15 minutes later Gabriel walked out of Director Strand's office with new freedom.
He had approached Lillian and expressed his intention to begin dating again. Lillian was very pleased and had given him permission to date whomever he chose without supervision as long as they were checked out by CyberCom first and either Lillian or Riley knew where he was at all times.
Lillian particularly liked this woman Gabriel had cleared first. Elly Merrick. Someone like her could be good for him she mused. 34 years old, nurse, who enjoyed cooking classes and volunteering her file said. It was about time Gabriel settled down.
Gabriel walked by Riley as he walked out, not allowing himself to look at her, already dialing Elly's number. She got up and grabbed her keys to follow him but he turned around with a polite smile, waved her off, and mouthed talk to Lillian.
He forced himself to leave with a bounce in his step as Elly's cheerful hello answered the phone. He didn't wait to see Riley's reaction. He was not going to be a heartbroken reject. Gabriel would show Agent Neal he was fine and hide how much she really hurt him.
Elly couldn't go out that night but agreed to go out for dinner on Thursday. So Gabriel hit up some bars and looked for something to distract him.
By the end of the night he had gotten six numbers and was playing darts with Emily, a police officer from Vancover. She had sick aim and crushed him. Then he was talking to an intern named Ann who had the prettiest red hair. It wasn't like he kissed anyone or got drunk, but Gabriel really was more open to meeting new people that night then he had been in years. It went so well he made plans with Emily to get drinks the next day, then left. It was the first night he hadn't hung out with Agent Neal in awhile and he almost got in the passenger seat to his car. The empty feeling that settled in his heart when he realized she wasn't there was awful. Gabriel spent the carried listening to cheerful music, swearing he would fill that empty space in his heart.
When he got home at 12:30 Gabriel was humming, blocking all thoughts about Riley, looking at funny tweets, texting the girls he just met, and best of all Facebook stalking Elly Merrick.
He texted Riley to let her knows he was home. He was singing along to Who Wrote The Book of Love by the Monotones from 1958 and saw on Facebook that an old buddy of his from Delta Force was in the city. Gabriel called him up and they decided to meet up on Saturday, with dates.
After texting one of his new friends from the bar, Lucy (the blond teacher from Seattle) and securing her as his date Gabriel felt like he was on a high. He hadn't had this much fun since before marrying Amelia. Of course he wasn't really having fun. He felt a little lost.
He tried to watch TV but his mind would always wander to the previous night. He refused to allow himself to cyber render that night. Whenever he paused to think about Riley his heart clenched in pain. But he distracted himself every time . This was the freedom he used to have, Gabriel reminded himself. Before he met Amelia. Throwback to when he had friends, and a social life. He would try to start that again he decided. He tried to convince himself he wasn't upset about Riley. It was getting late and he was out of things to do. After cleaning his kitchen counter for the fourth time, Gabriel decided to go to sleep.
He changed for bed and went to shut his blinds.
Were his eyes deceiving him or did he see someone on Riley's windowsill staring up at the sky? He looked closer and saw her sitting there looking very sad. Gabriel shook his head. She wanted nothing to do with him. He shut the blinds and turned off the lights before going to bed.