AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I delete the previous note and write again on the screen.
“I FELT REALLY BAD ABOUT MY BEHAVIOR AND ASKED ABOUT YOU BECAUSE I WANTED TO APOLOGIZE. MS. SWEETS TOLD ME YOUR NAME.”
I flip the screen towards her.
She seems to think for a moment, then she gestures at herself, then my iPad, then herself again.
I shake my head. I don't know what she means.
She mimes something square, then makes the gesture of a pen writing something in the air with her fingers.
Ah, she wants to write me something on the screen. I nod, giving her my iPad, pleased that she wants totalkto me.
I watch as she erases the strokes I made with her finger and then starts to write with it.
She turns the screen my way when she’s done, a deep blush on her cheeks.
“APOLOGY ACCEPTED, MR. GABRIEL. I UNDERSTAND. PLEASE ALLOW ME TO APOLOGIZE AS WELL. IT WAS NOT MY INTENTION TO CATCH YOU UNAWARE IN SUCH A VULNERABLE STATE. I MUST HAVE BEEN ON THE BALCONY WHEN YOU WALKED INTO THE SUITE.”
Fuck, how very formal of her. I take the tablet back from her, my hands shaking slightly when my fingers accidentally brush her trembling ones. I delete her note and make another.
“PLEASE CALL ME CARSON. MR. GABRIEL IS MY FATHER, AND HE REALLY IS AN ASS YOU DON'T WANT TO MEET EVER.”
I show her the screen again.
She gives me another smile, a bigger one this time, and when I see the tiny dimple that notches her left cheek, I feel like she reached into my chest and took hold of my heart. So damn adorable. How can someone look this fucking hot and still manage to pull off such a cute expression?
I'm done for.
I write on the tablet again and then turn the screen her way:
“ALSO, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR. I WAS AN OGRE TO YOU. YOU COULDN'T HAVE KNOWN THAT I WAS THERE, OBVIOUSLY. AND YOU WERE ONLY DOING YOUR JOB. I'VE BEEN FEELING REALLY BAD ABOUT NOT REALIZING SOONER THAT YOU WERE DEAF.”
For some reason, Mia's expression shutters completely when she's done reading. She sighs –her mouth again in a rigid line. She gestures for my tablet again, and this time, she doesn't use her finger to write in calligraphy. She types her message out and then gives me the tablet back.
I start to look down at the screen to read her answer, and as I do, she rushes past me and into one of the staff entrances, leaving me staring at her.
My eyes flick back and forth over the sentence she typed in the notepad.
“No harm done, Mr. Gabriel. Now, please excuse me: I should really head to work. Enjoy the rest of your stay here at the Mandarin.”
Whoa, cold.
Did she just give me the brush-off?
Why?
What did I say?
And why do I feel like my chest is being crushed right now?
CHAPTER9
Carson
The guys are talking a mile a minute about what a smash the show was last night. The perfect ending to our ‘Back Home’ Tour.
And I have to agree: all in all, it was pretty good. The crowd was amazing. They knew all our tracks, sang along, and danced the night away, and they were surprisingly well-behaved as far as crazy mobs of fans can go when we got in and out of there.
