The next day, as Claire sat down for breakfast, Gabriel walked up from behind her and placed the newspaper on the table in front of her.
Claire's eyes opened wider at the headline: 'Three men from most influential families investigated over assault during their university years - court hearing coming soon'.
"What's this?" Claire asked as she looked up at Gabriel that still stood just behind her.
"Didn't they go to your university? I thought you may want to know. There's enough evidence for them to be prosecuted in less than a month." Gabriel walked around to face her, then he placed a box on the table. Claire was confused but she opened the plain blue box only to find a neatly folded black swimsuit. "It's fine if you don't want to but I wanted to give you choice." Gabriel sat down opposite Claire, watching her and carefully analysing her face.
"That's new," Claire said with a bite in her tone even though Gabriel noticed a slight glimmer in her eyes as she looked at it. "So far you haven't really given me a choice. You tricked me into signing the contract." Claire repeated her lie. "And now you imprisoned me."
"I'm glad that you're feeling better. And if I didn't respect your choice, you wouldn't have a job and you'd be locked up in here permanently. I'm sure you can withstand a few more days."
"That depends. Are you planning to be home a lot?"
"Now that you said that, I think I will work remotely just to spite you," Gabriel said with a mischievous smile.
"You can try." Claire smiled in an equally mischievous way.
"And what can you do to stop me?"
"Let's see… I know where the fuse box is. It might be hard to work without electricity. I am pretty sure that I saw a hi-fi system in the living room." Claire thought out loud. "I am yet to go get the sledgehammer…"
"All of those will indeed stop me from working." Gabriel nodded. "But then, I'll have more time to spend with you."
"And what would you wish to do in my company?"
"Well, you've said something to me some time ago…" Gabriel's eyes twinkled as if he had some evil idea. "Once, in the elevator, you've said that I should get someone to s*ck my…"
"What the h*ll?!" Claire cut him off before he finished the sentence. "Why would you even bring that up?" She blushed.
"I thought it was an offer." Claire took the swimsuit out of the box, stood up and she threw the empty box at Gabriel. He managed to dodge it and the box hit the wall with a rather loud thump. Gabriel started laughing. Claire might have been angry but at least her body wasn't as tense as when she was anxious. Gabriel could tell that she did kind of enjoy their feuds.
"You pervert!" Claire shouted.
"Isn't it only appropriate to bring this up with one's wife?"
"And this is why I don't have much appetite around you." Claire huffed.
"I don't think you had much appetite for a while, Claire. You can't just pinpoint everything on me."
"Not everything. Just everything bad in my life."
"That's alright. It means that I'm part of your life." Gabriel smirked.
Jonathan put the breakfast before them as they continued to wind each other up. Somehow it worked. Claire was so focused on responding in the sharpest and wittiest way that it was the first time in weeks that she ate an entire meal.
The thing is, Claire was realising now that he purposely was winding her up. His smile wasn't evil or aggressive. It was a warm smile that slowly spread into his eyes, that glimmering like stars in the night sky. She wondered how someone can be so different from one day to another. How one moment he was ready to destroy everything around him, and the next he was thoughtful and caring.
After breakfast Gabriel excused himself to do some work but Claire wasn't sure what to do with herself. She went back to her room to put away her new swimsuit. She wondered if Gabriel had anything to do with the investigation being re-opened but she also felt anxious to be involved in it again. It was nearly seven years ago after all. She mostly put it behind her, or so she kept telling herself. She never since trusted anyone in the same way.
Zoe and Gina were quick to send her links to the articles with similar headlines and asked if she were okay.
She responded positively to their messages before she started to wander around the house again.
She settled by the piano which she didn't have time for in the past few years. During college and university, she was involved in as much as she could. She wanted to grab all of the opportunities she had. Once she started working and then her mum fell ill, it felt like she put her entire life on hold.
She was unsure about touching it at first but once her fingers touched the keys, it was like magic. Claire played songs she hasn't thought about in years.
After some time in the study, Gabriel found himself very distracted. He couldn't stop thinking about what Claire was doing at this exact moment. For some reason, her working was more reassuring for him than her wandering around aimlessly at home.
He soon left the study, passed by her room which was quiet and walked down the stairs. Only then he heard the piano.
Gabriel leaned against the door of the living room, watching Claire from the distance. He didn't want to bother her as she seemed to be in her own world as she played.
Gabriel stayed there for a while, listening and smiling, and when Claire finished, he disappeared before she noticed, or so he thought. In reality, Claire heard his footsteps as he came around and even managed to catch his glances and smile. She continued playing as it was the calmest they both were in the same room since they knew each other.
