Chapter 3 - Dinner

River POV

I finished class and as I am walking to the subway I bump into Jonah.

“Hey” - I say half hugging him

“Just the girl I was looking for” - he says

“What’s up?” - I ask him as we both walk together.

“Isn’t this the guy from the club?” - he asks showing me his phone.

“Yeah” - I say grabbing it from him and scrolling to see what it says about him.

I read the article and it’s basically nonsense. It’s just saying he is still single and available. Although he took this supermodel to the premiere of some movie.

Is he famous or something? When I see his name my mouth goes dry.

Gabriel Lockwood. I’m finally placing a face to the name. He’s never seen in magazines. He is a really private person apparently. Usually, we only see stuff about his siblings or his parents. Nothing really about him. He is always in the shadows.

“River?” - I hear Jonah say and I look up at him giving him his phone back.

“Sorry, I zoned out” - I say

“I noticed” - he says with a smile on his face - “daydreaming about Prince Charming?” - he asks

“He’s more like a frog than a Prince Charming” - I reply.

Who am I trying to kid? The guy is a Greek god. He has an unbelievable body and the most beautiful green eyes. Out of my league anyway and he is a player. I can’t deal with that right now.

We go home and as we are at the door Alicia opens it.

“You are never going to believe this” - she says pulling me inside.

“What the hell Alicia” - I say pulling my arm back. Jonah closes the door behind us and I see a bouquet of flowers

I walk to the table and I grab the small envelope. I rip it open and I read the card.

“I am sorry for how I treated you at the club.

Love Gabriel”

“Who is it from?” - Alicia asks and I cover the card against my skin.

“No-one” - I say grabbing the flowers and putting them on a vase.

“Come on River” - Alicia says

“I’m kind of curious as well” - Jonah says

“Guys, can you please get off of my case?” - I ask them walking into my bedroom and locking the door behind me.

How did he find my name and my address? Why is he even sending me flowers?

Argh. I hate men like that. That assumes that they can just send some flowers and they are automatically forgiven. Not happening.

I sit on my bed grabbing all of my books out and I start studying. I have finals next week and I haven’t been able to sit and study properly because of work.

Today is my day off and I wasn’t needed for an extra shift so I have to focus.

About one hour later I hear a knock on the door and Alicia walks in.

“Hey, brought you some food” - she says placing a tray at the end of my bed.

“Thanks” - I replied smiling at her.

Alicia sits on the chair in the corner of the bedroom.

“Look River, I am sorry for being nosey, you know it’s all from a good place” - she says

“I know, I just don’t want to talk about it, and I really need to study” - I say

“You’re not going to tell who’s it is from?” - she asks pouting a little.

“From a guy in my class, happy?” - I say looking down at my books again.

“Okay, you really don’t want to talk about it, but can you please eat something?” - she says and I nod my head grabbing a bit of lettuce and putting it on my mouth.

Alicia leaves my bedroom closing the door behind her and I take a deep breath.

Sometimes I think it would be better for me to move out.

I share an apartment in the Bronx with Jonah, Alicia and Pedro. It’s seemed like a better option at the time. We were all struggling financially. Well, I am still struggling. I can’t even afford health care if it wasn’t for my job to actually pay for it.

We live in a three-bedroom apartment. The boys share a bedroom while I and Alicia have our own space each. They thought it would be better this way and we were both really thankful.

**** One week Later ****

I finished my last final and as I walk out of NYU I take a deep breath. It’s summer break finally and I can relax and work as much as I can to get some money so I can move out of the shared apartment.

I don’t want to sound inconsiderate but I would really appreciate some space. They are always on my case. Especially after the flowers.

I haven’t seen Gabriel since the club. But I have a feeling that I will be seeing him soon enough.

I walk into Starbucks to get some coffee and after I get my iced white mocha with caramel drizzle I walk out and I decide to walk to work.

It’s early and I have plenty of time to walk the six blocks to work.

I look around and I see so many tourists walking around and taking photos is everything and that’s when I realise I e never been a tourist in New York. I would like to do touristy things one day.

As I reach the back door of the hotel for the staff I see Alicia outside smoking.

I reach for her cigarette and I put it in my mouth. She grins at me and lights up another one for her. I’m not really a smoker I just enjoy it sometimes.

Once we finished it we spray our clothes with some perfume I carry with me and we go inside. We both clock in and get changed into our uniforms.

I put my hair up into a ponytail and I apply dark red lipstick and some mascara.

