Gabriella returned to her apartment only to pack a small bag of necessities. After that, she and all the tenants were sealed out of the building while the fire department checked the place over. Gabriella walked to the nearest café – she badly wanted to sit down, she was that worn out. She ordered an iced tea and then laid her head down on the table, feeling tired. Where would she sleep tonight? She couldn't afford a hotel room in the city. What an awful day. No, the last three days had been downright awful. Now she had another problem on her hands.
She looked out the window with thoughtful eyes, watching the sunset. She had to make plans for the night fast. And then it struck her – Sassie! She could easily stay with her friend for a few days.
She rang her up and on the fourth ring, Sassie answered – with a distinct baby's wailing in the background.
"Sass! Did I catch you at a bad time?"
"Gabby! Oh, don't ask, just the joys of motherhood," Sassie sounded exhausted. Gabriella hesitated. She didn't want to trouble Sassie if she had her hands full.
"Did you need something, Gabby? How are you holding up?" Sassie asked kindly. The simple words of concern made Gabriella tear up.
"It's been awfully hard, Sass. I feel like I'm being buried under a rockslide… and now my apartment's been having problems…"
"What problems?" Sassie asked her at once. She quickly explained what happened.
"And now I need a place to stay for a few nights," she concluded.
"Oh, Gabby, I wish you could stay over, I do! But this couldn't have happened at a worse time – Teddy has chickenpox." Gabriella's heart sank. She'd never had chickenpox nor was she vaccinated against it.
"Poor Gabby, I'd have come and picked you up in a heartbeat if I could. But since you've never had it, I can't even come near you for a while."
"I know, I understand."
"What about Brandon?" Sassie asked suddenly. "Hon, ask him for help! Where is that boy? He oughta be taking special care of his girlfriend at a time like this—"
"Sassie, Brandon can't come," Gabriella said with a pang in her heart, "he has his own problems to deal with."
"Don't tell me he's ghosting you?" Sassie asked incredulously. "Uh-uh, no way is that boy leaving you all alone, not after everything that happened! I oughta give him a piece of my mind—" a loud bawl interrupted her.
"Oooh, sorry Gabby, Teddy needs my attention. Look, just give me a few minutes, I'll call you back, okay?"
"No, no, Sass, it's okay. Don't worry about it, I'll find my way around." Gabriella assured her friend and hung up. She knew how difficult it was to deal with a sick child, she had been in the same situation herself as a little girl and her mother had to give her all her attention. She couldn't worry Sassie now. But she was back to square one, without a place to stay. What was she to do?
"Phil, where is that apple juice?!" Sassie yelled impatiently for her husband while rocking Teddy, her wailing three-year-old son in her lap in the bedroom. Phil came in just then, carrying a bottle of juice.
"What took so long?!" Sassie grumbled. Phil smiled waspishly.
"I had to make sure the juice was strained clear… oh, oh, there's my little teddy bear! Do you want Daddy to feed you?" Phil fondled his son's cheeks.
"No! Sippy cup!" Teddy cried in protest with his eyes full. Sassie handed him over to his dad.
"He'll drink it on his own if he has his cup, get it for him and watch him for a while, okay? Make sure he doesn't scratch!"
"Wait, where are you going?" Phil asked her as she got up and hurried out of the room.
"I need to call that boyfriend of Gabriella's and give him a good talking to, she's stranded and has nowhere to go and that wuss is ghosting her!" Sassie said with a flare of her nostrils. Phil smiled.
"You can get his number out of my phone, I got it from him at the wedding."
"Really? You're the best, honey!" Sassie blew him a kiss and went to get her phone. She quickly dialed the number. The phone rang for a while with no answer.
"Why that—" Sassie began to cuss, but then decided to keep calling again and again. On the eighth call, someone picked up.
"Hello?" It was Brandon. Sassie flared up at once.
"Brandon Whiteley! Where the heck are you?! Have you been avoiding Gabriella?"
"Er…" Brandon sounded stunned. He recognized Sassie's voice but wondered why she sounded so tempestuous.
"That poor girl has been going through a miserable time, is stranded outside her building with nowhere to go and you have the nerve to ignore her?! Get your sorry butt down there at once and pick her up or else you'll hear from me again!" With that, she slammed the phone on the table, cutting the call. She turned and saw her husband standing at the door with a smile on his face, bouncing Teddy on his hip who was happily sipping his juice.
"What?" Sassie asked him. He shook his head and regarded her with a proud smile.
"That's my wife, watch out when she's on the warpath." Sassie could only blush at her husband's compliment.
Gabriella had been grounded in the cafe for the last two hours, downing her second glass of iced tea but feeling too stressed to eat anything. She still had nowhere to go after a fruitless search of all the cheapest hotels in New York on her phone.
