Chapter Text
“I hear this is where all the cool people are hanging out,” Gabriel said, his arms falling around Nathalie’s shoulders as he pulled her back into his chest. Nathalie leaned back, closing her eyes a little. She loved when Gabe was like this with her; silly, but sweet. Turning around in his arms, she gave him a peck on his cheek before grabbing a dish.
“I heard you had kitchen duty, so I wanted to surprise you,” she said, her nonchalant attitude conveying the easy tone of her message. Passing the plate in her hands to him, she smirked, leaning back on the counter. “Come on, kitchen boy, show me what you got,” she joked and shone one of her radiant smiles at him.
Taking the plate, he ran it under the water. “Ha, ha, very funny. Just be glad I’m not working at the fashion house this summer,” Gabriel scrubbed off the remaining residue from the recent meal that was still left on the dish “then you’d never get to see me.”
“Oh, I’m sure I would have found ways.” She smiled. “I heard there’s an assistant position open. I always thought I’d be good at grabbing coffee,” Nathalie’s joking tone was not lost on Gabriel, but he was lost in thought, imagining what she would look like as an assistant. It would certainly fit her. She was organized, helpful; he would need to pocket away the information for later. “What did make you choose here instead of the fashion house though? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Gabriel set the dish down into the sink and sighed deeply. “It took a lot of convincing for my father to agree. He wanted me to intern for his company and shadow a designer.” His hands were braced on either side of the sink, pressing into the cold steel countertop. “I just don’t like designing. I mean, I’m not good at it. I have all of the skills needed but the most important part of designing is having a creative sense.” Turning around, his eyes met Nathalie’s. Her intense gaze full of adoration blazing into his soul. Usually it made others uncomfortable, but for Gabe, it made him feel relaxed.
“You have a creative sense,” she said softly as she looked at him, her eyes softening to match her tone.
“Yeah right,” Gabriel laughed and picked up another dish, suddenly remembering he had a job to do.
“Gabriel.” Nathalie reached into the sink and pulled the dish from his hands. “You are creative.” She smiled a little as she set the plate on the counter and took one of his hands, the other slipping into her pocket and grabbing a piece of paper. Unfolded, the yellow sheet held information about a talent show sponsored by the Graham de Vanily family. It was to be put on for the country club guests, but the flyer clearly stated that anyone who wanted to would be allowed to participate.
“A talent show?” He questioned as he placed the paper back into her hand. “Nat, what makes you think I would enter a talent show? I have no talents.”
“You dumbass.” Nathalie scoffed and shook her head. “Of course you have talent.”
“Yeah,” he smirked a little, his demeanor changing. Wrapping an arm around her, he turned, his head angled down to her ear. “I like making you blush.”
The whisper tickled the wisps of hair by Nathalie’s ears which caused her cheeks to redden. “Cheater,” she mumbled under her breath, turning and facing away from him.
“What was that?” he asked, his hand coming to grab her chin gently and guide her face back towards his own.
“I said,'' she extended her arm, hand splaying against his chest and with a little push, nudged him away. “That you, Mr. Agreste, are a cheater.”
“Mister Agreste,” he tried out the title and directed his smirking face to Nathalie once more who was still holding him away at her arm’s length. “I think I quite like that name.”
“Oh, shut up,” Nathalie pushed him away again, but this time, she removed her hand. She grabbed the dish from the counter and handed it back to him, allowing him to continue with what they were doing.
“Don’t you have some lifesaving you need to get back to?” Gabriel questioned as he scrubbed off the new plate in his hands.
“Yeah,” she sighed and kissed his cheek gently. “I’ll see you later, Mister.”
Nathalie’s teasing never failed to make Gabriel’s heart flutter.Breathlessly, he pulled her against him, kissing her fully on the mouth. Their lips met, a frenzy of emotions sparking and escalating between them before pulling away. She took one last look at him before walking out the door.
He watched the door for a moment, silently wishing for her to come back. But, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get his work done if she was there. Gabriel gathered the final plates and started to wash them as Tom came up beside him.
“Hey, we’re a little short staffed right now. Do you mind taking these plates out for me? It’s just one table and it could really help me get back on track.” By the looks of it, Tom was sweating through his shirt and seemed super stressed out. Even if Gabriel had no desire to serve anyone, he couldn’t say no. That would be cruel and he wasn’t that kind of guy.
“Sure Tom,” he flashed him a small smile and placed the rag down on the counter. One by one he carefully balanced the plates on the tray and up his arm, making sure nothing was going to fall, and he carried them out into the club’s restaurant.
“What table did Tom say again?” Gabe wondered as he moved through the maze of tables. It wasn’t very packed today, just a few people here and there, but it seemed to be the end of a lunch rush as many tables were in the middle of being cleaned. He spotted Amélie sitting nearby and she lit up when she saw him.
“Gabriel! Over here!” She beckoned him over and gestured at the food. “Oh and you brought out my food, how lovely!” Trying to plaster a pleasant smile on his face, he placed the food down in front of her and her guests.
“Hey Amélie,” he said, hoping to make their encounter as quick as possible.
Ignoring his greeting, Amélie jumped right to the point. “Em is ‘supes’ excited that you joined the club! Even if it is just on staff.” She sighed thoughtfully and continued to talk but trailed off as Audrey walked into the room, hand in hand with André. The forlorn look was not lost on him, seeing as it had frequented his own face many times in the past year with Nathalie. He wasn’t a stranger to love and by the moony look on Amélie’s face, she had it bad for the fashionista.
With a swift cheek kiss, André whispered something in her ear and left her standing in the room. Gabriel watched as she sat herself down at a table across the hall and as she lifted her sunglasses, he found her eyes trained on them. He quickly put some distance between Amélie and himself and left the pair to their own devices. While he was one for love, he didn’t think interfering with this particular pair would be the best idea.
Heading back to the kitchen, he went to the sink and picked up the dishes once more. Only five more hours and he could clock out. Five more hours until his poolside date with a beautiful girl. He couldn’t wait.