Chapter 27 Gabriel
GAbrIEL
When Margo reappeared at the brunch table, she looked upset, and there was still no sign of Taylor. Their dad had left with his wife, acting cagey, and I was starting to get worried that something had happened.
I leaned across to Margo and asked as quietly as I could, “Everything ok?”
Margo sighed. “No, but it will be. Taylor just ran to the restroom. I’m sure he’ll fill you in on the drama later.”
I was skeptical, but I wasn’t about to harass her about it. I struggled to focus on any of the conversation around me as the time stretched on. Taylor still hadn’t appeared, and a pit started to form in my stomach. A quick text to him had gone unopened, so it was time to send out the search party.
“Hey, Margo. I’m going to go make sure Taylor is ok.”
She looked around the table as if realizing he’d never returned, and her forehead creased. “Thanks for coming. My brother’s had a really shitty morning, and I appreciate you looking out for him.”
“We’ll see each other soon, I’m sure. The wedding was a blast, thanks for having me. And congrats!”
I pulled an Irish Goodbye on the rest of the crew, too stressed to hang around.
First, I checked the bathrooms in the lobby, which were vacant.
Next, I took the elevator up to our room.
My heart was pounding as I swiped my key, not knowing what I’d find.
Obviously, whatever had happened this morning with Margo and his dad had rattled him.
I was not expecting an empty room. It only took a few minutes to process that only my belongings were left.
Taylor was gone. His key card was placed neatly on the desk.
Damn it, that man needed to stop running. When was he going to realize that I was going to keep chasing him?
Gabriel
Where’d you go, baby? Everything ok?
Taylor
Sorry, needed to get out of there. I’m fine, just tired.
Yeah, sure. I was buying that. I threw everything haphazardly into my bag, rushed through checkout, and called a car. In the past, if someone I’d been seeing had pulled away like this, I would have deleted their number.
Taylor had repeatedly pushed me away, and I wasn’t taking no for an answer. I kept showing up.
Was I making too much of an effort? What if Taylor didn’t want to be chased, and I was pressuring him, making this into more than it was? I felt like my feelings were reciprocated when we were together, but could I have been the only one who’d fallen?
I didn’t need to be a horticulturalist to know that plants could die both from neglect and from too much attention, and Taylor was more than a very complicated houseplant.
Instead of being able to feel the moisture in the soil around him or assess the color of his leaves, I had to get the man to communicate.
Taylor could be more finicky than a fiddle leaf fig, and it wouldn’t matter to me.
I loved him, and I was going to get him.
I tried calling him once before I grabbed my keys and headed his way, but it went to voicemail. When I knocked, I could hear loud emo music from inside, but no one came to the door. Then I tried calling Kai, but he wasn’t home. Not sure what else to do, I slid down the wall and waited.
I finally heard Kai’s voice from near the elevators as he approached their apartment.
“We need to get you a key. What’s going on?”
“I’m not totally sure. There was some drama with Taylor’s dad this morning at brunch, and then he hightailed it out of the hotel without saying goodbye, so it must have been bad.
I haven’t been able to get a hold of him, but I know he’s in there unless you like to leave music playing when you’re not home. ”
“No, that’s definitely Taylor’s playlist when he’s in a mood.” Kai unlocked the door and ushered me inside. “C’mon.”
The music got even louder as we made our way into the apartment.
Kai grimaced. “No wonder he didn’t hear you calling or knocking.”
I wasn’t sure what to expect as I made my way into Taylor’s bedroom. I tested the doorknob gently, crossing my fingers that it wasn’t locked. When the handle turned, I breathed a sigh of relief and cracked the door open.
Taylor was curled up in bed, buried under the covers, with the music blaring from the speakers on his dresser.
I turned down the volume and moved to sit beside him. “You want to talk about it?”
Taylor sighed. I wanted to know what was going on in that busy head of his, but I wasn’t going to push him. I ran my hand down his back.
“There isn’t anything to talk about,” Taylor finally mumbled from under the covers. “I’ve failed.”
“Baby, you are a lot of things, but a failure isn’t one of them,” I teased gently. “C’mon. Let’s go do something fun, and then maybe you’ll feel better. Once you get your mind off things.”
Taylor threw the covers off and sat up in bed. “This is serious.”
I flinched. “I… I know that. I’m just trying to help.”
“I’ve let Margo down.” Taylor buried his face in his hands. “I don’t know how to make it right.”
“Seriously?” Now I was mad. “Do you think I can’t understand what it feels like to be a disappointment to the people I love?”
“Forced fun is not going to solve anything,” Taylor said, exhaustion lacing his voice. “I need to be alone so I can figure out how to fix this. I don’t want to let you down, too.”
“Too late for that,” I shot back, ignoring the hurt written all over his face. I was hurting, too. “I’ll let you be miserable, since that’s clearly what you want. Wouldn’t want to force you.”
Pushing myself up off the bed, I refused to look back as I left the room. I slammed his bedroom door behind me.
I’d spent the first thirty years of my life letting people treat me like less than because of how I chose to live my life, and I wasn’t going to let anyone bring that energy into this next decade.
Even if it was the first man I ever loved.
Kai sat on the arm of the couch, looking concerned, but I wasn’t in the mood to debrief. I slipped on my shoes without making eye contact and stormed out of the apartment.