Mending (21 page)

When he got to his car, he tried to call Gabby.  But, it kept going to her voicemail.  He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to talk to him, but he really was very frustrated with her knee jerk reaction to assume the worst.  She had not even given him a chance to try to figure things out for
himself
or them.  He wished she would at least acknowledge that she was getting his calls and that she was ok. 
But, nothing.
 

Finally, he realized he had to call Sam.  He just stared at her
number, dreading the call he knew he had to make.  The thought of disappointing either of them, Sam or Gabby, made him feel like
he was going to vomit.  He finally tapped the screen to initiate the call and then tapped speaker. 
He waited for her to pick up and on the last ring before voicemail he heard the click and her hello. 
“Sam.  It’s Bradley.”

“I know who are you, Bradley. 
Caller ID.
  What’s up?”

“Something’s come up, Sam.”

“What do you mean?
 
About tonight?
”

“Yeah, it’s not happening.  She left and is on her way home.”

“Oh.”

“Listen, she won’t answer my calls.  She’s hurt.  Not physically, emotionally.  Can you see if she’ll at least answer your calls and let you know that she’s okay?”

“What did you do?”

“I just need you to cancel everything for tonight and call her to make sure she’s ok.  I can’t get her to answer.
  I’ll explain everything later.
  Just do it, okay.”

He hung up before she had time to fire back.  He knew he was in trouble with her.  He didn’t have time to worry about that though at this particular moment.  He quickly glanced over his shoulder and threw the silver 370z into gear and out into traffic. 

He used the voice command to call Veronica. 

“Bradley, I was worried I wasn’t going to hear back from you.”

“Are you home?”

“Yes.”

“Are you alone?”

“Of course, I’m alone.”

“I’m on my way.”

He hung up quickly and threw the phone to into the passenger seat.  He was driving like a bat out of hell, but he didn’t care.  He swerved in and out of lanes because he couldn’t get to her place fast enough.

Chapter 14

October, 2011 ~ The Past

Gabby was pretty sure she was head over heels in love.  There was no denying it.  She wasn’t sure when it happened.  She pondered it often.  Looking back she wondered if it could have even happened the night she met him, if there really was such a thing as love at first sight.  But she knew it for sure when she had not been able to think about anything else since she left him after spending her first night with him in Thomson, Georgia.  The reasonable side of her kept telling her this was just lust, but it seemed so much deeper than anything she’d ever had.  Even with Ian.

When she was not with him, he was all she could think about.  She wondered how his day was going.  She longed to be able to surprise him with lunch, but the distance prevented the normal daily interactions most couples took for granted.  She would daydream about him in class and he was the first and last thing she thought of every day.

It was nice that money was no issue for him, thou
gh.  Over the last several months
, they were spending every possible moment together.  Whether it was on the phone, through email, or on the road meeting in different places, they were
only able to stay away from each other long enough to work and go to school. 
Even if the meeting was only for a couple of hours, they would shop, have dinner or breakfast, or just go to the park and enjoy each other silently while reading or napping on a blanket.  Every moment she spent with him she cherished. 

Gabby had little time for anything other than school and Bradley.
  She missed her sister and felt bad that they weren’t getting to spend a lot of time together.  But, Sam was all consumed with school.  Gabby
would talk to Sam a
lot on the road trips to see Bradley
.

This particular weekend, Gabby was beyond excited.  Sam was coming to Atlanta
with her.  Bradley had said it was time for her to meet his parents.  Since Gabby didn’t have parents, he said it was important for them to also meet Sam.  But, Gabby knew this was partially an excuse to finally get Sam to come to Atlanta.  He had been dying to introduce Sam to Ryan, Joe’s older brother, who’s a resident at Emory.  Bradley
had
gone on and on telling
Gabby how perfect they would be together.  Gabby would just laugh when he talked about it.  He would get so animated and excited. 

Sam had driven to Columbia to ride with
Gabby
to Atlanta
.
  Because they both had Friday classes, it was late afternoon before they were able to leave.  They had brought along a few snacks because they knew Bradley had planned on taking them out to dinner when they got to
Atlanta.
  The sisters were excited for some alone time before the big weekend.  Gabby gushed about Bradley and Sam told Gabby about how school was going for her. 

“So, Bradley is trying to set me up with someone you said?”

Gabby glanced over to Sam smiling, “Yes, his name is Ryan.  He’
s in his residency
at Emory.”

“Did you tell Bradley that I don’t have time to d
ate, especially a resident
in a totally different state?”

“
Hmph
, yeah.
  This is
Bradley,
do you think he’s going to back down that easily?”

Sam looked out of the window smiling, “It’s sweet that he is thinking of me, I guess.”

“He says you two would be perfect for each other.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.  How does he know this guy again?”

Gabby started
flipping through the stations.  S
he hated commercials on the radio.  “It’s his best friend, Joe’s, older brother.

“And why not set me up with his friend, Joe?”

Gabby busted out laughing, “Trust me.”  Gabby rolled her eyes.  “You do not want him to hook you up with Joe.”

Sam whipped her head back to Gabby.  “And why is that little sister?”

“Because Joe makes Bradley’s playboy days look tame, that’s why.”

Sam sighed, “Why
am I
not surprised?”

Gabby shook her head, “Don’t get me wrong.  He’s a great guy.  He just is a bit wild.  He owns a very nice upscale club downtown.”

“Well, I’ll entertain your man.  But, I really have no intentions of getting into any kind of relationship with a man right now. 
Certainly not a long distance one.
  Let’s change the subject.”

Gabby giggled.  “Tell me about the whole not looking for a long distance relationship thing.  Um, I do believe we’re driving to see my boyfriend, who is four hours away!”

Sam chuckled,
“Precisely my point, Gabby.”

The girls
had
spent the rest of the trip catching up on how their classes were going and Sam’s new life in medical school.  Gabby gushed over Bradley and how romantic he always was to her.  The car
ride passed rather quickly.

Gabby called him when she got fairly close to let him know they were there.  He had said he would meet them downstairs.

Sam looked up and around at the location of Bradley’s apartment.  “This is a nice place, he has here.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely a bachelor pad, but it’s very nice.” Gabby
stretched when she got out of the car.  She had pulled her hair back for the ride.  She reached up and pulled her tie from her hair, knowing that Bradley loved her hair down and curly. 

As she was about to reach into the back to get their bags, his arms were around her waist.  He turned around, “I’ll get those.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he leaned down to kiss her.  “Thank you.”

He was still holding Gabby.  He looked over to Sam, who was now smiling rolling her eyes at their public display of affection.  He winked, “Welcome to
Hotlanta
, Sam.” 

“Hi Bradley.”
Sam giggled.

H
e
released Gabby.  “Let me get these bags and let’s get inside.”  He r
eached to
the back and pulled their bags.
“Is that everything?”

Gabby smiled at him, “Yes.”  She reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek and put her arm around his neck.  “I’ve missed you so much.”

He looked down with a sideways grin.  He whispered, “You have no idea how much I have missed you, but I’ll be happy to show you tonight
when your sister isn’t being grossed out by us
.”

“Is that a promise, Mr. Banks?”

“Oh, you better believe it is.”

Bradley put Sam’s bag into the guest bedroom and carried
Gabby’s
to his room while Gabby gave Sam a quick tour of the place.  Bradley found them and walked up to Gabby from behind
and wrapped his arms around her waist.  He nuzzled her neck, causing Gabby to close her eyes while leaning back into his arms. 

“You girls about ready to get dinner?”

They giggled and spoke in unison, “Yes, I’m starving.”