Chapter 7: Mel's Boyfriend

• -=Gabby's Point of View=-
• "Hey, Gabby!" I was shocked when Regina, who happened to be my best friend and my workmate in the bank I was working at, tapped me on the shoulder.
• "What the hell, Reg? Don't startle me!" I hissed at her.
• "You asked me to accompany you, and yet you're spacing out. Hello... I'm right here," she said, looking at me incredulously while taking a sip from her iced coffee.
• We're here in a coffee shop near a mall where my house is, I would be returning to work next month since I filed a leave until Saturday, and since tomorrow is Sunday, we don't have work during that day, so instead of staying at home, I decided to call Regina to meet me here.
• When I got back home, Mel and her boyfriend had been long gone, and when I tried to ask Mel to come back, she said she would just return some other day.
• "How is he?" I thought to myself, but was shocked when I heard Regina's next work.
• "Who's he?" She asked as if she could hear what was on my mind, just like Professor X in X-Men.
• "Are you a mind reader?" I asked in confusion.
• "You're hopeless, Gabby, I just heard it from your mouth; next time, make sure that you're just keeping it in your mind, and not saying it without realizing it."
• Honestly, I don't know why it's difficult for me to forget about Jayden. I tried to erase him from my mind, but without any result.
• I'm just thinking, that maybe I felt guilty after what I did to him, I mean, I did lose him a billion-dollar account, and there was nothing I could do to bring it back, unless I was willing to pay for it, which is impossible even if I decided to work for the rest of my life, and give him my full salary.
• I thought of personally saying sorry to him, but I always chickened out, thinking about the horrible things that he would do to me, once he saw me again.
• It was fortunate that I didn't tell him my real name, or else it would've been easy for him to find me.
• I was scared out of my wits when I suddenly heard a police siren in the distance and felt my knees weaken when it parked not far from where we are.
• We were seated on the al fresco side of the store, so I saw how the two policemen got out of their vehicle and walked to where Regina and I.
• "This is it; I needed to pay for my crime," I thought to myself, and when the policemen got near, I couldn't stop myself from closing my eyes as I waited for the inevitable of messing with a powerful person.
• I waited for probably two minutes when I suddenly a hand grabbed my shoulder.
• "I'm really sorry officers, I admit I was wrong, but I did it just because I cared about my sister, Mel," I hurriedly explain without even opening my eyes.
• "Gabby!" I was startled when Regina suddenly yelled near my left ear, making my ear ring, so I opened my eyes and saw her worried look, and when I tried to look for the two offices, I found them inside ordering a cup of coffee.
• I felt so weak because of the relief I felt when I realized my stupidity, and all along I thought they were here to arrest me, only to find out they were just going to order coffee.
• "Gabrielle Crisostomo, what kind of blunder did you make this time?" She asked while her perfect eyebrow was raised.
• "I kidnapped someone," I answered in a weak voice.
• "My goodness, Gabby! What were you thinking? Don't you know you could go to jail!" She said it with worry in her voice.
• "I know that! Which is why I couldn't sleep properly just by thinking about it, all I knew was that I wanted to help Mel, and thinking that he was Mel's boyfriend, I decided to abduct him," I continued.
• "What do you mean? You thought he was Mel's boyfriend, don't tell me you kidnapped the wrong person?" She asked, shocked.
• I felt ashamed and stupid when I thought about the mistake I made, and feeling embarrassed, I just nodded my head in response.
• "Who did you kidnap?" She asked, trying to remain calm.
• "I kidnapped Jayden Andrada," I answered in a weaker voice, and as expected her eyes widened as she looked at me in disbelief.
• She looked shocked, scared, and other emotions I couldn't put into words, but before I could say anything, she hit me in the head.
• "What the hell!" I screeched at her while I massaged the part of my head that got hit.
• "That serves you right. I mean, what were you thinking? It was bad enough that you decided to kidnap your sister's boyfriend, but you had to kidnap the wrong person, a person you should never mess with."