Once I’m ready we walk out and the manager stops us.

“Girls” - she says

“Hi Sophie” - Alicia says

“I need you both at the VIP room upstairs today, we have a family dinner party of six adults and one toddler” - she says

We both look at each other and we shrug our shoulders.

“River you will be serving and Alicia you will be at the bar, whenever you are not busy at the bar you go help River” - she says and we both nod going towards the elevator to get the room ready

“Who do you think it is?” - I whisper

“The owner and his family? Usually, they are the only ones that use the VIP room” - She tells me and I turn my head to look at her.

“The owner? As in Michael Lockwood?” - I ask

“Yeah, I’ve served them before, they are not fussy and they tip really well, last time I got two hundred” - she says and I nod my head.

Two hundred would be half of what I have to pay rent for next month. That would be absolutely great.

We walk into the big room and we get to work. We get one of the big round tables set in the middle of the room. As I am setting everything at the table Alicia is getting the bat ready and sticking up. Once I finish I help her out.

We finish and we just chat behind the bar when the double doors open and I see him.

Gabriel Lockwood.

Gabriel POV

“Dad” - I say shaking his hand once I walk into the house - “Happy birthday”

“Thank you son” - he says

“Are you all ready?” - I ask him

“Your mother is taking forever to get ready” - he says while he looks at the stairs.

I chuckle at what he says. The truth is that she never takes too long and she always looks amazing.

Mom walks down the stairs and I can see dads eyes shining.

“Hello son” - mom says hugging me and giving me a small kiss on the cheek. Although she is not my biological mother she raised me as her own never making any distinctions between the three of us.

I open the house door and we all walk to the limo waiting for us.

Mom is the first one to get in and then dad and I’m the last ones.

The drive didn’t take long and when we arrive at the hotel we see the paparazzi already waiting for us.

I really hate them. I take a deep breath and I open the door walking out of the car.

I can see all the flashes from the photos and people shouting dads name asking questions.

Mom and dad wave slightly at them but I just put my sunglasses on and ignore them.

I’m not very keen on the press. They are annoying always on the way and they make my job a lot harder. Good thing I control most of the press anyway. Nothing about my business is ever printed. If they want my protection they have to protect me.

Once inside the hotel, I take my sunglasses off and I hug Amelia.

I half-hug Mike.

“Hey sis, where’s my niece?” - I ask

“She’s with Ethan, she wanted to walk” - she says

“Gonna go look for them” - I say walking away from Amelia and Mike that is now talking to our parents.

I walk through reception and I find Ethan sitting on the floor with little Leah. Once she sees me she smiles and runs to me.

“Hey princess” - I say holding her up in the air.

“Gabe, Gabe” - she says.

She hugs me and I hug her back.

“Are you a hungry princess?” - I ask her and she nods her head.

“Hey mate, how have you been?” - Ethan asks shaking my hand

“I’m good, and all of you?” - I ask back

We make small talk as we walk back to where I left them all. Once we get there we are informed that our room is ready.

We all walk into the elevator and we go up to the VIP room.

Once the doors opened I am greeted by River. Her eyes looking at me. I smile when I see her and we walk to the table.

I take my seat and Leah starts protesting that she’s not sitting next to me.

Amelia moves her high chair to the seat next to me so she was standing between me and her. Mike sat next to me and we all started chatting.

River approaches the table and smiles at us avoiding eye contact with me.

“Hello, my name is River and I will be your waitress tonight, can I get you something to drink?” - she asks and dad starts ordering wine for the table and water bottles. Once he finishes she looks at me but with the same speed, she looks away.

I am facing the bar so I can see her talking with her friend from the club the other night. Alicia is her name. Yea I pulled a file on River. I know everything I need to know about her already.

River and Alicia walk to the table carrying the drinks. River starts pouring some red wine on all the glasses and when she gets to mine I touch slightly her leg and she starts pouring wine on top of me.

I push the chair back standing up and tapping the cloth napkin on my clothes.

“I’m so sorry sir, I’m so clumsy, I really apologise, please let me pay for the dry cleaning” - she says not sounding convincing.

I know she did it on purpose because of me touching her. I just wanted to feel her skin again but she poured half a bottle of wine on my pants.

River walks to the bar to grab another bottle while Amelia laughs at my situation.

“I’ll have her fired” - Mike says

“No, don’t, it was just an accident” - I say

“She spilt half a bottle on you” - he fights back.

“Bro, let it go. It was an accident” - I say walking away to the bathroom.