Mildly inspired by Taylor Swift's "Girl at Home" (I binged listen to this while writing)
Nathalie hates galas, she knows they are stupid events where everyone pretends to be something they're not. Nathalie isn't that way, she doesn't think she should pretend to be something that she never will be. She always hated dances, prom, and other fancy banquets were always a waste of time. With her job she has attended countless of these sort of events though most nights she usually has a tablet in her hand. Tonight she doesn't, she was surprised when Gabriel agreed to come in person for this one but he demanded that she be by his side.
She knows Gabriel must be caught up in the fantasy of it all when he asks her to dance. They never do, it spreads rumors, and they have enough spread about them without dancing together. When Gabriel asks her something, she doesn't refuse, even if she thinks he might be drunk. He pulls her close with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She has her arms draped over his shoulders, her hands clasping behind his neck. She allows her head to rest against his chest.
Nathalie tries to remember Emilie, that she is working to get her back. Her mind might even be foggier than Gabriel's though. She's high off the scent of his cologne mixed with the alcohol on his breath. She remembers how many lines she is crossing, how she should be pushing him away. Why can't she do it? Reality hits her as the song ends, she's not stupid, he has his girl at home even if nobody else here knows that.
She lets her posture slump against a wall and sips from a glass of wine. It doesn't surprise her to see Gabriel already with another girl in his arms. If she remembers correctly the woman is a close associate of Hugo Le Pierre, their biggest rival. At a different time, she would question why Gabriel would ever dance with that woman, but she knows why, because whatever her name is, looks strikingly like Emilie. The only other person that looks that close to Emilie is Amelie but Nathalie really doesn't want to think about her right now.
What Nathalie doesn't notice is how stiff Gabriel is with Carrie. With Nathalie, they moved fluidly like a pair that was meant to be. Eyes had been drawn to them like newlyweds sharing their first dance together. With Carrie, he is moving slower and almost robotically. There is a lot of space between Carrie and Gabriel but neither can truthfully say they care.
"Your wife is really pretty," Carrie finally says. She assumed the man was going to bring up some fashion thing, maybe even a collaboration, but he had stayed silent. It was awkward for both parties and she had to be the one to break the ice. As they danced Carrie had noticed how his eyes stayed glued to his PA, as though she might runoff like Cinderella. The woman in the corner of the room had to be his wife, or at least the rumored one she had heard about.
"You know my wife?" Gabriel was a little startled by that.
"Yes, you two just danced together, your eyes have been on her the whole time we have been dancing," Carrie said although it was obvious.
"No, that's not my wife, that's Nathalie, she is just my assistant."
"Do you grope every assistant?" Carrie asked with a disgusted look.
"What? No, Nathalie and I are just close, she's been working for me for almost 18 years."
"Really? I would have bet everything I had that she was your girl. Is she married? No, wait, better question, does she like girls because I would marry her in a heartbeat."
"You're not marrying Nathalie!" Gabriel pouted almost like a small child. He felt a sting of jealousy pass over him but he passed it off as someone else's emotion he must have been feeling.
"I can't marry her because you love her?" Carrie clarified.
"If I say yes, will you leave me alone?"
"No, you need to tell her!" Carrie squealed.
"She doesn't love me, she's my assistant and I'm her boss."
"If you weren't harassing her earlier, as you claim you weren't, then she loves you. Nobody dances like that with their boss. Don't take for granted what you have."
"You really think so?"
"Go get your girl, bring her home."
Gabriel knows no matter what she is coming to his home. Nathalie knows this is another line that should have never been crossed. Through her illness, she had started living in the Agreste mansion. Gabriel doesn't care how many lines they have crossed and his eyes are only focused on Nathalie as he briskly sashays his way across the room.
"Let's go, Nathalie," he says.
"Of course, sir," she replies with a nod.
It wasn't quite the confession that he had tried to plan while walking over here but that had only been a few seconds. He was also one to not plan, he supposed that's why he had hired Nathalie in the first place, she could plan anything. That was it though, wasn't it? He shouldn't try and plan this because he didn't plan things.
"Wait," he said, stopping abruptly.
"Are you alright, sir?" Nathalie asks genuinely concerned because Gabriel doesn't seem to know where his head is tonight.
"Be my girl," he says.
Nathalie blinks a few times because she knows what she wants that to be but that can't possibly be it, "what do you mean?"
"It means that the girl I was dancing with wanted you and I was jealous. It means I only want you by my side. It means I love you, Nathalie," Gabriel explained.
"I'm not stupid, you love Emilie, she's your girl, I know that," Nathalie lets her head fall looking towards her feet, "I'm not accepting a deal that only leads to me getting hurt."
"I promise not to hurt you."
"Call a cab and lose my number, you're so close, don't lose her," Nathalie tries to not let her voice crack.
In no world would she ever imagined this. Gabriel admits to loving her and she just tells him to lose her number. It's wrong because in no world is she ever his. It's a decided fact that she is a stupid girl with an unrequited crush.
Gabriel picks her chin up with his hand and gently presses a kiss to her lips. He is certain that the woman in front of him is irreplaceable and that he doesn't want anyone else. Nathalie hates how her heart skips a beat when he kisses her. She wants to pull away, smack him, and runoff, but she doesn't want that at all because everything she has wanted is happening now.
"Please," his voice holds a begging tone.
"I love you too," Nathalie admits because she is weak. She is stupid and she'll continue to believe it because every day she fears to end up just like Emilie, another broken promise. For now, she is his girl at home, but everybody already knew that.