“Is that so?” she murmured. “What shall I call you?
He laughed at that and he did look younger. Gaby had put him at mid-forties with his slightly graying hair and wrinkles. He was dressed in a checkered shirt and jeans which gave off a different feel than a rancher or maybe that was only her imagination. She had always thought ranchers would have a different look. It had to be the city slicker in her.
“Just ask around for Jay,” he said. “I’ll be seeing you around ma’am.”
He smiled once more and got into his truck, driving away with a friendly wave. Gaby looked around and then consulted the street signs before recalling the address that had been given to her. She wandered around for a while, taking some help from the friendly people, before finally turning up in front of a quaint little cottage a bit away from the center of the town. It looked promising as she walked up to the door and rang the bell.
The door opened and she was facing a pleasant looking middle-aged woman with dark brown hair in a bun and a floral dress on. The lady took her in, before a smile appeared making her gray eyes warmer than before.
“Come in, you must be Gabrielle Montague,” the lady said.
“Miss Hay?” she asked tentatively.
“Who else?” she said with a laugh. “Come in dear,”
Gaby walked in, taking in the cottage in all its glory. It really was something, the decorations were tasteful and the colors were warm. Everything was done up very well. It wasn’t what she had expected when Joe had told her that she would be renting from someone who would be middle aged and unmarried, she assumed that she would be put under scrutiny as some women in that age range were prone to do. Gaby didn’t usually think of it like that, but years of having to deal with it had hardened her to that effect.
Gaby sat down on the soft couch and Miss Hay disappeared to bring her a tray filled with treats and a cup of tea. She blushed as Miss Hay poured her a cup and handed it over to her.
“Drink up dear, I can imagine you have had a rather long journey,” Miss Hay commented.
Gaby was about to ask how she knew that then realized that she must look like a vision. Self-consciously she touched her hair then decided to just enjoy the tea. She usually preferred coffee, but the tea was delicious and the warmth coursed through her, giving her much needed energy.
“Have some of the biscuits as well,” Miss Hay urged.
She nodded and took one, nibbling into it, before devouring it. She couldn’t resist taking another one as her stomach growled. She had to get something to eat soon.
“I left the fridge well stocked,” Miss Hay said. “You shouldn’t have any problem cooking.”
“Thank you,” Gaby said, swallowing and wiping away the crumbs from her lips.
“How long will you be staying?” Miss Hay asked.
“I’m not quite sure,” Gaby said carefully.
“Well, the nice man on the phone has already paid me for the week, but I do hope you can stay longer,” Miss Hay said. “It would be a nice change to have the house full.”
Gaby didn’t want to ask any awkward questions but she was curious about it. Miss Hay must have noticed so she said, “My sister used to live here. I live ten minutes away and Gigi lived here. Our parents left us both houses and we decided to live separately. She passed away last spring, a heart attack they told me. She was young, but who can tell really? She left me the house and it pains me to see it empty, so that’s why I am renting it out. Don’t worry, I removed any personal effects from here,” Miss Hay said. “I wouldn’t want the guests to feel awkward.”
“It’s quite all right,” Gaby said.
“Yes well, if I did miss anything, do tell me. I left my number in the kitchen so if you have any problems with anything, do give me a call.”
“Of course.”
“Well I must be off. You should get some rest,” Miss Hay said. “I’ll see myself out.”
The lady stood up and walked out, the sound of the door closing echoing a moment later. Gaby breathed in and savored the silence, she was the only one in the house now and it was a calming feeling. She finished her tea, before she took her backpack to go upstairs and check out the bedroom. There were two bedrooms, both looked clean and were relatively the same size. She picked one at random and plopped her bag down on the bed. She took out a change of clothes and then went to the bathroom. She had to take in a deep breath, before she dared to take a peek into the mirror.
As she thought, she was a mess. Her light hair was all over the place and there were black bags under her eyes. Her face had become wan and pale, unlike the bronze she usually sported, the effect was most likely due to the lack of sun. Her pale blue eyes looked almost darker which made her slightly surprised. She really was tired.
The hay clinging to her attire was another turn off and she stripped, tossing them to the corner before heading into the shower. The water was deliciously hot and she felt her muscles relax under it. When she was done, she went out and changed but found the allure of the bed too much to bear.
She fell down on the bed and purred, feeling its softness. It felt extra comfortable after the hours of journey that she had to put in. She curled up and her mind drifted to random thoughts, singular thoughts that refused to join.
Even food lost its priority as she fell into her dream, blissfully unaware of the trouble that she was going to have to face the next day.
Chapter Three
Gaby woke with a start.
For a second, fear gripped her heart as she took in her new surroundings before realizing that she was in the middle of an assignment and this was the place where she was going to be working for the next week. It had surprised her at first, but as she looked around, it wasn’t as shocking and her heart rather slowed down immediately. Once she was able to calm down, she realized just how hungry she was.
