Here's my one shot written in response to the ZAAngels Write-Off! The theme is: It Never Rains But It Pours :)
Lost & Found
She was walking along the pavement in a daze; not really aiming to go anywhere in particular. She was just...walking.
Just a few minutes before, twenty-five year old Gabriella Montez had been told that she no longer had a job. The publishing office she had spent the last five years working for was shutting down. And okay, it hadn't exactly been a career for her; but she had been perfectly happy being someone else's secretary while she worked out what she wanted to do with her life.
And now she would have no choice but to do so.
She ran her fingers along the keypad of her phone, already regretting it when she hit the call button.
"Hello?"
"Mum, it's me."
"Gabi?" came the concerned tones of Maria Montez.
Yes, is there someone else who calls you Mum besides me, your only child?
"Why are you calling so early, dear? Aren't you at work?"
"No. I've...I've been made redundant," Gabriella said softly.
"Oh my goodness! Well, are you alright? Come on home and I'll make you a nice cup of tea," Maria replied soothingly.
This kind of support was only likely to make her cry; something she had been trying not to do ever since being told the news. She couldn't face going home just yet.
"I'm fine, Mum. I just need to be on my own for a bit. I'll be home later." Then, to appease her mother, she added, "I might drop in on Taylor as well."
"Okay, if you're sure you'll be okay. I'll see you later, Gabi."
Hanging up the phone, Gabriella sighed, wondering what on earth to do with herself now. She wasn't so keen on going to visit her best friend quite yet – she just knew the idea would make her mother feel better.
The thing was, she was very much an introvert. She needed the quiet time to herself. Taylor was not only the complete opposite; she was the sort of person that would start offering immediate advice on what Gabriella should do next. That was the downside to having a lawyer for a best friend.
Lawyers were always thinking ahead. Gabriella Montez was not.
.HSM.
She'd reached the town centre, and was no closer to knowing where she was going yet. Wandering aimlessly past the shops seemed to be the agenda so far.
She was just starting to get hungry, when something else happened to worsen her day just that little bit more. It decided to rain.
With no umbrella among the other useless items in her bag, Gabriella shrugged off her coat and pulled it over her head as she ran for the nearest precinct entrance.
Of course, now she was just inside a building that held yet more shops. And a vast amount of stalls, too. She had never had any time for those who touted for business from innocent shoppers who were only walking quietly past.
It was always bound to be a con, anyway. So she had no problem sauntering past each one without paying any attention.
"Can I interest you in a good quality watch, miss? It's Quartz," a man's voice cut across the general mass of voices around her.
Gabriella looked up, seeing that she was the focus of the salesman's attention. Something about his voice stopped her from ignoring him completely. He also had the bluest eyes she had ever seen.
"No, thank you," she replied, shooting him a tiny smile before forcing herself to carry on walking. After all, her answer really was no. She didn't want a new watch.
"Are you sure?"
She turned around abruptly as the same voice called to her. Was he joking?
"Yes," she called back in what she hoped was a firm voice.
"You don't sound it," the man retorted, and it was obvious he wasn't talking about the watch anymore. His tone wasn't unkind, but it still annoyed the hell out of her. He had a nerve! She stopped still before she answered him again.
"And you don't sound like you know when you're crossing the line." Without waiting for his reaction, Gabriella swiftly turned around again and continued on her way.
Who was this stranger to tell her how she felt? Maybe his words held an ounce of truth in them: she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure who she wanted to be; what she wanted to do in life now that her steady income had been taken away.
But that didn't mean that blue-eyed man had the right to pick up on her uncertainty publicly.
Perhaps, in hindsight, she should have gone home after all...
.HSM.
The precinct food court had won out over the idea of heading home, as Gabriella was far too hungry to stand waiting for a bus for who knows how long.
She sat at a small table in a secluded corner of the busy top floor, eating a burger and not caring a bit how many calories she was ingesting. She was usually such a healthy eater; but today her whole routine had gone out the window.
