Chapter 7 Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Gabriel took Nicole into his mansion, so he would introduce her to his employees. He had ordered them to assemble in the living room. He couldn t believe he was doing this, after so many years of being alone. But, that isn t the issue at the moment. What got him worried is the consciousness that all this is fake. He wasn t the type to do pretend. He hopes he doesn t blow their cover. He just wished he was strong enough to forget Ashley and move on with his life, rather than deceive himself and the people around him. Nicole couldn t believe her eyes, as she entered the mansion. It was more beautiful on the inside, with all its expensive interiors, which she was certain was worth much more than her entire life s expenses. She was greeted by quite a number of employees. They were seventeen in number. Nicole just smiled at them and let Gabriel begin the introduction. "This is Nicole Robinson, my fiancée" Gabriel introduced, taking his employees by surprise. They all had surprised expression on their faces, making Nicole wonder even more, the kind of man she was dealing with. If his employees weren t expecting that sort of information then, he was stranger than she had thought. Gabriel allowed the information he just revealed sink into the heads of his employees before he spoke further. "She will be staying with us from now on. I want you all to treat her with utmost respect… any complaint, whatsoever regarding your services will not be tolerated by me. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes sir" they all chorused. Wow! This man is damn good at being a boss. Nicole thought to herself. She could feel the authority in his words. It was like, she was enchanted by his voice. She was brought back to reality by the voices of the employees who started introducing themselves, one after the other. "It s a pleasure to meet you all. I know this is your job and you re being paid for it, but I want to thank you all for taking good care of my baby." Nicole said, giving Gabriel a loving look. "Uh, this is new to me, but I ll try to get to know all your names as time goes by." She concluded with a bright smile. Nicole noticed that they were all giving her warm smiles, which made her feel welcomed. "You may retire to your duties." Gabriel said, dismissing them. They all went back to their various tasks, leaving Gabriel and Nicole alone in the living room. "Wow! That was fun." Nicole exclaimed with a light chuckle. "Let s go to my study." Gabriel spoke up, leading Nicole further into the mansion. When they got into the study, Nicole made herself comfortable on one of the seats. "Would you care for a drink?" Gabriel offered, gesturing to the bottle of whiskey on his desk. "No, thanks. I don t drink alcohol." "That s ironic." "Really and why is that?... Oh, I get it, it s because I work at a bar… one has to do certain things to earn a living, you know." Gabriel got her point, but acted like he didn t care. "How old are you?" he suddenly asked, taking a sip from his drink. Gabriel s question took Nicole by surprise. Is he being serious, right now? The first question he had to come up with, was about her age. Seriously?! She thought he brought her here so they d get down to business by writing their signatures on a piece of paper. "Why does my age matter to you?" She asked, trying to avoid his question. "It s necessary, so I know I m not dealing with a minor." he bluntly replied. Did he just call her a minor? Nicole was angry. This guy is plain rude. But she wasn t going to let him get to her so soon. She just has to be patient because she needed the money and wouldn t want to miss the opportunity that presented itself before her, just because of a stupid statement. She tried suppressing her anger with a smile that was obviously fake. Besides, he isn t the first rude man she has encountered. She has had to deal with much more arrogant customers at the pub. She guessed that is a common attribute that comes with wealth. "You know quite well that you aren t dealing with a minor. If you felt I was one, you never would ve knocked on my door… you re just curious." She replied with a smile. Gabriel wasn t expecting such a reply. She is smart, after all. "Okay. Let s say, I am curious" "Then, I ll answer your question. But, on one condition?" He raised a questioning eyebrow at her. Was she now giving him conditions? "Which is?" he asked with a stern face, hoping she d drop whatever it was she had in mind. Nicole plastered a smile on her face. It was a sincere one this time. She was happy they were communicating, even though he was acting all tough. "I ll tell you my age, only if you tell me yours." Was she really serious? Gabriel questioned in his head. He didn t know if he should just drop the conversation or just go ahead and tell her his age. He didn t want to scare her away with his age, because she looked pretty young and girls like her usually like to be with guys their age. What was he thinking? Why does he care about the kind of guy she would want to be with. This was only a contract of six months and nothing more. Nicole could tell, Gabriel was internally struggling with himself. She wondered if it had anything to do with her request. She doesn t want to get the tough guy angry, at least not yet. "I m twenty seven, if that s what you want to know. Please don t bother telling me yours. There s no point for me to find out, since all of this is just a contract." She said, breaking the silence between them. Gabriel couldn t believe she was that young. Is she going to go through with the contract if she finds out his age? But, she is already here, which is a good sign, right? If there was anything he didn t like, it was dishonesty. So, it s best they start on a clean slate. "I-" "You don t have to tell me if you don t want to" she said, cutting him off. "No. It s only fair that you know the age of the man you'll be living with for six months" he really "I turned forty two weeks ago." Nicole was beyond surprised. How could this drop dead gorgeous man tell her he is forty? He looked like a 21st century Greek god. How did he manage to look this fantastic at such age? Gabriel knew that telling Nicole his age was a bad idea after seeing the look on her face. "W-wow!" was Nicole s only response. She was still speechless. This guy is beyond fit, you could tell from how good his muscles looked in his suit. But yet, he was still single. She would die to be with a man who looked like this and was still forty. God, what is wrong with me? She mentally asked, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from the sexy model before her. "Here are the contract papers." Gabriel said disrupting Nicole s thoughts. "You can go through it, if you like?" he continued. Nicole didn t think about it. She took a pen from his desk and signed her signature on the dotted line. She had no idea why, but she felt like she could trust him. Gabriel took the papers from Nicole and penned down his own signature. This is where the journey begins. There s no turning back now.