Sugar
Author Note: I think people have been wanting another Gabe story, so here we go. Valentine's Day one-shot. I know I'm late, I'm late for everything. Sue me. Gabriel/OC.
Alice hunched down over the counter, eyes narrowed, and carefully iced another tiny red love heart onto the equally tiny fairy cake sitting in front of her. Straightening up and surveying her work she nodded, and then placed the cake into the display counter next to about thirty others she'd spent all day decorating. She sighed and blew a stray tendril of hair out of her eyes. God, she hated Valentine's Day, and she wasn't even a little afraid to admit that her negative feelings were almost entirely due to the fact that she was single and, more than that, she was lonely. The fact that she worked in a cake shop didn't help either, of course. In the week running up to today the shop had been filled with gooey eyed couples placing orders for wedding cakes, and equally gooey eyed men and women buying lollipops festooned with love hearts and achingly unsentimental iced lettering declaring some lucky recipient to be 'my Valentine'. Reminding herself she glanced down at the wedding cake orders; there were five, and one was going to be a gigantic six tier behemoth of a cake with ridiculously elaborate decorations. Jeez, how much cake did one couple need? She was only vaguely aware of the tinkling of the shop door bell, indicating that another customer had entered.
She glanced up at the man who was now studying the contents of the display counter. She'd seen him in the shop a few times before; she assumed he really liked cake. No doubt he, like so many before him, was making the annual pilgrimage to her shop to buy his girlfriend a last minute, totally unoriginal gift. She flashed him a smile as he looked up and caught her studying him. He pointed to the fairy cakes, "Did you make those?"
Alice nodded, moving to stand in front of him, "Yep. All my own work. Trust me, they took me all day." She laughed slightly as he grinned and looked around the shop.
"Did you make everything in here?"
She looked around for a moment, considering. Deciding to ignore the rather tacky bought-in chocolate lollipops, she nodded, "Yeah, pretty much."
The man's face grew serious, "Ok, seriously, will you marry me?"
Alice was unsure what to say, so she did what she always did in situations such as this, which was laugh and blush ferociously. She looked up again as he reached a hand out towards her, "Name's Gabriel by the way. Or Gabe, whatever."
She nodded and held up her sticky hands, "Alice. Nice to meet you. I would shake your hand, but, as you can see, I'm having a bit of an icing sugar issue at the moment."
The man who'd introduced himself as Gabriel smiled, "Well, Alice, in that case I absolutely insist on shaking your hand." With that he leaned over the counter and grabbed her hand, shaking it up and down a couple of times and then proceeding to lick the icing sugar off his own fingers. He nodded, seeming satisfied, and then pointed at the fairy cakes that had started the conversation in the first place, "Give me some of those."
She pulled a white box out from under the counter, "Ok, how many?"
He narrowed his eyes as if making the most important decision of his life, "Oh, say...all of them." He threw a pile of cash down on the counter.
Alice paused, eyeing the cash, her hand hovering over the first cake. She glanced up at him, "Are you...All of them? Are you sure?" She didn't know whether to feel ecstatic that she was going to make a whole load of money, or disappointed that she would have to spend the entirety of tomorrow making a new batch.
He nodded, smiling, "Yeah, why not? Oh, but keep one for yourself. On me."
She laughed and began to pack the cakes into the box, "Ok, you're the boss. I just hope your girlfriend appreciates how generous you obviously are."
Gabriel frowned slightly, "What? These aren't for ...they're not for a girl."
Alice shrugged, "Fair enough. Who are they for?" She wasn't sure what had gotten into her, usually she wasn't this chatty, or nosy.
He grinned as she handed him the box of cakes and tapped the lid, "These are for me." He walked backwards to the door.
She couldn't help but laugh as she shouted after him, "In that case, I have one question." He paused at the door and raised his eyebrows, waiting, "How do you keep your figure?"
Gabriel smiled and shrugged, "I have a metabolism that is out of this world." With that he gave a slight wave goodbye and then left. As he walked past the window, Alice noticed that he'd already started to eat the cakes.
She deposited the cash in the till, and then turned back to the counter and looked at the cake he'd left her. She picked it up and eyed her creation closely. It had been refreshing in a way, to see someone coming into the shop to buy something nice for themselves. Maybe she should take a leaf out of his book. Sighing she bit into the cake, momentarily surprised by how good it actually was. She allowed herself only a glimmer of smugness, before busying herself with shutting up shop for the day.
(the next day)
As Alice approached the shop, digging in her bag for the keys, she noticed a man standing outside, barely managing to hold onto the biggest bouquet of flowers she'd ever seen in her life. The sight made her aware of that familiar nagging loneliness that started in the pit of her stomach and made its way up her throat until she felt like screaming. She rolled her eyes and continued walking.
