Melissa’s eyes were on the menu, but her mind was anywhere but there. She noticed that the menu she held was jittering and looked at her hands. They were trembling like she was suffering from a stroke attack. Just how nervous was she?
Curious, Melissa peered over the menu and got a view of the man sitting in front of her. Gabriel Marshall. He was focused on the menu in his hand and didn’t pay much attention to her. She had been so focused on his face that she didn’t notice the Rolex latched onto his wrist. It had diamonds on it and sparkled under the light. Just from looking at the watch on his wrist, Melissa could tell how expensive it was.
Her anxiety was slowly intensifying. The reality began to dawn on her slowly. She wasn’t just sitting with a normal person. The man in front of her was wealthy, and her Instincts were screaming it. Melissa began to curse internally. Tory had given her little to no background information on Gabriel Marshall. Her grip on the menu tightened as she thought of how she was going to give Tory an earful tomorrow.
The short waiter was back at their table again, flashing a bright professional smile at them.
“Have you decided on your order Mr Marshall?” she piped.
Melissa suddenly felt invisible. The waitress had clearly seen her sitting her, with her menu and was only paying attention to Gabriel Marshall. Well, that was to be expected of course. The man sitting in front of her radiated with charisma, it’s no wonder the waitress paid no attention to her. He was a star, shining brightly and all Melissa could do was cower in the shadow of his light.
“I'll have the salade peringoudine.” Gabriel replied the waitress.
She smiled and turned to Melissa.
“And you ma’am?”
Melissa looked down at the menu again unsure of the cuisines written on it.
“Uh, I’ll go for the salade de chévre Chad.”
The waitress nodded and took their menus.
“How about wine sir?” she suggested.
“Give me your best.”
The waitress nodded again and hurried away from their table. Now that the menu wasn’t there to seperate their faces, Melissa was finally feeling tension from just sitting across him. She turned to the transparent, glass window at her side and viewed the city. It was picturesque, something you could paint on a canvas. The bright lights from passing cars, skyscrapers and street lights, illuminated the dark, busy city. It was beautiful indeed, but Melissa didn’t have the leisure of enjoying the view. She was tense and feeling uneasy by the uncomfortable silence that had settled between them.
Melissa exhaled and summoned up courage as she turned to him. His eyes were still fixed on his phone intently. It was all Melissa had seen him do since she came, stare at his phone. Had he even taken a look at her? Even a glance? This couldn’t go on, she needed to say something, and quick.
“Um, I’m glad you accepted my invitation for this blind date.” Melissa said, almost quietly.
“How many minutes has it been?”
Melissa blinked at him.
“What?”
“I really hate repeating myself.”
The cold, uncaring feeling his voice gave made Melissa grimaced inwardly.
“Are you asking me for the time? If you are then it’s a couple of minutes past 9p-“
“I’m asking how long it has been since you’ve been here” Gabriel said, finally looking up at her.
Melissa flinched at his heatless, unnerving gaze. His eyes, void of emotions seemed to stare at her. Not just her per say, but her entire being. He seemed to be sizing her up and that made Melissa feel awkward and self conscious.
“It’s b-been ten minutes since I arrived.” Melissa couldn’t believe she was stuttering.
“Looks like I’ve given you too much time.”
What the hell was this man going on about? She couldn’t quite read his demeanor and his face was empty, without any single expression.
“You have five more minutes to impress me.”
Melissa felt like she had been blown in the gut. She couldn’t believe the words that he was uttering from his mouth. Was this some kind of talent show and she was a contestant, being judged by him? Yes, that was exactly what Melissa could see, his eyes judging her.
“I fail to comprehend what you mean.” Melissa replied.
Gabriel tapped his finger on the table surface and clicked his tongue.
“Do I also have to do some explaining to you?”
The waitress came back with their meals and set it in front of them. Melissa stared at her food blankly. Her appetite had flown out of the window. She looked back at Gabriel, her expression firmer.
