Chapter 22

Gabriel went downstairs and saw his parents seated in the living room.

"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad." he greeted as he walked into the living room.

"Hi, son" his dad replied.

"Oh honey, how are you? My God, Gabriel, you've lost weight!" his mom exclaimed.

"Mom, I'm fine," Gabriel replied hugging his mom.

"Why didn't you tell me about Nicole? I felt hurt finding out from Charles." his mom scolded.

'Wow, she already remembers her first name, that's fast!' Gabriel thought to himself.

"I planned on bringing her over but I was too busy, and I couldn't make time for that. I'm sorry." Gabriel lied.

"You're always busy, don't you get tired?" His mom replied.

"So, where is she?" She asked looking around for her son's fiancee.

"She's out in the garden, she should be here soon," he replied.

They were seated in the living room discussing different things when Nicole walked in.

"Oh my God! Is that her?" Mrs Harrison asked as she excitedly stood up from her place and walked towards Nicole.

"She is beautiful and quite young," his mom continued with a bright smile, admiring the female before her.

"How did you do it, Gabe?" She asked now looking at her son, waiting for his reply.

"Nevermind," she immediately dismissed the question turning back to Nicole.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." Nicole shyly greeted.

"Aww, don't be shy with me and I don't want you addressing me in that manner. I'm Helen to you, okay?"

"Okay," Nicole replied with a smile. Helen guided Nicole to the couch where she was sitting with her husband.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Helen asked her husband making Nicole smile shyly.

"She is really beautiful, congratulations son." Gabriel's dad said.

Helen was excited to see that her son had finally found someone in his life. She has been waiting for this day to come, she didn't think that he was ever going to get over his breakup with Ashley.

"So, how did you two meet?" She excitedly asked Nicole.

"Mom you're already throwing questions at her, I don't think that's necessary," Gabriel said trying to prevent his mom from asking any questions.

"What? I think I have the right to know that information, don't you think?" She questioned.

"No, it's fine. We met at a bar," Nicole began.

"We chatted for a while and became friends afterward, then... One thing led to another and we ended up dating." she managed to lie.

Nicole felt bad doing this but she had no choice.

"Really! But my son here is a hard nut to crack. How did you do it? I mean how did you both get to this point?" Helen asked intrigued by Nicole's story, wanting to know more.

"Yeah, he is quite a case, a special one at that. I must be honest with you, it wasn't easy... Since his walls were too thick to break through. I had to open up first about myself and my feelings before anything started." she explained, hoping she was doing well with her lies because she wouldn't want to blow their cover.

"Oh, honey that must have been tough for you. I apologize on his behalf... He was like that because of his ex Ashley, I'm sure he has told you about her."

"Yes. He has."

"But..." Helen continued.

"I'm not going to excuse him only with that. I'm his mother and I'm going to be honest with you, he is quite boring to be with since he's always busy and doesn't make time to be with anyone, even his mother."

"Mom, I'm right here," Gabriel said trying to make his mom realize that she was talking about him like he wasn't present, causing them all to laugh.

"Oh honey, I'm only telling the truth." his mom replied still smiling.

"I understand what you mean but I kinda like that, cos I feel safe knowing that he only cheats on me with his work and not a person, that way I don't have to worry much about his late nights, even though I still worry about his safety" Nicole replied with a smile staring at Gabriel, wishing he could tell that she meant all she said.

Gabriel on the other hand was surprised at her answer. Helen also looked at her surprised.

"Wow, you are different!" Helen said.

Nicole became nervous, she hoped she hadn't said something wrong.

"I'm glad you think like me. Gabriel has indeed found the right one." Helen said placing a kiss on Nicole's forehead.

Nicole couldn't help but feel touched by Helen's gesture, she wished in her heart that everything was true but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Gabriel had lovely parents, Nicole thought to herself. She has only been with them for maybe half an hour but she already felt loved and accepted. Looking at Gabriel's dad, she already knows where he got his good looks. The brown eyes and hair certainly came from his mom.

Gabriel mouthed a "thank you" to Nicole when his parents weren't looking and she smiled in reply.

After they all chatted for some time in the living room, Helen excused herself and Nicole leaving Gabriel alone with his dad in the living room. She took Nicole to the bedroom they would be sleeping in throughout their stay in their son's home.

Helen told Nicole how she had instantly fallen in love with the room the very first time she visited Gabriel when he just got the place. It wasn't a room not to fall in love with, it was similar to hers and Gabriel's but theirs was predominantly decorated in red, cream, and bronze. The room suits his parents quite well. While Gabriel and his dad were probably talking about business in the living room, Helen was telling Nicole about their journey and how she had forced her husband to accompany her on the visit, so he would as well take a break from work.

"You know, Gabriel is a lot like his father," Helen began.

"But they are in their way even though they may seem tough and all... And I'm happy he is with a girl like you." she continued, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I don't know why I'm so emotional right now, I'm just so excited about this. I've waited for five years to see my baby happy again."

This conversation was making Nicoly uncomfortable because she was feeling guilty about this contract of a thing. Why didn't things happen differently between them? If only his parents knew this was all a sham. Helen took Nicole's hands in hers, Nicole was so scared to look into Helen's eyes because she did not deserve this sort of lie, she was a really sweet woman.

"Nicole, please promise me that no matter how cold Gabriel acts towards you, you'll always be with him. Please don't leave him like Ashley did." she pleaded.

Nicole didn't know what her reply should be to this promise, this was only a relationship based on contract but at the same time, she had feelings for Gabriel. She couldn't disappoint Helen.

"I promise," Nicole replied with a sincere smile that gladdened Helen. She clapped her hands together in excitement and went back to opening the luggage she had placed on the bed.

"I got these for you," she said to Nicole, showing her the clothes and jewelry she bought for her.

"Here. Try them on" she said shooing Nicole to go change in the bathroom.

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