Sylvain Reynard

NY Times Best-Selling Author

New Year’s Eve Flashback Outtake – By Professor Gabriel Emerson

Dear Everyone,

As a way of saying thank you for your continued support, and also to bridge the time until “Gabriel’s Redemption” releases on December 3, I’ve decided to go back into the archives and repost some previous outtakes and other materials.

Here is a flashback, first person account of New Year’s Eve, written by the Professor. It first appeared on the Fresh Fiction Blog December 31, 2012.

“New Year’s Eve” by Professor Gabriel O. Emerson
In the past, New Year’s Eve was always bittersweet.  I spent Christmas with my adoptive family before returning to my lonely condominium in Toronto.
By the time New Year’s Eve arrived, I’d be itching for human contact. So I’d do what I always did when I craved a connection. I’d walk to Lobby, my favourite club.
On New Year’s Eve it was difficult to get in. But on this particular evening, as on most nights since I became a club VIP, I was welcomed by the bouncer, who directed me to skirt the long line and enter the building.
I approached the bar and ordered my favourite drink – a double shot of Laphroaig, neat, with a side of spring water.
Within five minutes, I was sitting on a banquette near the wall, sipping Scotch and scanning the room.
My criteria for female companionship were simple. I preferred tall, leggy blondes but would occasional approach a red head or a brunette. I liked women who were attractive, confident, and intelligent.  I avoided those whose mannerisms hinted at self-esteem issues or overt aggression. I also steered clear of women who arrived at Lobby in packs, since I found it tiresome to have to disengage them from their friends.
Halfway thru my Laphroaig, I saw her.
She had long hair the colour of corn silk and was dressed in a backless black dress. Her legs were encased in sheer stockings and she wore extravagantly high red-soled black heels.
I adjusted myself at the sight of her legs alone.
She sat at the bar with another woman, who was striking but not as attractive as her companion. They were involved in a relaxed conversation, their eyes occasionally darting to the men nearby.
As time wore on, I watched a few men send over drinks, or try to gain the women’s attention.  Both the drinks and the men were rebuffed.
I found myself smiling. Few of the women at Lobby presented a challenge for me. This would be a rare delight.
I tipped back the last of my drink and approached the bar slowly, my eyes locked on hers. Her lovely red lips parted as I approached and it seemed she was holding her breath.
At the last minute, however, I made eye contact with the bartender and ordered another drink.
Then I waited.
I kept my posture straight, not bothering to lean against the bar. When I pursued a woman I liked to be the aggressor and I had no wish to appear as anything other than focused.
But first I had to get her attention.
I waited just long enough for her to wonder if I was going to approach her.  Then I turned in her direction.
We made eye contact and I smiled at her briefly, before turning away as the bartender served my drink. I took a sip, then placed the glass on the bar.
“Hello.” Her throaty voice cut through the music of the club like a sword slicing silk.
“Hello.”
I gazed at her face appraisingly. She was even more beautiful up close – high cheekbones, large expressive eyes, and a mouth made for the first of the seven deadly sins.
My trousers grew even more snug at the thought.
“Can I buy you a drink?” she asked.
I lifted her hand, kissing the back of it.  “No.”
Her green eyes grew wide.
She tried to withdraw her hand but I held it, stroking her palm with my thumb.
“I’ll buy you a drink and one for your friend. And then, I’ll ask you to dance.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “What makes you so sure I’ll say yes?”
I leaned over to bring my lips to her ear, dropping my voice to a whisper. “You’re the only woman I’ve spoken to this evening because you’re the only one I’m interested in. And you deserve to be a man’s first choice.”

I felt her shiver at my nearness and I restrained a smile.
“I’m your first choice?” she whispered back.
I traced the side of her neck with a single finger.  “Yes.”
When I heard her breathing pause, I knew she was mine.
At least for New Year’s Eve.
-Professor Gabriel O. Emerson,
Associate Professor of Italian Studies
University of Toronto

I penned this flashback intentionally, since the two women mentioned are also mentioned in my novels. See if you can guess who they are in the comments below.

All the best everyone and thank you for reading, SR.

PS.  Don’t forget that if you’ve preordered “Gabriel’s Redemption,” or if you will do so in future, the Professor has gifts for you. Click here for details.

The Portuguese translation of “Gabriel’s Rapture,” which is entitled “O Julgamento de Gabriel,” released this week from Editora Arqueiro. It’s also available on Amazon.com.br.

The Greek translation of “Gabriel’s Inferno” also released this week. It’s available through Psichogios Books and the iTunes store. The Greek translation of “Gabriel’s Rapture” will release December 5.

