Chapter 4 – Who gave you the right to stop her from seeing me?

Earlier

“Don’t come to me crying again, Doreen, I don’t have time for this,” Gabriel sneered at his sister.

“You are not being fair, Gabby. I begged you for a solution and all you do is push me away.”

Doreen was pathetic. She was in love with her boss who gave her no attention and countless times, she had come crying on his shoulders.

Her friendship with Maeve ended before they graduated from college because she made it hard for Dylan to penetrate through Maeve.

For that reason, Dylan planned with Sandra and while he went to confront Doreen, his posture sent the wrong message which Sandra captured on camera and showed to Maeve.

She explained that Doreen had eyes on Dylan and had even asked him out. The picture spoke volumes so Maeve believed it and after confronting Doreen, their friendship ended and she began giving Gabriel the cold shoulders too.

“I already gave you a solution.”

Gabriel was annoyed to visit this topic again. He was tired of it and he hated women throwing themselves on men. Something his sister was doing. For him, women were special and deserved to be treated better.

“Haha, to quit my job and work for you? How will I see him every day?” Doreen’s tone was bitter when she asked. Gabriel was typing on his laptop whilst speaking to her.

“Doreen, I will say this for the last time. Ninety percent of men like to do the chasing. It's just our nature. With people like us, any woman who keeps trying to get our attention does not gain our attention because all we would do is lean back and allow you to do all the work, which in the end would be fruitless.”

Doreen replied stubbornly, “I don’t mind doing all the work but he is still not interested. How do I capture his attention?”

“Doreen, he was never interested in you from the start,” Gabriel pointed out. He was already frustrated with what she was doing and was helpless in his inability to stop her.

“So, you want me to give up?” Doreen was not happy with his suggestion and she was not ready to agree to it.

“No. I want you to test him. Stop looking at him like you are in love with him. Stop giving him attention and trying to get him to notice you. Try ignoring him,” Gabriel suggested. Doreen’s mood was not any better.

“And that will work?” She asked seriously. Gabriel shook his head but his eyes were glued to whatever he was doing on his laptop.

“Well, if he was enjoying what you were doing before, he would miss it and try to find out why stopped.”

“And if he does?” Doreen’s heart filled with hope at the suggestion before it died again with his next words,

“Then you quit the job, move out of your apartment and let him search for you.”

Gabriel’s phone beeped but it was his W******p which was also connected to his laptop. He clicked on the app on his laptop and saw it was Reginald Cambridge, Maeve’s father’s message, so he said to his sister,

“Excuse me.”

‘Maeve left the house an hour ago with Dylan. Has she arrived?’

Gabriel read the message and his gaze darkened a little. He quickly typed a response,

‘No Dad, maybe she only said it to make you happy, so you don’t pressurize her. You know how she hates being here.’

‘I’m sorry for what she did to you the last time but she seemed different this morning,’ Reginald typed a response but Gabriel doubted.

Reginald might be reading his daughter wrongly or Dylan might be using her to get the approval he urgently needed.

‘Well, she is not here but I will have to check her location and get back to you.’

Gabriel typed that, so the old man would not be worried for his daughter but since he promised, he had to do it.

‘I will be waiting,’ Reginald typed back.

Gabriel responded with a smile emoji before lifting his head and gazing at his miserable sister,

“Sorry Doreen but we have to continue this chat later. Won’t you be late for work? If you have lost interest because of him, please excuse me because I have important things to do.”

Doreen agreed that she was indeed running late for work so she stood up and said, “I will come and visit you over the weekend.”

Gabriel did not respond but heard the door shut while he was checking the cameras. He saw when Dylan dropped Maeve at the car park.

He also saw that she arrived at the reception. He waited for her to come in but saw her talking to his secretary, before Doreen. He was not interested in what they were saying to each other until Maeve’s back turned.

‘She is here. I will get back to you,’ he messaged Reginald via W******p, and without waiting for a response, he hurried out of the office, dismayed to see Maeve standing in front of the elevator.

When it opened and she was about to step in, he swallowed his reservations.

“Where are you going Maeve, I’ve been waiting for you,” he called out while standing at the entrance of his office.

He was surprised to see her smile at him when she turned around but the next moment, confusion shone in her eyes and she seemed to be in a daze. When she took a step, he realized that she lost her balance.

Maeve could not remember seeing that ring on his finger and her breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes were blurry but when she took a step, she did not feel her legs and felt her weight becoming lighter and lighter.

She did not want their first meeting after her second chance to be like his but she knew that after losing her balance, she was going to hit the floor due to the stilettos she wore.

She could not stop it and waited to feel the hard floor beneath her and face whatever shame that came with it but she was rather safely encased in strong arms.

The calmness of his cologne scent and the safety she never felt to have experienced from him throughout their knowing each other since childhood, made her shiver from memories of their past. Memories before Dylan showed up in her life.

It felt great and she wanted to stay there forever. When she opened her eyes and their gazes met, she vowed that she saw worry in his eyes but it soon turned to indifference and he quickly pulled away.

Maeve was saddened because even with his next question, she saw the hurt in his eyes. She also admitted to herself that he was even more attractive than she remembered him to be.

“What is wrong with you? Are you alright?”

Gabriel asked in a serious tone. There was no warmth and Maeve’s eyes dimmed when she glanced at the ring on his finger again. She saw it clearer now. It was a wedding ring.

“Yes, I’m fine. Dad sent me over,” her voice sounded dry, as her energy seemed to have been sucked by the realization that Gabriel got married but even after her three years of marriage to Dylan, he still confessed that he loved her and did not care if she loved him.

“And you were also leaving,” he stated, bringing her attention back to what happened earlier.

Gabriel walked back to the entrance of his office and Maeve followed him slowly. She looked at Samantha, before Doreen, whose gazes seemed to want to drain the life out of her but for some reason, she decided not to talk about it.

“Sorry, I was told that you had guests.”

Gabriel glanced at the two men seated and nodded at them. They came two hours earlier than the agreed time for which reason he ignored them. Gabriel had a lot on his plate for which reason he gave them that time.

If they decided to come earlier, then they had to wait for him to finish everything else he wanted to do.

“Please wait inside,” Gabriel said to Maeve and she obeyed. When the door shut, he turned to his sister and asked, “Why did you stop her from seeing me? This is business and you know who her father is to me.”

Doreen did not show any remorse. Her anger only increased when her brother caught Maeve so fast before she fell. Nobody even saw how he was able to get to her side so fast and she was not liking it.

“I know how much her father loves you but if his daughter would treat you like nothing, then it's better she does not see you again,” Doreen retorted coldly.

Gabriel’s expression was unreadable but his words surprised both Doreen and Samantha.

“If you allow this to repeat itself, I will ban you from coming to my office but you shall always be welcome to my house.”

“Gabby…” Doreen called out with dismay but he only retorted with indifference,

“You were already leaving.”

Heaving a sigh, Doreen stormed away. Samantha’s head hung low and she thought she was free. Gabriel’s tone was cold and his words were like snowstorms,

“And you, who gave you the right to stop her from seeing me?”