by Ashley Nemer
CHAPTER SIX
Nadia waited for Gabe to return all afternoon, but he never showed back up. He wasn’t answering his phone, and she had a horrible gut feeling something had happened to him. She started asking around the office to see if anyone knew what happened, but realized she should hold back because Gabe didn’t like everyone knowing his personal business. If something was wrong she knew he wouldn’t want everyone knowing. She gathered her remaining items and went down to her car; she’d had enough for the day and could use a quiet evening at home. After yesterday with the boys, she was exhausted. Plus, she and the kitten needed to start bonding.
She made it home without any issues. Triple T was waiting for her on the desk, sitting in her mail basket, meowing.
“Hey there, little guy.” She set down the items she was holding to pick up the kitten and cuddle him.
“Are you hungry? Let’s go find you some food.” She took him into the kitchen and got his small dish for food off the floor. Cleaning it out and then setting it on top of the bar counter, she poured some food for him and pet his fur as he ate.
“You know little guy, we have a lot of ground to cover if you are going to be living with me. I’m going to need a thinking partner. Are you up for the task?” She watched him turn his head up to her and lick his lips with his rough tongue.
“Is that a yes, Triple T?”
She laughed to herself while she prepared her dinner. Great now I’m talking to the cat like he understands me, she thought. Yup I’ve lost it. She mixed the vegetables and lettuce together for a salad, poured some olive oil on top of the leaves, and tossed the salad. She took the bowl over to the couch and sat. Triple T jumped from the counter and moved to sit beside her on the couch. She pulled out a book from the side table drawer and began reading.
She was five chapters into the book called BLOOD MYTH. Her mind filled with the words on the page, Sorina and Zak’s life totally consuming her, when she heard a knock at her door. She shook off the wave of heat that had consumed her body and got up to answer the door. She looked through the peep hole and sighed in relief. Gabe. She quickly opened the door and smiled up to him..
“Hey you.”
“Hey Nadia. Can I come in?”
She noticed his hands were in his pockets and he was bouncing from side to side on the balls of his feet. What’s up with that? “Of course, Gabe, come in.” She opened the door wider and waved him inside. He went over to the couch and sat down. He looked up at her and patted the seat next to him.
“We need to talk, Nadia.” He fiddled with his fingers and his leg was tapping the floor quickly.
“What’s wrong Gabe?” Nadia asked. She sat next to him and pulled one of his hands into her own and placed her other hand on his arm. “Whatever it is you can tell me.”
“You know I love you, right? That whatever I tell you, I love you, and I didn’t mean to make it seem like I …” He paused, unsure of how to continue. He took a few deep breaths and spit out what was eating at him.
“You know the man you saw me with today? Kevin?”
Nadia nodded her head; silence filled the room as she waited to hear what he had to say.
“I wanted to tell you, but he didn’t. He wanted the secret to stay that, a secret, because of the fall out; he didn’t think it would benefit anyone, letting it be known.” Gabe sighed. He took deep breaths, trying to calm his heart rate. He closed his eyes and squeezed Nadia’s hand.
“Just tell me Gabe, what is it?!?”
“Kevin and I, we’re lovers.” He turned his head and looked into her eyes. He expected to see her disgust, her hate, for hiding such a large fact, but all he saw was her smile.
“What are you smiling at Nadia?”
“You.” She leaned over and gave him the tightest hug she’d ever given anyone. She held onto him as if life was ending tomorrow. After a few minutes, Gabe pulled away and she still was smiling.
“I already knew, Gabe. Well, I didn’t know it was with Kevin, but I knew you were gay. What kind of reporter would I be if I didn’t even realize my own partner was gay? I’ll tell you what kind, a pretty shitty one.”
“You’re not mad I hid it from you?”
“God no! I’m just glad you finally told me. What, did you think I would shun you because you’re different? Please, I might have a twinge of disappointment because you thought you needed to hide this, but honey, I love you just how you are.”
Gabe leaned his head back against the pillow top of the couch and closed his eyes while letting out the loudest laugh Nadia had ever heard from him. Triple T looked up from his sleeping position and hopped off the couch, making his way over to the desk. The way he glared at Gabe made Nadia think he was upset that his sleep had been disturbed. “Thanks for not being mad that I lied.”
“You didn’t so much lie as just avoid the truth, but it’s ok. I was more pissed you were talking to him after we agreed no cops, but had you told me you two were lovers, I wouldn’t have cared.”
“Yeah, but Kev didn’t want me to. But I told him tonight, I can’t keep hiding it from you, cause now it was going to an issue with our current story. Which, by the way, he doesn’t want us working on.”
“Why not? Does he know Carlisle is connected?”
“No, he just doesn’t want to see us hurt. I don’t want to see us hurt. Shit, a hit man? What are we thinking about doing Nadia?”
“You can back out if you want; I don’t have to have you with me. It’s just nice to work cases together, you know?”
“Not going to let you do it on your own.” Gabe nodded his head towards the kitten and asked, “How’s the adjustment going?”
“Nice segue there, but things are going good. It’s only been what, twenty-four hours? Too soon to tell, but I think he and I will get along fine.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you won’t be totally alone in the house any more. I always worry about you.”
Nadia laughed. “Like Triple T being here will actually be a deterrent to someone hurting me? You’re nuts, but that’s okay; it’s cute.”
