A Will To Change (Hope) (8 page)

He was taking forever in the bathroom. I needed to get in and brush my teeth if I was going to meet my mother on time so I squeezed into the tiny bathroom to grab my toothbrush while he was shaving. An annoying breath escaped his chest. I took my toothbrush and toothpaste, and headed to the kitchen sink. Even though it grossed me out a bit, it still beat being anywhere near him.

I wiped the toothpaste from my mouth just as he was coming from the bathroom. “Really Gabby? You couldn’t have waited two seconds? That’s disgusting, brushing your teeth in the kitchen sink.” 

I completely ignored him, cringing as I brushed against him to get into the bathroom. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “How long are you going to give me the silent treatment, Gabby? I said I was sorry. What more do you fuckin’ want from me? I mean, it’s been a whole month since we -.”

“Since we what?”  I finally broke my silence, unable to believe the words that were just about to escape his mouth. He stared at me blankly. “Since we what, Evan? Had sex? Do you
really
think that I ever want to have sex with you again?”

“Gabby, come on.”

As much as it killed me, I moved closer to him. “As far as I’m concerned, you and I are just roommates. And as soon as I can find a place of my own, I’m out of here. I want nothing to do with you anymore, Evan.”

“Three fuckin’ years! I wasted three fuckin’ years on you and this is what I get for it?!”

“Yeah. I guess it is. I don’t know what you were expecting. I’m just a piece of garbage that you lowered your standards for.” He creased his forehead in confusion. “Maybe you shouldn’t drink so much if you can’t remember the hurtful things that you say afterwards. It may get you into big trouble someday.”

He tilted his head back and rolled his eyes. “Gabby, come on! Don’t do this to us.”

“There isn’t any more
us,
Evan! There hasn’t been an
us
for well over a year now, ever since I’ve been living with your constant put downs. I’m done. I tried to stick it out and make it work for a while, but I just can’t anymore. Just give me some time to find a place and I will be out of here. In the meantime, feel free to bring whomever you want home. I don’t care if you fuck her right in the bed that we once shared. I’ll even cook ya dinner afterwards, if you’d like.”

His eyes narrowed. “You are such a fuckin’ bitch, you know that?”

“Maybe I am, but it still beats being someone’s emotional and physical punching bag.” He had fire in his eyes and I was a little nervous that I had pushed him too far. I looked at him one last time before going in to my bedroom to dress. I let out a sigh of relief when I heard my apartment door close, knowing that I had escaped what could have been a very huge battle. 

I waited patiently in front of the upscale 5
^th
Avenue restaurant that my mother had chosen for breakfast. We couldn’t just go out for bagels and coffee, or even just go to a regular diner. Instead, my mother had to choose one of the most expensive places around. I feigned a smile as her driver helped her out of her car. My mother had the best of everything. Her husband, Andre, was a big time Manhattan real estate broker, and my mother took advantage of every single perk that came along with that.

“Gabby! Sweetheart!” she said, wrapping her arms around me as she looked me over. “Oh, sweetie, we really need to take you on a shopping spree. That skirt does nothing for you.”

“Thanks, Mom! You look great, too!” I disguised my frustration with sarcasm.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that you look like you’re ready to hit the beach. You know you are the girlfriend of a very up-and-coming advertising executive, so you need to dress the part. Andre told me that Evan’s firm just landed another fortune five hundred company.”

“Oh, I really don’t know,” I said, not trying to hide my lack of enthusiasm. She gave me a questioning look. “You want to go in? You wouldn’t want this humidity to mess up your perfect hair, would you?”

“Oh, I don’t have to worry about that. I just got a keratin treatment. Best thing ever invented. You should try it,” she said, running her fingers through her perfect coiffure.

We were greeted by a well-dressed man who looked like he could have been a butler on some British T.V. show. “Good morning, ladies.”

“Good morning.” My mother smiled as he grabbed the menus and led us to a row of tables that were lined up against a booth bench seat. I took a seat in the booth and my mother sat in the chair across from me.

I looked around at the modern upscale décor and could only imagine what the price of a cheese omelet was here. That’s if they even
had
cheese omelets. Something told me this was one of those fancy places that had things I never even heard of or couldn’t pronounce. I opened up the menu and was pleased to see that there were some items listed that I recognized. My eyes rolled down further and I was happy to see a ham and cheese omelet…for a whopping twenty five dollars! I closed my menu right away, knowing exactly what I was going to order.

“The Lobster Benedict on an English muffin is to die for here!”

“Hmmm…sounds good, but I’m allergic to shellfish, remember?”

She looked at me as if she was surprised. Of course she didn’t remember. She didn’t know anything about me growing up. It was my dad who took care of me when I swelled up like a balloon after eating crabs while she was off doing God knows what with God knows who.

“So, what’s new, Gabby?” she asked after the waiter walked away from delivering our drinks and taking our order.

“Nothing much. Just working a lot.”

