Chapter 13.

Two weeks later.
Gabriella.
I lazily scroll through my phone and lucky for me, Martin wasn't too busy to keep me entertained with goofy pictures of himself, showing off his killer smile and his cheekbones that I'm definitely jealous of.
The cafe wasn't too busy in the evening which meant less work for me and same pay and fortunately my shift was ending in less than an hour. Someone walks in and I drop my phone very quickly, almost smashing it to attend to the supposed customer only to realize it wasn't just any customer, it was Gabrielle dressed in a formal dress with a small smile on her face. She honestly looked drained.
"Gabrielle? What are you doing here?" I ask as I cross over towards her and she pulls me in for a quick hug and when I say quick, I mean like 1.2seconds which unfortunately is the longest genuine hug I've ever gotten from her, but at least she's trying.
"I was driving by and I decided to just say hello to my little sister. How have you been?" She asks and I grin.
"I've been fine and thanks for checking up on me. What about you? How have you been?" I ask.
"I'm okay, just tired from all the workload I have on me," she sighs and I chuckle.
"Now you're feeling it!" I reply and she rolls her eyes.
"Seriously Gabriella, I still think you should let me buy this place for you. You already rejected my offer to come back to Elite and buying this place for you seems like the best thing I can do at least for now," she brought up the subject again and this time she came so close to convincing me but we got distracted by some arriving customers.
Three tall men came in all dressed in formal attires and one of them was a very familiar face. Liam Helton.
He stares at me for a while before excusing his friends and they stare at me curiously for a while before going for an empty table.
"Hey Gabriella, so good to see you," he greets, smiling widely and it seems like he's genuinely happy to see me.
"It's good to see you too Liam." I reply honestly and he gives me a brief hug, lasting for about 6.2seconds.
I know it's weird I'm counting but I can't help it. Gabrielle clears her throat quickly and he stares at her and then back at me as if asking for permission to talk to her.
"You know I don't bite, right?" Gabrielle rolls her eyes boredly, and I could tell she wasn't comfortable with how Liam looked at her like she was bad news.
"I'm sorry but I can't be too sure about that." He retorts, earning a scowl from Elle.
"Liam it's okay, she's my sister and we're cool." I assure him and he stares at her briefly with furrowed brows before replying.
"If you say so. Hello to you too, Miss Gabrielle," he replied sarcastically and she scoffed.
"Save the hello for the dogs cause with me, you don't need to fake it. I should probably leave now before my mood is ruined any further." She states angrily and I hold her back quickly.
"Wait a sec," I stop her quickly.
I rush back behind the counter and ask a colleague to get me some pastries whilst I prepare coffee for her. I wrapped it up in a paper bag and hurriedly went back, handing her the bag. She stares at me confusedly and I giggle.
"You really didn't have to." She says, obviously surprised and calm but I insist.
"Don't worry sweetie, it's on me." I assure her quickly and she gives me another hug, this one lasting for about 5.5seconds and this time, she added a quick peck on the cheek. Definitely a shocker!
"Thanks a lot Ella and don't forget about my offer," she says calmly and scowls at an amused Liam before walking out.
"I see your sister doesn't like me very much, next time you see her, tell her the feeling is mutual." He states and I chuckle.
"Aren't you going back to your friends? They seem a little impatient," I tell him, pointing towards them and he grins.
"I guess you're right but I'm not leaving without your phone number. We have a lot of catching up to do." He replies with a wink and I feel my cheeks burning red which is completely embarrassing. Play it cool Ella.
We exchange phone numbers and he hugs me again, this time a little tighter and it lasts for about 12seconds, I know I'm weird but I can't help it.
"See you around Ella." He whispers quietly and walks back to his friends whilst I stand there looking like a dumb tomato.
****
"Hey Martin." I chirp happily, giving him a quick peck on the lip.
"Well hello to you too girl with a happy face," he smirks and I smack him.
"Did something happen? You look happy and it's not normal," he asks and I frown.
"What do you mean by that?" I ask in a mock annoyed tone.
"No offense to you sweetie, but ever since you lost your job, your smile sucks. You always look like you're been forced to smile but today you look genuinely happy, which is weird," he replies and I grin.
