Author's note: Thank you for being so patient with me. I was able to get three chapters done over my vacation.
I hop you're still enjoying the story!
Chapter Eleven: Girls Day Out
Chapter Eleven: Girls Day Out
Sunday April 22nd '07 11:30 a.m.
Gabrielle was sitting in the center tree of the larger of the hotel's courtyards reading another one of the books she had bought when she had first gotten to France. The day after she had seen Man of LaMancha she had asked the receptionist if it was alright to sit in the tree. It had been about a month since then. After that her rutine with Dr. Williamson changed slightly. Monday through Thursday he would take her around France in the morning, then after lunch she would have her sessions until five-thirty, then he would bring her home. She hadn't told anyone but after the...confrentation with Dr. Tanner, Gabrielle found a self-defence teacher. After she was dropped off, she would grab a taxi and go off to those classes, where she learned how to use her new harpy correctly.
Friday they would go for a picknick and relax, then around six he would bring her home and she would go clubbing with her classmates. She danced by herself, and Dr. Lecter made a habbit of following her to which ever club she chose and watching her secretly. Saturday she would got to the spa and spend the day relaxing. Sunday she would read in the morning then go rock climbing or hiking with Claire and Charlette, who had some how managed to get the day off. She'd call her mother every third day, and wrote in her journal every night as required. She didn't see much of Becky except at dinner, sometimes they would sit together.
Gabrielle's watch beeped, telling her it was time to go get ready to go climbing/hiking. She closed her book and put it in the small pack she had brought with her. After she put the pack on she started climbing down the tree. She was careful not to rip her skirt on the way down. When she was on the ground she crossed the courtyard quickly. Carla had a habit of staying in the hotel on the weekends, and ever since Gabrielle had started to talk to Becky again she'd been trying to pick a fight with her almost everytime they met, and one time Carla tried to swing at her. Gabrielle didn't feel like getting into a screaming match today.
As Gabrielle stepped into the front lobby she saw Carla at the front desk. She turned quickly in the other direction and headed for the elevator. She went up two floors then got off and went up the stairs for the last three floors. She didn't want to risk Carla knowing what room she was in. When she got into her room she changed into jean shorts and a light purple tanktop. She took out her hoop earings and put in her studs. She took the book out of her pack and replaced it with her key card, a zip up sweatshirt, three water bottles, two sandwiches, and a couple small bags of chips. She then grabbed her harpy and put it in the small pocket on the inside of her shorts by her right hip. She put her pocket knife in her left outside pocket and put her hiking boots on.
She then went into the bathroom and put her hair up into a ponytail. She grabbed her phone off the table and just as she was grabing her pack there was a knock on the door. Gabrielle looked through the peephole and saw Becky and Carla standing outside. She backed away from the door quickly and quietly. She didn't know if they knew it was her room but she wasn't about to open the door and let them know.
"Are you sure we have the right room?" Gabrielle heard Becky ask Carla.
"Tasha said she saw Gabrielle go into this room." Carla said and Gabrielle thought she sounded like she was out to kill.
Gabrielle didn't wait to hear the rest of the conversation. She grabbed her pack and went into her bedroom. She opened the closet and pushed her clothes aside and found the loose pannel Claire had showed her. She had showed her after Carla had tried to punch her, then started following her the next day whenever Gabrielle was in the hotel. It lead to an access hallway just bairly big enough for someone to walk through. Claire told her the hotel had been built to be used as a safe haven for those who were in protection programs and the hallways weren't even on the blueprints. The small hallways had been built as the hotel was built as an escape route, and when the hotel was renovated they didn't bother to get rid of them because they had forgotten about them.
Gabrielle closed her closet door and pulled out her pocket knife. She could hear Becky knocking on the door to her hotel room. She opened her knife and stuck it in the crack in the wall. As she turned the knife the pannel moved, and when she had enough space for her fingers she put her knife away and slid the pannel open. She found the switch Claire had showed her and turned on the emergency lights that were by the floor. She stepped in and found the handle that was on the inside, pulling the pannel all the way shut. As she was walking down the hallway she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Claire.
It read:
its Gby, usng scrt aces hlwy. meet u in the main ktchn.
Gabrielle got a text a couple minutes later saying:
kay
When Gabrielle opened the pannel at the end she almost fell over a roomservice cart. Claire and Charlette were there. Charlette caught her and Claire moved the cart. Gabrielle shut off the lights as she stepped out.
"Why on earth did you decide to use the access hallway?" Claire asked as they shut the pannel.
