’s wife. This will give me the opportunity to talk about the budget with some of the others there. Maybe I can drum up more support for my project.”

Okay,
he thought.
She won’t even be around the Hollywood types,
but he hated the idea nonetheless.

The night of the event, he kissed her hard and wet before leaving the house. She got dressed and stood looking at her appearance in the mirror. Her mind raced with thoughts of the evening to come.
He’ll be working outside and won’t even see me. I’ll be with Sherrie and we won’t even be close to the stars so I’ll never have to see Alicia.
The feeling that this evening had disaster written all over it would not leave her, but there was no backing out now.

She left Ross with Henry and Cora and was now standing in front of her mirror putting on the last touches of makeup. The doorbell rang as Sherrie was there to pick her up. The two women exclaimed over each other’s outfits.

Sherrie looked resplendent in her black evening dress, one shoulder exposed and the fitted bodice tapered to a flared skirt that extended to her ankles. Her sky-high heels gave her a Hollywood appearance and Jennifer knew that her friend could rival any of the women that would be there that night.

Sherrie was staring at Jennifer, thinking the same thing. Jennifer’s blonde curls were pulled up around her face and then cascading down her back. Her beautiful face with large blue eyes gave her a fairy princess look and the blue dress fitted perfectly to her figure. It too had a princess look with a jeweled bodice and layers of silk flowing to her ankles. Silver pumps completed the look. “You look like Cinderella,” Sherrie gushed. Seeing Jennifer’s questioning face, Sherrie quickly continued, “You’re gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.”

The two ladies caught a cab and headed out into the night.

*

“Are you fuckin’
kidding me?” Gabe asked, staring at Tony.

“I wish I was,” came the sharp retort.

Tony had just informed him that Jobe and BJ had become ill with the same flu knocking out so many. “Both tried to come, but can barely move. I’ve moved some of my less trained men to the outside, but I need you and Vinny on the inside. I’m sorry, man.”

Gabe rubbed his hand across his neck trying to reduce the tension building. “Jesus fuck. I didn’t even tell you that Jennifer’s gonna be here. And now, just being anywhere in the vicinity of Alicia…fuck me.”

“You’re not on her detail. In fact, she has no detail. You’re just around the dignitaries and officials. On the perimeter of the room, that’s all.”

Gabe nodded.
There was nothing that could be done now.
As he walked away, Tony called out, “Sorry, man.” Gabe nodded once again, saying, “It’s okay. We don’t call ’em, we just take the missions, right sir?”

He pulled out his cell phone and tried to call Jennifer. It went straight to voicemail.
Fuck me.
Leaving her a text, he headed into the building.

*

The evening so
far had gone without a hitch. Jennifer and Sherrie sat near the back of the theater, viewing the movie. She had wished for the scenes with Alicia to be horrible and ugly but, of course, they were not. Overall, the movie was enjoyable but it had been a really long time since Jennifer had been to any movies and she had forgotten how realistic the love scenes were. Seeing Alicia almost nude on the big-screen did not make her feel better, even though she was with an actor. Thoughts of Alicia and Gabe together made her cringe. She had shared their story with Sherrie and could feel Sherrie’s sympathetic gaze on her more than once.

Finally, the end came and she heaved a sigh of relief. Looking over at her friend, she said, “Now, I can go hang out with some of the officials and see if I can talk business!”

Sherrie laughed, saying, “Go get ’em, tiger.”

The two women walked arm in arm out of the theater and up toward the ballroom. Jennifer’s eyes lit up when she saw Tony and she nudged Sherri to point him out. “Looks good in a tux, doesn’t he?”

Sherrie’s gaze cut over and her breath caught in her throat. “Yeah, he does,” she whispered to herself. She diverted her eyes so she never noticed that he did not take his off of her.

Entering the ballroom, she found the Senator and introduced Sherrie to his wife. They stood for a few minutes before the Senator asked Jennifer to accompany him to meet a few others who may be interested in helping her. After about thirty minutes of chatting with some officials she had not met previously, she could tell they wanted to move over to meet the celebrities.
I guess talking about the plight of elderly homeless just isn’t the conversation they want to have.

“And what would a beautiful, young woman such as yourself be doing with these stuffy politicians?” came a smooth voice from her side. Turning she saw a middle-aged man with a perfectly coiffed woman on his arm, smiling at her.

“I…was just trying to meet some of the Senator’s friends,” she said awkwardly, wondering who the man was.

“Well, if I know Senator Reno, he definitely has friends that are looking more to strike up a conversation with the Hollywood elite than a beautiful hometown woman. And that tells me how ridiculous some of our politicians are.”

“I’m sorry. Have we met?” she asked, looking back and forth between the suave gentleman and his escort.

“Forgive me. I am Michael Gibbons and this is my charming wife, Carmella. I own Gibbons Real Estate and can tell you from experience that some of these politicians, who are among my closest friends, truly are stodgy old men.”

She laughed as she shook his hand. “Well, thanks for the warning. I can’t compete with Hollywood it seems. But there’s always tomorrow. Good evening.” Smiling graciously, she began to look for Sherrie again when she felt eyes on her. This time it felt right. She turned and saw him across the room. Gabe. Her Gabe. Tall, huge, built. Her giant. She smiled again when she remembered what she called him when they first met.

