Gilbert had been living with Antonio for several weeks, when he intended to only stay for a few days. It was staring to piss off Antonio.
"Man, you gotta get off your butt and find a job!"
Gilbert always waved him off, saying something like "Yeah yeah." or "I'm still looking..."
His younger brother had kicked him out of the house after two years of doing nothing! Gilbert found that very unfair. Why couldn't he have just kicked him out after several weeks?
On top of that, every time Gilbert got a job he got fired!
Apparently, awesomeness was not nearly enough for the world to give him a good job.
The last job he'd had was as a host at some restaurant. He got fired for telling a complaining customer to fuck off... They were complaining about how their seat was too close to the window, so it was cold.
That had been a little over a year ago.
So Gilbert was spending his days on Antonio's couch watching television, eating chips, pizza, and candy.
Antonio got more and more annoyed every day.
He couldn't leave Gilbert alone; he'd throw a party and wreck the house!
He couldn't take Gilbert places; he'd embarrass himself!
Gilbert always opted to stay, but Antonio never let him. Antonio had decided that it was better to embarrass himself than get arrested for something.
One day, Gilbert was laying on Antonio's couch, watching Teen Mom. He was yelling at Maci to just dump Ryan already when Antonio stepped in his vision.
"Hey!" Gilbert whined.
"Gilbert, I got a job at this music store teaching guitar." Antonio said.
"That's cool, bro. Now move, please."
Antonio didn't budge.
"What do you want?" Gilbert said.
Antonio sighed. "Dude, I can't trust you here on your own after last time."
"What?! It was only a few people..."
"A few? Gilbert, there were over a hundred people in here!"
"Damn that was an awesome party..." Gilbert sighed, remembering.
"Anyway, you have to come with me to work from now on," Antonio said. "Get dressed. We're leaving."
Gilbert groaned loudly, earning an eye roll from Antonio.
He decided it was best not to test his limits, so he got up.
He walked sluggishly to the bathroom, dragging his feet. He closed the door behind him and looked in the mirror.
He didn't need a shower, but he did need to shave. So he shaved and put on some deodorant, grabbed a blue button-down shirt, some dark jeans, and threw on his high tops.
Antonio looked him up and down.
"Wow, you get ready really fast! That was what, ten minutes?" He said, checking his watch.
Gilbert smirked.
"Well, it's cold. Better wear a coat, man..." Antonio said.
Gilbert grabbed a winter jacket and pushed the door open, going outside.
They got into the car and drove off.
Gilbert propped his feet up on the dashboard, which always pissed Antonio off, but he did it anyway.
He gazed out the window and began to think.
The real reason he didn't want to do anything was because he was very depressed. Like, seriously depressed. He didn't really feel like telling Antonio about it, so he kind of kept it to himself.
The reason he was depressed was because of a woman named Felicia.
Gilbert had been dating her since the eleventh grade.
She had long blonde hair, green eyes, and she was very pretty.
Gilbert loved her very much; he always did. Hell, he still did.
But, out of nowhere, when they were twenty-two, she ran off with this guy named Toris, leaving him. He hadn't seen her since.
The part Gilbert couldn't believe was... How could she have left him like that when they'd been in love for seven years! He'd given her so much of his life, and she payed him back by leaving him for some guy that was way too dependent on other people.
He remembered the day clearly.
...
"Felicia, be reasonable!" Gilbert shouted, begging.
She looked at him, with those huge, beautiful green eyes. Gilbert had always had a thing for green eyes.
"I am being totes reasonable Gilbert. I love him." She said it again, those three words that hit Gilbert like punches in the gut.
"Y-you don't mean that..." He whimpered weakly, trying to feebly get her to realize her mistake.
"No, like, I'm totally serious right now, Gilbert." She said, trying to sound soft.
"Felicia... I-I thought you loved me..." He whispered, dropping to his knees.
She looked away, clearly either ashamed of herself or unable to look him in the eye while he was being this pathetic.
"Well, I guess you, like, thought wrong."
Gilbert felt tears streaming down his cheeks. His heart had fallen to his stomach. But... it had been so real. How could it have all been a lie? She never had loved him? It was all a joke?
