The Guardian

"If I don't say this now, I will surely break
As I'm leaving the one I want to take
Forgive the urgency, but hurry up and wait
My heart has started to separate

Oh, oh, be my baby
I'll look after you.

('Look After You' / The Fray)

Gabriella was annoyed. She was coming towards the end of her third ten hour shift that week, and she was flat out exhausted. She glanced at the clock and saw it was seven thirty. Only an hour left, and she could close down shop. She knew Troy was waiting for her at home and it was the only thing on her mind. It had been a busy day at the café, and it had been only her and Ally covering the front for most of it, which meant Gabriella was doing most of the work. She wanted nothing else than to go home and relax in Troy's arms while they watched reruns on TV.

The thought brought a smile to her face.

She prepped the coffee urns to be cleaned, working harder than usual to get out. She knew if she wanted to get out by nine she needed to make up for Ally's lack of effort.

That plan was lost when she heard Ally shriek, and looked up to see what caused the action. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed Adam walking through the front door.

"Adam, baby!" Ally said dramatically. "You came to see me!"

Gabriella watched as Adam leaned down to kiss Ally, his eyes shifting to meet with Gabriella's as he did so. He pulled away and looked down at Ally. "Of course I did."

Ally beamed with excitement and led Adam over to the counter and grabbed him a cup of coffee. "Listen, sweetie. I have a few tables to take care of, but I'll be right back. Just ask Gabriella if you need anything okay?"

Ally gave him another quick kiss before heading off to the other end of the café, making Gabriella want to laugh. 'Wow,' she thought. 'What a great time to start and show some effort all right.'

Gabriella turned her back to Adam and turned her focus back to the coffee urns, hoping it would avoid any conversation.

"So, Gabriella," Adam said behind her. Well, there went that plan. "How've you been?"

'Okay,' Gabriella thought to herself. 'There are two ways to handle this. Ignore him, or let him know how happy you really are without him.'She made her decision and thought of Troy, a smile immediately coming to her face. She turned around and looked directly at Adam. "Really, really great."

Adam gave her a sickly sweet smile. "I'm glad to hear that. When does Troy Boy leave for LA again?"

The smile fell from Gabriella's face. "A little over four months."

"I see. Such a shame he'll be leaving you here all by yourself isn't it?" His voice was genuinely sweet, but the look on his face, or more so in his eyes, were borderline creepy.

Gabriella stared at him, thinking of how to respond, but the uneasiness in her stomach was making that impossible.

"Sweetie." Ally said as she walked back over to where they were standing and placing herself in Adam's lap. "Are you staying at my place tonight?"

Adam wrapped his arms around Ally's waist, his eyes flickering over to Gabriella's again. "I believe so. Unless you've changed your mind."

"Of course I haven't." She said and turned to look at Gabriella. "Isn't he the greatest?"

Gabriella could hardly help herself from laughing. "Ally, why don't you make it an early night?" She said kindly. "I think I've got it under control here."

Ally's eyes lit up. "You sure? Gabriella that would be great!"

Gabriella smiled genuinely. "Yeah, go for it. Have a great night you two."

With that, she turned on her heel and went to the back room. Maybe she would get out by nine after all.

Gabriella counted down the last till and closed it in the safe and glanced over at the clock. 9:08. 'Not bad,' she thought to herself. 'Not bad at all.'

She turned the lights off in the office, and walked around the kitchen to make sure that everything had been cleaned up. Zeke was a little over protective of his kitchen. Feeling satisfied, she turned off the lights to the kitchen and walked out into the café. She glanced around the room, her eyes catching on something dark sitting on the counter. Someone had left their wallet. She thought back to who had been sitting in that seat and she grimaced.

'Please no.'

She walked over to where the wallet was sitting, picked it up and flipped it open, looking directly at the ID. Adam Bell.

"Damn it." She put the wallet back on the table. He would have to come get it tomorrow, when Zeke was working.

She turned the lights off in the café, and walked out the front door, locking it behind her as she did so. Walking the hundred feet or so to her car, she quickly got in and started it up and drove home.

