Gabriel flinched, he was disoriented. He tried to grasp the situation around him. He looked over at Selina, her hand that contained the wine glass was now empty and it was trembling, trembling so much Gabriel started to worry. He looked down to the ground and finally found the wine glass, but it was beyond recognition as it was shattered to a thousand pieces on the tiled floor.
Gabriel looked around. The guests in their vicinity that had obviously heard the noise were staring in their direction, some whispering with their hands over their mouths.
He needed to contain the situation.
"Selina, what happened, you seem sc-"
"Ah, forgive me, it seems I startled the bride to be." The man, standing in front of them, said, loud enough for the other guests to hear.
Selina stood frozen like a rock, her eyes glued to the man in front of them. Gabriel was bewildered, curious. He was about to speak to Selina again, but the man in front of them walked closer.
"I'm so sorry, Mrs Reed, or should I say Mrs Marshall."
Gabriel could hear it in his tone. It was prominent, a mocking tone, something he couldn't miss. He looked up at the man, eyeing him carefully.
"Who are you?" Gabriel inquired almost harshly as he pulled Selina closer to him.
"I'm an old friend of Selina, it's nice to meet you Mr Marshall." He replied politely and extended his hand out for a shake.
Gabriel was reluctant to return the shake, but he knew that all eyes were on him right now. He could feel their stares, like a needle, prickling on his skin. As reluctant as he was, Gabriel returned the handshake and something finally clicked in his head.
The way the man in front of him was squeezing his hand tighter than a normal handshake should and the way Selina was frozen cold told him something. If he wasn't wrong, them this man, giving him the nastiest stare ever was none other than Selina's lover, the man she was whispering to on the phone, during the day of her shoot. Gabriel scoffed.
The situation was utterly ridiculous.
"Congratulations on your engagement."
"Thank you for coming to celebrate with us." Gabriel replied with a grin.
The man looked at Selina again, a lingering gaze and then smiled at her. "I'll take my leave now."
The man walked away from them, almost too hastily. Gabriel felt Selina relax and she exhaled.
"What's going on here." Diana boomed as she walked towards them.
Gabriel almost let a curse slip out of his mouth as she stood in front of him. Just how did this woman hear the noise all the way from the other side of the room?
Diana's eyes fell on the broken wine glass and gave Gabriel a questioning eye.
"Explain."
"Its seems like my fiancee here is a bit tired and the glass accidentally slipped from her hands."
Diana eyed her son and scoffed. She clapped her hands and waiters came rushing in.
"Clean this mess up. We can't afford to let anyone get injured." She ordered.
The waiters obeyed and began cleaning up the mess. The guests went back to chatting away and sipping on their wine, forgetting the whole situation ever happened.
Diana moved closer to her son, a hand on his shoulder as she whispered into his ear.
"Better take her to a room upstairs and let her rest a while. We can't have her messing this up. There are more guests to greet." She said and squeezed his shoulder tightly.
She dropped a room key in his hands and Gabriel only nodded, looking at Selina. She caught the gist of it, and let Gabriel lead the way. They breezed through the crowd and walked up the wide elegant stairs to the second floor.
The corridor was lined with brown mahogany doors that seemed to stretch out through out the hall way. Gabriel looked at the doors carefully, checking which room number matched the one on the key he held. Selina walked behind him, still shook by the events that happened seconds back.
Thankfully, Gabriel found the room and slid the key into the lock and flipped it open. He walked into the suite first and Selina followed behind him. The room was indeed a luxury suite with its king sized bed, brightly lit chandelier and artificial flower pots here and there.
Selina quickly rushed past him and into the bathroom. He heard some unpleasant and revolting sound coming from the bathroom. He could tell that she was throwing up. He sighed and loosened his tie. He walked over to the glass windows and gazed at the city's nightlife. Just the thing he needed to clear his head.
Selina's footsteps startled Gabriel, and he turned back to her. Her face was drenched with water, all her make up had been washed away. She plopped back on the bed and rubbed her eyes. Gabriel tore his gaze from her and turned back to viewing the city.
"Mr Marshall, i-"
"I had my assumptions when I saw him, but they were confirmed later," He turned to her. "That was your lover, wasn't it?"
Selina sprung up from the bed and looked at Gabriel. "Mr Marshall, I swear! I didn't invite him here! I didn't know he'd randomly show up at the hall, I didn't give him an invitation or tell him the adre-"
"I know." He cut in sharply, tired of her incessant babbling. A poor attempt to defend herself. "It was obvious from your demeanor. You don't have to try do hard to defend yourself in front of me."
Selina relaxed a little.
"Thank you Mr Marshall." She said, solemnly.
Gabriel walked towards her, his expression cold.
"But you do know that you've been careless. A stunt like this is enough to ruin everything we've worked for, I hope you're aware of that, Selina."
Selina swallowed and averted her gaze. She clutched her arm tightly as her lips quivered.
"I won't let it happen again Mr Marshall."
"Good."
Gabriel adjusted his tie properly and walked to the door. "Make sure you get some rest. You have 15 minutes, there are still guests to attend to and we can't keep them waiting. I'll send Dolce up to fix your make up."
With that, he walked out the door and slammed it shut behind him.