“I’m still glad you’re not totally alone. I’m going to get back to Kevin; I’ll see you in the morning. We should be getting the updates from the boys who were on night patrol in the morning. That should be fun and interesting.”
“Yeah, it should. Alright, you have a good night, Gabe.”
“You too, hun.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close for a long hug. Nadia rubbed his back and knew that he was just grateful their friendship didn’t have to end.
She looked over at the time and saw that it was now 9 p.m., and she had missed her 8:30 shower, damn it. She hated taking showers past that point, but she refused to let herself sleep in her bed without showering. Walking into her bathroom, she turned the faucet on and let her clothes drop to the floor. Stepping inside the tub, she let the water run over her skin as she thought about what had transpired earlier that day.
Nadia went to step out of the shower and noticed that Triple T had found his spot waiting for her on her towel which was folded on the counter. She laughed looking at him; his paws over his face and feet sprawled out nice and comfortable. “Little guy, we have to work on boundaries,” she said while pushing him aside and pulling the towel out from under him.
She watched him roll around on the cold countertop for a minute before hopping off and moving towards the bed. Nadia toweled off and slipped into her pajamas. She loved her flannel snow demon pajamas. Her sister had given them to her two years ago for Christmas, and she always enjoyed a reason to wear them. She hadn’t spoken to Anabella in a few days and needed to give her a call. She sat on her bed with the kitten and called her sister.
“Go for Ana,” a voice said on the other end.
“Seriously, that’s how you’re answering the phone now? I don’t even know what to say to that,” Nadia said as she held back a laugh.
“What, you don’t like it? I figured we all needed a ‘line’ we were known for; I was testing it o
ut. The boys loved it.”
“Well, if we ran our life based on what a six and nine year old thought then you know we’d be in some serious trouble.” Nadia moved around on the bed, pushing the comforter and sheets down to get settled into bed. She knew her sister was different, but sometimes she was a bit too out there.
“Hey, don’t knock it; they’re my target demographic.”
“Yeah yeah, we know, new TV show. Congrats, by the way.”
“Thanks sis, I’m pretty excited. I’ve never hosted my own show before, let alone on a weekly spot.”
“You’ll be fine; you know you deserve it. Cedar Rapids is going to have a bunch of home town stars on their hands before they know it.”
Anabella laughed into the phone. Her voice was genuine and refreshing for Nadia. “Yeah, won’t that be the day? You breaking any earth shattering stories lately?”
“Breaking them no, investigating a new one yes.”
“Oh, do tell. Remember what the judge said, stay out of trouble. I trust that you are ignoring that.”
“My God, I think more people know about that stupid judge and what happened than any other story I’ve covered in the last five years.”
“That’s cause it was funny as hell. I mean, come on Nadia, how often do you hear about a news reporter falling in a vat of oil, causing it to overspill and ruin a crime scene? I mean, you can’t make that kind of stuff up! It was classic Nadia!”
“Please don’t remind me; it’s like that event will haunt me. My tombstone will say, ‘Here lies Nadia. No, she didn’t drown in a vat of oil.’”
Anabella laughed hard into the phone. “Oh God, you’re killing me! That’s gonna be great. I’ll remember that when it’s time.”
“Oh, dear God! How many times do I have to say that the plank broke on me from up above? I didn’t know there was a crime scene going on!!”
“Uh huh, sure, and how many people believed your story?” Anabella jabbed back at Nadia.
“Oh, shut up. Anyway, got some gossip for you.”
“Now you’re just trying to bribe me into a new topic; good thing I’m a sucker for gossip. Spill.”
Nadia grinned and let a low chuckle out before speaking into the phone. “Guess which man came out tonight and told me he was gay.”
“Your boss? That man hasn’t checked me out once in the five years I’ve come and visited you at work.”
“No, not Scully, and that’s cause he is happily married.”
“That doesn’t mean he can’t look, right?”
“No, guess again,” Nadia said.
“No idea, just tell me. You know I hate guessing games.”
“Gabe.”
“Get out of town, no way! Didn’t you think he was?”
“Yup, sure did. You won’t ever believe who his boyfriend is either.”
“Oh man, do I want to know?” Anabella sounded eager even though she pretended to be cautious.
“Uh huh.” Nadia waited a few seconds and then said, “Kevin.”
“Kevin? My ex Kevin, the Detective?”
“Yes ma’am, one and the same. So now you know why that relationship didn’t work out.”
“Well fuck me running, how about that. Damn. Least it wasn’t me then.”
“Nah, wasn’t you, but I told you that back when you all were dating. I found all this out today; talk about an insane day with work and then this.”
“Yeah, sounds like it. I talked to Kain today. He said his boys went with you to get a kitten. What did you name it?”
Nadia laughed, thinking about how they came up with the name. “Yeah they did, and he’s Tony the Tiger, but I call him triple T.
“Aww, that’s cute, like the cereal.”
“Yeah it is. Alright, I’m gonna head to bed. You still coming over Saturday for our girls night?”
“Yes ma’am. Can’t have you forgetting how to behave now can we?”
“Such a smart ass. Ok, night chica, see you then.” Nadia hung up her phone and turned into her pillow. She felt completely worn out and was looking forward to a full night’s sleep.