"Mind if I join you?"
Before she could even come up with a response, the young, outspoken salesman from earlier had pulled out a chair and taken the seat across from her.
Gabriella dropped her food on the tray and sat up straight, eyeing the man incredulously. "What is the matter with you?"
She couldn't believe it when he actually winked at her. "I'm fine, thanks for your concern," he replied cheekily.
"Right, whatever," she sighed. "Could you leave me alone now, please? I never actually said you could sit here."
To her surprise, he let out a sigh himself. "Look, I'm sorry," he offered politely. "I just spotted you over here while I was getting my lunch," he gestured towards the fast food takeaway bag still in his hand – something she hadn't bothered to notice before. "And I wanted to come and apologise for what I said before. I didn't mean to overstep the mark."
She dropped her guard in order to study his face for a minute. Everything about it told her he was being sincere.
"It's fine," she decided softly. "I'm sure you weren't trying to be rude. I'm just having a bad day."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm Troy, by the way," the man told her, offering her his free hand to shake. Gabriella took in the formal gesture in bemusement, holding out her own hand in return.
"Gabriella," she replied. She watched for a moment as Troy just stood there awkwardly. What was he waiting for?
"Well, it was nice to meet you," she finally murmured. "If you don't mind, I'd just like to get back to my lunch now...and I'm sure you'd like to do the same."
He didn't look like that was what he wanted at all, she mused silently. But he would have to deal with it, because all she really wanted to do was finish her burger and get out of this busy building.
"Sure, erm...nice to meet you too," Troy said with a smile that turned back into the confident grin he'd had on back at the stall. "And come back and see me if you change your mind about that watch."
And before she could maintain that she absolutely did not want to buy one of his watches, he was gone.
.HSM.
It was still raining. Gabriella was half tempted to run back inside and see if one of the much-ignored stalls sold any umbrellas.
But no way was she walking past that watch salesman again. Even if he did have very entrancing eyes. He seemed to have a knack with guessing people's emotions; and she couldn't predict what her face was depicting about her now.
So she stuck her coat over her head for the second time that day as she made her way towards Taylor's office, which was just a few streets away. The fact that her friend worked so close by only made it sound all the more ridiculous that she had refused to go and see her sooner.
She took out her phone as she walked, deciding to ring Taylor first.
"Hello - Taylor McKessie," came the very formal greeting.
"It's only me, Tay. Are you busy?"
"Oh, very much so. But only with paperwork, and I could do with a break. Where are you?"
"I'm almost at your building. I'll see you in five." Hanging up the phone, Gabriella looked out from under her makeshift-shield to find that the rain had finally stopped.
By the time she actually got to the office, Taylor was already outside waiting for her.
"Come on," she said, taking Gabriella by the arm. "Let's go for a coffee somewhere. I've got an hour free."
Without bothering to argue, she allowed herself to be led back in the direction she'd just come from.
"So, what's wrong? You're very quiet," Taylor remarked after a few minutes of silence.
"Am I?" she replied innocently, stringing out the admission that was of course inevitable.
Taylor gave her a look that said: "you can't fool me",and Gabriella sighed in defeat. She really didn't want a lecture on future careers.
"Okay, fine. I've lost my job."
"What? Why?"
"The publishers are closing down – I'll get redundancy money, though," she added, trying to lighten the subject a little.
"So what are you going to do?" asked Taylor as they approached a small café.
Knowing exactly what was meant by that question, Gabriella turned her head and smiled, as if about to give a totally serious answer. "I'm thinking I'll order...a cappuccino. You?"
And she did exactly that, then went to find a table while her friend ordered her own drink.
Once they were both sitting down with their coffee, Taylor cleared her throat. "Alright, don't answer my last question for now. But tell me this – what else is bothering you?"
This was the point at which Gabriella could not predict the outcome of the conversation that would follow. She was genuinely lost.
"Nothing. What do you mean?"