Over the next few days, Gabriel worked long hours and Claire was keeping herself busy around the house. She was happy once the first week passed and Pattison was keen to go out with her. On the first evening, she went out with Zoe and Gina (and Pattison, of course) for a coffee and to the cinema.
"You look like a ghost!" Gina welcomed her after a few days of absence.
"Love you, too, Gina." Claire smiled. "I've brought Mark in tow, I hope that's not an issue?"
"Not at all." Zoe and Gina replied in unison.
"So, where have you been? You vanished off the surface of the earth! How could you?!" Zoe grumbled.
"I was ill after my car broke down in the middle of nowhere and I had to walk almost 15 miles in torrential rain," Claire replied without too much detail and as if it were nothing.
"We have so much to talk about!" Gina was excited.
"First of all, Mr Pattison, please cover your ears. We need to discuss who is the girl that Mr Moore might be dating." Zoe said to Pattison.
"Mark's fine. And I couldn't care less. But I'll go order some drinks if you want to talk in private." Pattison offered quickly going up to the counter.
"So… who do you think it is?" Zoe turned to Claire.
"I don't know." Claire shrugged it off.
"It could be a celebrity, right?" Gina suggested.
"Could be." Claire nodded.
"Do you think it's someone famous?" Gina wondered out loud
"She'll be rich, for sure. Rich marry rich." Zoe sighed.
"Zoe, why do you sound so upset? Did you have an eye on Mr Moore?" Gina teased her, at which Claire chuckled.
"Of course! He is rich and handsome!" Zoe looked behind Mark who was ordering their drinks by the counter. "But, he's not too bad." Zoe looked at Claire. "What's with you two?"
"Buddies due to shared trauma of working with Mr Moore," Claire explained.
"So, you wouldn't mind if I…?"
"Jesus, Zoe." Gina facepalmed at her friend's outward nature.
"Go for it. He broke up with his girlfriend about three or four weeks ago."
"Oooh… I like them fresh." Zoe clapped. Claire already felt sorry for what was about to come for Mark.
Pattison came back with four cups of warm drinks.
"Mark, is it?" Zoe asked Pattison.
"Yes, it is."
"I don't think we have been properly introduced. I'm Zoe and this is Gina." They shook hands.
"Thanks for letting me join you."
"Nah, you're part of the gang." Zoe waved her hand dismissively.
"Anyone who saved Claire's ass at some point is a part of the gang," Gina explained.
"Shouldn't the gang be bigger?" Mark asked.
"You'd think so but our Claire-bear is a very unfortunate soul," Zoe said in an exaggerated sad tone.
"Thanks, Zoe. Nothing better than beating someone who's already down." Claire grumbled as she started sipping her coffee.
"Tell me about one good date you ever went on," Zoe said in a challenging tone. "I bet you can't."
"Probably not. I mean…" Claire thought back. "Pierre wasn't too bad."
"Pierre Martin?" Gina asked. "The guy you started to learn French for?"
"Yeah, I guess." Claire blushed.
"If I remember correctly he threw up on your shoes when he asked you out on a date and avoided you since. It doesn't count if it weren't a date yet." Zoe smiled. "So, much easier one… worst date?"
"Again, Claire wins," Gina said quite carefully.
"Hey, what happened?" Mark asked as he leaned back in the armchair and managed to have a better look at Claire.
"I'll let everyone else go before we circle back to me," Claire said with a smile.
"My worst date was when I woke up in a dumpster a day after," Zoe admitted shamelessly. All others showed clear disgust at it.
"My worst one was probably…. Brace yourself." Gina smiled. "I went on a date with a slightly older guy. He was a little bit off but worth giving a chance kind of odd. We went to the cinema and when we came out his car was stolen." Gina started laughing hysterically. "Then he called his wife to tell her that and to get insurance information. She came and the police had to get her away from me."
"I remember that one." Claire laughed. "I've picked you up afterwards and to this day I'm convinced that you've made it up."
"I wish." Gina wiped the tears away from her face.
"My date stole my car," Mark said casually.
"No!" Three women exclaimed in unison.
"Yes. I've stopped by a shop to get the…" Mark blushed. "Well, you get the idea. She insisted to stay in the car. The next thing I know, she drove off. Never got that car back."
"Do you think that she was responsible for stealing my date's car too?" Gina asked.
"See, my dates were bad in the tragic way, not a fun way," Claire said with slight sadness.
"Cannot be that bad," Pattison said with disbelief at which Zoe and Gina have gotten more serious.
"Those three guys on the news?" Gina started. "Claire was going on a date with Harry."
"What happened?"