She crawled out of the bed and searched around for a clock and checked to see what the time was. It was near twelve and she realized she had slept away most of the day. At least she was kind of in time for dinner.
She went downstairs to check out what Miss Hay had left for her and opening the fridge was surprised to see that it was stocked to the brim. She took out some thawed pieces of chicken and pan fried it, before cutting up the pieces and making a salad for herself, adding a piece of toast as a side. She balanced the plate in her hands as she headed for the living room to catch some TV. She relaxed as she finished eating and finally sated, she lay down on the couch, mindlessly watching TV shows, before deciding to check up on Joe. It was two by then, but she knew that Joe was awake, the man barely slept.
As she reached for her cell, she was surprised to see that there were five missed calls, all from Joe. She hadn’t realized that she had put it on silent and was sheepish as she dialed to call him back. He answered on the third ring.
“Where were you?” he demanded.
“I was conked out,” she said. “Did I worry you?”
“About as much as you do all the time,” he said. “What’s the update?”
“I finally got into town after a lot of hardships,” she said bluntly. “Had to change transportation vehicles two times, before I finally made it here though.”
“Well, live with it,” he said, refusing to cow down to her remarks. “Have you met the subject yet?”
“Not yet,” she said. “I’ll head out tomorrow morning to go the council office.”
“Sounds good,” he said. “Take your time with it.”
“Any other background you have to give me?” she asked.
“Not really.”
“How’s the paper doing?” she asked.
“A bit boring without your articles.”
“Whose fault is that?” she couldn’t resist saying.
“Partly yours, partly mine and partly Dave’s,” he said with a pause. “But we aren’t going to dwell on what happened, are we?”
“No,” she said. “We aren’t.”
“Good, get some sleep.”
> “I slept the entire day.”
“Then work on questions. Either way, I have to get back to work. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Fine,” she said. “Bye.”
She hung up and looked blankly at the ceiling. What was she going to do now? Maybe she should take his advice. Thinking that, she took out her notebook and with the sound of the TV in the background, she wrote some new questions, occasionally scratching them out in favor of a better one. It took her some time and two hours later, she was tired enough to fall asleep on the couch, her notebook on her chest.
Despite how later she had slept, she was up like clockwork at eight o’clock. It was a bit late for her standard, but she gave herself an allowance for new surroundings and the lack of need to run after news. The first thing she did was go take a long shower before coming down to make some breakfast for herself. It was nine thirty by then but she knew that as long as she made it to the office at 10 am, it would be fine for her and so she took her time eating.
Finally, dressed in a business skirt and simple white shirt with her hair back in a ponytail, she was ready for her interview. As a seasoned reporter, she knew it was going to take more than one sitting with the councilman, even if she managed to get one today. She also had to check around the town and with her agenda, well she was going to have a lot to do today.
She locked the door and took in the bright day, it was a nice day and she was appreciating the weather as she headed for the council office that is, if she knew where it was. That was a trouble in and of itself for her, at the moment.
This time, there weren’t many people around her to guide her so she was entirely reliant on her directional skills which were challenged at best. Finally she managed to find what looked to be the council house and took in the small office as she walked up the path to the door. She breathed in once before entering, and critically examined the entrance before walking up boldly to the reception table. A woman sat behind it, busily talking on the phone and taking notes as she did so. She noticed Gaby and smiled slightly indicating that she had to wait a few minutes. Gaby wasn’t bothered and went to sit down as the lady took down some more notes. She didn’t mind waiting and patience was crucial for a reporter as she had learned early on in her career. She relaxed herself with some calm thoughts and finally the woman indicated for her to come forward. She had a professional smile ready as she did so and the woman said,
“How may I help you?”
“Hi, my name is Gabrielle Montague, I’m the reporter from Daily News here to interview the new councilman,” she said. “Councilman Hamilton that is.”
“The reporter?” The woman repeated, looking confused.
“Is something wrong…” she said, looking down at the woman’s name tag which said “Destine”, “Destine?”
“I-well-wait a moment please,” Destine said flustered. She got on the phone and said,
“Mr. Simmons could you come out here please?”
Mr. Simmons? She thought. Who could that be?
She got her answer a second later when a tall man strode out of an inside office, coming towards her. She felt her heart rate pick up as he came to stand in front of her and she cursed herself for her weakness for handsome men, because this man was undoubtedly handsome with his messy hair, almond shaped eyes and strong face. He was dressed casually in a shirt and jeans, but he pulled it off somehow, making it seem like he was working here or was some sort of a council member as well. It wasn’t fair, but she was a professional and she kept her eyes impassive as she stared at him without showing any curiosity.
“This is the lady who came saying she is the reporter,” Destine said from the counter. “She said her name is Gabrielle Montague.”
“Miss Montague?” the man said.
“That’s me,” Gaby said, but she could feel a change in the atmosphere. Call it her intuition or whatever, but she wasn’t sensing anything friendly from this man, if anything there was a slight layer of hostility coming from him and she was prepared for it.
