Gabriel adjusted his bath robe and walked over to the door reluctantly. He was irritated that someone would come knocking at him door as such a time in the night. He looked out the peer hole and let out a disgusted sigh.
With a great hesitancy, Gabriel unlocked the door and swung it open. He stared at the woman standing out side he door and clicked his tongue.
"What do you want mother?" He quizzed.
Diana scoffed and brushed past him, into the house without answering his question.
"I have something important to tell you."
"And that important thing couldn't wait until tomorrow? Or you couldn't send me a text?" Gabriel complained.
Diana ignored her son's nagging and walked past the long corridor and into the living room. Gabriel follow after her, cursing under his breath and hoping that Leslie was dressed, at least.
To his surprise, Leslie was dressed and sitting on the couch, pressing away at her phone. Diana gave Leslie a short glance and brushed past the sofa, ignoring her completely. She walked over to the wine bar and inspecting the bottles of wine sitting on the marble shelf.
"I see that your taste in wine is still as bland as ever." She stated as she took a bottle off the shelf and examined it.
Gabriel folded his arms and glared at his mother.
"I'm not going to ask you again mother, why are you here?" Gabriel asked firmly.
Diana let out an incessive sigh and placed the bottle of wine down on the small counter that was placed in from of the shelf full of wine bottles and glasses.
"No matter the standing of our relationship, I am still your mother and I deserve that respect." She reckoned, her voice getting strong and forceful.
Gabriel flinched at the tone of her voice and the way her icy cold, emotionless eyes were glued to him, never wavering, never wandering away from him. Her Stony face and unfeeling face reminded him of the past, when he was much more younger. His mother always looked at him like that, without any feelings of love and care. Of course she wouldn't look at him like that, she didn't love him, heck his mother had never loved him, even from birth. Gabriel rubbed his eyes, sighing, a tired sigh, a show of resignation as he flopped down on the sofa that sat directly in front of the sofa Leslie was seated on.
Diana smirked, a triumphant smirk and went back to scanning the wine in the bar.
"Do you want us to discuss in front of this...this Gigloo?" Diana said after a few minutes.
Leslie went hot and red as she made a sharp turn to her direction.
"Excuse me?" she piped up, clearly offended by Diana's statement.
Diana ignored her and turned to her son, her eyebrows cocked, showing that she was expecting an answer from him. Gabriel glanced as Leslie, who was still burning with anger s d turned back to his mother.
"It's fine, you can say whatever you want in front her." Gabriel finally answered as he waved his hand in front of him. Diana finally decided what wine she wanted, and took one off the shelf.
"You're going to have your engagement photoshoot tomorrow. We're speeding things up you see. The contract needs to be signed and both companies need to be merged as soon as possible."
Leslie sprung up from the sofa, her mouth agape.
"What?! An engagement?!" She exclaimed, making a sharp turn to Gabriel.
Diana poured herself a small amount of wine and took a sip, a smirk curling up her lips at the mere delight of watching the dram unfolding before her very eyes. Gabriel gazed at Leslie, no change in his expression, not even the slightest.
"Were you going to even let me know? Or were you going to let me found out from social media?"
Gabriel gave a light shrug. "I don't see why this is getting you all hot and bothered Leslie."
Gabriel cocked his head at her, his face rippled with puzzlement.
"Or perhaps, do you have feelings for me?"
Leslie's face flushed a bright red as her whole body went stiff. That was all the confirmation Gabriel needed.
"I believe I made it clear that this relationship we have, has no and should not have any sort of feelings attached to it. It should be purely physical. I made this fact very clear Leslie."
Leslie gripped her arm, tears clouding her vision.
"But the way you acted, I thought...I thought we felt the same way." She croaked.
Her sadness slowly changed to anger once again. "Well, it seems like I was wrong."
Grabbing her coat, Leslie walked out of the living room briskly and out of his house.
"You're not going after her?" Diana inquired.
Gabriel just gave her a shrug. He looked up at his mother, eyeing her expression.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you? Saying that to stir her up."
Diana scoffed and sipped her wine again "You're the one who told me to go ahead and speak. I don't see why you'd be accusing like this."
Gabriel rubbed his temples and sighed. "On the bright side, she's gone now and we can talk freely."
Diana walked over to the sofa, wine in hand and sat down elegantly, crossing her legs.
"You will have your engagement party in three days after the photoshoot and the wedding will come two weeks after that." Diana informed.
"So soon? Everything's moving way too fast for me to process."
Diana nodded. "Like I said earlier, we need speed things up for the contract."
"People will talk. The whole marriage will look rushed."
Diana sipped out of the wine glass. "We'll cover it up, make it looked like you've been dating Mr Reed's daughter for a year or two, mmm...maybe three years, the more the better."
Gabriel was exhausted, mentally. He sunk into the sofa further. "But you didn't have to come all the way to tell me all this, and by 10pm at that."
"I'm leaving on a business trip tomorrow and this is quite urgent."
Diana gulped down the rest of the wine and set the glass down on the table in front of her. She got up from the chair and walked to the entrance of the living room.
"I'll send your schedule over tomorrow." And with that, she disappeared into the corridor.