Comments

  1. TerrytheNurse says

    This outtake is even better the second time around. 🙂 So, I’m thinking that the leggy blonde is the subject of one of Gabriel’s erotic pictures (the one he placed behind his bed), and the woman she’s chatting with is Soraya, who will become Julia’s atty. Yes? No? Poor Gabriel. He needs to buy slacks in one size larger. We wouldn’t want him getting chafed with all that adjusting. lolol

    ~Terry

    Reply

  2. Efrat Noy says

    I love this outtake! Gabriel has the smooth talk all figured out, doesn’t he?…
    My vote? The girl that Gabriel called on his phone after he saw Paul and Julia walking together. Perhaps she was also in one of his pictures, as well. With Louboutins at a high-end bar, I wouldn’t be surprised 😉
    Her friend? Not sure.. We need more clues.. SR?

    Reply

  3. Ellie Totten says

    Terry, you are too funny!LOL I too thought of the women in his many exotic picture because of the corn silk hair. Paulina was the only one that fit the description, so it wasn’t her.Soraya never entered my mind, but I think you’re right! I remember when Soraya made a comment to Julianne how he hooked up with a friend of hers one night, and she never heard from him again. Good detective work! 😉

    I love this outtake! And I have to agree about Gabriel’s trousers. He needs to speak to his tailor the next time, so these episodes aren’t so uncomfortable.

    Reply

  4. Renata says

    I really really love this outtake! The report proves that Gabriel is an expert in the art of seduction (which we all already knew) but also must consider that it is narrated in the first person, it can be suspicious … hehehehe
    I find it fascinating when we have the prospect of a male character, is so rare nowadays books in which the male character narrates in first person …
    Well .. but about these two women … I think I agree with Terry, the blonde must be the woman in the photograph and the other should be the same ….
    But I liked Efrat’s idea. The woman who Gabriel called when saw Julianne and Paul together never left my mind, do not know why …
    I suspect we still hear about them (or one of them) in Gabriels Redemption. We Know that the SR is the master of anticipation…

    Reply

  5. Jdt says

    Here you are with your comments! Terry and I where twitting about these Ladies or as I called them, especially the blonde one, predator. The one who is sitting must be (???) Soraya … She could be the one who has a tattoo in arabic in one of the pictures. The “first choice one” must be the girl with blonde hair in the the other picture, that Julia find beautiful. … Soraya was telling Julia about a friend “one night stand” it must be her. This is like the teaser, love it. SR you know how to write, and how to entertain on a Friday like this. About the trousers … G had to fix it several times even after the Lobby ��

    Reply

  6. Jdt says

    What do we think about the blond waitress with red lips called Alicia, she made him uncomfortable at the Lobby when he was there with Rachel an Julia ?

    Reply

  7. Ellie Totten says

    I completely forgot about the waitress, good point. I don’t think Soraya slept with Gabriel. If she had, she might have remarked about it when she mentioned her girlfriend hooking up for the night. I think Soraya slept with Gabriel’s lawyer.

    Reply

  8. Jdt says

    I can not give up! What about prof. Peterson blond hair, maybe this was before they knew each other as colleagues?

    Reply

  9. Jdt says

    Ellie, I think Soraya was only the other women sitting in the bar. Don’t think she spent the night wit G. She is the friend of the blonde one, and it could be prof. Petersen, she was looking and listening a bit to intense when G had his lecture, where J met prof Singer …

    Reply

  10. Jdt says

    Thinking further …the blonde cant’t be the same person he called when He saw J and P. the call was 9 month after New Year and she was just for the night ???

    Reply

  12. Teresa Eidson says

    Remember Jillian lawyer saying her friend got a call from him in the fall out of not hearing from him after their one night stand.I think it was her friend

    Reply

  13. Jdt says

    Oh yes, I found it … I think, G and the blonde ended it up in the washroom, it could have been N Y E, she is Soraya’s friend. They met a couple of times, and G called her in the fall, it must have been when he saw Julia and Paul. Oh, Professor!

    Reply

  16. Reshi says

    I think it’s Soraya’s friend, but I’m not 100% sure. I would like more stories about Gabriel and Paulina. It is strange request stories about them.

    Reply

  17. Karen Thill says

    One of my favorite outtakes! How lucky to be chosen by Gabriel! I think Terry is right! Soraya and the woman in the picture above Gabriel’s bed. Could be Prof Peterson.

    Reply

  21. Ana Centeno says

    I think it was Paulina when he first met her before Julia. He was having a flashback moment; therefore, I definitely think that it was the first time he met Paulina.

    Reply

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About The Author

fluer-de-lisI am honoured to have had all three of my novels appear on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller lists. I was a Semifinalist for Best Author in the 2011 and 2012 Goodreads Choice Awards. {More About Sylvain}

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