2005
It's rainy and getting late. Antonia fiddles with the piece of paper in her hand, the ink is running and she tries to make out the address for the shop in Brooklyn. Why her sister insisted on getting her watch repaired in Brooklyn where there were multitudes of other watch shops in Manhattan she will never know. Her hair is getting wet and she swears a cold is coming on. "You're not married, you don't have children, you don't have priorities, I don't see why you cannot pick up my watch." No priorities, not special. As though starting her first year as a resident wasn't impressive. She was now a surgeon, a healer if you will. Her sister Megan told her that the man who owned the shop was a quiet man, he wouldn't give her a hard time and she would be in and out. Why did she constantly placate her sister? She used the excuse that there was an Indian restaurant she wanted to try, so that's why she was picking the watch up. She recalled the handsome nurse she had met that day, his name was Peter. His brother was a lawyer, just like her sister and equally as demanding, she suspected his brother probably had a kinder heart then her sister did and he had asked her to go to dinner with him, she accepted of course, and smiled to herself as she was walking, at least she would have something to herself, something to look forward to.
She arrived at the small shop and saw it was closing soon. She hoped she wasn't disturbing him as he was closing. She entered, her clothes soaked through, her hair pulled back. She was attractive she guessed, with her auburn hair and green eyes. Green eyes tired and worn out from her hours of work. Her sole day off catering to her families needs. Her mother was widowed, her brother in and out of the hospital. She worried about him, he kept saying he was seeing visions of himself, being followed by people. The only saving grace in her family was her younger sister Kayla who looked at Antonia like she hung the moon.
Her thoughts were broken by a man's voice. "Can I help you?"
She looked up at a man around her age, hair slicked back with a blue button up shirt and honey colored eyes.
"Yes" Antonia said
"Do you need something" he asked firmly, her sister was right about one thing. She would be in and out
"I was picking up a watch for my sister, Megan Harrison"
"Here it is" he nodded at her "It should be working fine now, tell your sister that the garbage disposal isn't the best place for a watch."
"I will, I'm Antonia" she reached her hand to shake his, he obliged
"Gabriel"
"Gabriel, nice to meet you."
"Likewise"
There was an awkward silence between them as they just looked at each other. She was captivated by him for some reason and she couldn't put her finger on it. Even though he didn't seem interested she felt challenged by him, like there was something she needed to crack. Like there was sort of vault and once she got in, she would get an exquisite prize.
"Do you like Indian food?" she asked
"It's fine, but there's a little Italian place up the street that I adore, I usually go alone and have a quiet meal and a glass of wine."
"Isn't it quiet here, alone in your watch shop?"
He chuckles and kind of smirks "yes, it is" He started to warm up a little to her, she seemed nice and kind of cute. He had spent so much time alone, he forgot how to interact sometimes with other people except his mom, who normally would just nag him.
"Why don't you wear a watch Antonia?"
" I have a blackberry, I just use that to tell time" She paused" do you love what you do Gabriel?"
He was taken aback by this question. He wanted to answer with the same line he always gives "yes I love what I do etc. etc. etc. but he couldn't, not with her.
"No, I feel like I am meant for more."
"I love what I do, but it's not enough sometimes" Antonia surprised herself, she was not one to wear her heart on her sleeve. She was often times quite logical and cold. Why was she spilling her guts to someone.
Gabriel picked up a small gold watch off of the table and took her hand. He slowly rolled her sleeve up a little and put the watch on, his hand caressed her hand for a split second and he let it go "Try this on for a bit, tell me if you like it." Antonia's knees felt like mush and it was the single more sensual thing she has felt in her entire existence.
"Gabriel, that Italian place that you were talking about, would you like to go with me."
He hesitated, in a way if she was to go there with him, it would be like he was showing himself to her. He had known her for 10 minutes now, but looking at her emerald green eyes, friendly, warm and the fact that she was quite lovely caused him to throw caution to the wind at that moment.
"Yes, that would be nice"
The restaurant was just a block away, while he was closing up the shop Antonia stared out of the window, thinking in some ways the rain would be romantic, but wishing it away just for a short while. It was growing dark and she thought a nice sunset would be lovely, and not a bleak gray sky. Gabriel came up behind her and gently put his hand on her shoulder "I'm all set, it stopped raining, I guess I won't be needing this umbrella" He placed it on one of the tables and she was stunned at the fact that the clouds had dissipated so suddenly.
They walked in silence but she couldn't help smiling at him. He had taken his glasses off and was wearing just his blue button up shirt, discarding his sweater. She noticed how handsome she was. He saw her smiling at him and asked why she was smiling.