"Harry showed up with friends." Claire smiled as she sipped her coffee trying to hide her pain. "I fought them off but after all, there were three of them versus me. They were so angry at me for not getting what they wanted that they tore my clothes, hit me, and then threw me in the pool. As good of a swimmer I was, it's hard to swim up if you're held by three men below the surface of the water." Claire said quite calmly. Gina leaned forward and grabbed Claire's hand.
"Were there no witnesses?" Mark asked.
"There were. They were caught red-handed." Zoe spoke for Claire. "Entire junior team saw them."
"Why didn't they go to jail?"
"Because every witness changed their statement after their rich daddies pulled out serious wads of cash," Zoe said angrily.
"Hey, I'm sorry it happened," Mark said as he leaned forward too.
"It's alright." Claire smiled.
"It's alright but she can't enter the pool without a panic attack." Zoe rolled her eyes. "Never mind the fact that she doesn't trust anyone since."
"That's a lie. I trust you guys." Claire smiled.
"They'll be brought to justice, you know. Since Mr Moore…" Pattison stopped mid-sentence realising that he had said too much.
Three pairs of eyes looked at him.
"Did Mr Moore have something to do with the investigation?" Gina asked first.
"Probably to distract from his affair," Zoe added with a slight disregard.
"I cannot say." Pattison hoped that the women will not push much more for it.
They blinked in unison.
"So, going back to Mr Moore's woman. Mark, do you know who she is?" Zoe was adamant on the topic.
"Don't mind her. She's just jealous that it isn't her." Gina retorted.
"I might have some idea." Pattison gave Claire a careful glance. "But I don't think it's my place to say anything."
"What's Mr Moore's biggest secret?" Zoe continued bothering Mark.
"That he genuinely cares?" Mark answered looking at Claire. "That beyond all that is broken in him, he still tries to change the course of the river and do good."
"Yeah, I've heard Mr Moore senior was a horrid man," Gina said quietly. "It must be difficult to come out of his shadow."
"I come out for the first time in ages, and I get welcomed by this sombre mood?" Claire complained.
"Well, it's not our fault that life is miserable." Zoe was the one to moan the most. "And you're like a black cloud hovering over us with your misfortunes." Zoe took a deep breath. "Sorry, Claire-bear."
"What a downer!" Gina punched Zoe on her arm. "Let's focus on the good stuff. Boss took time off sick so someone made her. The question is who?"
"I still feel like you're hiding something from us!" Zoe looked at Claire angrily.
"Don't you think if I were dating, I would tell you straight away?" Claire laughed. "Hang on, it might be Mr Moore…" she teased. Neither Gina nor Zoe believed her, chuckling at the thought of it.
"So, is he dom or sub in the relationship?" Zoe continued making fun of it.
"Well, that never would work. They're both a little too dominant." Gina decided.
"But just imagine! If anyone here would have a chance it would be Claire!" Zoe decided, but then she looked at Pattison. "No, it would be Mark. Is that why you haven't said anything about the mysterious girl?" Zoe started picking on him. "Because it's all a pretext to hide the true love you and Mr Moore have?"
"I think I'm going to be sick," Mark admitted.
"You're the only person ever that would call him good." Gina pointed out. "You must have something for him."
"Claire, help me out here!" Mark begged her.
"The only help I can offer is that the movie is about to start," Claire said with a wide smile.
They left the cafe and walked across the street towards the cinema.
"Boss, I've got this for you." Gina passed Claire a small envelope. "It's an invitation to the banquet at Joneses."
"Thank you." Claire hid it in her handbag.
"You know that we can tell that something is off," Gina whispered as Zoe and Mark walked in front of them. "You don't have to tell us, but know that we're here for you, and whatever you need we will help you."
"Thank you, Gina."
"I hope that you're keeping up okay with the re-opening of the investigation. Once it all ends we need to get drunk out of our minds."
"Are we catching up on our uni years with all that drinking?"
"Sure enough. We were too good back then." Gina wrapped her arm around Claire's. "That photo of Mr Moore in the papers…" she started carefully. "It's you, isn't it?" She hesitated. "You don't have to confirm or deny. I don't want you to get involved in some scandal because of whatever contract you've signed."
"It's not a scandal if they saw me in public with Mr Moore. I'm his employee. We need to regularly discuss projects."
"Indeed. But, it is a big deal because it is Mr Moore. It's different for super-rich people. Every detail of their life is fascinating to us, normal people."
"It's bold of you to assume that we're normal." Claire retorted. She watched Mark with Zoe with a smile. "I think something might be brewing between them."
"Maybe. His chill temperament might be able to contain our Zoe monster."
"Maybe…" Claire nodded.
They've walked into the cinema, quickly finding their seats. Gina and Zoe ended up sitting on each of Claire's sides, and Pattison sat beside Zoe, even though he might've not been given much choice.