Chapter 14

“So, how do you find the movie?” Emily asked Gabriel as they strolled out of the cinema.

“The plot is kind of lame, but I guess I like the action,” Gabriel replied, loving the way Emily naturally leaned into him as they walked.

“And did you see the guy? He was so HOT!” Emily crinkled her nose playfully, “oh yeah, we’re meeting Grace at Delifrance, let’s hurry, I think she’s there already.”

Emily and Gabriel widened their gait and reached Delifrance in no time. Grace was already sitting at the corner table, and motioned to them to join her. Emily made a quick introduction, and then made Gabriel take their orders and queue for the food.

“Are you guys together or something?” Grace couldn’t help but ask. The way those two strolled in, locked at the arms, wasn’t something Emily usually did.

“No! Why would you think that?” Emily asked in a genuinely surprised way.

“You two seemed much too close to be just friends.”

“That’s because we ARE closer than friends. Gab’s almost like the brother I never had!” Emily beamed.

“I see,” Grace said simply, looking between Emily and Gabriel, as if trying to put together the missing pieces.

“Yup! He’s a really great guy. Reliable, and extremely loyal to friends, and he takes good care of me. He’s really funny sometimes too, and his cat is the cutest feline I’ve ever seen.”

“He has a cat?!”

“Yeah! A real darling, that one. It’s a uniform silvery grey, with white chest and paws. Really elegant, especially when it sits with its forepaws placed dignified in front of its belly. You should go see it someday.”

“See what?” Gabriel interrupted as he gently served their lunch and sat down to join them.

“Emily says you have a beautiful cat,” Grace said, the excited gleam in her eyes betrayed the usual coolness she employs in front of guys.

“Yeah I do, its name is Weiwei,” Gabriel said with an obvious love and pride for his pet, “it is really intelligent. It could crack peanuts on its own. And its silvery coat has a really pretty shine to it. The pure white of its belly makes it look really innocent and adorable.”

“Wow,” Grace breathed.

“Yeah! You should go see it for yourself!” Emily piped in, “You’ll love it so much, I just know it.”

“Go see it?” Grace was taken aback. How could she see it, unless…..

“You two can come over to my place later if you like,” Gabriel offered, “I’m sure Weiwei wouldn’t mind the company.”

“Yeah right,” Emily pouted, “that cat just hates me.”

Gabriel laughed apologetically, “Maybe it’s partial against popular people. It doesn’t like Andrew very much either. So how ‘bout it Grace? Want to see it?”

Grace looked to Emily for reinforcement, and the profuse nodding of her head made Grace smile meekly at Gabriel and nodded in agreement.

“Perfect!” Gabriel exclaimed after looking at the smiling Grace a little longer than necessary. He has never seen Grace smile before and boy should she smile more. It softened her features and gave her the most innocent girl-next-door feel that would appeal to any emotionally-unattached guy in the vicinity. Unfortunately, he wasn’t one of them.

Emily noticed the lingering look Gabriel had on Grace, and felt her heart stop for a moment.

“Gab, have you thought about what gift I should get for Kevin?” she said, trying to break them out of the inexplicable impasse, “and let’s get going before it rains.” Emily said as she stood up, schooling her face into her usual amiable expression. She decided that sensitivity didn’t suit her.

“Rain? How would you know? Don’t tell me you could look through ceilings now.” Grace raised an eyebrow.

Emily looked up and scolded herself for being such an idiot, “I, err, knew it from the weather forecast.”

Grace nodded weakly, and allowed Gabriel to lead them towards the bus stop, not wanting to question Emily further.

When did Emily ever watch the news?

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