“Miss Montague,” he said in his deep voice (Curse him, she thought), “It appears there has been e a mistake.”
“A mistake?” she said.
“Yes, I don’t know if you are here to hijack someone’s interview but we were told that the reporter was a man and that we should expect him shortly.”
“A man?” she repeated and then cursed under her breath, “That bastard.”
“I beg your pardon?” the man said.
“No I mean, “Gabrielle said, finding herself tongue tied for a reason. “I assure you, I am the reporter that is supposed to come from the Daily News. It was a last minute change, which is probably why my editor…”
But he held up her hand and she was forced to stop.
“I cannot let you interview the councilman without any proof that you are the reporter,” he said.
This time she was deeply offended. Who was this slip of a man? Sure he was handsome, but he was too skinny and irritating. Not to mention he was basically blocking her off from an interview for no good reason? She was so going to kill Joe for this!
“Well then, why don’t you call my editor and see if he confirms for me?” Gabrielle said icily.
“That’s a splendid idea,” The man said and took out his cell. Gaby waited as he dialed the number but after a few seconds, he put down the cell and said,
“It appears that he isn’t answering so I am afraid I am going to have to ask you to leave and come back later.”
“Ex-“she was about to say something mean but stopped herself. “Alright, I’ll leave my contact information here so you can reach me after you contact my editor. Thanks.”
She turned away from him, burning with anger and wrote down her information on a card, handing it to Destine, before stalking out of the office.
If it was one thing she hated, it was handsome men who infuriated her as much as they attracted her.
***
A few hours later, Gaby didn’t regret her outburst, but she was feeling pretty mad at the mysterious man who had so eloquently insulted her. Even the milkshake that she had treated herself to wasn’t helping and its melted remains weren’t attracting her as much as it had before. She was almost tempted to ditch it, but she wasn’t brought up to waste food so she kept on sipping it, glad the flavor hadn’t been effected by the heat. Despite that, the texture continued to put her off.
She finished it with a bit of effort and stared at her cell, placing another call to Joe. This was the fifth call she was giving him in the last two hours and like she had thought, he still wasn’t answering. What was going on? She had already wasted close to three hours in this diner, replaying what had happened.
The people in the diner were friendly, kind of. She still sensed a few stares of curiosity which she should have expected. The first hour, she had read a book. Her way of being patient was to read books whenever she had to wait and she always carried a hard copy of a generic book around. But she hadn’t been able to concentrate and after only having gone through three pages, she got annoyed and decided that it wasn’t worth it. The second thing she did was scroll through her cell phone and try to distract herself with recent news and other recreational activities.
Finally she had ordered her ill-fated milkshake which had promptly dissolved as she tried to further distract herself. She pushed the warm glass away from her and sighed heavily. It wasn’t enough that she had been insulted, now she was stuck without anything to do. She rested her head on the cool counter and lamented her fate.
She remained like that for a few more minutes until she heard the sound of a plate dropping in front of her. She looked up to see the lady from the counter smiling down at her. A plate of steaming pasta had been set down in front of her.
“I didn’t order this,” she said surprised.
“It’s on the house,” the lady said. “You seemed like you were having a terrible day.”
“You could say that,” Gaby sighed. “Really, you don’t have to
-“
“Don’t worry about it,” the lady said, waving off the remark. “I don’t mind doing things for my customers and I can tell you’re new in town.”
“That’s easily identifiable,” Gaby said. “Thank you,” she searched for a name tag, but there wasn’t any. “What’s your name?”
“Oh silly me,” the lady said. “I’m Loretta, the resident owner of this diner. Eat up, Darlin’.”
“Thank you,” Gaby murmured, pulling the plate towards her.
“Did you arrive today?” Loretta asked.
Gaby shook her head and said, “I arrived last night, and had a terrible morning.”
“Really?”
Gaby hesitated to say anything, she didn’t want to compromise her interview, but she was teetering on the edge of her anger so she said,
“I came here to interview someone, but I got railroaded by someone else,” she said bitterly.
“Interview? Would you be the reporter coming to interview Councilman Hamilton?”
“How do you-?”
“It’s a small town,” Loretta laughed. “And a reporter coming here is somewhat big news.”
“Hopefully what happened won’t spread,” Gaby said.
“This person who said stopped you,” Loretta said. “He wouldn’t be Jamie Simmons would he?”
“I don’t know his name,” Gaby frowned. “But I think the last name fits.”
“Well it’s something I would expect Jamie to do, the boy takes everything too seriously.”
“He didn’t look like a boy when I saw him,” Gaby muttered.
That got Loretta to laugh and she smiled widely at Gaby before saying,
“I am sure it’ll be fine. You seem like an honest girl to me, maybe it was a mistake.”
“Yeah, a mistake,” Gaby said. She was about to launch into a tirade when her cell rang. Loretta nodded slightly and walked away as Gaby answered.
“You called?” Joe’s voice came through.
Jamie: A Simmons Brothers Story Page 2
