Ch. 4

Gabby got out from the bathroom and she wore a pink sweatshirt and she pulled her hair up in a ponytail. She sat down across from Jordan and she kissed her daughter's forehead lovingly. She was grateful she could get away from her husband with her daughter, Allison was her everything.

Gabby used her chance to study Jordan when Jordan zoned out. She had so many tattoos on both of her arm and her neck, on her temple too apparently. She had beautiful eyes but Gabby could see it that behind those eyes, Jordan kept a story underneath them just for herself. Nevertheless, Jordan was beautiful in every single way.

"You okay?" Gabby asked.

Jordan startled. "Oh, yeah. I'm okay, thank you."

Gabby smiled, she sipped her tea and from the corner of her eye, she could see Jordan was staring at her. She didn't know why she liked it when Jordan was looking at her that way.

"Thank you for the tea." Gabby said. She looked outside to check the rain, it wasn't that bad anymore. "I'll go to find some motel to stay in."

Gabby started to pack her stuff but Jordan stopped her. "Yeah?"

"You can stay here." Jordan said.

Gabby raised her brows in shock. Is she serious? She asked to herself. "Uh, I don't want to disturb you. You're so kind to me and my daughter, I can't take anything from you again."

"It's still raining." Jordan's voice sounded so firm everytime she talked to Gabby. "And you need to think about your daughter's health. She will get sick if you still wanted to go."

"But—"

"I have a spare bedroom." Jordan cut her off, again. "It's upstairs."

"Oh." Was all Gabby could say.

"Come on." Jordan stood up, she took Gabby's bag after they argued for a couple of minutes.

Gabby let it go, she took Allison who slept peacefully and kissed her daughter's face so many times and thanked the stars she had a place to stay today.

Jordan opened the door and switched on the lamp, she put her keys on the counter and walked to the bedroom across from hers and dropped the bag carefully.

"You can sleep here." Jordan said.

Gabby nodded. "Thank you." Then she put Allison cautiously and kissed her daughter's forehead before tucking the duvet.

Jordan got out of the room, walked to her kitchen and grabbed a bottle of beer to calm her nerves. She didn't know what she was doing, but she wanted to help Gabby and her daughter, they seemed so vulnerable and fragile at the moment.

Gabby was a domestic violence victim, judging by the way she ran away from home, Jordan thought Gabby didn't have any place to stay, and she told her earlier that she wanted to find a motel. Damn, that was complicated. And Jordan was there, she was the one that Gabby had found.

Jordan sighed, she gulped the half of the beer right away. She closed her eyes to think what she had do to help Gabby, that woman seemed so young yet she had been through some abusiveness for a year, oh god, it sounded so scary. How could she manage to stay for that long? Damn, that woman was awfully brave.

"Hey." Gabby cut her mind off.

"Hey." Jordan replied. "Beer?"

"Yes, please." Gabby said, she sat on the kitchen island.

Jordan jumped from the kitchen counter and grabbed a beer, Gabby mouthed a 'thanks' and gulped the beer. Jordan sat back on the kitchen counter, looking at Gabby who tilted her head down.

"Thank you for helping me and my daughter." Gabby said after awhile.

"It's not a big deal." Jordan replied.

"I promise I'll go tomorrow and find a new place to stay." Gabby said, looking directly into Jordan's eyes and she felt comfort all of sudden, like she had nothing to worry about tomorrow.

Jordan kept quiet, battling with her own mind what she needed to say or do. She wanted to help Gabby, but she didn't know anything about her at all except her abusive husband.

"Where's your parents?" Jordan asked.

Gabby sighed, maybe too loud, but she didn't care. She was tired being asked about her dead parents. "My parents died when I was seventeen."

Jordan startled a bit. "I'm sorry. I didn't know about that."

"It's okay." Gabby gave her a sad smile.

"Any siblings?" Jordan asked again.

Gabby shook her head no. "I was told by my mom that I have a sister, a half-sister to be exact, but I don't have any idea where she is right now. I never meet her since she was out from our home country years ago and I don't have any chance to see her."

"How old are you?" Jordan moved to sit across from Gabby.

"I'm twenty three." Gabby said, a little bit embarrassed because she already had a daughter at very young age.

"And your daughter is?" Jordan grabbed another beer.

"She is five." Gabby said.

Jordan was silent all of sudden. She calculated the time when Gabby had a baby and it was just when she was out from her high school. Jeez.

"I know what you're thinking." Gabby gave Jordan a sad smile. "Allison was born when I started my college. I was forced to marry Steven since he is Allison's father and I dropped out from college because of that. I didn't have anyone at that time, my whole family was in my home country, they didn't accept Allison as a family because I know until now they still think that Allison is a mistake and I made a disgrace for my family by being pregnant before marriage. But I have to keep alive to my daughter. She isn't a mistake even though some people say she is. She is the most precious thing that ever happen to me."

Jordan slightly smiled when she saw Gabby's eyes lit when she told her about Allison. She kept listening to Gabby's story, she was amazed by the time Gabby told her about her shitty life.

Damn, life kept throwing shit to her and she stood still. Gabby was something else. And for the first time in three years, Jordan felt something she always denied but she didn't want to say it out loud.

"I wrote a letter to Steven that I went to my sister's house so he will not try to look for me and Allison. She is the only reason I could use because he knows that my cousins are across the country." Gabby ended the story. "Even though I have no idea where my sister is. Hell, I didn't even know what she looks like. But I hope the lie will help us to find a decent place to stay as long as it takes."

"Why don't you try to divorce him?" Jordan asked.

Gabby gave her a 'really?' look. Jordan nodded in understanding and said sorry for crossing the line. So, Gabby didn't have enough money to stay alive longer and she had no idea for how long she could manage her money.

Jordan battled with her mind once again. Gabby really needed help and she couldn't imagine if both of them were being homeless, Allison was five years old for god's sake. Jordan assumed Gabby also didn't have a job knowing she had a daughter to take care of.

So, life really gave her a shitty shit every day. Jordan couldn't imagine how their days went in a house with an abusive partner and they struggled to feed themselves every day.

"You can stay here as long as you want." Jordan decided.

Gabby eyes bulged out, but when she saw Jordan's eyes, she knew Jordan was deadly serious. She was full of tears and kept thanking Jordan and promised to help Jordan in her coffee shop without getting salary at all since Jordan allowed her to stay in her house for free. But Jordan insisted to pay her and they made a deal, Jordan would pay Gabby half of her other employees' salary.

Gabby was really grateful, she didn't know that her ran away would bring her to live with a new chance to feel alive again.

And for Jordan, she could sleep peacefully again after three years and woke up with a sound of someone making breakfast for her, just like what Olivia did six years ago.