Later that evening, Gabriella sat in her bed reading as she waited for Troy to get out of the shower. She jumped when the phone rang, it's sound shrill in the silence.

"Hello?" She answered, her voice slightly out of breath from the surprise.

"Gabriella, it's Adam."

Gabriella inwardly groaned, but didn't say anything.

"I was just calling because I think I left my wallet at the café today."

Gabriella was skeptical. "Yeah, you did."

On the other end of the phone, Adam let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God. I had no idea where it was."

"Yep, it's there. So now you know." Gabriella said trying to keep the conversation short. "Have a good night."

"Wait Gabriella. Do you think you can meet me there tonight? I need it before I go to work tomorrow."

His words made Gabriella furious. "No, Adam. I can't. You can get it tomorrow before you go into work. I will let Zeke know you'll be stopping by."

"Gabriella you live a half a mile away from the place. You can't just meet me there? Please, I really need it. It has everything in there."

"No, Adam. It's late and I'm already in bed. You can get it tomorrow."

Adam paused a moment. "I'm stuck in meetings all morning. By the time Zeke even gets to work I'll be knee deep in contracts and blueprints."

"I'm sorry Adam. I don't know what to tell you."

He paused again, and Gabriella felt that maybe he was giving up. "I miss you Gabriella, I miss us talking. We had such great conversations."

Gabriella felt like hitting something. "Goodnight Adam."

She was about to hang up when he cut in. "Do you think you could at least get it for me, and I could stop by your place after I get out of work tomorrow? That would make things so much easier for me."

"Adam, no." Gabriella's voice was quivering with anger. "This has gone far enough. I have been bending over backwards trying to be nice. It's OVER, and I'm with Troy now. And I'm happy. Please leave me alone."

"Wait, Gabriella-"

Gabriella ended the conversation and put the phone back in its cradle next to her bed. She tried to pick up her book and read, but her hands were still shaking from the phone call, and she found it hard to concentrate.

"Hey you okay?" She heard Troy's voice ask, and looked up to see him standing in a pair of boxers, rubbing a towel against his wet hair. "It sounded like you yelling out here."

"Adam called. He left his wallet at the café tonight when he came in to see Ally, and he actually wanted me to meet him tonight so he could get it."

Troy crawled in bed with her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. Gabriella sighed, taking in a deep breath in of his shampoo and body wash and immediately felt calmed.

"And what did you say?"

"Hell no!" She said angrily causing Troy to laugh. "What?"

"You're kind of cute when you get all fired up like that." He said, a light chuckle coming out after.

"Oh really?" She asked and turned so that she was lying on her stomach and looking up at him.

"Really." Troy responded, his voice suddenly serious and thick. They continued to stare into each other's eyes for the next several minutes, Troy's hand rubbing circles on Gabriella's lower back every so often.

"I love you Troy." Gabriella said, finally breaking the silence.

"I know that." He said softly.

"I'm being serious Troy. I love you, like really love you. You could at least say it back." She responded, her voice a little hurt.

Troy sat up slightly. "How many times do you want me to say it?"

She stared at him, and shyly shrugged her shoulders.

Troy smiled and sat up, taking Gabriella up with him so she was straddling his lap, her face mere inches from his. She could feel his breath on her lips, and felt a sudden rush of longing she had never really felt before.

"Brie, if I could have it my way, I'd say it every day for the rest of my life."

Gabriella's heart constricted at his words, and she quickly closed the gap between their lips. Troy wrapped his arms around her waist, her arms snaking their way through his damp hair, each of them deepening the kiss.

The sound of the phone interrupted them, and they pulled away, panting heavily. Troy reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello?" He answered, his voice still out of breath.

But there was no one there.

"Hello?" He asked again before hanging the phone back up. He looked over at Gabriella and shrugged his shoulders. "Must have been a wrong number or something."

"Yeah." Gabriella answered, but her thoughts went straight to the countless voicemails she had received. Why did it feel like they were somehow related to the phone call they had just received?

Troy had already lain back down, and she snuggled into his side. She couldn't shake the uneasy feeling and for the first time in a long time, she felt scared.

okay, whatcha think???