“As a matter of fact, yes you need to do some explaining.”
Gabriel placed his phone down and sighed. Melissa could hear the frustration in it.
“It seems you want me to point it out for you. Firstly, you’re not of high caliber, those curls are distasteful. Taking one look at you, it’s not very hard to see where you stand in the social hierarchy.”
Melissa felt her cheeks Burning. She not only felt a blow to her stomach, but the fists were being thrown at her from different directions. But Gabriel didn’t stop there, he continued.
“And you’re not worth my time. So I’m giving you a chance to prove to me that you’re worth my time. You should be grateful.”
Fury, rage, anger. The emotions flaring up within Melissa was overwhelming her. This man, Gabriel Marshall had just undermined her, and to her face. That was when Melissa finally got a read on his face. Pride. The way he carried himself so superciliously. His haughtiness made Melissa burn with more fury. She slammed her hand on the table unable to control her anger.
“If I remember clearly, this is a date, not a beauty pageant. I’m not here to impress you. We’re both supposed to get to know each other very well. Isn’t that the sole point?”
Gabriel chuckled mockingly and folded his arms.
“And who exactly gave you the right? I decide whether or not you can get to know me. Now are you going to impress me, or do I need to leave?”
A slap. An ear piercing, pain throbbing slap. Yes, that was the perfect way to describe the words that Gabriel Marshall had been throwing at Melissa. His words felt like arrows and he kept shooting them at her without stopping, without remorse, yes, Melissa was convinced that the man, sitting in front of her, looking down on her, didn’t have a shred of remorse in his conscience.She clenched her hand into a fist, it was the only way Melissa could control her burning rage. Just who was this man? Why was he acting so sniffy in front of her? Was he some kind of celebrity?Melissa exhaled harshly, trying to quell her rage as she spoke.“And who are you, to say all these things to me, right to my face?” she entreated, Her ire was heard in the way she spoke, despite trying to calm herself.Gabriel rested his back on the chair and crossed his legs, his hands folded on his thigh like he was sitting in a meeting room. A small smirk seemed to appear on his lips, it was the closest emotion Melis
"So, you wanted to talk to me? It sounded urgent, and you also sounded...angry?”Melissa just stared at Tory as she sipped from her cup of lemonade. She wasn’t particularly mad, well she was but it had subsided compared to how much she was seething with rage yesterday. All she wanted was answers from her. She didn’t want to bombard Tory with a lot of questions on the phone and thought it’ll be better to talk it out in person.“Mm, it’s not like I’m angry, well, not anymore.” Melissa finally said.Tory winced and groaned.“Let me guess, The date didn’t go well?”“The date not going well is an understatement, a really huge one.”Tory gaped at Melissa, her face full of curiosity and a slight hint of worry.“What happened? Please tell me it wasn’t that bad.”Melissa sighed and placed her cup of lemonade on the table as she tried not to relive the memories of last night’s date, but she had to, Tory needed to know what she had set her up with.“First off, Who is that man... Gabriel Marshall
Melissa looked at herself in the mirror again. A date. She had replayed the words over in her head a thousand times, so much that she lost count. Was she really going on a date again? After her last fail? She couldn’t believe she was doing this.Sighing, Melissa looked at the clothes she had on. It was nothing as extravagant as the dress she had worn for her first blind date. She wore a simple pastel blue shirt with a scoop neck and wore a cargo pants. Her hair was tight up in a tight, neat bun, with a few stands hanging out.Melissa hadn’t put to much effort into this date, because it was just Mark, her co-worker. It was strange to her that he’d come all the way to her work place and ask her out on a date. Melissa was about to refuse his request, but quickly remembered that she had promised to treat him to a meal.She grimaced, cursing herself for making promises she has no plans of fulfilling. ‘its just a casual outing with a coworker. It can’t be that bad. It’s going to be fine.’ M
