AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I made my way into the hotel and the same woman I had spoken to earlier was still on the clock. “I’m glad you made it, hun.”
“Me too,” I responded, then forced myself to smile.
She had my information from the earlier call, so I showed her my license and credit card whose number she would keep on file until checkout before taking the room key she gave me. “Thank you.”
“Have a good night, and let us know if you need anything.”
“I will,” I told her before heading to the elevator.
On the ride up to my floor, the earlier activities came rushing back to me in the form of memories I desperately tried to rid myself of, but failed miserably. I was nearly blinded by tears once I reached my floor, and when I found my room, I tried to insert the key but my hands were shaking so badly. It fell onto the carpet and I quickly bent down to retrieve it.
Once I managed to steady myself enough to get the key in the door, I entered my room and locked it behind me. I stood there against the door, and like a waterfall, the tears began to pour from my eyes, rolling so fast and thick down my cheeks that I was unable to wipe them all away.
My body ached so badly, but not nearly to the extent my heart did. That damned organ would be the death of me one of these days or nights. I couldn’t let this evening be the one of them.
I had to protect Gabriel if for no other reason than appeasing my own guilt. Even though we’d both moved on with our lives after my supposed betrayal, everything was coming back full circle and I had a chance to actually help this time. I had to figure out what my uncle was up to, and afterward, Gabriel could go back to pretending we didn’t have sixteen years of beautiful history together.
“Our love story is going to be one of the greatest ones ever told,” I would tell him during our youth, back when we were so innocent. And when the cruelty of the world hadn’t broken us down.
“It already is,” he would tell me. I’d always believe him, too.
“I guess we were both wrong,” I spat out, then wiped my teary cheeks one more time before venturing further into the room.
The king-size bed in the center of the space was more inviting than it usually would’ve been at any other time. After the night I’d had, it was a godsend. The bedding was the same usual shade of white one would find in most hotels, and the bed itself had a dark accent wall that almost resembled a floor-to-ceiling headboard. There was a window at the end of the room, and a dark sofa sitting in front of it.
I moved over to the window and even though it was dark outside considering the time, there were enough lights to showcase the steadily falling snow. It really was beautiful. I just wish I could be here for enjoyment, so it would’ve been a perk instead of a hindrance. I decided to keep the drapes pulled apart, then I tossed my bag onto the bed.
I pulled out Gabriel’s T-shirt which was the only thing I’d taken from his place. I laid it on the bed alongside a pair of panties, then stripped out of my clothes and went to shower. With each step, my aching body protested the movements, but I needed to erase all traces of Gabriel from my skin, while wishing I could as easily do the same when it came to my heart. I still loved him.
After all of this time, I couldn’t deny it. Those feelings were the reasons I selfishly took whatever he gave me tonight, even though I knew it would bring nothing but a world of hurt in my direction. I suppose in a way, I deserved this.
“Not that,” I bemoaned when I remembered him coming on my breasts.
Only one other person had ever done that to me, and I certainly didn’t want to think about him right now. I’d given him the power to ruin my life once, and I wouldn’t let him continue to do so. It’d been a solemn vow I’d made myself the day I moved out after my high school graduation, and it was one I intended to keep now.
I finished showering and a half hour later, my hair was as dry and I was snuggled under the covers in nothing but his shirt. Gabriel’s scent was on it, and I remember what I’d do all those times before, I just imagined it was his chest my head was on, and I fell asleep.
GABRIEL
A few days had passed since Harper fled my penthouse in the middle of the night. Ever since I had awakened to find her gone, I’d been mad at myself. I closed my eyes as the entire scene that following morning played out.
“Harper,” I’d called out right outside the door of the room I had put her up in. I’d knocked once or twice in addition to calling her name, but nothing.
I figured that if she wasn’t sleeping, she might’ve gone downstairs. I had half expected to see her standing in front of the windows she’d been looking out of previously. The downstairs level of my penthouse was deafening silent as well. There was nothing amiss in the kitchen, or anywhere else that I could see.
I grabbed some fruit and protein powder, then made myself a smoothie. I was sure the loudness of the small appliance would’ve woken her up for sure, but it didn’t. I then proceeded to pull out a few things to make for breakfast. Knowing she would likely be hungry, I had even made enough for two.
When I sat down to eat the thrown together eggs Benedict, I looked across the table at the plate I had made for her. I waited another few minutes, and while I was in no hurry to throw her out, I knew it would just be postponing the inevitable to wait much longer.
I returned to the guest room and had knocked on the door. “Harper,” I’d called out again. There was nothing. “Harper,” I’d repeated, but much louder. I was met with the same result.
I finally turned the handle and was surprised to find it unlocked. I opened the door and peered into the room, only to find it empty. The en suite bathroom door was wide open and there was no trace of her. She was gone. When had she left?
I’d been up for hours before I actually came out of my room. Between checking on weather reports and flight updates, the city was still practically shut down. This blizzard was a doozy, and one of the worst ones to hit us in years. I remembered how she’d foolishly run out into the storm the night before, and I growled.
“Where in the fuck did you go?” I’d raked a hand through my hair. It was still tousled from sleep, but I didn’t care.
I had gone back downstairs and called to the lobby. Doug told me that she had gotten into a light-colored sedan, and that was the last he had seen of her.