"Three words. Becky and Carla"
"What?!" Charlette said insurprise.
"Aparently Carla has had someone watching my floor and they found out where my room was. They came knocking just as I was about to head out the door. Carla didn't sound too happy and I didn't feel like having to break her arm in a martial arts pin, so I decided to take the access hallway for a spin." Gabrielle explained as Charlette handed her, her climbing gear and they headed out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
When they got to the front desk Gabrielle grabed the key for her rental car and they headed for the door. They all got in and as Gabrielle pulled away from the hotel she saw Becky and Carla walk out. Carla was obviously pissed.
Gabrielle chuckled, "Heh, dinner is gonna be very interesting tonight."
When they got to their usual climbing spot, Gabrielle parked, put the top up, and turned off the car. They all got out and she locked it. Claire took a small magnet out of her pocket and motioned for the car key.
"What are you doing?" Charlette asked as she watched Claire put both the magnet and the key in the front, right wheel well.
"Well after we almost lost the key the last time I came up with a less risky solution. This way we won't almost drop it and it's better than just leaving the car unlocked with it in the glove compartment."
"I like the way you think." Gabrielle said with a smile.
The three of them put their packs on and putting their gear on their shoulders they started down the forest path. They joked and talked about how their week went. They all voted that Charlette had the worst week when she told them about how someone had thrown-up on her brand new suit. After about fifteen minutes of walking they came to a clearing and a rock wall/cliff that went up about forty-five feet. They were about fifty feet away from another cliff edge and they all planned on keeping it that way.
They were silent as they put on their harnesses, making sure everything was secure. Then came the fun part, they each put a stake and clip in the rock face as high as they could reach and then clipped in their cords. They talked as they climbed and there was a rythm as they would climb about six or seven feet then add another stake and clip, then clipped in their cords. It took them about twenty minutes to get to the top. When they got there Gabrielle used one of her stakes to pull herself up onto the top of the cliff.
Once she had gotten up she pulled up Claire and Charlette. She then pulled the stake out of the ground and clipped it back onto her hip. Then she pulled a stake off her hip that looked like a giant staple and jammed it into the ground pinning her cord down in place. She pulled up the rest of her cord and coiled it over the stake, then took off her harness and put it on top of the cord. Gabrielle looked up after she was done and took in the sights. At the level they were at, she could see miles of forest and off in the distance one of the small towns she had been to with the Doctor. The sun was briliant and warm, and Gabrielle had the slightest urge to curl up like a cat and take a nap.
"So," Claire said pulling Gabrielle back to reality, "Do we want to eat now or later?"
Just after Claire asked the question, Gabrielle's and Charlette's stomachs growled simultaneously.
"Now it is, then." Claire said and they all laughed.
Charlette pulled a blanket out of her pack and they spread it out.
After lunch they put their trash in a small paper bag, which Claire put in her pack. Then they folded the blanket and Charlette put it away. They continued their hike through the woods laughing and joking. Claire had her camera and when ever they saw an animal, who ever was closest would take a picture. At one point Gabrielle climbed up into a tree to get a close-up picture of a sleeping owl.
When it was about four-thirty they decided to head back to the car. They had turned around just in time, because by the time they got back to their gear it was starting to get dark. They got their gear on and decended the small cliff. When they got to the bottom, one at a time they each gave their cords a hefty yank, pulling the stakes out of the rock face. After coiling up their cords and gathering their clips and stakes they headed back to the car.
Gabrielle grabbed the key and magnet and opened the trunk of the car so they could put their gear in it. They all got in and Gabrielle pulled a near perfect three-point-turn and headed back to the hotel. They sang along to the radio, well Claire and Charlette did. A lot of the songs were in French, but Gabrielle sang along to the songs that she knew.
"Your night driving is getting much better Gabs" Claire said as they pulled up to the hotel.
"Thanks!" Gabrielle said as they got out of the car.
Claire had started calling her "Gabs" shortly after she went to see Man of LaMancha with the Doctor. They had spent the whole next morning talking about it, which was what prompted Claire to ask for Sundays off. Gabrielle didn't mind, she was glad to have found a female friend she could connect with even if she was four years older. Of course Claire was already good friends with Charlette so when she started talking about Gabrielle basically non-stop she decided to see what all the fuss was about and started taking the same days off to spend more time with them.