And with that, she closed the door behind her and she was gone.
...
Gilbert hadn't seen her since then. It had been about two years since she ran away with her new boyfriend.
Gilbert gagged whenever he thought about how disgustingly in love they must be. He hated her, but he couldn't help but love her at the same time. He thought about her all day, all night. He worried about her.
He really just wanted her to be safe.
So, after that, he was too depressed to live on his own, so he moved in with his little brother, Ludwig. Ludwig was really nice at first, but then he started getting annoyed, because Gilbert kept getting fired from jobs.
Then, Ludwig kicked him out.
Now, here he was, living with one of his best friends, abusing their friendship.
He sighed. Perhaps that was the way he was meant to live.
He continued to gaze out the window.
Outside, the world was lazily busy. everywhere people were rushing about, but nobody actually seemed in too much of a hurry. That might have had something to do with the fact that traffic was super bad.
He looked at all the people walking by on the sidewalk. There were families, singles, couples, teenagers, grandparents, dogs, friends... They all seemed to be in not too much of a hurry today.
Then, someone caught his eye.
She was in a hurry.
He could tell by the way she looked left and right as she was crossing the street, by the way she bounced up and down as she walked.
Her cheeks were very flushed from the cold.
He then noticed her face, and he sucked in his breath quickly.
Her face. It was so bright, so beautiful... He couldn't even understand what he was seeing. He'd never even seen anything like it. Her delicate jawline, her full lips, her brown, wavy hair... She made him a little but dizzy.
He couldn't believe he'd never noticed her before.
She looked very familiar with the streets, so she must have lived there. If they lived in the same place, Gilbert would have remembered that face. He couldn't imagine himself ever forgetting it.
He realized then that he was holding his breath and his face was becoming warmer and warmer by the second.
His heart thumped in his chest.
"Oh..." He choked out.
"Are you okay, man?" Antonio said from beside him.
"Yeah..." He mumbled quickly.
He wanted her.
He didn't even know her name or anything about her... but she looked like she had to have a beautiful name. Something delicate and lovely like her, lie Francesca or Rosaline or Victoria or Madeleine. She looked like she'd have a beautiful name.
He hoped that she had green eyes.
Normally when he saw a good-looking girl on the street he'd whistle or something, but he was too breath-taken to do anything but stare, his mouth gaping open.
Then, the car started moving.
He craned his neck so he could see her on the street for just a second more. Then she was gone.
He sighed. Now he would go and be depressed again, and he didn't even know that girl!
The car pulled into a parking space several minutes later.
Antonio got out of the car.
"C'mon, Gilbert! We're gonna be late!" He said.
Gilbert grumbled and trudged outside and slammed the door shut behind him once he had entered the store.
The walls were an olive green color, and the floor was golden from the polished wood. It smelled like a bookstore, a scent that Gilbert had always found a little bit comforting...
The entire place was lined with instruments, electronic devices, and music books. The walls were lined with strings instruments and there was even a drum set in a corner. There were three different pianos, all different sizes, shapes, and colors.
The girl at the counter was a small blonde with a green ribbon in her hair. Gilbert guessed her to be around twenty or so.
She looked up as the bell rang, and smiled.
"Oh! Are either of you Antonio?"
Antonio grinned one of his famous dazzling smiles. "Why yes, that would be me."
She blushed and giggled. Gilbert rolled his eyes. Oh please.
"Well, hi Antonio! Roderich's in the back waiting for you! And... who's this?" She asked of Gilbert, nodding to him.
Gilbert didn't like her. It was something in the way she was so cheerful to Antonio, but regarded him like some filthy dog that stumbled into her mansion behind her poodle. Well, she wasn't that obvious about it, but Gilbert could just tell she was a huge bitch.
Or maybe Gilbert was just looking for things to hate.
Or maybe he had a bias against blondes.
Who knows? He just did not like her, for whatever reason.
Antonio sighed.
"Oh, this is Gilbert... He's my friend. I guess I can leave him up here with y-"
"NO!" Gilbert blurted out, then backtracked. "Um, I mean I kinda wanna see, like, where Antonio will be working..." He gave Antonio a pleading look, trying to get across how badly he did not want to hang out alone with this girl.
