Chapter 26

                                    

                                          
I woke up to the sun shining in my face, which made me squint my eyes as soon as I opened it. I looked around and found myself in my room with the curtains wide open.
I slowly got up and felt uncomfortable. Like I was weighed down by heavy clothes, I looked down at myself. 
I was still wearing sweaters and sweat pants from last night. Great! I could feel my bra cutting off my circulation. 
I got up wanting to get rid of all this weight off of me. I stripped and ran to the shower. 
As the warm water cascaded down my body, I felt myself relax. I lathered my hair with shampoo, softly massaging my scalp. 
With my eyes closed, I let my mind wonder. How did I end up in bed fully clothed last night? Last thing I remember, I had been watching a movie with the girls and Gabriel. Did I fall asleep there? Did Gabriel carry me to my room?
With that thought, my eyes snapped open in alarm, forgetting about the shampoo on my head, which was dripping down my face. It stung my eyes. "Ow!" I said, scrubbing my face and washing my eyes, cleaning the shampoo off from it. 
I quickly finished with the rest of the cleansing and got out of the bathroom after brushing my teeth. I had wrapped a towel around myself. 
I felt like I would freeze when I came out. So I dashed over to the walk-in closet. 
As I got in a sudden wave of dizziness came, making me lean on the door. 
What's wrong with me, I thought, as I noticed how weak and tired I felt despite the fact that I just woke up. 
This must be why I fell asleep on the sofa last night, because I do remember feeling extra tired last night as well.
When my dizziness went, I quickly put on some clothes consisting of a white knit cropped top and some skinny jeans. 
How I wish I could just wear some loose fitting, light as a feather pants and a baggy t-shirt, and call it a sick day. But I had promised to take the girls shopping today for their birthday dresses. 
Their birthday is tomorrow, and my precious little darlings had requested for a dress chosen by me. 
Not that Gabriel complained. He said he could arrange the whole party, but if he was left to choose their outfits, they might come out looking like a couple of clowns. 
So here I am, getting ready to go save the day-or party.
I lightly blow dried my hair, not bothered to style it, leaving it to hang loose around my shoulders. I clasped a gold chain as a finishing touch. After applying some lip gloss and mascara, I was done.
Stepping out, I was startled as the door next to mine opened, and Gabriel stepped out. He saw me and paused. He looked startled himself. 
I couldn't help giving him a once over, starting from his wet hair, which I assume was because he was fresh out of the shower. It was left messy like he had only run his fingers through them to make it look presentable. 
My eyes drifted down to what he was wearing. Short sleeve gray t-shirt which hugged his muscular body and a comfortable looking pair of jeans which showed off his long legs. 
After some time, it occurred to me that I was ogling him, and I whipped my head up only to find him too distracted to notice me ogling him. So I continued my perusal, this time on his face. 
His sharp jawline, his high cheek bones, his narrow nose, up to his eyes which were concealed with his long thick lashes, as his eyes were downcast, slowly making its way up as he gave me a once over.