Claire had a bad habit of talking a mile a minute when she was excited and when ever she went to say "Gabrielle" she would trip over her words, so she started to call her "Gabs" because it was easier to say. Gabrielle had no problem with it 'cause thats what her mom and step-dad call her. She was just glad that Claire hadn't started calling her "Gabby", because ever since her "falling out" with Becky, the nickname put a sour taste in her mouth.
Charlette grabbed her gear and Gabrielle's while Claire grabbed her own. Gabrielle shut the trunk and lead the way into the hotel. She held the door open for them and was about to say good-bye when the receptionist called her name.
"I'll talk to you guys later, ok."
"Sure, just call for room service." Claire said with a laugh as her a Charlette walked away.
As Gabrielle turned towards the front desk she saw Carla standing there as well.
"Great" Gabrielle though to herself as she walked to the desk, "Any chance I could knock her out without anyone noticing?"
Just then a couple came out the dinning room and headed her way.
"Guess not" She thought.
"You called me?" Gabrielle asked as she pretended like Carla wasn't there.
Out of the corner of her eye Gabrielle could see Carla glaring at her.
If looks could kill, I'd probably be dead ten times over by now... She thought.
"Yes Miss Helfire, this came for you and hour ago." Said the receptionist handing her a mauve envelope, "Dr. Williamson brought it in himself."
"Really?" Gabrielle said with raised eyebrows, "Thats interesting...Doesn't he usually have a messenger bring it?"
"Yes Miss Helfire."
"Well this is curious indeed, thank you."
"You're welcome. Have a nice evening miss."
Gabrielle would have responded but she wasn't paying attention. She was staring at the card in her hands, turning it over and over. She headed for the larger court yard. She knew Carla would be following and without Mrs. Mathews, Claire, or Charlette by her side, she knew Carla would stay close. When she got into the court yard she headed for the center tree. When she got to it, she tucked the envelope into the top of her shirt and climbed just a little more than half-way up. As she opened the envelope and pulled out the note she saw Carla sit herself at the base of the tree.
The note read:
Gabrielle,
I'm sorry to tell you this on such short notice, but for the next two weeks
I will be in the Caribbean. Some very old items have been found in it's clear
blue depths and the museum is sending me down to see if there is anything
it could benifit from. As the receptionist has probably told you by now, I
brought this note to the hotel personally. If you look at the bottom of this
note you will see why, I have enclosed a copy of my house key, I trust you
would be able to remember where my house is. I have given this to you as a
kind of "safety net". You've been talking about how one of your classmates
has been rather hostile towards you. If you are ever scared and/or no longer
wish to stay at the hotel, because of said classmate, you may stay at my house
instead. I've already talked with your chaperone and she had no problem with
it. Feel free to explore the house if you do decide to stay there, naturally any
door that is locked is off limits. I trust you will be able to find the guest rooms
rather easily.
See you in two weeks,
Richard Williamson M.D.
Gabrielle had to read the note over twice to believe it. It wasn't that he was leaving that got her, he had a job and she knew sooner or later they were gonna need him again. It was the fact that he trusted her enough to give her a key to his home and offer her a place to stay if Carla and her friends became too much to handle. Gabrielle checked her watch and saw that it was six-fifty-five. Leaving the key still attached she put the note back in the envelope then put it in her pack which she still had with her. Gabrielle climbed out of the tree on the oposite side Carla was leaning against.
She jumped in with a group of people walking across the court yard and made it into the main lobby without being noticed by Carla. When she got into the dinning room she got looked around for her teachers. When she spotted Mrs. Mathews she walked up to her and they started to talk. Gabrielle ate dinner with her teachers and took the access hallway back up to her room. When she got in she pulled the note out and grabbed her purse and pulled out her wallet. She put the key in the zipper pocket then put her wallet back in her purse. She plugged her phone into the charger, put her harpy and pocket knife on her nightstand, wrote in her journal, then took a quick shower and got into bed.
Gabrielle wriggled down into the sheets until the covers came up to her chin. Her body temperature had risen from the hot shower, and because of this the bed warmed up fairly quickly. It may have only been eight-thirty but Gabrielle was wiped from the hike and fell into a peaceful sleep before she could summon the energy to reach up and turn out the light. Fifteen minutes later she was in such a deep sleep she didn't notice the man come out from behind the curtain. She didn't feel him move her hair from her face or kiss her forehead lightly. She didn't see him turn off her light then watch her for another minute. She never heard him cross her suite and she never heard the door "click" shut when he left...
But in the morning she would find that her breakfast for the next two weeks had already been chosen for her, and the rental car she would be using for the next two weeks was already picked out and paid for...
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