"Well, your cheeks are all flushed, and you're not rambling on in a panic about the job situation. So my guess is, something else has happened in between that and turning up to see me."
What was it with everyone today? How did people keep picking up on her emotions like this? And anyway, she couldn't possibly be thinking about that damn salesman from earlier. Why on earth would those eyes of his enter her head?
See; there was nothing there that Taylor could pick up on.
"Didn't it occur to you that my face might be all red because its absolutely freezing outside?"
Taylor narrowed her eyes. "It did. But I didn't fall for it. Now come on, tell me!"
"Tay, you're making a fuss over nothing. I just got a bit annoyed with someone, that's all."
"Who?"
"Nobody!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I was just walking past one of those stalls in the precinct, and this nosey watch salesman took it upon himself to tell me I looked unsure of myself. I gave him a piece of my mind, and then saw him again in the food court. He came up to me to apologise, actually, so I suppose he wasn't that bad after all."
She looked up to see her friend studying her with a knowing smile. "Ahhh," was all she said.
"'Ahhh' what?"
"You like him!" Taylor explained; looking, for her part, rather excited on her friend's behalf.
"I do not!"
"Gabriella Montez, I know you. And I've not seen you look like that in a long time..."
"Like what?" she folded her arms, looking indignant.
"Like you can't stop thinking about someone."
Gabriella drained the remainder of her cappuccino and shook her head at her usually level-headed friend. "I spoke to this man for all of five minutes. Don't be ridiculous."
Taylor decided to change tact. "Tell me about the last date you went on, Gabi."
This made her stop for a moment or two. Just how long had it been?
"Well...there was that bloke who took me to see one of the Harry Potter films."
"And which film was that?"
She sensed that her answer was only going to prove her friend's point; but it was too late to backtrack now. "Erm...the one where Dumbledore died, I think?"
Taylor's face was so triumphant that Gabriella instantly regretted bothering to reply at all. Her friend almost shouted her reply. "That came out over two years ago!"
"Right, yes, okay. And your point is?" Besides the obvious...
"I think you should go and visit that stall again."
Gabriella couldn't help but let out a chuckle, such was the strangeness of her day so far. "I didn't exactly visit it in the first place!"
"Then go and do that," Taylor argued back, as if it was the most logical idea in the world.
"You know, Tay; for a lawyer, you're slightly crazy."
The straight-talking young woman merely shrugged, then stood up. "Come on, I have to get back to the office."
And I have to get home before this day gets any weirder, Gabriella thought as she followed her friend out of the café.
.HSM.
After saying goodbye to Taylor, she headed straight for the bus stop. It was probably what she should have done the moment she'd stumbled out of that office, jobless and lost for words.
Letting out a sigh, Gabriella glanced at her watch, not feeling at all surprised when she worked out that her bus was now late by twenty minutes. Of course it was, on a day in which she'd lost both her job and the routine that was essentially her safety net. And given that this kind of occurrence was actually her daily routine, she did have to wonder why she stuck with it day in and day out.
"Don't tell me, it's stopped!" called a familiar voice. She looked up to find the salesman that Taylor had been so keen for her to see again; who was gesturing towards her watch with a cheeky grin.
As Troy reached her, she rolled her eyes in response to his greeting.
"Don't you ever give up?" she asked good-naturedly. "And besides, you look like you're off duty at the moment anyway!"
"Well, I wasn't really trying to get you to buy a watch this time," he admitted with another smile. This time he looked somewhat shy as he hinted at the motives behind his words.
"What were you trying to do, then?" She played along, keeping one eye on the road ahead in case the bus decided to turn up in the next few seconds.
"Hmm...I don't know, maybe I was thinking of asking you out? But, you know, only if I've managed to convince you that I'm not really a rude, interfering idiot?"
Despite the humorous, confident air to his words, Gabriella could see that Troy was actually quite nervous as he posed his question to her.
She broke the awkwardness by, ironically, stating something that was quite awkward in itself anyway.
