Gabriel Meets Clarisse Again: Dust and silk combined.
1592 Words
CHAPTER 3
As I arrived at the site, I checked the time. It was 3:52 p.m. I was still early.
“Gabriel, you’re early,” Carl says while startling me.
“You startled me, sir,” I say back.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was capable of startling someone. And please stop with all the ‘sir.’ I am not that old. You can call me Carl.”
“Ok, Carl sir.”
“Just Carl would be okay. Gentlemen,” Carl calls three men over to where I was standing.
“Can you please show Gabriel here where he would change into his work clothes?” he says to them.
“Okay,” a guy among them nods.
“Run along, newbie,” that same guy says.
“What should I call you?” I ask as they are all leading me to where I would change into my work clothes.
“TY,” he replies to me.
“Is that an abbreviation for something like Taylor, Tyler?” I ask inquisitively.
“My name is Taylor,” he replies to me. “What’s your name?” TY asks.
“Me? My name is Gabriel,” I reply to him.
“Your father is a priest or a preacher?” he asks.
“Why’d you ask?”
“Your name is Gabriel. It’s not like you’re an angel or something,” he says, and I laugh.
“I don’t know,” I say to Taylor. “It’s not like I got to know them much.”
“What do you mean?” Taylor asks while we get to the part of the building where I would change into my work clothes.
“My folks are dead, dude,” I say to him.
“Oh, I’m really sorry,” he says, while feeling sorry for me. “I hope I didn’t open any old wounds,” he adds.
“No, I’m way past them,” I reply before he begins to feel bad.
“Okay, I have a feeling that we would be really good friends.”
“I hope so,” I reply. “What about the other two guys that came along with us?”
“You mean Brentley and Graham?” he asks me rhetorically.
“Is that their names?” I ask him.
“Yeah, they are both hypocrites,” he says, like he doesn’t want to talk about them.
“Is there a story behind it?”
“They behave like they are devotees to their job in front of Carl by collecting credits for other people’s jobs.”
“So, they managed to get on Carl’s good side, right?”
“Yes, I suppose,” Taylor says. “Don’t let them ride on you,” Taylor adds.
“Of course, they are not capable of it.”
“I suppose I would leave you to get dressed now,” Taylor says.
“No probs, bro,” I say. “We would talk after work.”
The work site was good, and everyone was friendly. I located Carl and walked towards him.
“Carl, what should I do?” I asked while I was looking around in search of any familiar faces.
“You’re back,” Carl asks.
“Mhmm,” I say to him.
“Okay, your job is to be moving cements to the bricklayers over there,” he says while pointing to some bricklayers whose bodies are glistening with sweat.
“All right, do I get a wheelbarrow or something?” I ask.
“Yeah, just take one around you. We have enough wheelbarrows to go around.”
I guess it’s time to start working.
This contractor doesn’t seem like one who would scam their workers. And besides, the contractor is James’s uncle.
As I am working, a white Porsche car, similar to the one that bumped into me earlier in the day, drives up to the construction site but keeps the four-wheeled beauty at a respectable distance from the workers.
Another bloody capitalist who thinks that they own the whole world, I thought.
I heard Taylor say something to me like, “Dude, one of these days I’m gonna drive a car like that.”
“Stop dreaming, man,” I tell him. “Stuffs like this are for rich folks,” I add.
“You know Ben Carson said you gotta dream big, man! Dream big!” he says while placing emphasis on the BIG.
A lady comes out of the car.
Wait a second— isn’t that the lady who bumped into me?
I was behaving like a cool kid who doesn’t need money in front of her earlier in the day.
Can this day get any worse? I ask myself.
What if she mocks me or makes fun of me? Like rich people things— trampling on other people.
She walks toward the construction site, and Carl begins to walk towards her. They begin talking, and there is no way I would hear a word of what they’re saying from where I am presently.
Suddenly, she notices me.
She points towards me.
What now? Would she fire me? I ask myself.
“Gabriel,” Carl says, “for some reason, my boss wants to talk to you.”
His boss.
She’s Carl’s boss.
“Uhm, okay. I don’t seem to have a problem with that,” I say and start walking towards her.
“Gabriel, we meet again,” she says.
“Uhm, yeah,” I say while trying to lighten the awkward moment between us. I think I am the only one feeling awkward. She feels so completely at ease.
Clarisse looks different from the first time we met.
A silk blouse and a gray skirt— like some rich female CEO.
Sophisticated.
Elegant.
She’s beautiful, not an overflushed lady who was breaking traffic laws, but more of a confident, young, working woman.
“Excuse me,” she says, “if you’re done staring at me, can I talk?” she says while snapping me out of my daydreams.
“Uhm, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to give the wrong impression,” I reply while stuttering.
“No need to be shy, I’m used to the stares. I gain attention everywhere I go,” she says while smiling.
“Okay, are you here to fire me for rejecting your offer earlier in the day?” I ask while avoiding eye contact.
“Uhm, Gabriel, is that what you think I called you for?”
“Sort of. You know, it’s fine— this won’t be the first time.”
“Shut up,” she says. “I wanted to thank you for what you did for me earlier in the day, and you didn’t even do anything that is worth me firing you, so why would you think like that?” she asks while yelling at me.
“Really, you’re not firing me?” I ask.
“Of course not. Maybe we should go out for dinner so that you know I don’t have anything against you.”
She’s asking me out again just for an apology.
I can go with her, right? It’s just dinner, not a date. Besides, Serena and I are not together anymore.
“All right,” I say to her.
“What are you waiting for? Come on,” Clarisse says while walking toward the car.
“I can’t come now, miss. I have to work,” I tell her.
“Really, you still don’t get it, Gabriel? Do you?” she says while crossing her hands and leaning against the white Porsche.
“Get what?” I ask her like I was a lost kid or something.
“I own this project— this building,” she says, like she was about to lose her temper. “That means Carl works for me, and you work for Carl. I pay Carl, Carl pays you. Simple, isn’t it?”
Ohhh, I should have known. She summoned Carl and was gaining attention from all the workers.
“But if I don’t work today, I won’t get paid,” I say to her.
“That’s not a problem,” she tells me and starts looking around for Carl. “There he is,” she says. She walks towards him and tells him something, then starts walking towards me.
“What did you tell him?” I ask her.
“Chill, Gabriel, he isn’t going to fire you,” she tells me with a smile.
“Then what did you do?” I ask her while on the verge of panicking.
“Carl just gave you the rest of the day off, Gabriel, so cool down,” she says while patting my shoulder.
Wait a second, did she just touch me?
I am covered in dust and sand, and she touched me.
“Gabriel, are you there?” she says while looking up at my face.
“Uhm, yes,” I respond quickly. “Just give me a few minutes to go and change from my work clothes. I would be quick, I promise, miss.”
“No problems, and please stop with the ‘miss.’ For all I know, you could be older than me. Just call me Clarisse,” she says.
“Okay, Clarisse.”
“I would be in the car, and you better be fast if you don’t wanna get fired,” she says jokingly, and we both laugh.
It’s funny how I’m getting casual with her without her minding.
- Writer