Antonio glared at him, but sighed.
"Okay, I guess. Come on, Gilbert." He said.
The girl smiled and waved, as if she had no idea what just happened.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Antonio mumbled, "You're such a jackass..."
Gilbert snickered.
...
Gilbert would have almost preferred to chat with Ms. Bubbly out there.
Those two could have been talking about music for hours! (He knew, of course, it had only been about ten minutes, but never mind that! He was bored as fuck!)
They had started by discussing the kinds of things Antonio would be teaching kids, and then they started discussing how he learned guitar, then Antonio decided he just had to ask how Roderich had learned piano! Then, they got into a conversation about the best composers or some other bullshit, and then Gilbert had sat down and stopped trying to follow along.
He kept trying to not think about her.
But her beautiful face kept sneaking into his consciousness.
Then, another bell rung at the front of the store.
Some talking, another person had the displeasure of chatting with Blondie!
Someone came closer to the room, and opened the door.
He was looking down, and began humming a little tune to himself to pass the time.
"Elizaveta!" Roderich exclaimed.
Gilbert's head snapped up, and he almost fainted. He almost scrambled backwards, clutching the wall.
It was her!
She smiled at Roderich, and looked at the two other men in the room, as if suddenly realizing they were not alone.
He cleared his throat. "This is Antonio, our new guitar instructor."
Antonio flashed his flirtatious smile once again, and stuck out his hand, and she took it. He pressed his lips to her feminine hand, which was just as perfect as the rest of her. Gilbert's heart beat fast.
"Encantado de conocerte." Antonio said.
"Yeah, hello..." The girl, apparently Elizaveta, said, voice confused.
Oh, god. Her voice is so fucking perfect...
Roderich nodded to Gilbert, as if just noticing him.
"And this is his friend, uh... Antonio, what's his name again?" Roderich said. Gilbert glared at him. Seriously? It's two fucking syllables. Gil-bert. Not that hard, bro.
Antonio suddenly remembered Gilbert as well and turned around. He saw Gilbert sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around his legs. He slammed his forehead into the palm of his hand.
"Gilbert... That's Gilbert." He sounded very embarrassed.
Gilbert jumped up, probably way too eager. He didn't care. This was his big chance.
What would he say, to woo her over? Make her his? What could the very first words he ever spoke to her be...
"What's up?" He blurted out.
He was kicking himself, but he was determined to remain cool. He smirked confidently.
Something registered on her face, something he couldn't even recognize. Confusion? Shock? Nervousness? Lust? A mixture of all four? Either way, he liked it. It was very beautiful, just like the rest of her face.
He couldn't help himself, he allowed himself to smile stupidly. It probably looked more like a smirk to her though. He was just so glad he had some sort of effect on her.
The second thing he said? Of course it was something heroic, romantic, and sexy...
"I think we'll get along awesomely." He said.
Nailed it. He thought to himself.
Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, and Gilbert had to lean against the wall a little so he wouldn't melt right then and there. Oh, god he wanted her! She was so adorable!
"It was nice meeting you." She said quietly, almost shyly.
He jumped for joy in his head. He had an effect, even if it was a small one.
Roderich glared at him.
"Darling, I'll be upstairs if you need me." She said to him.
Roderich kissed her on the forehead and put an arm around her.
"Well, gentleman, say goodbye to my fiance." He said, perhaps a bit aggressively.
"Goodbye, Elizaveta!" Antonio smiled cheerfully.
Gilbert was a little annoyed. Well, at least they weren't married. That would totally suck. But... maybe he could allow himself to hope, maybe even a little...
He took a deep breath.
"See ya, Elizaveta." He smirked again, knowing she must have liked that a little.
He was right. She blushed again.
"Bye..." Then she hurried out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Gilbert kept staring at the door, and Antonio elbowed him.
Antonio cleared his throat.
"Well, I guess I'll be here in the morning."
"All right then. Take care." Roderich replied, still squinting suspiciously.
As soon as they got in the car and Gilbert had buckled his seat belt, he promised himself one thing.
She was gonna love him.