"Well I am happy. Gabrielle came to see me today," I chirp, he scoffs.
"If that's the good news, spare me the details." He replies and I chuckle.
"She still offered to buy the cafe for me but I didn't get a chance to reply to her," I told him.
I lie next to him on the couch, putting my head on his thighs and joining in on his movie marathon night. The dude actually watches movies on a Thursday, who the hell does that?
"I still don't know why you haven't agreed to that, you should extort her now while she's still being nice. You never know when the phase is gonna end," he replies with a knowing look, shoving a handful of popcorn down his mouth. What an animal!
"Well, I really hope it's not a phase. I really like the new Elle. Can you believe she hugged me for about 6.7seconds in a day? I'm still surprised by it," I chirp excitedly and he throws popcorn on my face.
"That is the saddest thing I've heard all week." He laughs and I sneer.
"Shut up!" I smack his head and he fakes a whimper.
"I actually wanted to accept the offer today but Liam walked in and distracted us." I explain and he sprouts up quickly.
"Liam was at the cafe where you work?" He's asking, I'm sneering.
"Are you starting to lose your hearing, old man?" I hiss at him and he immediately stuffs popcorn through my nose.
"Jesus Martin, are you trying to kill me?" I yell at him angrily and he grins.
"Jesus Martin, are you trying to kill me?" He mimics me in a terribly squealed pitch that sounds absolutely nothing like me.
"You are so gross," I frown childishly and he giggles.
"But you can't live without me," he says proudly and I roll my eyes at his very true statement.
"Anyways, back to this Liam guy, I'm starting to think you two are destined to shag or something, don't you agree?" He says randomly and I stare at him in confusion.
"What the fuck does shag mean?" I ask and something about my question makes him laugh.
"You're twenty six and you don't know what shag means?" He points at me awkwardly and I hiss.
"Is it supposed to be a common word?" I ask.
"You are so boring Ella. Seriously, you are. It's like you only have a phone to just call people. When was the last time you checked social media?" He asks and I scoff.
"Today you animal." I fire back, he scoffs.
"When was the last time you posted a picture of yourself besides liking celebrity's posts and reading dumb gossip?" He points out and when I stay quiet he shakes his head.
"I need to do something about you grandma." He says with a disappointed look on his face and I smack him.
"So here's what I meant about you and Liam. I strongly believe that you two are destined to fuck each other, it could be a hookup, or even better you could make babies." He winks and I burst out laughing.
"You have the best imaginations Martin." I laugh at his stupid conclusion and he sighs.
"At least, I have imagined living with a doll face. You, my friend, are so blind you don't see the signs right in front of you." He replies, sounding very stupid in my opinion.
"I know he's hot and all that but I'm not gonna become a hopeless romantic and start seeing things where they don't exist only to end up getting crushed with disappointment, no thank you sweetie, I'll pass." I tell him snappily and hopefully he drops the subject of Liam.
I wonder what he'd say if he found out we exchanged numbers, he'll probably start planning our wedding, the fool.
"We both need a good fuck." He blurts out and his words made me chuckle but he was right, two lonely people living under one roof is just sad.
"Should we pair up? Let's fuck for fun!" I said jokingly and he chortled.
"As good as that sounds, I think I'll pass." He stares at me blankly and I sneer at him for crushing my self esteem.
"You are a terrible friend." I hissed.
"I'm just being honest, sleeping with you is like sleeping with my little sister and that is just fucking gross. I don't even want to imagine it." He explains and although I agree with him, a little part of me still wanted it to happen since well, he was my first love, a one sided love to be precise.
"How about we go clubbing tomorrow?" He states and I immediately disagree.
"No way Martin. Absolutely, no fucking way." I tell him sharply and jump up from the couch to head to my room but he immediately pulls me back.
"I wasn't asking for permission my dear, it's settled. We are going out tomorrow and if we're lucky, we'll get a good roll in the hay. Understood sweetie?" He snaps and I pout childishly in defeat.
"Whatever you say, Dad." I drawl tiredly before heading to my room.