"Ugh, that wretched inflation…" She muttered regretfully to herself. The cafe had been about to close up for the night and the server kept glancing her way, indicating he wanted her to leave. She was the last customer. With a sigh, she paid the bill and stepped out.
The sun had set long ago and the darkness brought a chill to her heart. New York City was a lot more scary at night when you were alone and had no place to go. She hung her head as she walked along, feeling hopeless. For a moment, she wished Brandon was here, at least then she wouldn't feel so abandoned. She feared the false articles were keeping him away from her. Maybe he didn't want to be seen with her and stain his reputable name even further. It made her heartbreak at the thought. She was alone now and she had to face things that way.
She came to a bus stop and sat down. She briefly considered sleeping at the airport… or the train station. It wasn't that unusual as people often had to wait hours for a flight or train and would sleep in the lounges. Dared she go there? She didn't look like she was traveling – she was wearing a plain blouse and jeans with a long knitted shrug. She curled her toes in her loafers as she considered the idea. It was as she was debating that a voice interrupted her thoughts, a voice she had hoped to never hear for the rest of her life.
"Gabriella. It must be destiny that we meet again."
Brandon kept staring at his phone after Sassie hung up, feeling dazed. Sassie could really snap a guy out of it. Her words rang in his head like a bell: That poor girl has been going through a miserable time! It made him worry about Gabriella. He thought she'd be safer if he didn't interfere with her life and make the gossip around her increase with his presence, but apparently, she was struggling on her own. He shot up from his couch, his heart unable to be still anymore. He wondered what Sassie meant by Gabriella having nowhere to go. What happened to her apartment? He'd just dropped her off a few hours ago!
He shook himself. No matter what, he never should have left her to deal with things alone. She needed him. He got into his car as he was and raced to Perch Street.
"Sassie said she was stranded…" he muttered to himself. He pulled out his phone and began to locate Gabriella's phone – he felt relieved when he saw it just a block away from her building. She must've been on foot. He hit the gas, intending to reach her as soon as possible.
As he neared Perch Street and stopped at the signal, he saw her sitting at the bus stop across the road on the other side – standing next to the one person whose neck he wished he could wring. The one person who had caused so much trouble for him and his precious angel. His fists tightened on the steering wheel as he raced past her building as soon as the light turned green. He had to take a U-turn up the road to get to her, and fast!
"Wait for me, Gabriella, I'm coming!"
Gabriella gaped in open-mouthed horror at Archer.
"You!" She gasped. The color drained from her face on seeing him, the man who had dragged her name through the mud, who had been such a thorn in her life, right in front of her. He sauntered up to her and sat down, a smug smile on his face.
"You look like you could use a shoulder to cry on." Gabriella choked on her own breath; after all the hell he caused for her, he had the audacity to act like he still gave a damn about her?! She was so stunned, it left her speechless. Archer reached out to caress her hair.
"What's the matter, sweetheart, did that sorry sucker of a millionaire knock you up and leave you high and dry?" Gabriella jerked away from him, springing to her feet. She found her tongue.
"You, you've gone too far this time, Archer." Gabriella rasped out, her voice straining to come out as her emotions choked her. Archer stood up and stepped closer to her.
"Oh, come on, Brie. Like you didn't see it coming. That," he called Brandon a name that made Gabriella's ears burn, "should've taken precautions to see that you weren't left with his spawn—"
"You have no right to talk about him like that!" Gabriella cried out in anger, her voice quivering as she spoke. "You don't know anything! All you ever knew was how to use people and then hurt them when they could no longer benefit you! Brandon is ten times more the man you could ever hope to be! You're a pitiful excuse for a human being, Archer, and I wish to heaven I'd never met you!" The smile faded from Archer's face and his eyes went granite hard.
"Still playing the innocent card, Brie? Don't waste your time. You're not fooling anyone. I've seen Whiteley at your apartment. And I bet my bottom dollar he's been there dozens of times. You even shared a room with him at the Fitzgerald hotel. I'm stating the facts. Face it, Brie. Whiteley's been taking you for a fine ride banging around and you've been eating out of the palm of his hand. You're nothing but a little minx." The harsh grating voice of Archer's insults cut through Gabriella's ears and she felt her head spin. The lies, the insults, the cruel accusations… She couldn't take it anymore. Tears blinded her. She raised her hand, intending to slap Archer, but he caught her wrist.
"Don't pick a fight with me, Gabriella. You'll regret it," He blazed at her. Suddenly, Archer was flung back a few feet and flew to the ground, sprawling in an ungainly position. Gabriella gasped, wondering what happened – she hadn't hit him in her anger, had she? But then a figure appeared beside her and stepped protectively in front of her – a figure with familiar broad shoulders and a slender waist. The figure of the one person her heart was yearning for.