What’s he doing on the inside? He must have come in looking for me.
She took him in. All of him. From his handsome face with those green and gold eyes staring back at her to his square jaw. His tux fit him perfectly and she knew it was made just for him. Her heart began pounding and her legs began moving toward him of their own will.

He had looked over and saw her from across the room.
God, what a beauty
. Her dress showed off her figure and her blonde curls framed the porcelain face that filled his thoughts and dreams. Before he knew it, she was walking toward him and he smiled as he walked to meet her, never taking his eyes off of hers.

She approached and stood a respectable distance knowing he was working, when she wanted to throw herself into his arms.

“I want to kiss you, Mr. Malloy,” she said softly, smiling up at him.

“Not as much as I want to kiss you, Ms. Lambert. And kissing you would just be the start,” he added, just as softly.

“I won’t be staying much longer, but I wanted to tell you that I love you.”

He reached out and touched one of her blonde curls framing her face. “You’re beautiful, you know.” His face became serious, saying, “Absolutely, fuckin’ beautiful.”

Gracing him with one of the smiles that took his breath away, she turned around to leave.

“Gabe, darling, I’ve missed you,” came the seductive voice from the side.

Jennifer turned to see Alicia Morgenstern approaching Gabe. The reporters were beginning to snap photographs of the beautiful actress and the handsome man standing with her.

“You don’t seem glad to see me,” she accused.

“I’m not. I’m with someone now and since we were never involved, you need to just keep moving on.”

“Don’t tell me that little blonde doll that was just here is who you’re involved with,” she bit out.

“Watch it, Alicia. The reporters just might get a glimpse of the real you if you’re not careful,” he whispered. With that, he turned and walked away hoping like hell that Jennifer had already left.

Jennifer ducked into the ladies’ room before she and Sherrie left. After finishing her business, she was surprised to look up into the mirror and see Alicia Morgenstern walk up behind her.

“Well, if it’s not the little garbage-crawler. I suppose this hick town will let anyone into these events.”

Jennifer’s eyes flashed but, determined to maintain her composure, she dried her hands and began to walk away.

“Where did you get that dress, by the way? It looks like a Walmart special.” One of Alicia’s cronies giggled behind her and the two of them moved to the door.

Jennifer stood at the mirror for a long time. She knew Alicia was a bitch extraordinaire, but her words still hurt. Sighing, she turned to leave, the weight of the events of the past few weeks pressing on her.

Sherrie noted her mood and quizzed her. “I’m just tired,” she said. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, I saw Vinny earlier and told him that we were leaving.”

As the women received their wraps, they stepped back into the ballroom to say goodbye to the Renos. Hearing a commotion, Jennifer turned to see Alicia draping herself over Gabe, pretending to stumble. She saw his strong arms come around the woman and steady her. As Alicia continued to appear weak, he kept his arms around her. The cameras began to flash and Alicia preened on Gabe’s arms for the cameras.

He’s just doing his job,
but the memories of the film’s love scenes intertwined with her thoughts of the two of them together were more than she wanted to deal with. Turning to leave, she grabbed Sherrie and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Thirty minutes later she climbed up the steps to her old apartment. Entering, she heard Cora holding a crying Ross. Hurrying over, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“He’s been throwing up for the past half hour. I’m so glad you’re here. He’s been crying for you,” she said.

“Oh Cora, I’m sorry.” Taking Ross from Cora, she cuddled her brother, rubbing his back. “It’s so late, go on to bed,” she said to the elderly woman. “I’ve got this.”

The older woman bent to kiss her head and went back to her apartment.
Well, there’s no going back to Gabe’s tonight.

Just then, Ross began to throw up again. She managed to get him to the bathroom, but some of his vomit splattered the front of her dress. Holding his head over the toilet, she grabbed a wet cloth and held it to his face.

Finally getting him back in bed, she ran into her tiny room to change. She looked in the full-length mirror hanging on the back of her door. Her hair was in disarray and her dress was a mess. A tear began to escape as she realized that at that moment she truly did look like Cinderella…after the ball, when the magic disappeared. Sighing heavily, she wiped her stray tear as she pulled her dress off. Sliding on a t-shirt and shorts, she washed the evening’s makeup off of her face. With her curls pulled into a messy bun, she decided that this was how she was comfortable.
I’m no starlet. No reason to even try.

Hearing Ross again, she quickly went back to his bed and hurried him into the bathroom. Sitting on the cold tile floor, she knew it was going to be a long night.

J
ennifer passed out
on the foot of Ross’ bed in the middle of the night so that she could be near if he continued to be sick. After getting him to bed she had scrubbed the bathroom and the kitchen, trying to disinfect the area. Feeling something shake her, she tried to pry her eyes open.

“Jennybenny, wake up,” her brother’s voice said.

“What is it, honey?” she asked sitting up, realizing that the sun was coming through the blinds.

“I want a piece of toast. I got the bread out of the bag but haven’t toasted it yet.”

“Okay, baby,” she said pulling herself up. Walking into the kitchen, she plugged in the toaster and opened the refrigerator as Ross piled up on the sofa and turned on the TV.