The City Calls to Her

Lost in her thoughts, Rachel quietly wandered around Gabe's apartment while he slept. Just in the past six months, so much had happened. Her brother died, she graduated high school, Midtown signed a record deal, and Jenni announced her pregnancy. Her family wasn't sure how to take the news about Jenni at first but after a while, they finally accepted it.

Rachel grabbed her cell phone off the kitchen counter. She saw that she had a couple missed calls. Most were from her dad. When he found out about Gabe's record deal, it had come to light that he was hoping it would mean the end of his daughter's relationship with Gabe. In very few words, she told him to fuck off which resulted in her not being in contact with Gabe for a weekend. The relationship between Mr. Douglas and Rachel hadn't gotten any better. If anything, it had gotten worse. She hated being home with him so much that when she graduated, she practically moved in with Gabe the same day. Mr. Douglas wasn't too happy about that. Gabe never told her but he got an apartment in hopes she would basically live with him.

"Hey babe," Gabe said as he stood next to her.

She gently kissed him on the cheek. "Hey. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, did you?"

"Eh, it was all right." She shrugged her shoulders. "But I'm up now, so." She walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a coffee mug. She poured Gabe a cup of coffee and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he said and took a sip before setting it on the counter. "Any plans for today?"

"I have to go home for a couple hours. My dad called me probably half a dozen times."

"Oh, keep your night free. I made us reservations at a restaurant in New York City."

"Okay babe," she said and kissed him before walking away. He checked her out as she walked towards the hallway. "Stop it!"

"I didn't do anything!" he shrieked. He shook his head and picked up his cup.

Rachel opened the first drawer on the dresser and pulled out a black and white striped one shoulder shirt. Out of the second drawer, she grabbed a pair of black jeans. She took her clothes and went into the bathroom and started the shower.

After fifteen minutes, Rachel walked out into the living room to find Gabe asleep on the couch. She went back into the bedroom and grabbed the throw sheet off the bed. She covered Gabe with it and grabbed her keys. "I love you," she whispered and kissed his forehead and left the apartment.

When Rachel walked into the house, she could hear dishes clinking in the kitchen and the television was tuned into the local news.

"What a jackass," Mr. Douglas said in response to the story the anchor just covered about someone robbing a fast food restaurant and getting caught not even ten minutes later. As she passed through the living room, her dad just stared at her. She was beginning to feel like a stranger in her own home. When she walked into the kitchen, Mrs. Douglas waited a moment.

"He's at home still sleeping," Rachel informed her. She knew her mom was waiting on Gabe to walk in behind her.

"Oh," Mrs. Douglas responded and threw away the Lysol wipe she had just used on the counter. "Jenni stopped by earlier this morning and wanted me to give you this." She grabbed an envelope and slid it across the counter to Rachel. Rachel opened it and pulled out two sonogram pictures of her niece or nephew.

Rachel awed and asked, "Did she say anything about when it's due?"

"No." Her mom then gave her an odd look. "Haven't you talked to her lately?"

"Actually no, I haven't. It seems like whenever I call her she's busy and by the time she gets around to calling me back, I'm busy."

"I don't think spending all your time with Gabe qualifies as being busy," Mrs. Douglas said.

"Way to sound like dad. Besides, we have jobs because we have bills to pay."

"Sorry, my mind got away from me a little," her mom apologized. "Jenni could probably really use your support right now."

"I know. I didn't come home to get lectured." Rachel tapped her freshly polished nails on the counter. "Anyway, what's dad's deal? He called me a million times and now I'm home and he hasn't said a single word to me."

"Your dad misses you."

"Really, you wouldn't know that by the look he gave me when I walked in."

"Are you going to be home for dinner tonight?"

"Gabe made plans for us."

"Okay, be here for dinner tomorrow night then."

* * * * *

"Hey, I forgot to ask you, how'd it go this morning?" Gabe asked as he fixed his tie.

"It was all right. My dad didn't even talk to me," Rachel said from the bathroom.

"Okay seriously, what's your dad's deal?"

"My mom said he misses me but I don't know. That was a pretty weird way to show it." She stepped out of the bathroom and into the room.

"Wow, you look amazing," Gabe said looking her up and down. She had on a black dress and she left her hair down.

"Thanks so do you," she returned the compliment and kissed him. She sat on the bed and put her black high heels on.

"So are you ready to go?" Gabe asked as he checked his watch.

Rachel stood up and nodded her head. "Yes." She grabbed a sweater and Gabe helped her put it on. Gabe locked up his apartment and they got into his car and were on their way to NYC.

Rachel watched Gabe throughout dinner. She noticed he seemed nervous once they left the apartment. A few minutes before they left the restaurant, Rachel reached across the table and took his hand.

"Are you all right?"

"Um yeah, I'm fine," he said and peeked at his phone for the millionth time that night.

"We still have a few minutes before the check comes."

"I know, I just…" Gabe shrugged his shoulders. Rachel just nodded her head and took a drink from her glass. They sat in silence for a moment before the waitress brought them the check. Gabe grabbed it so Rachel couldn't see it. He slipped his bank card in with the check and set it on the edge of the table.

