Page 92 of Gabriel's Album

I cringe as shame and embarrassment wash over me. I’m crying like a baby, and my friends are all bearing witness to me being dumped by the woman I love. A woman who won’t even answer a phone call from any of us.

Heather leaves two more messages for Ariana with no response, and I call her again while Sebastian gets us all drinks. He hands me a glass of bourbon, and I take a big swig, feeling it burn my throat as I swallow it.

Sebastian hands Hayden the last glass of alcohol before pulling out his phone and calling Ariana again.

“Ariana. If you don’t call me back in five minutes, I’m going to come down and see you,” Sebastian growls into the phone.

“Sebastian, no,” I say after he hangs up, my voice cracking.

“Yes, Gabriel.” He meets my gaze steadily. “Someone needs to talk to her.”

“I’m not sure it should be you, Seb,” Hayden says in a calm tone.

Sebastian glares at him before asking, “Who should it be, then? Gabriel? Heather? It obviously can’t be either of them. Harrison is clearly occupied, so doyouwant to do it?”

Hayden sighs and lifts his drink toward his mouth as he says, “No, not particularly.”

“Right. Well, that leaves me. I’m going to go get her and bring her back up here to talk to Gabriel.” Sebastian shrugs. “What’s her room number?”

I tell him, and he nods at me, draining what’s left of his drink in a single swallow. He grimaces, slams the glass down, and then strides off toward the door.

When he’s gone, we sit in relative silence while I continue to cry. Heather’s started crying too.

“Maybe Seb will convince her to come back up with him,” Hayden says quietly. “He’s pretty convincing when he wants to be.”

Hope blooms in my chest, and I give him a weak smile and say teasingly, “That is true. He does manage to convince you to play him at pool, even though you know you’ll lose.”

“Exactly,” Hayden grins. “If he can convince me to lose to him at pool, he can convince Ariana to come talk to you.”

My heart throbs painfully at his words, the wounds there growing deeper when he reminds me of my girlfriend’s decision to leave.

Hayden must notice because he sighs and asks, “Do you want another drink of alcohol? Or maybe you could do with some water?”

I cringe, because a part of me just wants to get sloppy drunk, but I need to be somewhat sober when Ariana comes back up here. “Water, please. Thanks, Hayden.”

He nods and gets me a cold glass of water while I look over at Heather and Harrison sitting on another sofa nearby.

“Are you okay?” Harrison asks.

“About as good as can be, I guess,” I shrug.

“Why won’t she answer my messages?” Heather asks, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth turned down. “She’s my best friend.”

“You can ask her when Seb brings her back up here,” I assure her.

“I will. This hurts because she specifically told me that she was going to come and see me. I mean, even if she does leave”—I wince against the pain in my chest at Heather’s words—“she could have still come to see me, at least. I could’ve talked her out of this stupid idea. Or, you know, said goodbye.” A tear falls from Heather’s eye, and her voice cracks on the last word.

I swallow against a lump in my throat and nod at her as I take a sip of the water Hayden gave me. I can’t bring myself to actually speak right now, and my heart feels as though it can’t take any more of this.

There’s a knock on the door, and I gasp again. Please let this be Sebastian, back with Ariana. Hayden gets up and goes to open it. I look over and see Sebastian there…alone.

I can’t help but hope he’s about to say that Ariana is on her way up, but I also know my friend too well. I can read from the expression on his face that he has bad news.

Guessing this doesn’t make it any easier to hear when he says, “I’m so sorry, guys. I want you to know that I kept my cool and didn’t just yell at her, but she’s gone.” Tears begin to stream down my face. “She took her suitcases and told me she’s got a plane to catch. So, she already had a flight booked by the time I got down there.”

Knowing that she had that much planned is what kills me. I feel the cracks in my heart widen again before it shatters into a million pieces. Then, I drop my head back into my hands and let the tears consume me.

15

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