"You want to ask me out, even though I'm a total stranger?"
He chuckled lightly. "I'd say we're at least acquaintances now, wouldn't you? We just keep bumping into each other today."
She pondered that as her eyes swept over the road again, and found that her bus was finally approaching. She had only seconds to give him an answer; seconds to decide whether she wanted to go out with this man who she'd only just met.
And then a thought struck her. Perhaps it was a stupid one, because it really wouldn't hurt her to just say yes and take a chance. After all, Troy didn't look like a lunatic. She was sure she'd be perfectly fine going on a date with him.
But she wanted to test fate. Would this man appear in her life again if she just got on this bus and left the very town where she'd met him? Or would he find another girl like her – someone feeling lost and not entirely sure of themselves – and keep bumping into them, too?
And so, as the bus began to slow towards its stop, Gabriella smiled and said softly, "Let's just see if we bump into each other again then, shall we?"
She turned away from him, climbing onto the bus as its doors opened. She didn't look back, nor did she steal a glance his way as she was taken right past the bus stop and out of town.
So she didn't even give herself a chance to see just what he made of her suggestion.
.HSM.
"Mum – I'm home," she called out wanly as she closed the front door behind her. Her mother came rushing out of the kitchen to greet her, donning an apron and wearing one oven glove.
"Oh Gabi, there you are! I didn't ring because you seemed so keen to be alone, but I was starting to wonder where you'd got to! Is everything...alright?"
In truth, Gabriella's head was spinning. But it had more to do with the opportunity she had just thrown away, rather than the job she had said goodbye to some hours ago.
"Yeah, fine. What are you cooking?" she asked, trying to shake herself free of the nagging feeling that had accompanied her the whole journey home.
Maria glanced at her daughter for a moment, then seemed to decide it was understandable for her not to recall what they had discussed the night before, given the day she'd had. "A casserole. I told you we were having our new neighbour over for dinner tonight, didn't I? She moved in a couple of days ago, remember?"
Gabriella nodded absently as the memory came back to her. But her mind was having trouble coming back to reality.
"Anyway," her mother continued. "Her name's Annie and she lives on her own; but her son's been helping her settle in next door. I told her he was welcome to come too. You don't mind helping me entertain, do you?"
It was a very transparent attempt to get her to show interest in the man, and Gabriella knew it. She knew her mother too well. But she played along anyway.
"No problem, Mum. What do you need me to do?"
Half an hour later, the dinner was coming together nicely as both women prepared the food. There were no long conversations over redundancy and job centres; and there wouldn't be for the rest of the night. It wasn't in their nature to dwell. Even as she'd spent the day loitering around town, she hadn't over-thought the loss of her job. There'd just been fleeting thoughts of wonder for what turn her life would take next.
The doorbell rang, and Maria quickly threw off her apron to go and answer it. Just a minute later, she was leading a slender, kind-faced woman through to the kitchen, offering her a drink.
"Gabi, this is our new neighbour, Annie. Annie, my daughter Gabriella."
"Lovely to meet you," Gabriella offered with a smile. She couldn't help but look behind her and notice the absence of the son who was supposed to be with her.
Her mother asked the question before she could be tempted to herself. "Is your son not joining us after all? " Maria enquired politely.
"He's just on his way – he's not long got in from work and he wanted to change first," Annie assured them.
Then, as if on cue, the doorbell rang once again.
"Ah, why don't you get that, Gabi?" Maria suggested. "I think the casserole is just about done."
Gabriella waited until she had left the room before rolling her eyes skywards at her mother's blatancy. Then she walked casually over to the front door and pulled it open, pasting a smile on her face.
She didn't know who was more stunned when they saw the other: herself, or...
"Troy?"
Well, fate had passed that test...
He seemed to refocus his gaze as she blurted out his name. "Whoa..."
Suddenly she felt a bit disconcerted. "Did you know I lived here?" she demanded of him.
He looked alarmed; then composed himself to answer her abrupt question. But it still came out as an exclamation. "No!"
