Chapter Seventeen
Gabriel
I was beside myself, unable to even begin to comprehend how to fix all of this. I couldn’t just let Penny walk out of my life. I cared about her way too much. When I saw her storming across the lobby on Saturday, I knew she had spoken with her father. When she refused to stop and talk to me, I was immediately terrified that she thought I was somehow involved in his schemes and lies. I didn’t know what he had told her. The only thing I knew to do was reach out to Gabby, so when she was down at the café working, I arranged it so the owner would allow me to speak to her in private.
I walked into the conference room where she was sitting, and she stood up, anger clouding her face. It was obvious she had no idea why she had been called into the room. I stepped in front of the closed door and put my hands up.
“Please,” I said. “Just hear me out.”
“Fine,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I am desperate,” I said. “I am desperate to get ahold of Penny.”
“Why? So, you can tell her more bullshit?”
“You don’t understand,” I pleaded. “I never was part of any of those schemes. I turned her father down as soon as I found out what he was doing. I didn’t do any business with him, and that was years ago. When I found out he was her father, I was surprised, but what am I going do when I’d first met her, teller he father is a crook? She kept wanting me to meet him, and I just tried to put it off. Once I realized how special she was and that I had serious feelings for her, I’d already been lying to her by not acknowledging that I knew him, and what I knew about him. I didn’t want to see her get hurt, and I didn’t want to be the guy that destroyed her relationship with her father.”
“You should have been honest with her,” she said, relaxing a bit.
“I know, but it is all too late for that now,” I said, putting my hands in my pocket. “I just want a chance to explain everything to her myself. I want to make this up to her however I can. I just want to talk to her, nothing else. Gabby, please help me. I…I love her.”
Her entire demeanor changed as those words flew out of my mouth. I hadn’t even said them to myself, but there they were, and I knew in my heart that they were the truth. Gabby sighed and walked over to the tables, pulling out a chair and sitting down. She looked up at me and shook her head.
“If you really love her,” she said.
“I do,” I replied, walking over and sitting across from her.
“Then I will set something up for you,” she said. “But if I find out that all you have done is hurt her more or lied about loving her just to get to her, I will come here and kill you with my bare hands. Penny is a good person, she should never have been drug into all of this. You should have protected her!”
“I know,” I said hanging my head.
“Go to Central Park where the first trailhead for runners begins,” she said, pulling out her phone. “Wait there.”
“Thank you,” I said, hugging Gabby and running from the room.
I crossed the street into the park and made my way to the spot Gabby described. I sat down on the retaining wall behind some cover so that when Penny arrived she didn’t spot me and immediately bolt. Then I waited, thinking about everything that we had been through, thinking about the reality that I just admitted I loved her. My heart was beating out of my chest and I wanted to be happy about it, but the fear of losing her was taking over and I couldn’t enjoy the love for even a second.
After about twenty minutes I looked through the branches of the brush and saw Penny walking toward the spot, looking around for Gabby. She looked so beautiful in her jeans, boots, sweater, and long overcoat. Her hair was cascading around her shoulders and her cheeks were rosy from the cold wind. She walked past me at first, turning back as she sensed someone there. As soon as she saw me her face changed, and she turned, trying to walk away. I reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her.
“Wait,” I said pleadingly. “Please Penny, just let me talk to you. Do you think Gabby would have sent you here if she thought what I had to say wasn’t important? She trusted me enough to have you come here.”
“Just more lies,” she said, shaking her head. “Go ahead, talk. You have five minutes.”
“I’m sorry, Penny,” I said. “I should have told you what your father did as soon as I realized who he was. But I got scared. I didn’t want to hurt you, especially right after that guy Troy had hurt you, and I definitely didn’t want me to be the cause of your pain.”
“You don’t care about me,” she scoffed. “You didn’t want your company to be associated with anything to do with my father and his shady dealings.”
“That’s not true,” I said, stepping forward.
“I don’t even know why I am standing here,” she said, throwing up her arms and starting to walk away.
“Penny,” I yelled, causing her to stop with her back to me. “Don’t you get it? Don’t you see it at all? I love you.”
She whirled around and stared at me. I watched as her angry expression began to ease and the realization of what I said began to take over. Her shoulders relaxed a bit and she walked over, sitting down on the wall and staring down at the ground. It was the first time I had actually used the words “I love you” with Penny, and I could tell it had an effect on her. I let her sit there and take it in. I wanted her to fully realize how strong my feelings for her were. She was extremely important to me and she needed to know that. Maybe if she understood, she would know that I would never do anything to put her in danger or hurt her.
It wasn’t just a set of words that I spouted out to get her attention, I really did love her, in a way that I had never felt before. She had become everything important in my life, and my mind was completely twisted around at the prospect of losing her. She took in a deep breath and looked up at me.
“Do you mean that?”
“With everything in my, my body, my heart, and my soul,” I said.
She stood up and let out a deep breath, putting her hands in her pockets and walking forward, waiting for me to join her. She finally was calm enough to talk to about all of this, and that was exactly what we did. She asked a lot of questions, some I had answers for and others only her father could answer. I told her the truth about everything, even though it may have made me look bad since before her I was completely career-obsessed and didn’t give a shit about anyone else. Still, that didn’t change the fact that this woman changed my life. We walked and talked all the way back to the Avalon.
When we were back inside, we stood in the lobby, looking at each other. I wanted to kiss her, but I didn’t know how she was feeling. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and make everything better, but that was difficult when I was part of the problem.
“Come upstairs with me,” I said. “We can spend some time together and make all of this up.”
“I don’t know if I want to,” she sighed. “I don’t know if I should.”
“Do you love me?” I had enough, and I just came right out and asked the question. “It’s a simple question, Penny. Do you love me?”
She paused for a moment, her eyes scanning wildly around the room. She wrung her hands together in front of her as if she was going to burst with anxiety. Then, she turned and looked me straight in the eye.
“Yes, okay? I love you,” she said. “That’s why this hurt me so badly.”
“Penny,” I said, trying to hold back the excitement I was feeling. “I need you to listen to me, really listen. I only did what I did to protect your relationship with your father. I love you too much to see your relationship with your dad turn out like mine. I see now that was wrong, but my intentions were good.”
She stood there for a second thinking about the words. Slowly she lifted her chin, her face changing in front of me. The sparkle reemerged in her eyes and her brow relaxed. I looked back and forth into her eyes until finally, she took in a deep breath. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned in, kissing me on the lips. At first, I was frozen, but then, feeling that she had accepted the truth in what I had said, I wrapped my arms around her and leaned into the kiss.