Summary:
ACT II: GABRIELA
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Days go by in a blur, but little does Gabriela know how a bet from a friend would change her night (and life) forever.
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The theme song for this chapter: Tu Traicion by Adassa
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There were bad days, and then there were good days.
Gabriela snapped out of her stupor on the third day, and finally managed to have enough energy to get herself out of bed. The leftovers her friends had left for her was tasteless even if it wasn't, and the cold shower felt like being doused in boiling water.
Everything that was up was now down.
Her phone battery died sometime in the middle of the night, in between the tears that stained her cheeks and left a mark on her pillowcase. She contemplated if she would charge it and turn it on, but thought it best not to. After all, she didn't need to be bombarded with half-baked excuses and pathetic lies. Gabriela was thankful that they didn't need her at work for the time being. Her client's album was on its way to release, so people who mattered wouldn't question her absence.
He didn't matter though. If the moaning and the tell-tale sounds of sex coming from his studio were an indicator, it sure as hell meant that what they once had was long gone. The last of her love died right there outside the door.
Gabriela somehow knew that this would happen, that at the back of her mind her soul was screaming at her to get out. She ignored it for too long, hoping things would change. Her parents had seen it coming years before, and she didn't listen. She wanted to prove everyone wrong — that they were indeed made for each other.
She was too young to know any better, and hope pushed her on. As she was trying to make her way across the city just to share with him her joy, even as her insides told her to run, she hoped. She believed in him with all her heart.
Never mind that she had been burned one too many times.
But maybe her doubts had manifested the thing she feared. She was greeted instead with the cold, harsh reality, and it ruined her. Her world came crashing down and there was nothing left to do but accept it and move on.
The rest of that night was nothing but a blur in her mind. Gabriela could barely remember what had happened, but the next thing she knew, she had found herself in front of José and Ávila's apartment, her whole life stored inside bags she chaotically packed.
And before she understood the impact of what she'd done, they welcomed her with open arms, ushered her into their home, and gave her the safe space she desperately needed.
…
As the days went by, Gabriela slowly healed from her heartbreak. Ávila helped her block and delete her ex's number for good and clean him out of her (already sparse) social media. Gabriela functioned well enough during the day, keeping herself busy by working from home. She also sometimes helped out at José's bar on odd nights when she was restless, and it worked out for the best. Her life was starting to form some sense of normalcy, though both José and Ávila still remained cautious, refraining from talking about celebrity gossip when Gabriela was around. They could control whatever news came in within their walls, but they knew that they couldn't shield Gabriela from the tabloids once she stepped foot out of their door.
Thankfully she had never been named to begin with, so the scandal never affected her beyond the (sometimes) painful reminder of a past she was ready to forget.
Gabriela had turned a little bit cynical. It was a far cry from her usual self, but she told herself it needed to be done. She guarded her heart and locked her feelings away, all to avoid the pain of getting hurt all over again.
At the end of the day, she needed a distraction, not love. And someone had caught her eye on such days when she felt like crumbling down.
…
"I think you have an admirer." Javier teased Gabriela as she helped José and his staff prepare for another busy night at the bar. "I don't know if you've noticed, but it's all the crew have been talking about."
Gabriela pretended not to know who he was talking about, but she knew full well who Javier meant. She had seen the man come in multiple times throughout, and she found it amusing that he would always order a Carajillo, neat for the most part, before somehow ending up with even stronger alcohol afterwards. Their eyes had met more than once, and while she was curious, she thought nothing of it.
Well, nothing until José pointed it out and Gabriela earned Ávila's unending badgering about this mystery man whom she never even met.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Javier." Gabriela rebuffed, adjusting her skirt. "Besides, how can he be an admirer in the first place? I don't see him coming up to me to get my number or something now, do we?"
"Hombre's probably building up courage to even talk to you!" Carmencita, another one of the servers, hollered over as she busied herself with inventory. "He only ever drinks when you're around, and he makes goo-goo eyes at you all night."
"Sounds like a creep." Javier replied.
"Or a simp."
"Or, maybe you guys are reading too much into it." Gabriela shook her head at the two. "It's probably just nothing."
"Wanna bet?"
Gabriela yelped in surprise when José suddenly appeared behind her. "¡Qué carajos! Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry." José threw his head back and laughed. "I was about to call you guys for a quick meeting when I overheard the conversation. Is this about Gabriela's mystery man?"
"Yes!" Javier and Carmencita choroused just as Gabriela cut in, leering at José . "Let's drop this conversation. And before you ask again, I don't want to hear your stupid bet. I see that my best friend's rubbing off on you now, and it sounds like a terrible idea. You're supposed to be the sensible one."
"And I am the sensible one." José pretended to be offended. "You haven't heard what my bet is about, yet you turn it down immediately."
"Because I know it's not a good idea."
"Why not?"
"You know I'm not…looking for love right now." Gabriela's voice dropped to a whisper. Javier and Carmencita had some knowledge of her breakup, but not all details were privy to the public, even if they weren't complete strangers. "I don't think I have it in me."
José nodded thoughtfully. "Can you two leave us here for a minute? Get yourselves ready. We're opening in fifteen minutes."
Javier and Carmencita quickly left in the room without another word, knowing how serious their boss had gotten. Without the banter protecting her from her thoughts, the silence was deafening to Gabriela. "I know you're not looking for love, and you know mi amor and I aren't expecting you to, right?" José asked.
Gabriela frowned. "I don't get where you're going with this."
"I'm saying that you're shutting yourself out from whatever the universe sends through even before it begins. I notice you too, Ella. It's subtle, but you have this glow about you when he's around. You've developed a crush on him, haven't you?"
She turned beet red and coughed. Gabriela hated that her emotions sometimes showed themselves too easily on her face. "That means nothing."
"Maybe, maybe not."
"What do you want me to do, José?"
"So you're willing to listen to this bet now, are you?"
"If I am, what am I going to get out of it?"
"Nothing."
"That doesn't sound like a bet, José."
"Fine, fine. How about this? If you can talk to him and get him to dance with you, I'll stop singing parodies in the shower."
Gabriela contemplated for a bit. "Fair. You sound terrible, and I'm never going to sign you for a record."
"Ouch." José sniffed. "Harsh, aren't we? Ávila likes it."
"Ávila is sometimes tone deaf. I wouldn't put it past them. So, what happens if I lose?"
"If you lose, you'd have to do it all over again, and also endure my free concerts."
They stared the other down for a while before Gabriela caved. "Deal, I guess." She pursed her lips as they shook on it. "I doubt something will happen."
"Oh you'll never know." José winked as he checked his watch. "What I do know is that he does need a fair bit of help. Liquid courage and whatnot. Go get yourself changed into something more...party ready. The bet starts right now."
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Glossary of terms (in order of appearance in-text):
¡Qué carajos! - What the f*ck!
