Kat walks away, suitcase in hand. Her stride is calm and confident like always. Hale is waiting for Kat to turn around, run back to him. Maybe even ask him to come along this time. Hale, I need you. He is dying to hear her say this. Four simple words. But she keeps going, not looking back even once. Of course she wouldn't. Disappearing into the airplane and to another continent for the next few weeks.
Gone.
"She's gone again," Hale mutters to himself. Once again, Kat left him.
"She always comes back, Hale," a female voice speaks. The young billionaire turns around to face her.
"What are you doing here, Gabrielle?" he mumbles flatly. She hands him a warm cup.
"It's hot cocoa," Gabrielle says, avoiding the question. Hale smiles briefly at the thought of hot chocolate. Kat loves hot cocoa. But she isn't here with him to enjoy it. The smile fades from his face.
Together, they walk out of the airport in silence. Marcus is waiting by a limousine, holding open the door for his young master. They begin driving to another estate. Large, yet empty. There is really no point in having such a large place to yourself if you don't have any company. And the only person Hale wishes to have as company is already 40,000 feet above.
Gabrielle crosses her long legs once she settles down.
"You need to tell her, you know."
Hale finally speaks to her. "Tell who what?"
She sighs over-dramatically, natural Gabrielle, and rolls her eyes. "Don't act dumb, Hale. I'm talking about Kat."
"What's there to talk about?"
"You love her," Gabrielle states. As if it were as simple as telling her the weather. But things were never simple with Kat Bishop.
He wants to deny it, but there's no point in denying the truth. Hale does love her. Way more than everything he ever owned. He loves the way her nose scrunches up when she is deep in thought, her stubborn attitude, her voice whenever she says his name. Heck, he loves her voice no matter what she's saying.
Except for when she says she is leaving.
The sinking feeling whenever she leaves makes him wish he never stumbled into her world. He feels empty, lost. Wandering in a half-dream state, waiting for her to return. This feeling shatters him every time. But Hale still loves her. Because no matter how many times she leaves, when she returns it's like the sun rises again in his life. He is always ready to welcome her back, to see her again, hear her again. Feel her again.
But now she is gone. Again. This shattering feeling is back. Again. And Hale isn't sure whether or not he's willing to wait for her to return, only to have her leave.
Hale exhales loudly and Gabrielle looks smug. "You do love her, don't you?" she says again, smiling.
"Yeah, so?" he answers, seeming bored at the topic. When in reality, he's suffering.
Gabrielle snaps her head to face him. "So? Why are you acting like this doesn't matter, Hale?"
"There's no point!" he retorts. "Yes, I love Kat. Happy? But what's the point if she keeps leaving me, leaving all of us? Packing her bags, jetting away to who-knows-where doing who-knows-what, without so much as a warning? Maybe a little hint? Or even a 'Hey Hale, I'm leaving to Sicily to find a painting and return it to its rightful owner. Do you want to come?' Because I do want to come, Kat! I'll willing to go anywhere for you, do anything for you! Why do you keep leaving me?"
Hale breathes in and out, panting after letting out all his pent up emotions. His voice rose and rose, to the point where he was yelling at nothingness.
"Wow," Gabrielle comments, startling Hale out of his angered daze. "You got it bad." Hale groans and buries his face in his arms.
"Can we stop talking about this?" he grumbles into his hands.
Gabrielle shifts a seat over and pats Hale on the back. "There, there, everything will be okay," she coos, like a mother addressing a child.
He shoots a dagger-like glare at her. "Not. Helping." She holds her hands up in mock surrender and places them back at her side.
Luckily for him, she doesn't try to speak for the rest of the ride. He takes this opportunity to attempt to drift off into sleep, but just as he begins slipping away from reality, Gabrielle speaks and he resurfaces.
"You know, she might stay if you told her the truth. If she knows how much you care about her."
He looks over at her. She is examining her manicured nails as if what she just said wasn't a complete stroke of genius. At least, genius in Hale's mind. "Gabrielle, you finally said something useful!"
She doesn't acknowledge the compliment, and instead takes the double meaning. "Wait, what do you mean by 'finally'? I've been useful loads of times!"
Hale ignores her. "Marcus? When is the next flight to Sicily?"
He knows what he's going to do. Kat will finally know that he loves her. Hopefully, the feelings are reciprocated. Does she love him too? There's only one way to find out, and he can't wait another minute.
"10am tomorrow morning," his butler answers after a brief pause.
Well, he'll have to wait 24 hours. But it'll be worth it.