OPEN - what's it like in New York City?

[anddowntothesea]

Gabe finds himself in something of a daze. It started off as a regular Wednesday but it didn't stay that way for very long because something had happened. Something rare. Something goddamn verging on myth and legend. A letter. From New York. Addressed in his sister's handwriting.

Gabe's had it in his pocket for an hour and hasn't opened it yet.

What he needs is a coffee. Once he's feeling fortified, he'll open the letter and listen to his sister for a while. His relationship with Gale has always been complicated - he loves her, he adores her, but she's not the easiest person to live with. Peace had descended on his Ma's house the day Gale took off down to New York. But Gabe misses her like a part of him and the couple of weeks that he spent at her place last winter were some of the best in his life. He missed her. He misses her.

It's complicated.

Coffee half drunk, he takes the envelope out of his pocket and turns it over in his hands. She's writing in green ink this week, which Gabe hopes is a good sign. He hopes she's happy. But he's never going to find out if he doesn't just man up and open the damn letter, is he? Why do letters from Gale always feel like a storm on the horizon? Gabe can't help it - he earns his living from the sea, and he's got a healthy respect for dark clouds.

He sighs and tears open the envelope with his thumb.

Hey baby boy. Guess who I had coffee with today? Turns out, Abby's been in town for a while.

He'd thought that he was over it, but the combination of seeing that name written in Gale's handwriting feels like a punch to the chest. Gabe leans back in his chair and closes his eyes.

"Well, shit."


ooc: Mr Monroe, ripe for distraction. Have at! ST/LT totally welcome. As always, if your pup grew up in SC, feel free to assume a relationship and I will pick it up as we go!

Comments

[louise_abasi]

When in trouble, when in need, get a large coffee and a snickerdoodle. Louise turns away from the counter, both hands full, and sees mister Gabe Monroe stretching out over a chair, eyes closed.

She had been right about it being easy to avoid him, and she knew that she could sneak out without even having to look away. It was the easy way out, and she didn't need more on her shoulders than Lara's mind. But ..

"Gabe? Are you alright?"

[anddowntothesea]

He hasn't seen her since the cruise, barely spoke to her then, and hearing her voice is startling. He opens his eyes and looks up at her, managing a crooked smile.

"Lou," he says. "Yeah. Yes. I'm fine. Just..." He looks down at the letter on the table. "Blast from the past."

[louise_abasi]

"Those can always hurt or at the least catch you off guard. Definitely."

She nods. "I don't want to be a bother if you rather want to be alone, I just wanted to.. ask if I could still hire you for the painting job. I know realise that I could have called about that."

[anddowntothesea]

That...is unexpected. Gabe raises an eyebrow and nudges a chair out from under the table with his foot.

"You want to join me?"

[louise_abasi]

"If you really don't mind." At least this time she was able to contain her emotions. "I can you later. Another time."

[anddowntothesea]

"I really don't mind," he says, putting the letter into the inside pocket of his jacket and pushing his hair back out of his eyes. "Please. Join me. Let me get you a coffee or something."

Which is when he realised he'd already get coffee in his hand.

[louise_abasi]

She notices and smiles, because it's something she could have done, but mostly because it's weirdly endearing, seeing him all soft and confused like this. "Maybe a new coffee", Louise replies while sitting down. "When this line will ever disappear."

[anddowntothesea]

"I don't even particularly like the coffee here," he confides. "I could make a better cup at home, I'm sure."

[louise_abasi]

Louise covers her mouth with a hand, only partially having to play at surprise. "Don't repeat that. Not out loud and definitely not in this location. Gabe, they'd put you through the bean grinder."

[anddowntothesea]

"I'm a big boy. I'm pretty sure I could take them," he says, smirking at her over the rim of his coffee cup. He doesn't have to ramp up how pleased he is to see her.

[louise_abasi]

"You could think about me for a second. I don't need to see all that violence, especially without any coffee in my system." She is unsure which side she is more jealous of: the coffee or Gabe.

[anddowntothesea]

"No violence without coffee," he says. "Got it." He smiles. "So what changed your mind, Lou? On the painting?"

[louise_abasi]

There's a thin line to be walked here. "I didn't change my mind, really. Life just decided to throw a lot of other things my way. And I felt bad about how I treated you. Again, I'm sorry for that."

[anddowntothesea]

He holds up his hand.

"No need for apologises, okay? I'm not a school kid - you didn't do anything but hurt my feelings a little." He shrugs. "No harm done."