"Thanks for tonight. It's nice to get away for a while," Rachel said.

"You're welcome but the night's not over yet. There's a surprise waiting for you at home."

"What is it?"

"You'll see."

"Can I get a hint?"

"No."

"You suck Gabriel."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"I'm sure you do," she said as the waitress placed the receipt on the table and thanked them. The couple stood up and then made their way outside to where valet had Gabe's car waiting.

Gabe unlocked the door to the apartment and let Rachel in first.

"Is it okay for me to change out of this?" she asked as she took her sweater off.

Gabe nodded his head and said, "Yeah, I don't see why not."

"Awesome," Rachel said started down the hallway. Gabe followed closely behind so he could see her reaction when she walked into the room. When she walked into the dimly lit room that had flowers and a romantic vibe, she instantly turned around and looked at Gabe. "What is this?"

"Surprise," he said and put his hands up in the air. He stepped into the room that had candles everywhere. Gabe put his arms around her waist and kissed her.

"Gabe, what's going on?" she asked suspiciously.

"I love you. I love you so much and I knew from the moment I saw you that I had to be with you. Now you're mine and these past few years with you have been the best years of my life. I really mean that. I can't imagine my life without you and I never want to go back to the day before you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Gabe reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. He opened it and got down on one knee. "Rachel, will you marry me?"

Rachel turned over onto her side and let out a quiet sigh. She felt and heard Gabe roll over onto his side and he pulled her to him so she could feel every inch of his naked body. She could feel the warm breath he let out against her neck. She hated that she couldn't give Gabe a straight forward yes or no answer to his question. He put his heart and soul on the line and she told him she had to think about it. Even after that he said it was okay and gave her the ring and still made love to her.

Rachel hadn't told anyone that she had been considering packing up and moving to California against her father's wishes. She wanted a new start in life, she wanted to start over. New Jersey held too many memories of Jon and she wanted to be away from them. Gabe and Jenni managed to complicate her decision with babies and marriage proposals.

Rachel turned onto her other side so she was facing Gabe. Gabe ran his hand from her lower back up and around to her front before stopping on her stomach. Rachel propped herself up on her elbow and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I love you, babe," she whispered.

Gabe kissed her and responded, "I love you, too." He rolled over so he was on top of her. He gently nudged her legs apart with his knee and carefully thrust himself into her. It wasn't long until the "M" word came up again.

"Marry me, Rachel, please."

"Okay, I will. I'll marry you."

* * * * *

"What's wrong?" Mrs. Douglas asked as she shut the door behind her.

"I'm kind of stuck."

"Stuck with what?"

"I think I want to move to California despite what dad says. I just feel it's something I need to do."

"If you feel it's something you need to do, then I'll let you move on if you want to. Your dad would have to come around eventually to what you want. Just remember I love you."

"The only thing is," Rachel said as she played with her hands. "Jenni's pregnant now and last night, Gabe asked me to marry him."

"What did you tell Gabe?"

"I just told him I'd have to think about it. He told me to hold onto the ring while I thought about it."

"Do you have the ring with you?"

"Yeah," Rachel said and pulled it out of her pocket. Mrs. Douglas took the diamond engagement ring from her daughter and looked at it.

"Wow, that's beautiful. I don't know, despite the fact that you two are young, it's kind of exciting."

"Mom, don't get excited about it. I never said yes and if I move to California, chances are I'm going to break it off with Gabe. Well actually I guess I did say yes."

"What?"

Rachel shifted her weight uncomfortably. "Well last night we obviously, you know, had sex and he asked me again and I said I would. But I turn around and break it off…"

"Do you know how much that would break his heart?"

"Thanks for making this easier, mom," Rachel said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," Mrs. Douglas apologized.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "I think it's time I talked to dad."

"Good luck," Mrs. Douglas said and kissed her daughter's forehead. She watched Rachel walked out of the room. Rachel found her dad downstairs in the office.

"Hey dad, can we talk for a minute?"

"Yeah, what's up?" he asked as Rachel shut the door.

Rachel sat in her room trying to make her final decision. She sat on her bed with a piece of paper with "Home" and "California" written on the paper. She already had a few things written on the paper in each section. She thought about her talk with her mom.

"If you feel it's something you need to do, then I'll let you move on if you want to. Your dad would have to come around eventually to what you want. Just remember I love you."

She thought about her talk with her dad.

"Please don't go little girl," her father says to her. "It won't work out, it won't be easy."

She couldn't help but feel like she really needed to be living in the city in California.

"Please just go little girl," the city calls to her. "This is your chance, this is your freedom."

Rachel looked back down at her paper.

Gabe, Jenni, marriage, baby, Jon, memories, too hard.

He's gone.

I can live without him.

Ican can't live without him.

Rachel sighed and then sat silent for a moment. She picked up her engagement ring and slid it onto her marriage finger before walking out of her room and going downstairs to tell her parents the decision she made.