The Only One He Wants

Chapter 5

The rain was pounding hard and mercilessly on the windows as Gabrielle and her friend and colleague watched a horror movie. They were both huddled under a blanket with a half-full bowl of popcorn between them.

Christina had invited her on a movie night, but since there was a storm outside Gabrielle hadn’t had the tiniest wish to soak herself to the bone on the way to the theater. And besides, she’d felt like staying in tonight. That was why Christina had brought the movie night home, grabbing the best horror movie she could find.

“Is it gonna be spooky?” Gabrielle had asked her when she had opened the door.

“You betcha!” Christina had replied and they had immediately sat on the sofa.

They were halfway through the movie and it was the most interesting, intriguing part of it yet. Gabrielle kept her eyes on the screen, oblivious to the world outside. At that moment, the only thing that existed for her was the girl running in that dank, dark alley and what was going to happen to her.

Intense music filled the room as the beautiful young woman turned right to run and hide from her captor, who had been her ex-husband. She was walking down the wet stones, her heels clicking and her breaths ragged. Gabrielle’s breaths were too uneven as her heart increased its pace.

“Oh come on already! This is killing me,” Christina said through her teeth from beside Gabrielle. They were both at the edge of their seats.

The young woman was deep in the alley now. A flashlight shook in her hands. The notes of the background music were reaching the climax. And then there was silence.

“Oh my God,” Gabrielle whispered.

They waited.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

A man with a mask jumped out of the dumpster. The girl screamed and so did Gabrielle and Christina.

“Ah! I can’t watch this anymore,” Gabrielle said, covering her eyes.

Christina said nothing but continued watching. Her eyes were glued to image of the young woman. She didn’t even look down at the popcorn while she was putting some in her mouth.

On the other hand, Gabrielle sat through the rest of the movie looking through her fingers. Horror wasn’t her favorite type of movie for relaxation, but once in a while she wanted to feel the adrenaline pulsing through her body. Like today.

“It was a great movie. I haven’t been scared like that in a long time,” Christina said as she put on her coat.

“Yeah. It was insane!”

“And when he wanted to kill her in the tub! I almost pissed myself then,” Christina chuckled nervously.

“The dumpster scene got me. Anyway, you can stay for a while if you want. I’m alone all night, you know.” Gabrielle folded her hands across her chest and leaned her body against the wall.

Christina was already putting on her boots. “No, no. I’m perfectly fine, thanks. I have some unfinished stuff at home. See you at work!”

And then there was a soft bang. As if a stone hit the window.

“What was that?” Christina jumped.

“It must be the rain,” Gabrielle said, her heart beginning to race in her ribcage.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m going to check right now.” Gabrielle went with slow, careful steps towards the windows.

Clunk! Another one. It wasn’t coming from the window in the living room. Her bedroom.

Panic struck her. Her hands began to tremble instantly.

“Gab, is everything okay?” Christina’s voice was barely a whisper. She put a hand on the wall to steady herself and entered her bedroom.

She took a breath.

A man was crouching on the fire escape steps in a hoodie. His face wasn’t visible.

Gabrielle screamed. She couldn’t control her voice. It just came out of her lips in a shrill, blood-curdling scream.

The man pulled down the hoodie. At that moment lightning hit the ground, lighting up the whole sky like a Christmas tree. It was Michael Good, crouching in the pouring rain and waving at her.

“Gab, are you okay? I heard a scream,” Christina was yelling from the entrance door.

Gabrielle closed her eyes and put a hand on her chest. This is what those bloody, damn horror movies did to her.

“I’m great. It’s just the rain as I told you. Err, the amount of…um… rain scared me. I’m not a fan of storms,” Gabrielle shouted back. An instinct inside her told her to lie. It wasn’t for any apparent reason. It was just that she hadn’t told anyone about Michael. Except for her daughter, that was.

It had been nearly a week since the day in the park and they had been out to dinner a few times after that. The more they saw each other, the closer they got. But somehow she couldn’t bring herself to tell everyone about her relationship with Michael.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come there?” Christina’s voice reached a new octave, ringing in Gabrielle’s eardrums.

“No, no. You can leave. I’m totally fine. See you!” Gabrielle yelled back and ran to open the window so that Michael could hop in.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Gabrielle put a finger to his lips.

“Shush,” she whispered.

Then they heard the door close and she sighed.

“You scared the hell out of me. Again,” Gabrielle giggled.

“It’s who I am, babe. Prepare for a life full of surprises with this jerk in front of you,” he said and kissed her. His body was drenched and water fell on her bedroom floor.

“Oh, you silly. I had no idea you were coming. And you’re wet! Come on, go into the bathroom. I think I still have some hot water left,” Gabrielle said, pushing him towards the door.

Instead, Michael turned on his heels and hugged her. “But I don’t want to shower,” he said in a baby voice, “I want to be with you. That’s why I came here.”

“Then we have to warm you up. Wait for me here,” she replied with a huge grin and ran off to fetch some blankets. She didn’t have men’s clothes, unfortunately. “Do you want something to drink?” she shouted.