"I'm hungry, glad to be eating"
He chuckled and held the door open for her. The restaurant was modern and warm. There were splashes of colorful paintings against start white walls. She noticed the huge wine selection on display and she could smell fresh vegetables and spices throughout the air.
"This is nice, Gabriel"
"Wait until you try the food"
They ordered a bottle of Cabernet and studied the menu. She wondered the best way to start a conversation again with him. Was he always this quiet?
They sipped their wine and made small talk for a bit and she leaned across the table and said quietly
'I want to ask you something"
He was getting red faced from the wine already, not being a big drinker, he leaned in close to her and said "I want to ask you something too?"
Antonia smiled "when you said you wanted to be special, what did you mean?"
"I meant just that, my life is so futile, I feel like I need more. I have this understanding that if just one thing changes in my life I can be different, it's hard to explain"
"You don't like fixing watches"
"No, it is just something I'm good at"
"How did you learn?"
"That's the thing, I did it on my own" he tilted his head, wondering how much he could tell her, he didn't want to scare her off.
"No one taught you?"
"Not really, it was my father's shop, he left when I was little, when I got a bit older I realized I could understand how watches worked and how to fix them."
"That's amazing" she was officially impressed by him now. He was different than anyone he has ever met. She felt her cell phone vibrate in her purse, it was probably her sister. She ignored it, she wanted to focus all of her attention on Gabriel.
"Gabriel, what did you want to ask me?"
He laughed "I was wondering if anyone called you Toni"
She looked at him oddly "No, no I don't like that, not at all Gabe"
"How about Ann, Anna, Annie...Annabella..." Gabriel was taking aback by his silliness, clearly drinking didn't agree with him but it didn't stop him from ordering another bottle of wine.
"I'll tell you what, you get my dessert and you can call me whatever you want Gabriel"
They both laughed and she wondered if the next morning he would be so at ease with her.
Hours after they have finished with dinner they are still chatting, 2 bottles of wine and 3 scoops of gelato later they find themselves back at his small apartment. She has no intention of leaving and he isn't prepared to let her. Antonia clumsily removes her shoes and stretches her legs out on his couch. His apartment is sparse only decorated by books, she assumes he doesn't have people over often. When he comes out of his bedroom in sweat pants and a t shirt, against her better judgment all she wants to do is mess up his hair and see what he is hiding. She's surprised when he makes the first move, he grabs her hair gently and forcefully kisses her on the lips. Her hands move up his shirt and she digs her nails in. They stop kissing after a few minutes and she breathlessly removes his shirt and tinkers with the thought of telling him that she normally doesn't do this on the first date, she suspects he doesn't either. However the mixture of wine, hormones and the fact that his lips taste like peaches makes her forget about it for the time being.
Antonia woke up with the sunlight streaming in her face. She was crammed in Gabriel's little bed practically on top of him. Her head was killing her and she had the taste of stale alcohol in her mouth. He was sleeping soundly and she took a while to trace the outlines of his chin with her finger. She lightly touched his biceps, the hair of his chest, she tickled his stomach a bit before her hands started to rub his legs and she trailed back up stopping to feel him. He was hard and he woke up and smiled at her
"Good morning" he murmured, he kissed her and fumbled around with his glasses. "Do you want breakfast?" he asked
"That sounds nice, can I take a shower?"
"Sure" he kissed her again and got up behind her. She turned around to kiss him again and saw he was naked. She smiled coyly at him and stripped his shirt off of herself, the one she wore to bed.
He followed her in quietly and joined her. "I thought we were going to have breakfast" He turned the temperature on the water down and kissed her, the water was dripping into his eyes and down his body. She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him.
"We will" he paused "I usually don't do this Ann"
"Me neither, but I'm not complaining" she gently turned him around so his back was against the wall and got on her knees. She slowly brought him into her mouth and the coldness from the shower mixed in with the warmth of her mouth was incredible.
Gabriel looked down at this perfect person he had, all to himself at that moment. The only thing she cared about at that moment was him.
Once they were done they sat at the table. Eating some take out from the little cafe down the street.
"Gabe, I wanted you to know how much fun I had, I was hoping we could spend more time with each other"
"How about tonight?"
She laughed "I have to work tonight, but later in the week, you could come into the city, maybe we could see a show or go to the museum"
Gabe smiled "That sounds wonderful"
They exchanged numbers and she left shortly after. The brightness of the sun reflected her mood perfectly.
