Cecelia Ahern - The Gift

“Well, about Gabe,” Lou said slowly, his heart pounding in his chest. “You know he’s taken on some other commitments in the building. Other work outside of the mailroom.”

“I heard that all right, and I’m happy for him. He was as excited as anything this morning. Got a new suit and all on his break. I don’t know where he found the time to get it; some of them in here can’t even light their cigarette in that time. He’s quick, that boy. Mr. Patterson seems to have taken a shine to him. I’d say it won’t be long before he’s out of here and up there with you.”

“Yeah…anyway, I was just calling to let you know. I didn’t want it to conflict with his work with you.” Lou tried one more time. “You wouldn’t want him to be distracted, with his mind on the other things he’s doing for us. You know? It gets so manic up here, and we certainly don’t want any problems.”

“I appreciate that, Lou, but what he does after one p.m. is his own business. To be honest with you, I’m glad he’s found something else. He gets his job done so quickly, it’s a struggle to keep him busy.”

“Right. Okay. So, if he acts up in any way, you just go ahead and do what you have to do, Harry. I don’t want you to feel in any way obligated to keep him on for me. You know?”

“I know that, Lou, I do. He’s a good lad; you’ve nothing to worry about.”

“Okay. Thanks. Take care, Harry.”

The phone went dead. Lou sighed and slowly spun around in his chair to replace the receiver. As he turned, he came face-to-face with Gabe, who was standing behind his desk and watching him intently.

Lou jumped, dropped the receiver, and let out a yelp. “Jesus Christ.” He held his hand over his pounding heart.

“No. It’s just me,” Gabe said, blue eyes searing into Lou’s.

“Have you ever heard of knocking? Where’s Alison?” Lou leaned sideways to check her desk and saw that it was empty. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough.” Gabe’s voice was soft, and it was that which unnerved Lou most. “Trying to get me in trouble, Lou?”

“What?” Lou’s heart pounded wildly, still unrecovered from the surprise, and also alarmingly discomfited by Alison’s absence and Gabe’s proximity. The man’s very presence disconcerted him.

“No.” He swallowed, and he hated himself for his sudden weakness. “I just called Harry to see if he was happy with you. That’s all.” He was aware of the fact that he sounded like a schoolboy defending himself.

“And is he?”

“As it turns out, yes. But you must understand how I feel a responsibility to him for finding you.”

“Finding me,” Gabe said with a curious smile.

“What’s so funny about that?”

“Nothing.” Gabe continued to smile and began looking around Lou’s office, hands in his pockets, with that same patronizing look that was neither jealousy nor admiration.

“It’s five twenty-two p.m. and thirty-three seconds now,” Gabe said, not even looking at his watch. “Thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six…” He turned to Lou. “You get the idea.”

“So?” Lou stood up and put on his suit jacket and caught a glimpse at his watch to make sure. It was five twenty-two, on the nose.

“You have to leave now, don’t you?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

Gabe wandered over to Lou’s side and picked up three pieces of fruit from the bowl there — two oranges and an apple — which he inspected closely, one by one. “Decisions, decisions,” he said. He held the three pieces of fruit in his hands.

“Hungry?” Lou asked, agitated.

“No,” Gabe laughed. “You any good at juggling?”

That same feeling struck Lou’s heart, and he realized exactly what it was that he didn’t like about Gabe. It was questions like that, statements and comments that pierced Lou somewhere other than where they should.

“You’d better get that,” Gabe added.

“Get what?”

Before Gabe could respond, the phone rang, and, despite his preferring Alison to screen his calls, he dove for it.

It was Ruth.

“Hi, honey.” He motioned to Gabe for privacy, but Gabe didn’t leave and began juggling the fruit instead. Lou turned his back, and then, feeling uncomfortable with Gabe behind him, he faced forward again to keep an eye on his visitor. He lowered his voice. “Em, yeah, about tonight, something’s come up and — ”

“Lou, don’t do this to me,” Ruth said.

“It’s just the play I won’t make, sweetheart.”

Gabe dropped the apple, which rolled across the carpet toward Lou’s desk, and continued juggling with the oranges. Lou felt a childish sense of satisfaction that Gabe had failed.

“Lucy’s heart will be broken,” Ruth said sadly.

“Lucy won’t even notice I’m not there, the place will be so dark. You can tell her I was there. Mr. Patterson asked me to meet with a client of ours. It’s a big deal, and it could help with my getting Cliff’s job, you know?”

“I know, I know. And then if you do get a promotion, you’ll be away from us even more. Anyway, I don’t want to get into this conversation now. So you’ll make it home for dinner? Your mum just rang on the phone saying how much she’s looking forward to it. You know, it’s already been a month since you’ve seen them.”

“It’s not been a month. I saw Dad just” — he went quiet while calculating the time in his head — “well, maybe it’s almost been a month.”

A month? How the time had flown. For Lou, visiting his parents was a chore, like making the bed. After he had not done it for some time, the sight of the untidy blankets would play on his mind until he went to get it over and done with. He’d feel an instant sense of satisfaction it had been completed. But then he’d wake up the next day and know he had to go and do it all over again. The thought of his father complaining about how long it’d been since Lou’s last visit made Lou want to run in the other direction. It made him feel guilty, but it also made him want to stay away longer.

“I might not make dinner, but I’ll be there for dessert. You have my word on that.”

Gabe dropped an orange, and Lou felt like punching his fist in the air in celebration. Instead, he pursed his lips and continued to make excuses to Ruth for everything, refusing to apologize for something that was totally out of his control. Lou finally hung up the phone and folded his arms across his chest.

“What’s so funny?” Gabe asked, throwing the one remaining orange up and down in his hand.

“Not such a good juggler, are you?” Lou smirked.

“Touché.” Gabe smiled. “You’re very observant. Indeed, I’m not a good juggler, but it’s not really juggling if I’d already chosen to drop those others and keep this one in my hand, is it?”

Lou frowned at the peculiar response and busied himself at his desk, putting on his overcoat and preparing to leave.

“No, Gabe, it’s certainly not juggling if you choose…” He stopped suddenly, realizing what he was saying and hearing Ruth’s voice in his head. His head snapped up, feeling that cold chill again, but Gabe was gone and the orange was left on his desk.

“Alison.” Lou marched out of his office with the orange in his hand. “Did Gabe just walk out of here?”

“Em…” she said slowly. “He came up to my desk about twenty minutes ago and — ”

“Yeah, yeah, I know all that. He was in my office a second ago and then he was gone. Just now. Did he walk by?”

“Well, he must have, but — ”

“Did you see him?”

“No, I was on the phone and — ”

“Jesus.” He punched the desk, startling Alison. “By the way” — he dropped his voice and leaned in closer — “does any of my mail ever come to me under a different name?”