Page 107 of Gabriel's Album

“I mean, Gabriel, that she’s probably not going to fucking call you. Even if by some fucking miracle she does, you’ll have service most of the time we’re out. So, I’m not letting you sit here and do sweet fuck all because she won’t deign to answer your goddamn calls.”

We stand toe-to-toe, glaring at each other as I process what he’s saying. He’s wrong. Ariana is going to call me today; I know she will. Heather is in Chicago, and she’s going to see her, and she’s going to convince Ariana to come back and see me. Or at the very least to talk to me. There’s no point arguing about this, because Sebastian will see. He’ll see that he’s wrong.

“Fine. As long as I have service most of the time, because Arianawillcall me.”

I step aside so that I’m out of his way and gesture ahead to the direction we’d previously been walking. Sebastian looks at me for another second, then he continues on his way.

I follow behind him, and Hayden falls into step with me. “You’ll have fun today, I promise.”

“I’m sure I will.” I smile at him and then sigh.

A wave of pain hits me, because this week should have beensodifferent than this. I should’ve been spending my nights with Ariana, and my days with both her and the guys, exploring Los Angeles. Heather and Ariana could’ve gone to The Grove together earlier in the week, and we could’ve eaten at so many amazing different restaurants here.

I take it a step further, thinking about how different again it could’ve been if Ariana had been okay to be with me publicly. There wouldn’t be any restrictions on where we could go and what we could do. Suddenly, I could be at The Grove with her, walking hand in hand out in public, eating at high-profile restaurants without worrying about anyone taking our picture. I wince against the pain in my chest cavity.

“Are you okay?” Hayden asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I croak, and swallow against the lump in my throat as I push away the what-ifs that are plaguing me.

We’re walking out the back of the hotel, and Sebastian leads us to a big black SUV with dark-tinted windows. We manage to leave the hotel without any paparazzi seeing us, which is a massive relief.

He takes us through the McDonald’s drive-thru to get food, and when we reach the window to pay, the girl who serves us screams when she sees Sebastian. She looks to be about sixteen, and she grins widely at him.

“Oh my god, Sebastian Fox and Gabriel Knight!” she gasps.

“Hayden Vega is in the back seat,” Sebastian laughs and winds the window down so she can see him.

“I can’t believe this! Holy crap! Oh, I’m sorry. Your total is twenty-five dollars and eighty-seven cents.”

Sebastian pays by card, and she gives him his receipt before he asks, “Do you have a pen?”

“Um, yes.” She hands him a pen.

Sebastian writes, ‘Thanks for the excellent service!’ on the back of the receipt, while the girl serving us stares at him with her mouth hanging open. He signs his autograph next to the message before handing it to me so I can add my signature. I pass it back to Hayden, who signs as well, and gives it back to Sebastian.

“Here you go,” he smiles as he hands the receipt to her. “Have a great day.”

“Oh my god. Thank you so much!” She shakes her head in apparent amazement.

“Not a problem.” A driver in the line behind us honks their horn, and he grins at her. “We’d better move on. Bye.”

He pulls the car forward in the now-empty drive-thru ahead of us and stops at the next window. The workers here all whisper amongst themselves, and I hear our names being mentioned. Even customers standing at the counter peer through the drive-thru window at us as Sebastian is handed our food.

We pull into the far corner of the parking lot to eat our food, and as Sebastian is handing it out, Hayden asks, “Did you ever really think we’d get to this stage?”

“I did,” Sebastian says with all the confidence of a person who was secure in his talent every step of the way.

“Oh god, I remember you telling us your band was going to be huge,” I laugh.

“Yeah, and you sure as hell weren’t going to be in it,” he grins at me.

I laugh, because it’s the truth. I stick a few fries in my mouth and think about how far we’ve come. So much has happened in the last decade. I always knew that the four of us were talented, but there are plenty of talented people who never make it this far.

I check my phone to see if Ariana has contacted me. She hasn’t, so I send a text to Heather.

Any word from her?

We finish our food and put the trash in the can before we continue on our journey. It’s another fifteen minutes before Heather replies to my text, and when she does, I feel crushing disappointment at the sight of it.

---