• I lowered my head in shame at hearing her words.
• "You're supposed to be the smart one among us two, while I am the most beautiful," she said, which immediately made me lift my head to look at her, and I could see that she was trying to humor the situation, which I really appreciated.
• I mean, I know I messed up, but that will not help me to lighten the weight I was feeling, so I shouldn't try to think about it.
• "Really... you're the pretty one?" I asked, couldn't stop myself from laughing.
• "Of course! Since you're already the smart one, then I'm the pretty one," she said, finally laughing with me.
• After our coffee bonding, we decided to watch a movie, hoping that it would help me to forget just for a little while the dilemma I was facing, but it didn't help because the movie that we were watching was about a woman who committed a crime by accident, reminding me of my situation.
• We decided to go home after the movie ended.
• "Goodbye, Reg. See you on Monday," I said.
• I couldn't help but feel sorry, thinking of what awaited her once she returned home.
• She's been the oldest and the breadwinner of her family ever since their mother left them when she was just sixteen years old.
• She managed to study and work at the same time; we were classmates during college and we became best friends, so I saw the struggle she had to go through, and I tried to help as much as possible.
• I didn't stay long in the mall and decided to go home, luckily it was just a ride away from where I live, so after fifteen minutes I arrived home, but when I got inside I was greeted by a smiling Mel.
• I felt so much relief upon seeing Mel; I was really worried sick when she disappeared.
• "How could you leave like that, knowing how worried and sick I was that something bad had happened to you?"
• "I'm sorry for making you worried, I needed to leave for myself," she said.
• We stayed in that position for at least three minutes before she finally let me go.
• "By the way, Gabby, I want you to meet Aidan," she said, smiling, but she was shocked by my next action.
• I walked to where Aidan was standing, and before anyone could react, my hand suddenly flew from his face, giving him a hard slap in the face.
• "Gabby!" I heard Mel say, while Aidan looked so shocked while holding the side of his face that I slapped.
• "It is your fault that I'm in a complete mess!" I reprimanded him.
• "I'm... sorry," he answered, looking, even more confused and clueless.
• "What's wrong with you, Gabby? What did he do to you?!" Mel asked angrily while caressing Aida's face.
• "Because of him... I became a criminal!" I finally exclaimed.
• They looked so shocked after hearing what I said, and for some reason I noticed them distancing themselves from me as if they were expecting me to stab them.
• "Who did you kill?" Mell asked, mortified.
• "I didn't kill anyone!" I answered.
• "Then, what do you mean when you said you became a criminal?" She asked.
• "I kidnapped Jayden Andrada!" I exclaimed, and it took probably a solid minute before it finally dawned on them.
• "Gabrielle Crisostomo! What were you thinking?!" She asked, looking horrified.
• "You kidnapped my cousin?" I was stunned when I heard Aida, and then I realized they have the same surname, meaning that they are relatives.
• "Is he really your cousin?" I asked, feeling a little hopeful, and when he nodded I felt even more hopeful.
• "Maybe you can help me talk to your cousin, I mean, I kidnapped him thinking that he was Mel's boyfriend, I didn't really understand Mel when she came home drunk, and she was slurring so much, so I mistook the name she muttered for Jayden Andrada," I explained.
• "I'm really sorry, Gabby, as much as I wanted to help you, but you see... we were distant relatives, and from what I heard from my close relatives, Jayden was not a forgiving person, which is why he disowned his own relatives after they did something terrible to him and his parents," he explained.
• I felt so hopeless after hearing his words. I knew there was nothing I could do, but face Jayden's wrath.
• "Are you OK, Gabby?" I heard Mel ask.
• "I want you to take care of yourself, Mel, and if I died, just cremate my body and throw my dust into the sea," I said in a melancholy voice.
• "Don't be optimistic; maybe he forgot about you already; I mean, he's a businessman, and surely he has a lot more important things in mind," she said, making me feel less worried, but it didn't help.
• I can tell that my time on Earth is running out.
• "I am so dead."