[louise_abasi]

"And I still need that little toilet repainted because it makes me irrationally angry to cross the hall at night", she quickly added. "I'm a dog with a bone."
She had hurt his feelings. Wonderful. She'd probably take it to her grave.

[anddowntothesea]

"It's an afternoon's work," he says, nodding. He picks up his phone, glancing at his calendar. "I could do it this week."

[louise_abasi]

"Thank you." She digs out her work agenda and opens it. "Are you going to need daylight? Because I will have to take time off if you can't do it at night."

[anddowntothesea]

"If you're picking the colours, so you know how they'll look in daylight, I can work at night," he says. He smirks. "Don't trust me with a key?"

[louise_abasi]

Oh God, did he really think so little of her? "Of course not", Louise replies, shaking her head. "I have two extra keys: one at my best friend's and one at my parents'. If you rather paint without me present, I can ask either of them to have the key temporarily returned to me."

[anddowntothesea]

They're doing it again. He can feel it.

"Look," he says, ducking his head, scratching his jaw under his beard. "I meant it. I'd...love to make you a coffee."

[louise_abasi]

"Make me a coffee?" She's getting more confused by the minute. "Here? That would certainly surprise people, or are you a barista in your down time?"

[anddowntothesea]

He rolls his eyes. He has no idea why everything with her has to be so damn hard.

"At my place."

[louise_abasi]

And now rolling eyes as well. Maybe Louise had made a mistake asking him. "Before or after you paint my toilet?"

[anddowntothesea]

Maybe being friendly just isn't the way to go. She wants him as a contractor; maybe his problem is that he just doesn't know his place.

"Never mind."

[louise_abasi]

"I just wanted to follow up on my promise, Gabe. I don't know -" Honestly, she doesn't. "I've never done this before. For my self. Painters and whatnot, I mean."

[anddowntothesea]

"It's really easy," he says, possibly a little shorter than he means to be. "You just give me a date and I show up, do the work and then you pay me to leave."

[louise_abasi]

"Right." She finds a pen and makes a cross at the Thursday and the Friday. "I will go out for paint and give you a call about which day it will be. You can manage it in one evening? I can be home by six if I start early."

[anddowntothesea]

"I can manage it in one evening," he says, his jaw tight again. All of this would be easier if he could just figure out how to be around her.

[louise_abasi]

"And I'm sure your phone number hasn't changed in less than a month .." She writes down his name, adds arrows between the days. "Eh. Alright. I'll have to return to the office anyway, but I will let you know which one of these days it's going to be. Do I need to provide anything else? Right now or at the paint night?"

"A new coffee?", she tries with a smile.

[anddowntothesea]

"If you're not staying, I'll probably just drink this one and head on," he says, smile twitching the corner of his mouth again. "No point in hanging around if the company's not worth it, is it?"

[louise_abasi]

"Oh. Okay. That's -" That was probably supposed to be a compliment. Louise should accept it. "Thank you. Okay. You know that you're giving me strange ideas about contact with painters right?"
She bites her bottom lip. "I can never contact one after you again, and I haven't even seen your work. You're an ..experience." Too much? Not enough? She would never know. "Either way, good luck with that letter?"

[anddowntothesea]

Gabe will definitely take being called an experience.

"Good thing I'm here for all your painting needs." He touches his pocket. "Thank you."

[louise_abasi]

"Painting needs." She almost feels like adding "wink wink', but she's an adult, even though she's too late to catch that snort. "I'll call you."

[gemmadorsey]

"Is it that bad?" says Gemma, pausing on the other side of Gabe and resting her hand just on the back of his chair without actually touching him. "I was thinking about getting the same, but maybe I should make it a tea day instead."

[anddowntothesea]

"It's a letter from Gale," says Gabe, wrinkling his nose. "Which, you know. I love her, but life's a lot easier now that she's out of town. Turns out she ran into a familiar face the other day."

[gemmadorsey]

"Ah, well, I'm not going to be drinking the letter, so I think I'm safe," she says, also taking that as an invitation to sit down with him. "Do you want to elaborate, or do you want distraction? I'm excellent at both, if that matters."

[anddowntothesea]

"Abby's in New York," he says, sighing and shoving his hand back through his hair. "I don't know if coffee's going to cut it today."

[gemmadorsey]

"Jeez," says Gemma. "Small world, huh? How did they... I mean, did she just run into her, or was she looking for her, or...? I mean, I know it's complicated."