Loved From Afar (COMPLETED)

Misunderstandings pt 1

Authors note: another really long chapter and also kind of different as it's not a whole lot of Eric and Amelia but enjoy regardless!

Eric was avoiding her but she couldn't figure out why. She had texted him that morning and gotten no reply. Did he really regret kissing her that much or was it something different? Amelia was so distracted that she bumped into a very firm chest and stumbled back. "Oh I'm so sorry!" She looked up only to find that her thoughts seemed to have conjured Eric himself. "Oh hey Ame...Diaz." He rubbed his neck and gave her a sheepish smile. She wondered in the back of her mind why he'd reverted to using her last name. Was he pushing her away? "Sorry again Eric I guess I was more distracted than I thought." Amelia then realized that there was a woman standing next to him, a very tall, attractive woman. "Oh who's this?" Amelia asked trying to hide her worry. The woman quickly intervened holding out a hand to introduce herself properly. "I'm Gizelle Gillespie I'm Eric's....acquaintance." The hesitation in her statement made Amelia think they were probably closer than she was letting on. "Oh well it's nice to meet you I'm Eric's...highschool friend." She hesitated to say anymore as she felt that maybe she'd overstepped her bounds as well. If Eric was seeing this woman but wasn't making it public for some reason. As much as it hurt to see him with someone else Amelia would never cause problems if he was happy. "Eric I'd like to be going we do have an important meeting to attend." The way Gizelle spoke his name seemed more intimate even and Amelia felt she was seeing something she wasn't supposed to. "Again I'm really sorry I'll be on my way you're obviously very busy." Amelia gave Eric one last shy and somewhat sad smile then shook Gizelle's hand "It was nice to meet you." Once Amelia was far enough away she let the ache spread and her chest convulsed from the sudden sobs.

Eric was still struggling his way through the day. After the run in with Amelia he'd been terrified that Gizelle would give her the wrong impression. He'd been spared that as she'd introduced herself as an acquaintance.
"Gizelle why did you convince me to leave my shop today?" He heard himself asking.
"Because I don't trust anyone else to drive me on these American roads." Gizelle supplied unhelpfully.
Eric rolled his eyes as he came to a stop at a red light. "You only lived in Europe for six months you can't have possibly forgotten all the traffic laws." Eric held up a hand to silence her before she could protest and continued.
"And I know for a fact that your drivers license is still valid." Gizelle let out a hearty laugh and poked him in the shoulder.
"Fine I concede I wanted to see my baby brother."
Eric groaned.
"I'm older than you just because you're taller doesn't make you older." Gizelle then squinted suspiciously at her brother.
"By the way what's your real relationship to that so called highschool friend?"
Eric rubbed his neck and Gizelle gasped theatrically.
"I knew it you're in love with her!"
Eric blushed a deep red and grit his teeth together.
"I'm not....it's not like that, I mean I like her but she doesn't see me that way." Gizelle nodded her understanding and looked more closely at her brother as he drove.
"I don't think you should be so sure that she doesn't." Gizelle dropped the topic as she could tell that Eric was having a hard time. Besides she couldn't very well poke fun at her brother when she was in a similar situation herself.

Gizelle was nervous as they pulled up to the tall glass building where her meeting would be held. She hadn't been here in six months. The last time she'd set foot in this building she'd stormed out in a fit of anger. Gizelle stared up at the giant golden letters. "Hey it's gonna be okay I promise." Eric's words gave her a sense of peace and she smiled at him.
"Right, I can do this."

Sitting in the highbacked conference chair Gizelle looked around at the other faces around her. All the men in the room were older and there were other women around her age. As the meeting started she found herself looking for a familiar face in the crowd. He was nowhere to be found and yet she knew he wouldn't be there. The meeting seemed to drag on until the door swung open. "I'm sorry I'm late." Gizelle felt every fiber in her body attune to his voice. She slowly turned to look at him and his eyes locked with hers. Derrick Lawson was the photographer for Gizelle when she first started her career as a model. His grey eyes seemed to pierce her soul.

Derrick felt his heart speed up as he saw Gizelle's face. He walked slowly to the only open chair which was directly across from her. He tried to focus solely on his notepad. Near the end of the meeting he found himself ignoring the supervisor that was speaking and sketching in his notepad instead. He had his chin propped up in his hand. The model sitting next to him was new and quite a bit younger than the rest of the models present. "Wow your art is amazing." She whispered. Derrick snapped out of his daze and whispered a thank you before really noticing what he'd been doodling. Gizelle stared at him from the paper with her signature grin, not the smile she used for the camera but the one she'd always shown him after a good shoot. He flipped the notebook shut and looked up. There she was staring at him in real life her bright green eyes glittering but sad. She quickly looked away when he caught her staring. After the meeting finished he wanted to talk to her maybe try to smooth things over for them.

Gizelle wished the meeting would end she simply wanted to apologize to Derrick and leave. Finally it drew to a close and she found his eyes again, she motioned to side of the room. As he approached she felt her hands start to sweat.

He was gripping his notebook as if it was a lifeline. They finally, after six months, were face to face again. Gizelle looked as nervous as he felt.
"Hi Derrick." Her voice was quiet but still managed to get his heart racing.
"Hi GG." He saw her lips twitch at the nickname. She took a deep breath then began to speak.
"I'm sorry about how things were left before I..." She let her words fade out and Derrick nodded.
"Me too, I'd like to meet up outside of work sometime to maybe smooth things out." He waited for her reaction knowing that she probably didn't want to see him anymore than necessary since they'd be working together again now that she was back.
Gizelle felt her heart stutter at his words. It wasn't like that, she scolded herself mentally.
"I'd like that maybe later this week I always have saturdays open."
Derrick nodded his agreement. "And Gizelle...you look good."
Derrick got the reaction he was hoping for with that comment. She snorted a laugh and graced him with that genuine smile.
"Of course I look good I'm a model."
Derrick shot her a smile in return and felt a weight fall off his shoulders, at least she didn't hate him.
"So saturday then?" He asked before he walked away. Gizelle nodded then brushed her hair behind her ear.
"By the way Derrick...you look good too." He seemed caught off guard but smiled before he made his way out of the office.