The Love of an Angel 2/9
Chapter 2
Two days later they had coffee in a nice place Bessie had suggested. Gabriel hadn't bothered to look around outside the zoo before so he was glad she took the lead.
The waitress brought coffee and warm cherry pie right from the oven. The smell alone was delicious and Gabriel closed his eyes when he tasted the first bite. This was good. Who knew a forgotten little town like this could hold so many culinary wonders?
Opposite from him Bessie chuckled and Gabriel cracked one eye open.
"What?"
"You want some time alone with the pie?" She asked and her face lit up with her smile. It smoothed the lines around her mouth and deepened the ones around her eyes emphasizing the mischief twinkle.
"I'm on a date with a guy who's seconds from humping the food." She shook her head in disbelieve. Realizing what she'd just said she mumbled a "crap" and hid behind her cup while Gabriel nearly choked on his pie.
"Sorry, I'm not good at this." She made a vague gesture with her free hand. Gabriel caught her hand and placed it on the table with his on top.
"You are great." He reassured her and released her hand. "Thinking about it, I should order a pie to go so when I come home all alone I have some company." He wiggled his eyebrows and she burst out laughing.
"And I don't even know your name. I'm Bessie Nolan." She introduced herself properly and looked expectantly at Gabriel who had just taken another bit from the delicious pie.
"Gabriel." He answered around sweet cherry filling. He hadn't used his real name in like forever and he totally blamed it on the pie or maybe on Bessie's blunt attitude that the name was out of his mouth without his permission. It took him a few second to notice that Bessie was still looking at him with that expectant expression. Right, he needed a surname.
Gaining time by chewing a cherry he tried to come up with a name.
"Gabriel Cherry." He finally answered and shrugged inwardly. It was a name, wasn't it?
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Cherry." She raised her cup in a mock salute and Gabriel wasn't sure if she was calling him on his fake name. Glancing at his hand she added: "No Mrs. Cherry?"
"No, no Mrs. Cherry." Gabriel finished his pie with a satisfied moan and really considered a second slice. The apple pie looked good, too.
In the end the staff threw them out at closing time. By then Gabriel had eaten his way through all flavors of pie the place offered and one more cherry pie just because it was there. Bessie had given up the pie marathon after the second slice but she didn't seem to mind that he was stuffing himself.
"Where do you put that all?" She asked and fell in step beside him. At this time of the evening the streets were empty and street lamps cast warm puddles of light into the night.
"Good metabolism." Gabriel answered which wasn't exactly a lie.
She lived not far away and they walked the short distance. They chatted about everything and nothing at all, apparently Bessie could talk about elephants for hours, and Gabriel couldn't remember the last time he had enjoyed a humans company that much.
"We're here." Bessie stopped in front of a neat little house. It could use some fresh paint and the garden hadn't seen a lawn-mower in quite a while but it looked nice. Like a home.
Bessie shifted from one foot to the other and wasn't looking at him.
Like a teenager on her first date, Gabriel mused. She was clearly unsure on how to proceed, should she ask him to come in or not, and after a second Gabriel took pity on her.
"Thanks for the evening." He brushed a peck on her cheek and stepped back. "I'd like to repeat this some time soon."
She bit her bottom lip and then with a shy smile she said: "I make a decent steak with baked potatoes. We could ..." She trailed off with a shake of her head. "I'm really not good at this, sorry."
"Saturday. Eight o'clock" Gabriel said and pointed with his finger at her. "You make the steaks, I'll bring beer. You like beer, right? And we watch the game, you're in for a game, aren't you?"
She breathed in relief and somehow Gabriel was relieved too that he hadn't pushed on coming in for a coffee or something.
"As long as we're talking football and not synchronized swimming we have a date." She said with her old bluntness but Gabriel could see the second she realized she was inviting him on a date. A second one.
"Good night, Bessie." Gabriel retreated before this could become too awkward. "See you on Saturday."
Feeling her eyes on him he made his way down the street until he was sure to be out of her sight. Then he vanished. Part of him wanted to go back just to find out what she'd do now. He could watch her, observe her without her ever knowing but he didn't do it. Instead he returned to the small apartment on the other side of the country he'd used as a base for his latest Trickster justice act.
Despite the Winnie the Pooh sighting and one rather impressive explosion there were no hunters in sight and Gabriel had seen no reason to give up his hideout just yet.
With a sigh Gabriel plopped into the comfortable armchair in front of the TV.
So far Bessie hadn't asked him where he lived or what he did for a living but maybe he should think of an answer to those questions beforehand. He could pretend to be everything he wanted, could become a doctor or a lawyer or the garbage man. He could pretend to live in a big house with a money-doesn't-matter-attitude or in a small apartment struggling to pay the rent. But for the first time he wasn't thinking of what would fit his cover to get his victim or what he'd enjoy, no the question in his mind was: What did Bessie expect him to be? What would make him interesting to her? Who was that Mr. Cherry she'd invited over for steak and beer?
"Mr. Cherry." Gabriel chuckled. He'd used many names over the years but that was a new one. Why he actually bothered with questions like that he had no idea. He only knew that he looked forward to Saturday. When had been the last time he'd spent time with a woman without wanting to have sex with her, he wondered. Had that ever happened?
He glanced over to his bed, big and comfortable with red silk sheets and a solid frame for the experimental mind. Normally he'd finish the day with summoning a hot woman or two and some rolling in the sheets but he wasn't in the mood.
Strange, he thought. His mind stayed with Bessie but not in a sexual way. He recalled her smile and the passion she'd talked with about the elephants she worked with. Somehow this woman had caught his interest, was more than a face in the crowd, more than something to kill time with and entertain him for a short while.
Astonished at that realization Gabriel sat in his chair for long hours and tried to figure out what this was all about. Normally things were pretty clear, humans were pretty clear, but this was different and he'd no idea why.
But he really looked forward to his date with Bessie.
"A date." He shook his head in disbelieve.
continue to chapter 3
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