Melissa moved back a little as the men approached her. The man with black long hair stood in front of three men. He was smirking at her, a smirk that felt like mockery to Melissa. He moved closer to her, while the other men stood in the same spot.“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Mel.”Melissa grimaced and moved back again until she felt her back, touching the door.“What do you want?” Melissa asked, trying as much as possible not to let her anxiety slip through her voice.“What a very stupid question to ask me don’t you think? The man said in a harsh tone.The small fox shaped pendant dangled from his chain as he bent over to look at her in the eye.“Your payment for this month is due, isn’t Mel?”Melissa felt her body tremble and small beads of sweat form at the top of her head as he stared at her dead in the eye. The man from a company she had burrowed money from, the loan shark that demanded money from her each month.Jack Torez, a tall attractive man in his thirties and the owner o
Melissa wiped her eyes, which were now red and puffy as she picked herself up from the ground. She walked into the kitchen tiredly and saw that her sticky note was still in place, untouched.She opened the pot and the meatloaf stew was still intact. Melissa sighed and looked up at the wall clock ticking away. A couple of minutes after 9pm and Brandon wasn’t home. Melissa was drained mentally and she didn’t want to worry about Brandon. He usually got back home 5pm, well that was what he told her since she wasn’t at home all the time.Was he having extra lessons? Melissa shook her head. There was no way extra lessons would close this late. Maybe he was the Library? Yeah, that was plausible enough since he preparing for his final exams. Or he was at a friend’s house? Melissa didn’t know if Brandon had friends or not, he never talks to her or tells her anything.Melissa was getting anxious as the seconds passed. She contemplated going out to look for him, but she didn’t even know where to
The staff room was a small space with a few cabinets. It led into a break room that had a long rectangular table and a few chairs surrounding it. Melissa made her way past the staff room and the break room, until she was in front of an oak tree door. The word “boss” was written boldly on at the top of the door. Melissa knocked on the door lightly and listen for a response.“The door’s open.” A low voice said from behind the door.Melissa took that as a go ahead and swung the door open slowly. In the small cramped up office, filled with piles and piles of papers stacked up on each side of the large mahogany desk that was basically taking up all the space in the office, Melissa wriggled in. In the midst of the messy office, a fortyish looking man sat in a chair behind the desk, a cigarette in his mouth and his nose buried deep in some paperwork Melissa couldn’t understand.“You called for me boss?”The man finally looked up at her and scratched his short black hair that had a few grey s
Gabriel Marshall flipped through the pages of the document in front of him and let out a frustrated sigh. Ever since his little “dinner” with his mom, Gabriel had found it hard to focus at work. Her words kept resounding in his head, playing like a broken record, over and over again.It made him mad, infuriated that his mother was the one who was deciding his marriage for him. Gabriel had never been close to his mother, even his father, and the feeling was mutual for each of them. They were a family, who were only together for the sake of the company, no love and no bond attached them together.Gabriel didn’t have a choice but to accept the marriage his mother had arranged for him, without consulting him first. If it was for the company, Gabriel would do anything and marrying someone he barely knew and had no feelings for was a small sacrifice.Gabriel sighed and placed his pen down on the table. No matter how much he tried to read the words written on the document, it all came out ju
“You want me to increase your working hours?” The woman questioned Melissa, as she cocked her eyebrow at her, strangely.Melissa nodded slowly, her eyes pleading as she judged the woman’s expression. The woman that stood in front of her was Regina Martinez, her boss at the day care. A short plump woman in her fifties, but her face looked quite young. Her short, blonde hair was tied up in bun and she cradled a baby in her arms.Regina hushed the baby, while her face showed that she was deep in thought, pondering over Melissa’s proposal. She looked up at Melissa and let out a regretful sigh.“I’m sorry Melissa, but I can’t increase the amount of hours you work. More hours mean more pay and I can’t pay you more than I already am.”Melissa felt disappointed, but a part of her expected this type of reply. She knew that asking for more working hours was a huge risk and her request wouldn’t be accepted, but she did either way, having a small ray of hope that it’ll be granted.Regina looked d