As she approached she heard the man mutter something that sounded like, "Finally." He approached her, stumbling slightly and trying to see past the flowers that were partially covering his face, "You Alice?"
She nodded, frowning. He smiled and thrust the flowers into her arms, "You've certainly made an impression on someone. Although you might want to tell him to work on his timing; he's a whole day late." With that the delivery man hopped back into his van.
Abandoning the notion of being able to enter the shop just yet, Alice searched amongst the foliage for a card. Finding it she whispered the words to herself: 'Alice. Meet me tonight. Hanging Garden restaurant. 8 pm. I've run out of cake, bring more, please.'
Alice felt a grin spreading across her face, and found herself incapable of stopping it.
(later)
Alice stood outside the restaurant and smoothed her dress down with her free hand. She'd spent hours getting ready after work, repeatedly applying, wiping off and then re-applying lipstick, unable to stop herself as her nerves threatened to get the better of her. She jumped slightly as she felt someone bump into her and looked up as the same person linked an arm through hers. She was pleased that her hunch had been correct. It was him, Gabriel, the man from the shop. She smiled.
He looked down at her, "Hi Alice, you look...well, amazing. That dress is pretty special." He looked her up and down, and then moved closer, "Did you bring the cake?"
She nodded, grinning, and looked at the box tucked under her other arm, "Of course. Although I'm beginning to think you only want me for my cake." She stuck out her bottom lip slightly, in a mock pout.
Gabriel laughed out loud, "Well, I'm happy to spend some time proving how untrue that is. But, I thought you'd at least want to wait till after dinner for the steamy stuff." He raised his eyebrows.
Inwardly cursing herself for making such a forward comment, Alice lowered her eyes, immediately feeling her cheeks start to burn. "I didn't mean..." She started to mutter, but tailed off when she realised she had no idea what she'd meant.
He rolled his eyes and, placing a hand on the small of her back, he pushed her towards the restaurant, "Let's eat."
Later in the night Alice realised, to her surprise, that she was having an excellent time. At odds with the beginning of the night she now felt ridiculously comfortable with Gabriel. He was a very attentive listener, but at the same time he had a tendency not to take anything too seriously; which she liked, because his perspective was so different to her own. The only time he had seemed serious was when he was being evangelical about how amazing her cakes were; he'd even repeated his marriage proposal again, and Alice thought it seemed that he was only half joking.
As they finished paying the bill, she sat back in her chair smiling about nothing in particular and took a sip of wine. "So, Alice, why do you hate Valentine's Day?" She coughed slightly, as the liquid ran down her throat the wrong way.
"I don't..." She started.
He shook his head, "Sure you do. No big deal, it's just you had that look on your face when I came in the shop the other day. That 'I swear to God, if you ask me to decorate a cake with the words 'I love you' right now, I will rip your balls off' look. It's a dead giveaway."
She looked down at her lap, suddenly uncomfortable and unsure what to say.
He leaned closer, definitely serious now, "Alice, have you ever heard that saying that you need to love yourself before anyone else can? I think that's true, and I think it definitely applies to you. You should think a lot more of yourself than you do."
Alice smiled, sighing, "Thanks..."
"I mean it. This is very serious." He leaned back in his chair studying her. "Believe me, I know. I spent most of my life in service to other people, making sure everyone else was happy, doing what I was told. In the end though you learn that sometimes you just have to do what's right for you and screw everyone else."
She tilted her head and looked at him, let out a slow, steady breath and then nodded, "Ok, well in that case, let's go."
"Where?"
"To eat cake." She stood, leaving a tip on the table, picked the cake box up and walked to the door.
He followed her, rushing slightly to catch up, "Ok, but where?"
She smiled slightly, not looking at him, "My place."
The grin reappeared on his face, "Awesome."
(later)
Hours later, the cake remained untouched on the sideboard. They lay on her bed, her legs still around his waist, bodies entwined with him still inside her. Occasionally he moved against her, and she would cry out quietly. Alice didn't regret a second of what had just happened, and she was glad that she didn't feel even slightly awkward despite how intimate she'd just been with someone who was almost a total stranger. Her own neediness, longing and desperate, frantic desire when they'd returned to her flat had not surprised her; after all, it had been a long time since she'd been with anyone. She had been surprised by the way he acted though, his tenderness and fumbling apologies when he tore the sleeve of her dress; his passionate need to remove as many pieces of clothing in the shortest time possible was endearing. She began to wonder whether he may have needed this just as much as her. She looked up at him, but his eyes were closed and he seemed content to stay exactly as he was for the foreseeable future.
She smiled, "Hey Gabriel, I never asked, what's your opinion on Valentine's Day?"
He opened his eyes for a moment, looking up at the ceiling as he thought, "Well, I have to admit I've never really been a fan." He looked down at her, and smiled, "I think I could get to like it though."