Today was D-day. The day he got to leave his miserable life behind and start a new chapter, but only for a while. Everything has been put in place and all that was left for him was to make a move.
Gabriel Alistair looked around his home office, he was going to miss this place as much as he was in a hurry to leave everything behind. In order not to draw suspicion, he would not leave with his properties, he had things already set up in his new destination.
Well, not everything, because Gabriel reached under his desk and pressed an inconspicuous button beneath only for a small hidden compartment to pop out. Inside the small box was a smartphone and he took it out.
Gabriel had carefully hidden the phone because it contained pictures of his face - his real appearance. Bored with his life, he found a hobby of taking pictures and filming himself without the masks on. Pictures of himself that the world was never going to see until the day he beat the Mafioso.
Hence he carefully guarded the phone knowing that it would be a disaster if someone got his or her hands on it and exposed his identity. Although he doubted he or she would be able to get past the security since the phone was customized for him. Gabriel slipped the phone into his pocket, he couldn't leave it behind and risk it being found.
It can't get into the wrong hands.
Giving the room one final look, Gabriel closed the door and left with his mask secured. To the others, he was leaving for work as usual and didn't know he had other plans. However, on his way out, Gabriel stumbled into his mother in the foyer and his resolve almost weakened.
He was going to leave his mother and it made him begin to question his decision. His mother never left his side since his birth and the both of them were inseparable until now. What if something happened to her in his absence? Even she doesn't have an idea of his elopement.
Gabriel dismissed the thought, his mother would be safe. There were enough guards to ensure that and it was better she had no idea of his plans. She would try to stop him, not to mention that it was safer that way.
"Gabriel,"
"Mother."
His precious mother came over and pressed his forehead on hers. That has been their method of greeting for years now. Honestly, it hurts Gabriel that she has no idea what he looks like beneath the mask. It has been twenty-five years already, wasn't she a tiny bit curious as to what her son looks like? But then, he also understood her reasons and couldn't blame her. Everything she was doing was for his sake.
"You're leaving for work already?" She asked.
"Yes."
"Let me walk you out then."
Gabriel nodded and the both of them began to walk outside.
"You look stressed." Gabriel pointed out, staring at the slight furrow on her face.
Noticing his looks, Genevieve relaxed at once. She smiled at him saying, "The anniversary was a success, which means more business as everyone is interested in my plans."
"I would have your assistant cut down on your appointments, you need to rest." He told her seriously.
His mother was the only family he had left, well, aside from his uncle he had not seen for a while now, so he was not going to let anything happen to her. Everyone else could go to hell as long as he cared.
Genevieve squeezed his arm affectionately, "You have nothing to worry about. Although…" She added, staring up at him with a curious expression, "I heard some news that you are interested in a certain young miss of the Williams family."
Gabriel halted in his step and turned to his mother. His expression tightened as the comment made him raise his brow in confusion, "A certain young miss?"
"Alicia," Genevieve called her name and waited for her son to explain to her what was going on.
"Oh."
It was the lady from that night.
He lifted his head and said to her with an air of confidence, "You have nothing to worry about, mother."
"Good." Genevieve's expression brightened and she looped her arm around her son's as they continued their journey.
If there was anything Gabriel loved about his mother, it was the trust and tacit understanding between them. She needed not to say a word and he would grasp it all.
She continued as they now made it to the lawn, "As much as I would love an intelligent daughter-in-law who would take care of you when I'm not around, an ambitious woman does not cut."
Hearing those words from his mother, Gabriel covered her grip on his arm with his larger palm and squeezed it gently. "You are not going anywhere," He said.
Genevieve stopped in her tracks since they had reached their destination, and her son's chauffeur was waiting outside the car for him.
His mother said to him, "I don't know if it is possible and it seems like I'm asking too much, but I want you Gabriel to fall in love and experience the sweet love your father and I had."
His father had always been a sensitive subject for her mother, having not gotten over him even with the years gone by. Hence, it wasn't surprising when the tear slipped down her cheek. His heart ached to see his mother this way and he reached out, swiping away the tears with his thumb.
"Do not worry about me too much, mother, I'll be okay." He promised her.
The woman nodded before releasing her grip, patting him on the back,
"In that case, off you go then, son."
But Gabriel didn't leave immediately, instead, he stood and stared at his mother, imprinting her features into his head even though it wasn't the last time they were going to see. He would surely come back.
Without a word, he drew his mother into his arms and embraced her tightly. Genevieve was surprised by her son's sudden display of affection, not that she was complaining, and hugged him back. They stood in that way for a while until Gabriel decided that it was time to go.
"I love you, mother." He said.
"I love you too, son. So go away and stop being soapy," She was literally pushing him away.
Gabriel got the point and broke away from him. Waving at her one final time, he strengthened his resolve and climbed into the car, the doors held open by the chauffeur. His second-in-command joined him in the car since it was known that he never goes anywhere without him.
It was time.
The chauffeur drove around for a while until Gabriel suddenly commanded him to stop.
"Huh?" The chauffeur looked at him, stunned. They hardly made any stops on their way to the office.
Gabriel lowered the window and looked outside, it was a shopping mall.
"I need to get something," He told the chauffeur who had no other choice but to pull over into the parking lot.
Gabriel then stepped out of the car alongside his second-in-command, Luke, and though the both of them didn't say a word, they communicated tactically through their gazes. Because of the mask, he was putting on, Gabriel was used to the attention and all eyes were on him as soon as he stepped into the mall.
But he ignored them all and located the men's room. There were quite a lot of them in there, but he waited patiently for them while standing before the sink. The instant the restroom was clear, Luke, his second in command, put out a sign that stopped anywhere from coming in.
Well, not everyone, because a strange man wearing a cap with half his face covered in a face mask stepped in and the door was closed behind them while Luke stood guard outside.
Minutes later, the door was opened and Gabriel Alistair stepped out or so the others thought because the truth is that he switched his identity and the man now wearing his mask was his fill-in that he had been grooming for months. Seeing the fake one, Luke glanced back into the restroom since the door was ajar and the real Gabriel nodded at him, a sign for him to move on.
It was now or never.
And together, the both of them left to fill in his place.
Gabriel came out, now dressed in plain clothes, unlike his replacement that was wearing his expensive suit. Although he was sketchy about revealing his identity back in this city, the cap and face mask did enough job of hiding his face. Even if anyone looked into today's encounter, they wouldn't find anything strange except the fact that he was now carrying a duffel bag.
Luke and his replacement would shop for a few stuff before returning to his car else his chauffeur suspects something. Gabriel did not fully trust anyone and Luke had shown enough of his trust to win his heart. He was the only one that he trusted enough, and now, Jackson. He hoped the newbie wouldn't fail him.
Jackson didn't fail him, he was waiting exactly at the entrance of the airport where they agreed to meet. And one should see the way the young man stared at him to the point his mouth was open.
"What?!" Gabriel asked when he couldn't stand his staring anymore.
"You don't look as hideous as they said, no," He corrected himself, "You look very handsome!"
Although Gabriel hadn't taken off the face mask, Jackson had seen little of his face to know the rumors were false.
"You should know better than to trust in rumors." Gabriel snorted in response, walking away. He had to admit though, it was kind of satisfying springing this kind of effect on people.
When Jackson didn't follow him as expected, still standing at the spot and reeling from the shock, he shouted at him, "Are you coming or not?!"
It was time to start a new chapter of his life and he wasn't waiting for anybody.