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Malcolm, please. Let Adolpho or Gil drive you home. It’s late! And cold as bricks!" Jessica pleaded with Malcolm, walking steadily behind him towards the door. He had insisted on walking home and something about fresh air.
"I'll be fine. Goodnight, mother." He walked off before she could protest any further.
"Mal- at least text me when you're home!"
"Uh-huh! Goodnight!" A sing-songy Malcolm rushed into the frigid New York air.
The door shut and she sighed, trying to calm her crashing waves of anxiety. She heard the sound of footsteps behind her and turned around expecting to see Gil. However, it wasn't Gil. It was her worst nightmare.
"Where is he?" A frantic Martin rushed up to her, eyes and hair wild as ever. She stood still, as if in a state of pure shock. "WHERE IS HE?" His arms reached forward and his hands grabbed her neck as he pushed her against the wall. His eyes lit up and burned with fire and he shook her as he asked once again, "WHERE. IS. HE?"
"STOP!" A startled and sweaty Jessica popped up in bed, panting loudly. She felt a hand creep up on her and practically jumped out of bed. The hard hit to the floor helped pull her back to reality as she stood up and recognized her surroundings. Her eyes adjusted to the lamp that was on and the figure that had touched her moments ago. Gil.
He had his arms out in front of him. Not in a way that said he was scared but in a way that showed her he wasn't going to hurt her. That he was there for her, and that he'd never meant any harm. He had woken up at around 2 am to her moving around and mumbling and knew what was coming. A soft expression played upon his face as he waited for her to move. "It's just me. I'm right here. I'm not gonna hurt you, baby."
"I'm sorry, Gil. I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-"
She was interrupted by Gil who had caught her downward spiral of unnecessary apologies and stopped them in their tracks. "Hey, look at me. There's nothing to apologize for. You didn't do a thing. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. I'm sorry." He walked over to her slowly with his arms out, welcoming her into a hug and putting his chin on her head. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head into his chest, finally letting the tears flow.
Gil felt the tear stains on his shirt grow and his expression fell further as he put his hand on the back of her head, pulling her in closer. Her body shook as she sobbed into him and fell. The weight of both herself and her thoughts became too much and he caught her, laid her on the bed, and sat behind her. With covers pulled up and his arms now wrapped around her tightly, her curled against him, he whispered sweet nothings and reassurances into her ear with hopes that it would calm her.
After a few minutes, her breathing slowed and the tears had finally stopped. "Are you not gonna ask?" She tilted her head up to look at him.
"Only if you want me to, darlin'. You're not inclined to tell me what happened." Gil spoke with such a calmness that would soothe just about anybody. He was so patient with her and she wondered, again, how and why he deals with her? Or if she even deserves it?
Jess sat up and turned to face him. She started with a deep sigh, “It was Martin. He was looking for Malcolm, asking where he was and when I wouldn’t-” when she paused to take a breath, Gil grabbed her hand and squeezed with hopes to ground her and let her know that she was okay, “When I wouldn’t tell him where he was (out of shock, of course) he shoved me against the wall and shook me. And his eyes. They were like a...a bright red almost. Like a...a fire that burns you if you’re too close. Gil I-”
“I know, Jess. I know.” He pulled her close again and kissed the top of her head. “Hey, how ‘bout you go ahead out on the porch and I’ll meet you there with a surprise?” Gil moved the hair that was in her face to behind her ears while she nodded a shy yes.
The couple had decided to have a getaway after so many years of being out of touch and then, all of a sudden, having so much to unpack all at once. They felt it was necessary for them (both separately and together) so they packed up and went to the Milton beach house for a relaxing vacation away from their kids, work, and most importantly, Martin. Gil had brought a case of cigars and Jessica’s favorite scotch as a surprise for later, but now seemed like the perfect time so...why wait?
As he made his way downstairs, he looked at the clock that showed 2:33 and looked through the window to see that the sun was starting to creep out. It was the perfect time for a little music so he grabbed a speaker and put it in the pocket of his pants as he made his way out onto the back porch of the house with a bottle of scotch and a lighter in one hand and 2 glasses with cigars in each in the other. He saw Jessica curled up in a blanket on the porch swing and smiled. The rising sun gave her a glow that was simply breathtaking. Damn, he was lucky to have her.
"Surpriseee!" Jessica turned to Gil’s voice and chuckled when she saw what this plan of his was.
"Gil, what is this?" She attempted to get up and help him set everything down but he stopped her with a look that said it all. sit .
"It was supposed to be a surprise for later in our getaway but I figured there was no point in waiting any longer. Unless you don't want to do this now. I can always-"
"No, no! It's fine. I'd love to share this sunrise with you. Thank you, Gil. So much. You doing all this just…just means a ton. Thank you." She really hadn't known what else to say. What do you say to someone who goes above and beyond constantly for you and your kids other than "thank you" a thousand times? Jessica has never had anyone do such a thing for her. And he did it as if it was normal. As if it's what anyone would do. "God, Gil. How can I ever repay you?" She looked at him with tender eyes, the rising sun hitting her skin perfectly.
Gil had finished setting everything up when he plopped down with somewhat of a defeated sigh. “You can help me open this bottle? I was trying to open it earlier but it just wouldn’t budge. You open them way better than I do.” He handed her the bottle with such seriousness that made her giggle as she opened the bottle with ease.