His reaction, along with the shock still plastered all over his face, was enough to convince her that he really wasn't stalking her.
"Okay," she accepted, and he smiled at her now, flashing those incredibly overpowering blue eyes at her.
"So, er...can I come in?"
"You're Annie's son?" Gabriella checked, on the off-chance that his turning up had been completely coincidental to the neighbourly gathering her mother had organised.
"I am indeed," Troy confirmed easily. He studied her as she stood to one side to let him through the door; not that she knew he was watching her. She was too busy staring straight ahead, lost in thought.
This really was the strangest of days...
.HSM.
Dinner had been eaten and cleared up, and the accompanying chatter between the four people had been relatively easily.
And yet neither Troy or Gabriella had let it slip that they'd already met earlier that day. They seemed to have reached a mutual, yet silent understanding that they would let the two women go on thinking they had been the ones to introduce them to each other. It had been obvious from the offset that, like Maria, Annie was also keen to do a bit of matchmaking.
Now Annie had taken Maria over to her new home to 'show her the interior decor', leaving the other two alone together. Neither one of them bothered to argue against the obvious ploy their mothers had set up in doing this. They were unlikely to win against them, anyway.
"So," Troy broached casually as they sat side by side on the sofa. "Now will you go out with me?"
Gabriella gave him a sideways glance, and all at once she burst into laughter as she took in his repeated request.
He grinned at her amusement, but his eyes were hopeful. She made herself calm down, knowing that if she carried on that way, he would get the wrong idea and think she found the thought of dating him ludicrous.
As it was, she did find it hard to believe that this man was so eager to take her out.
Maybe it was time she started believing in more than the comforts of her safe, predictable little routine.
"Okay," she replied, smiling as she settled her gaze on Troy's ridiculously deep blue eyes.
It took a couple of seconds before he registered that she was saying yes. But when he did, he shot her a charming smile in return.
It was then that Annie and Maria came back, chatting happily about net curtains.
"Well, thank you so much for having us!" Troy's mother beamed at her new neighbours, and he stood up to follow her back the way she had come in.
"You're very welcome, the both of you," Maria replied, following them out to stand by the door. Gabriella hovered behind her as the two older woman exchanged goodbyes, wondering whether she would get a chance to talk to her new date about what would happen next.
She waited until her mother had shut the door, then wandered back over to it unnoticed, opening it quickly in the hope that he would still be there.
And of course he was.
He grinned knowingly at her. "So...I'll pick you up here tomorrow night, if you're free?"
"Yeah, tomorrow's great, thanks." She stood there looking at him, not moving from her spot in the doorway despite the fact that their plans had now been made. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for. But it didn't feel like the day was over yet. There was something missing.
"So...just out of interest, what was it that made your day so bad?" Troy asked, referring to what she had told him hours ago in the food court.
Gabriella shook her head, all the answers to that question having flown right out of it all of a sudden. "I have no idea..." she replied vaguely.
He moved a few inches closer, until he was right in front of her, standing beneath the doorstep. Their positions now meant that their heights were level with each other, and she got an even closer look at his face.
It was as if they both went to lean in at the exact same moment. And then he was kissing her, and she was kissing him back. It was slow; not at all rushed, and their careful pace was what stopped them from wondering whether they were just acting out of temporary lust.
In that moment, Gabriella genuinely felt that nothing else mattered. Whatever it was that was bothering her this morning; it could wait. It wasn't urgent.
"Gabi? What on earth are you..." Maria Montez's voice faltered as she took in the sight in front of her.
Although the woman had no idea of the whole day's worth of history between her daughter and this man; she wasn't about to interrupt their moment and demand why, as far as she was concerned, they were locked in an embrace so shockingly soon after meeting.
So she simply smiled to herself and retreated back into the house.
With neither person having noticed their witness, Gabriella reluctantly pulled away from Troy and silently concluded that it had been a good day after all.
A very good day.