"Get your slimy hands off my girlfriend!" Brandon roared. He had hit Archer so hard that the force threw him some distance. He rose to his feet in a moment, his usually sleek hair flipped out of place all over his forehead. He glowered vindictively at Brandon.
"Damn you, Whiteley, you keep this up and I'll sue you for assault!"
"You wanna bring the law into this? Fine by me! I'll go first. Attempting to assault an unarmed woman," Brandon gestured to Gabriella, "stalking her and spreading false rumors about her, defaming her character! What do you think? Which charge do you want to answer to? How about them all?!" Archer didn't answer but merely stared at him and Gabriella with pure hatred in his eyes.
"You made a big mistake, Gabriella. You should've chosen me when you had the chance." He spat out in rage. Gabriella took a step back in fear but Brandon kept shielding her with his body.
"That's enough of your threats, Steele. You'll be answering to me from now on. And I'll make sure you never get the chance to come within a mile of her again!" Brandon pulled out a piece of paper from his breast pocket and shoved it at arm's length in Archer's face.
"I figured you couldn't stop your dirty habit of harassing Gabriella, so I got this – it's a restraining order." Gabriella stared at Brandon, stunned. When did he think of that?
"You come within ten feet of her or breathe one nasty lie about her and I see that you're thrown in jail for the rest of your life!" Brandon vociferated at Archer before turning and grabbing Gabriella's hand. He took her to his car and made sure she was safely seated before getting into the driver's seat. Without another word, he drove away, leaving a defeated, howling Archer at the bus stop.
Gabriella turned to Brandon. Her heart was still pounding fast and her head was reeling. Running into Archer had been traumatizing for her, but when Brandon showed up like her noble knight to defend her honor and rescue her – she almost cried in relief. Brandon hadn't abandoned her.
"Gabriella, angel, are you okay?" Brandon asked worriedly. Gabriella hadn't realized she had burst into tears and was weeping uncontrollably. Brandon stopped the car by the side of the road and turned to her, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Shh, it's okay Angel, it's okay. You're safe, I won't let anyone hurt you ever again." He spoke sweet, soothing nothings to her until she had calmed down. Then, wiping her tears with the back of his hands, he placed a chaste kiss on her brow.
"Angel…" he whispered.
"I missed you so much, Brandon!" Gabriella cried out. "I've never been more glad to see you in my life than when you showed up like that… I was afraid you didn't want to see me, you didn't want to have anything to do with me because of those articles…"
"No, no Angel, it's not at all like that!" Brandon hurriedly reassured her. "I was afraid more harmful rumors would spread if people knew I was in and out of your apartment and I couldn't bear to make things worse for you!" Gabriella could only cry silently as she took his words in. Brandon cupped her face, massaging her skin lovingly.
"My darling Angel, you've been carrying the burden all alone, haven't you?" Brandon's expression wrung with sorrow as he took in her heartbroken appearance. He pulled her against his chest. "I'm so sorry I left you like that and made you think I didn't want you. I promise you, that's a mistake I will never make again." Gabriella raised hopeful eyes at him.
"You mean that?"
"With all my heart, Angel." Brandon leaned his forehead against hers. "I'm gonna be taking care of you from now on. I wasn't there for you when you needed me most. But not anymore." A smile of utter relief spread on Gabriella's face.
"There's my smiling Angel," Brandon said, reflecting her smile. A happy laugh escaped her lips before she gave a hiccup. Brandon pulled a bottle of water out of the glove compartment in front of her and gave it to her.
"Have you had anything to eat?" He asked as she gulped the water down thirstily. She shook her head.
"I've been having a bad day, I'm not even hungry anymore." She capped the bottle and sat quietly for a moment.
"Brandon?"
"Yes?"
"How did you find me?"
"Phone tracker." Gabriella never felt more grateful for that invasive app than at that moment.
"Of course, Sassie did call me and put me to shame," Brandon added abashedly, "she sure gave me a tongue lashing for leaving you."
"Sassie called you?" Gabriella asked in astonishment. Brandon nodded.
"If it weren't for her…" Brandon closed his eyes and pressed his forehead in remorse. "I'm just glad I found you in time." Gabriella had to remember to thank her friend later. She leaned back in her seat and threaded her hand in his.
"I never thought that app would grow on me…" she laughed weakly. "Now all I have to do is find a place for the night—"
"What do you mean? You'll be sleeping over at my house," Brandon said like it was obvious. Gabriella blinked.
"What? But—"
"No 'buts'. Just let me take care of you, Angel. I'm going to be your everything from now on." Gabriella sighed with happy acquiescence. She didn't know what she did to deserve Brandon. He might be the one who always called her Angel, but he was the real angel sent from heaven above.