This woman is gonna be the death of me. I just know it.
“It’s easy, babe. Just twist a little and pop it open. See? Just takes a bit of finesse but its simple.” She put the cap back on and handed it over, “Here, you try.”
“finesse...twist...and...pop!” He spoke himself through the process and, what do you know? Success! He opened the bottle with ease just as Jess has just seconds ago.
“See? I told you it was easy! Usually, bottles are easier to open but rich people’s shit tends to be over-dramatic as you know. Thank you again for the-”
“Stop thanking me, Jess. I do this because I want to. Not because I pity you or whatever that voice in the back of your head is telling you. You’ve thanked me for everything since we got here. There’s nothing to thank me for, baby. You deserve it and nothing less. Got it?”
Speechless. How? Why? How did he always manage to take her words right out of her brain? The words couldn’t even form in her head so she could speak them and ask. Why did he choose her, out of all people? It had honestly surprised her the first time she realized he had feelings for her but now? After she closed those windows and ignored him for years, he gave her another chance. He gave them another chance. But the real question is, had he ever truly given up?
The only thing that she could do was give a faint “mmhm” that Gil had barely heard. He knew she couldn't bring herself to say anything but it was necessary for her to know that this isn’t out of pity. This is because he loves her. Even if he won’t say it out loud quite yet.
“I need you to tell me you understand, sweetheart. Talk to me.. Tell me you know that I do this because I...I-”
“I know. You do this because you care but I just...how is love enough? How does love make you stay? And for me of all people?"
"Yes, you. Always you, Jess. Even when we weren't on good terms, I thought about you every day. Every day, I wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay. Love will always be enough. My love for you has never gone away and It never will. And if I have to, I will prove it to you every waking moment and every night when I lay next to you. Do you understand me?” He stopped pouring the scotch to look at her tenderly, waiting for an answer.
“Sir, yes, sir.” She smiled that flirtatious smile that always made him shiver and he continued to pour. Jessica being Jessica had an idea. Would it work how she wanted? Most likely not. But she could always give it a try. Putting her plan into action, she leaned forward and reached for the cigar now next to her glass. They were on the other side of Gil, giving him full access to see what was in that nightgown of hers. He looked down and waited until she was sitting up straight again to look at her. “Something wrong, babe?”
“You’re a tease. That’s what’s wrong.”
“Oh, you fucking love it.” She put the cigar in her mouth to wet the tip and got the lighter along with the cigar cutter. After cutting the head slightly and rotating the end of the cigar on the flame, she put it in her mouth and started puffing lightly with the lighter still on the end, creating a red glow. Once the cigar was properly lit, she turned towards Gil who was dumbfoundedly staring at her and gave him a wink before turning back and getting a long puff on her cigar.
“Unbelievable.” He started getting his cigar started as she just did and she let out a chuckle as she grabbed her glass of scotch and turned to face him fully, her legs laying on his thighs.
“You know, i can’t remember the last time i was able to relax this much. Ever since I got pregnant with Malcolm, there was really no relaxing. And you’d think once they were grown, I was able to catch a break but I'm working if I'm not too fucked up to walk to my room.” She puffed on her cigar once again and watched the smoke fade. He looked at her, shook his head, and smiled. To anyone else, that sentence would be terribly sad but he knows she means it as humor.
“And do you know that covering up sadness with humor shouldn’t be as normal as you make it seem?” He stared at her with his head slightly cocked to the side and she turned away giggling.
“Well, lieutenant, unless you plan to stop me, (which you won’t because I’m unstoppable) I’d suck it up.”
“Yeah, whatever. You know I’m right.” He turned back to face the waves in front of them and hooked his arm under Jessica’s leg to get leverage and pull her closer to him and get some of the covers too.
“Are you?” She reached forward to grab his phone and the speaker to turn on their favorite. Sade.
“Yes. Always.” This man and his smugness. No one would have ever really thought he was a cocky guy. He seemed very cool but you truly don't know Gil Arroyo if you haven’t seen him be just a little full of himself.
“Really? What song is this then?”
“A guessing game? Really, Jess?”
“Really, Gil.” She waited for an answer as the song started to play. They heard a trumpet playing and the song’s beat had just barely started when he answered.
“Soldier of Love.” With a shit-eating grin, he turned to her. She wanted to smack it right off and he could tell. “I’m right. Go ahead. Say it.”
“That’s only because we play this song literally every time we’re in the car!”
“It never gets old!” When the laughing stops, they let the song play. Soon enough, they’ve gone through almost all of their playlist, a bottle of booze, and their cigars. The sun was up and they were having small talk about everything and nothing at all.
“So in conclusion, I think yes. The Yankees could win this next season.” Hearing no response after a minute, he looked over to see Jess slumped on his shoulder now. Was he really that boring? Also, what time was it? The clock on his phone showed 6:43 and his eyes widened. It hadn’t even seemed like that long. A chilly wind of air knocked him out of his train of thought and immediately brought him to Jessica. She must be cold, he thought.
Gil shut the speaker off and put his phone in his pocket. He picked her up and brought her into the house. After carrying her up the stairs and into the room, he laid her on the bed gently and snuck into bed next to her. He kissed her on the head and said to hell with the mess outside. "I love you. So much." is all he said before he fell into a deep sleep, dreaming only of her. Always her.