CHAPTER 5
881 Words
The next morning, Gabby stood by her bedroom window, holding onto the edge of the curtains with her fingers as she watched the gardeners trim the hedges below.
The estate looked as beautiful as it was the day she arrived.
It had been a week since she signed the contract.
Seven days since she had left her tiny home and seven days since her father disappeared without a single call or message.
She pressed her lips together, forcing herself not to cry.
A gentle knock sounded on her bedroom door.
"Mrs. Reyes?"
It was Ms. Bennett.
"You have a package."
Gabby frowned.
"A Package?"
The older woman nodded.
"Yes, a courier left a parcel at the front gate."
A strange uneasiness settled in Gabby's chest.
"For me?" She asked
"Yes."
The package was surprisingly small.
It rested on the dining table, wrapped in plain brown paper with Gabby's name written on it.
Even Manuel, who had just entered the room on his way to work, paused when he noticed it.
"What is it?"
"I don't know." Gabby answered.
Gabby carefully untied the string holding the package together.
Her heartbeat quickened.
There was a small velvet pouch inside.
Her fingers trembled as she opened it and then, something metallic slipped onto her palm.
The moment she saw it, her face turned pale.
It was an old silver pocket watch, the glass covering its face was slightly cracked and the chain had faded.
Gabby recognized it instantly.
It belonged to her father, he never went anywhere without it.
She remembered being six years old, sitting on her father's lap while he proudly told her the watch belonged to her grandfather.
Chris treasured it too much to part with it.
Yet now, it sat in her shaking hand.
"Gabby."
Manuel's voice sounded distant.
She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
"This is my father's watch."
Silence filled the room.
Manuel stepped closer and examined the watch.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded immediately.
"I'd recognize it anywhere."
There was nothing else inside the package.
No detail of any sort, just the watch, which made it even more frightening.
"If someone had this, then where is my father?" She questioned herself.
The rest of the morning passed in uneasy silence.
Gabby sat in one of the sitting rooms with the watch resting in her hands.
She ran her thumb over the cracked glass continuously.
It still carried faint scratches she remembered from childhood.
Someone had deliberately sent it to her, but she wondered why.
She didn't even notice when Manuel entered the room until he stopped beside her.
Without saying a word, he placed a cup of warm tea on the table.
She looked up at him but he avoided her eyes.
"You haven't eaten."
His voice remained calm but professional, yet the gesture surprised her.
"You didn't have to." She said
"I hate unnecessary problems." He replied.
Of course.
He wasn't worried about her, he simply didn't want a sick wife.
Gabby forced a small smile and said, "I'll eat."
He nodded and was about leaving when he said to her
"If anyone sends another package, tell me immediately".
Then he walked away.
Gabby stared after him.
His concern was always hidden beneath cold words.
She wondered if he even realized it.
That afternoon, she wandered into the mansion's garden carrying the watch.
The fresh air helped in clearing her thoughts as she sat beside a small fountain, opening and closing the watch.
A shadow suddenly fell over her.
She looked up immediately. It was Manuel.
He had returned from work earlier than usual.
"You'll catch a cold sitting there." He said
"I'm fine." She replied
His gaze settled briefly on the watch.
Then, surprisingly, he sat on the end of the stone bench.
Not beside her, but not too far away.
For some moments, neither of them spoke a word.
Finally, she asked
"Have you ever lost someone?"
Manuel did not answer immediately, but after a while, he replied in a very calm tone.
"Yes, but I learned that searching endlessly doesn't always bring people back."
His words lingered in the air.
She didn't know if he was trying to comfort her or warn her.
Before she could ask another question, his phone beeped.
He glanced at the screen and said, "I have to go."
And just like that, that brief moment ended.
He stood up and walked away without looking back.
Gabby lowered her eyes to the broken watch in her hands.
For some reason, she felt a little less alone.
Upstairs, from the second-floor balcony, someone had been watching everything.
Mara Steve.
She had arrived at the mansion to deliver documents for Manuel, instead, she witnessed something she had never seen before.
Manuel had sat with Gabby.
Not for business, not out of obligation but of freewill.
The sight made Mara's fingers tighten around the file she was carrying.
Her expression remained perfectly composed, but inside, her jealousy increased.
If Gabby stayed in Manuel's life for long, he would eventually stop looking at everyone else and start looking
only at her? She thought.
Mara turned away from the balcony, her smile had disappeared completely.
And for the first time, she saw Gabby not as an inconvenience but more like a threat.
- Writer
