Chapter Ten

Rain began to fall as AJ returned to his apartment that afternoon. Patty happily greeted him as he walked by and to her surprise, he returned the greeting. When he stepped into the elevator, she shook her head and said, "Oh Gabby...you must have cryptonite in that smile..."

AJ smiled at her comment and then frowned. Why in the hell was he being so nice all of the sudden? Maybe she was right, Gabby's warm and gentle heart was affecting him and he wasn't sure if he liked it. He never treated women with any respect nor did he care if his friends did or not, now here he was saving little girls from their attackers...

It was quiet when he reached his floor. He stepped off the elevator, mentally deciding he needed to get back to his reason for being here...to be alone...He was just putting his key in the door, when he spotted a pink sticky note just above his lock. He looked both ways wondering where the note came from before taking it off the door and reading it silently.

"Hey AJ, I'm cooking spaghetti tonight if you'd like some. Just knock on my door around 6, yours truly, Gabrielle."

A warm smile formed on his face as he glanced at his neighbors door. She was a sweet woman, yet he was afraid she was making him soft. He crumbled the note in his hand and then let himself into his apartment to check his email.

In the next apartment, Gabby was busy getting her placed straightened up before she could begin cooking. She was singing as usual, with Simon looking on from the corner of the room. She folded her clothes, vacuumed, and washed dishes just before her phone rang. With a sigh, she walked over and pressed the speaker button.

"Hello?"

"Gabrielle?"

She sighed quietly and tilted her head back at the sound of her mother's voice. "Hey mom,"

"How are you doing dear? You still barely call..." she said.

"I'm doing alright, I'm getting ready to start cooking here soon." Gabby said as she walked back over to the counter and opened a cupboard above her head.

"Ooohhh gotta a man coming over or something?" she asked.

Gabby felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment and annoyance, "Is there a point to this conversation?"

Her mom sighed, "Well yeah, I called to see if you thought about coming down for Christmas."

"Not exactly, I just..." she froze. She knew how her mother would feel knowing she took over a nightclub. She'd never speak to her again...probably would shun her forever.

"You just what?" her mom asked with curiosity in her voice.

Gabby was about to answer her but then decided to change the subject. "Mom listen...I'll call you when it gets closer to Christmas. Work has me busy and right now I just want to be alone."

Her mother could tell she was lying but chose not to push the subject any further. "Ok dear, I love you."

"I love you too mom,"

She hung up briskly and then continued to clean her apartment. She cooked her spaghetti around 5:30 and then pulled out her futon. As she made her way back to the kitchen, there was a knock on her door. A soft smile formed on her face as she walked to the door and peeped through the peephole. To her surprise, it wasn't who she thought it was.

There stood a man who was a little taller than AJ but he too was bald headed and had a neatly shaven face. He was a smaller less bulky version of the man she ran into earlier that day...only she knew this man...

Slowly she unlocked her door and opened it, meeting the gaze of her surprise guest.

"Hey Gabrielle." he said with a grin.

"Karl?" she said as she opened the door more, "What are you doing here?"

He frowned at her, "Now is that anyway to greet your cousin?"

She sighed, "I would be more receptive if you weren't a jerk to me our entire lives..."

He laughed, "Wooow no reason to get pushy babygirl, I just heard you were living in the area so I wanted to stop by and say hi,"

Inwardly Gabby was skeptical, but she stepped aside to let him in anyways. He stepped into her small place and looked around, "Wow I see you haven't changed too much...well living wise...but look at you now girl, you're all cute and shit."

"My friend thought I needed a change." she said as she went into the kitchen.

"Well it's a good one honestly." he said as he leaned against the island. "How have you been?"

She shrugged, "I'm alright I suppose...still trying to figure out why you're here..."

He laughed to himself, "Oh alright you got me...I'm looking for someone."

"And you came here because?" she said as she stirred the spaghetti sauce.

"Because a little birdie told me you might know where I can find the person I'm looking for..."

She tapped the spoon on the pot and sat it down, "I don't know how, I barely talk to anyone in this town."

He chuckled, "Not even Sandy?"

She froze for a spilt second and then looked back at him, "What about her?"

He smirked, "Now we're getting somewhere...I need to know where to find AJ, Gabrielle."

She blinked a few times, "AJ who?"

"AJ as in the guy I told you I was in that accident with a few years ago." he told her.

Gabby turned back to her food not wanting him to see the look of concern on her face. She knew she had heard AJ's name once before when she met him but it didn't hit her that this was the man who almost got her cousin killed.

"Oh...I haven't seen him around since the first night I went to Sandy's bar. In fact, I heard he was only in town for that night."

Karl nodded and walked over to the counter next to her, "Ok, well if you do happen to run into him again...give me a call."

"Why are you looking for him anyways?" she asked.

He pressed his lips together and then sighed heavily, "Let's just say we have some unfinished business to attend to...I don't like leaving loose ends..."

She glanced at him as he placed a white card on her counter and headed out of her apartment. With a sigh of relief, she headed over to her door and locked it tightly. She wasn't sure why she lied for AJ, but she knew she had to tell him what she found out.