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“Thanks for doing this at the last minute,” Gabriel says, not disputing Pharrell’s claim.
Pharrell and his friends laugh. I drop my hand back at my side and roll my eyes.
“Don’t worry about it,” Pharrell replies. “As much money as you’ve made me over the years, this is light work.” He holds a set of keys out to Gabriel. “We set everything up inside. The owner told me to tell you, thanks for the donation and enjoy. He’ll meet you back in the morning for the keys.”
With that, Pharrell and his crew climb back in their truck and back out the parking lot before speeding away.
“I swear everyday you leave me with more mysteries about you,” I say jokingly.
“Come on.” He tugs me toward the stairs.
Once inside the building I can tell we’re at some type of planetarium. The depictions of the solar system and galaxies on the walls give it away. Along with the giant earth inspired globe that hangs from the ceiling and nearly touches the ground. Gabriel leads me to a door to the left of the empty receptionist’s desk.
He stops right before going inside.
“You were right earlier. I shouldn’t have made you believe we were going on a date only to take you on a job. I didn’t think about how that would make you feel.” He looks down at his feet. “I have trouble with understanding and sometimes considering other people’s feelings. I’m sorry.”
Placing a hand on his chest, I grab his attention back. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”
“Good, because I want to take you on a date.”
The smile that stretches my face makes my cheeks hurt. “Well, today is your lucky day. I don’t have any plans at the moment.”
I love when I can make him smile. He does it so rarely that getting one is like a gift.
“Come on.” He pushes the door open allowing me to walk in first.
My mouth falls open and I clutch a hand to my heart. Over my head is a beautiful display of outer space. There are clusters of stars and galaxies above me. In the middle of the floor is a blanket, two pillows, an ice bucket with a bottle of cola inside, two wine glasses, and take out bags.
“Do you like it?” his voice comes from right behind me.
I nod my head, as tears fill my eyes. “When did you have time to set this up?”
“While we were at the club. This is what I was doing on my phone.”
I stare up at the screen over our heads in awe.
He points up to the display, while placing a hand at my lower back. I follow where he’s pointing.
“That’s called the wishing well cluster or Caldwell 91. It is about 1,321 light years away.”
I glance over my shoulder at him. “I didn’t know you were into astronomy.”
He shrugs. “I’m not.” Gabriel takes my hand and leads me to the blanket. I kick off my shoes and take a seat. He sits down in front of me.
“My brother, Lucien, loved stuff like this. When we were kids, he was always reading up on stuff and explaining it to us. The others would sometimes get irritated or ignore him, but I always listened.”
He takes the coke out of the ice bucket and pours us two champagne flutes with it. I know it’s cheesy, but I love the gesture.
“I found this place for Lucien during one of my menus. On his thirteenth birthday, we all snuck out of the house and broke in. We spent most of our night camped out in those chairs.” he points to the theater style seats behind him. “Lucien taught us everything he knew about the solar system that night.”
“That’s sweet. Did you guys ever get caught?” I ask taking a sip of my pop.
A huge grin spreads on his face. “Hawk made a bet with Many that he couldn’t reach the top of that giant sphere in the lobby. Many, of course, reached the top but somehow triggered the fire alarm. Priest paid the owner for the damage. The owner turned out to be cool and allowed us back anytime we wanted during daylight hours.”
I laugh at his story. I could imagine how bad they were as kids.
“How many brothers do you have?” I remembered Hawk from that night we first met.
