Gabby and Wes: Gabby and Wes: 7

“Hello, good evening.” Wes nodded a greeting to Renn. He had squeezed himself past a couple people at the bar to maneuver in next to her. “Please excuse my intrusion, but I come bearing a delicious gift from a friend.” With a smile, he gestured with one of the margarita shots in his hand before placing it down in front of her. Renn looked from the glass to Wes with some confusion.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” she asked him. “And to which friend are you referring?”

“Gabby. She’s sitting right over there,” explained Wes as he pointed toward the other side of the bar in Gabby’s direction.

Renn’s eyes narrowed as she followed Wes’s direction.

“Gabby?? That bitch?”

Wes responded with a look of shock. “Excuse me??”

“Surely she didn’t actually tell you we were still friends?” Renn looked quite miffed as she took a sip of her martini, ignoring the margarita shot Wes had set down in front of her. “I don’t imagine she told you what she did to me?”

Wes was truly uncomfortable. He had gotten up from his table so quickly that he hadn’t given Gabby an opportunity to tell him anything about this woman or their relationship.

“Ummm, I – well, no.” Completely caught off guard, Wes hated that he was stammering. He tried to back out of what had suddenly become a bad situation.

“Are we talking about the same Gabby? I know she can be sarcastic sometimes, but she’s not a mean person. Couldn’t it have just been a misunderstanding?” he asked hopefully.

“No. It was quite deliberate on her end. Very thought out and quite public, I should add. In fact –” Renn leaned in close to Wes and continued in a whisper. “There are rumors of revenge floating throughout our social circle.” Renn leaned back and gave Wes a few seconds to process what she told him. “Just how well do you know her?” she finally asked.

‘Revenge??’ Wes’ mind was scrambling. ‘Good God, what could Gabby have possibly done to this woman?’

“Well, Gabby’s my cousin, actually.”

Renn noticed Wes was fidgeting. She shrugged her shoulders slightly, appearing indifferent. “Damn, that’s too bad. And I thought you were kind of cute, too. It’s a shame we couldn’t possibly entertain any thoughts now of getting to know one another.”

“Well, wait. Let’s not look at guilt by association here.” Wes was torn between his attraction to Renn and his loyalty to Gabby. “I’ve known Gabby all my life; we grew up together as kids. Granted, I don’t see her as often now that we live so far apart, but this is out of character for her. She’s just not the type to be deliberately mean.”

“It might seem that way to you, but you haven’t spent the last ten years with her in the city like I have. Essentially, you’ve only seen glimpses of her these past ten years during brief visits. Just remember that sometimes, the way you think about a person isn’t the way they actually are.” She gave Wes a look. “Perhaps you don’t really know your cousin as well as you think you do.”

“That’s crazy, it just doesn’t make sense,” replied Wes, shaking his head. “I know Gabby, I know her.”

Renn picked up the margarita Wes had offered her and held it out to him. “I think you should go back to your table and re-acquaint yourself with your cousin. She’s got some explaining to do to you.” Wes took the drink from Renn and continued looking at her until she broke eye contact and turned away. With both his mind and heart reeling, Wes had no choice but to do as Renn said. She had clearly dismissed him.

Angry and confused, Wes stormed back to Gabby, setting the two glasses down with enough force to cause the margaritas to slosh out a little onto the table. Taken aback, Gabby stared at Wes for a few minutes as she waited for him to calm down. She reached for one of the glasses and with a napkin, wiped the side clean before taking a sip. Casually, she asked “So, I take it that didn’t go well?”

“You think??” Wes replied in a surly tone. “Just what exactly did you do to her?”

“Do to her?! I didn’t do anything to her. Why? What did she say?” asked Gabby, both defensive and curious.

Wes sighed heavily and glared at Gabby. “She didn’t go into detail. But she did say it was deliberate, and that you had some explaining to do.”

“Oh, I see,” replied Gabby, busying herself with a few more sips of her drink. She appeared to be deep in thought and Wes studied her, trying to read her.

“Well…..” he looked pointedly at her.

“Well what?” Gabby returned innocently.

“Oh come on, give me a chance here! I feel something about this girl.” Wes was clearly exasperated. “I’m fighting for love!”

“Seriously?? You just met her.” Gabby wasn’t swayed so easily. “Try fighting with your head for a change. It's a good one, even if it does resist learning.”

“See Gabby, now that’s just the kind of sarcasm that gets you in trouble.”

Gabby shrugged her shoulders. “I make no apologies for who I am.”

Wes slumped over slightly, resting his head in his hands. “Look, I’m really attracted to Renn. Just what exactly happened between the two of you? Can it be repaired, or do I need to worry about this?”

“Oh, it’s not time to worry. Yet,” replied Gabby with a wry grin.

Wes looked up at Gabby. She wasn’t looking at him and he turned his head to see what had her attention. His heart flipped when he noticed Renn, and he mentally braced himself. She appeared to be looking directly at Gabby and was walking right up to their table.

This was written for Blogophilia Week 23.9

Topic: Rumors of Revenge

Bonus Points:

Hard (2 pts): use a quote from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’**

Easy (1 pt): include variances of the lyric

‘I’m a little teapot...’ (I did not)

** I used the following three quotes:

“Just remember that sometimes, the way you think about a person isn't the way they actually are.”

“Try fighting with your head for a change...

it's a good one, even if it does resist learning.”

“It’s not time to worry yet”