Chapter 116 - The Complication

It's already late in the morning but Claire doesn't feel like working. Gabriel isn't going to the office for the rest of the week—he has to respect the needs of his body to recuperate. The medicines need a compliant patient to work their potency, and Gabriel running about town would make it harder for everybody. Moreover, she insisted that he takes it easy—she'd visit him every day at his place, so there's nothing to worry about anything. In the end, he agreed.

Every so often, as she sits at her desk trying to do some market research on an area of business Gabriel intends to explore, she finds herself daydreaming about last night. Last night was magical. They spent the hours just talking—she talked about her childhood in a sleepy suburban town down south, while he spoke about how it was to live under the thumb of Matilde Tan, his mother. Matilde's husband, Eduardo, it turned out, left them for another woman, whose name Matilde would not mention. It was only proof of Matilde's own fortitude that despite the tragedy of losing her supposed lifelong partner, she was able to move on—she had two very young kids to feed and whose future she needed to protect. As it happened, she did not only succeed in raising them, but she also managed to grow a business empire to unthinkable heights.

Matilde's temper and her way of raising them created two different personalities—while Miguel was the younger one, he was more protective of his elder brother; while Gabriel, getting some of his temper from his mother, was more eccentric and seemed frequently in need of saving. And the eccentric one, as Claire realized, is the one she's got. That's perfectly fine, as it is—as her mom always says, "the heart wants what the heart wants, and there's no getting around that."

Gabriel didn't even attempt to do anything naughty last night; he just held her hand as they talked, watching the city's bright lights from the rooftop garden. He seemed content with it. At one point, when the talk veered towards her contract, she's quick to remind him about it.

"In more than a week, Gab, my employment with you would expire," she said, watching his reaction.

He merely laughed it off. "Consider that contract a tired old joke. I merely invented it."

"What?"

"Didn't you read Mrs. Gomez's reaction? That was pure theater. There was no 'red contract.' She merely quickly printed it out of some website."

"But it looked genuine."

He shrugged. "Credit it to Mrs. Gomez's ingenuity. She's not really a receptionist. She's my guardian angel. With the money I pay her, she could have retired many years ago. She could be spending her time in some tropical paradise, far away from the mess that was my life. But no. She insisted in serving me, and watching my back. And she's the only person who could read my 'secret instructions' by the way I wink at her."

"I never realized that!"

"Don't you remember anything on your first day?"

She shook her head.

"She knew I was immediately into you," he said. "Everything that happened when I interviewed you was, how do I put it, spontaneous."

She stopped then, and gazed at him. "Do you mean I have no red contract? I don't get any salary?"

He pinched her playfully on the cheek. "Do you still need a salary? You get everything I have. I'll give you a very generous allowance, you just say it."

"I don't want that, Gab. I want to work for my money," she said. "Like a regular person. I want to work with you. Let's continue this arrangement, but I get the kind of pay my position deserves."

He looked at her. "You know that there's no standard salary for an executive ȧssistant as far as I'm concerned. I can give you a hundred times the regular salary."

She squirmed. She doesn't like it when they talk about money like this. Well, that was okay before things got real; now, she didn't want to feel as if she's in it only for the wealth. "I'm not interested in your money, Gab. When I agreed to our deal, that was only for me to survive the month without having to go back to my mother. I didn't want to disappoint her, so I took on your offer even if I thought that was the oddest thing I had heard in my life." She stopped, fiddling with her thumb. "What about I propose a new deal?"

"Shoot," he said.

"I'll continue working as Bella, as your executive ȧssistant, but I want to know the business side of things. I have a degree. I know my way around things. I should be given more credit."

Gabriel smiled. "You have all my support."

"Thank you," she says. "Now when do you release my pay for this month?"

Claire smiles at the memory. She's actually looking forward to tonight, as she'd visit Gab again in his place. Maybe she'll cook something for him. Perhaps one of her mom's specialties, the Carolina Fried Chicken. She's sure she'd go crazy about it.

The desk phone trills and she answers it even before the third ring ends.

"Hey, how are you?" the voice says on the other end, which she recognizes immediately to be Miguel.

"Hey," she says, feeling suddenly awkward. "I'm sorry about last night."

"It's Gabriel who should be sorry."

"He's deeply sorry, too. He tried to catch up with you but you were gone."

Miguel grunts. "He's been calling me up, but I don't feel like answering."

"You should. You know your brother. He didn't even realize you'd be involved in his surprise. It was my fault."

"It can't be your fault if you did that just because you cared about him," he says. "We all care about him. We just spent a night at the hospital when he was sick. We were there for him."

"I'm sorry, Migs. What happened last night was so complicated and unexpected and just what you can expect from Gabriel. You, of all people, know that."

"All right," he says. "Maybe I'd accept that it's your fault, Claire, that my night got ruined."

"Okay," she mutters, sensing warily the direction of this talk. "What do you want? What kind of apology would make it less regretful?"

"Let's meet tonight," he says. "Just over a few drinks."

She sighs. "Miguel, you know I can't do that. I can't date anymore. I'm with him."

"Who says it's a date? Can't friends have a little night cap? After all, if all goes well with you and Gab, maybe you'd finally become the sister-in-law I've been waiting for."

"But what's the point? Why do we have to meet? We can meet later at Gab's place, that would be a lot better."

"I don't yet feel like seeing him," he says. "Come on. I'd just like to see you. It would be just a few drinks."

"Miguel, I…"

"What if this would be the very last time you'd be seeing me?" he says, his tone dark. "Would you finally agree to see me?"

"Don't be like that, you—"

"I'll pick you up at six, Claire. And I promise, after tonight, you will never ever see me again."

He hangs up.

Claire sits there, unable to put down the phone. She gazes at the wall clock. It's still just morning. It's still a long way from the time Miguel has set, but already she feels like the walls are closing in.