“Well, once you and Evan are married, you won’t have to work anymore. You will be set for life.”

I nearly choked on the sip of orange juice that I had just taken. “Mom, Evan and I are
not
getting married.”

“Well not right now, but -.”

“Not ever!” I clarified.

I watched as sheer panic washed over her face. “What are you talking about, Gabby? Are the two of you not together anymore?”

“No. We’re not. I’m just staying there until I can find a place of my own. I wanted to see if Andre knew of anything in my price range.”

My mother began to laugh hysterically. “Are you insane, Gabby? Why are you and Evan not together anymore?”

I decided to tell her the truth. Even though I knew that Evan’s family’s money would trump being pushed around by him. “Because, Mom, I’ve decided that I don’t want to be the person in his life that he takes his frustrations out on.”

She furrowed her brows. “What are you talking about?”

“Evan has gotten physical with me and I’m just not going to stand for it.”

“Physical how, Gabby? I mean, what you consider physical is probably just a tap on the shoulder to everyone else. You always were a drama queen, and your father just added to it by feeding into it. I can assure you that you will never find another guy with his good looks or money.”

I couldn’t believe that I was even subjecting myself to this. Any normal, caring mother would immediately be there for their daughter after hearing what I had just told her. But my mother was far from normal. All she saw was the dollar signs that her prospective son-in-law came along with. And the fact that she had to drag my father into it made it that much worse. I couldn’t even pretend to want to be there anymore. I stood up and threw my napkin on the table. “You know what? I knew this was a bad idea. God forbid you ever open that cold heart of yours and show some love. Goodbye, Mom.”

“Gabby Lynn Spencer! Get back here!”

When I was a little girl, I would stop dead in my tracks, knowing that I was in big trouble when she would call me by my full name. But I was no longer a child, and she was far from being a mother. I totally ignored her, counting the seconds until I reached the exit.

“Well, well, well! Look at you!”

My attention was quickly diverted to the familiar voice in my doorway and I had to do a double take at the girl behind it. There was no denying that it was Gabby. Her beautiful smile was all I needed to see, but she looked so different. Her long, dark hair wasn’t pulled back into a ponytail; instead, it was hanging loosely around her adorable tiny face. Her scrubs were replaced by a short black skirt and tank top. I looked her up and down and couldn’t stop my mind from thinking that she looked pretty hot!

“Gabby girl! I thought you were off today.”

“Well, I am, but I just had to come in and say goodbye to my favorite patient.”

Peterson cleared his throat, waiting for an introduction. “Oh, Gabby, this is Peterson, the whole reason that I spent the past month in this place.” 

“Hey, Gabby. Actually, it’s Brian,” he said as he extended his hand to her and looked her over like a tiger stalking his prey. I had to make it clear to him that Gabby was off limits and had to get whatever preconceived notion that he had right out of his head. She wasn't your typical “hit it and quit” girl. She was special.

“So, you're okay with the dressing change at home, right?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess.”

“Will! I want to hear that you are one hundred percent okay with it. Let me give you my number in case you need to call me with any questions.”

I took out my phone and programmed her number into it. ”Hey, I got an idea. Are you off tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, I'm off all weekend. Why?” 

“I'll take you out to lunch as a thank you for you coming over and helping me with my dressing change in the morning.” 

She ran her hand through hair and giggled. “Boy, you are awful presumptuous! I will gladly help you with your dressing change, but lunch is not necessary.” 

“I insist, or I won't let you help me.” 

“Oh, really?” She shook her head and smiled. 

I grabbed a piece of paper, wrote down my address, and handed it to her. “Oh, Brooklyn. I may have to tack on travel expenses. Is ten o'clock good for you?”

“Perfect.”

I knew that I was staring at her a little longer than I should have been, but I couldn't help myself. She was absolutely adorable. “Mr. Will!” I was broken from my fixation when Rochelle walked through the door. “You know you're not getting out of here without giving me a big ol’ hug and kiss.”

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. “Remember, anytime you're ready…” I whispered in her ear.

She laughed and lightly smacked me on the arm. “I sure am gonna miss you!” she smiled. “You are officially released.”

Those were the words I was waiting to hear for the past thirty-three days. Gabby's smile was a mile wide. If there was one thing that I was going to miss about this place, it was definitely her. I put my bag down for a second and bent down to give her a hug. “Thanks for everything, Gabby girl,” I said, inhaling the sweet smell of vanilla that was coming off of her.

“You are very welcome, but there's no need to thank me. It’s my job.” But I knew that she had gone above and beyond when it came to me. She helped me get through this whole ordeal without going completely insane.

“I don’t know why you were bitchin’ about being in this place. I wouldn’t mind having someone that looked like that Gabby chick taking care of me twenty-four/seven,” Peterson said as we stepped onto the elevator. I did my best to ignore him. “So what’s your plan of attack? Get her over to your place to help you with your bandage, then you’ll help her with everything else?” He raised his eyebrow and smirked.