Claire called the villa during her lunchtime to check on Gabriel. Martha reassured her that Gabriel did get up for lunch and that he seemed much better than the previous day. Claire sighed with relief but yet she didn't feel as confident about it if she couldn't check on him herself. The day dragged itself like never before. It was made worse by the fact that Claire had to go and pick up her dress for the banquet instead of going straight back, but at least she had a chance to see some familiar faces as she pulled up near the Alexandria Estate.
"I was worried about you!" George's voice welcomed her as she walked out of the car. "Especially as you were with that Moore brat."
"Hi, George." Claire smiled at him. "That Moore brat has helped me a lot so maybe you should cut him some slack."
"Have you lost your mind?" George scowled at her as he started walking beside her.
"No, I haven't. Gabriel is honestly fine." Claire said reassuringly.
"If you say so." George shrugged unconvinced by Claire's statement. "What brings you our way?"
"Your sister-in-law, Sophie," Claire answered honestly. "I gave her the impossible task which I'm sure she has done perfectly."
"Oh, anything fancy?"
"It's a work-related banquet. Sophie was to make me a dress for it."
"It'll be stunning then." George nodded. "Anything a girl as beautiful girl as you wears will be beautiful. It's all about the face and a kind smile."
"Don't flatter me, George." Claire laughed. "Besides, Jen was the prettiest girl I've ever known. She should be the one dressing up now, not me."
"You can't seriously still feel guilty about it seeing as you had absolutely nothing to do with it. You and your survivor guilt." George grumbled his face turning more sullen. "You've said that you'll be seeing Cecilia soon, is it okay if I pass something on to her?"
"Of course." Claire nodded. "Do you have any tips?"
"I don't, I'm afraid. If I did, I wouldn't be here." George looked away, trying to hide his watery eyes.
Claire walked into the small shop on the edge of the estate, George disappeared for a few minutes before bringing a small package to pass to Cecilia. Sophie was in a much better mood than George, quickly fitting the dress on Claire and ensuring that it fits perfectly, which it did.
"You did a splendid job!" Claire exclaimed in amazement.
"If you come back with any more outrageous requirements like that, I will have to start charging you double." Sophie laughed.
"I'll pay double, or even triple to get you as my dressmaker," Claire said truthfully.
"What even is the theme?"
"Black and white," Claire answered as she looked at their reflection in the mirror. "Hence the dress based on Hedy Lamarr's star dress from Ziegfeld Girls."
"Iconic choice." Sophie smiled at Claire who wore a satin fitted dress with layers of chiffon and thousands of star-shaped jewels.
Claire took the dress off carefully, placing it in a box before rushing home.
As she stepped into the villa, she realised that the light was on in the living room. The TV was on and Gabriel was spread across the sofa, about half-dead and half-asleep. Claire placed her handbag and a box to the side, quickly taking off her coat and shoes, and putting her slippers on. She walked into the living room.
"Gabriel?" She asked, worried about him. Gabriel grunted in response, not opening his eyes. Claire leaned towards him and checked his forehead which didn't seem anywhere nearly as warm as the night previous. "Gabriel?" She repeated but once again he grunted without nudging. Claire sighed trying to work out what to do about him.
"Let's get you to bed." Claire decided to grab Gabriel's arm and help him up. Gabriel grunted but tried to pull himself up, to Claire's relief. Claire led him across the hallway and towards the stairs, carrying as much of his weight as she could as he stumbled at almost every step. She let out a sign of despair as they reached the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the next obstacle and realising that Gabriel's weight was too much for her to make it up without much effort. She cursed herself inwardly for not asking Jonathan for help before she attempted to drag Gabriel across the villa, not to mention the sheer size of this place.
"Will you lay with me tonight?" Gabriel asked quietly in his very raspy voice.
"Huh?" Claire couldn't believe the question.
"I just want you near. I slept so much better with you next to me last night."
"Don't get any stupid ideas," Claire grumbled pushing Gabriel up the first stair.
"Nothing more than last night."
"Okay." Claire agreed as she huffed, getting Gabriel up another step.
"Promise?"
"Promise." Claire nodded. Gabriel smiled mischievously straightening out and picking his weight off Claire. She looked at him in utter shock and disbelief. He walked up the stairs without any help. Claire stood still, confused and feeling cheated. "You asshole!" Claire exclaimed. She took her slipper off and threw it at Gabriel. Gabriel caught it with a wide smile. "You cheating and lying asshole!" Claire yelled as she turned all red.
"Oh, Claire, dear, look at your lovely temper." Gabriel laughed. "Come on here."
"You can't think I'll come anywhere near you now?"
"You've promised," Gabriel said with a smug smile.
"I've promised to stay by an ill and almost unconscious Gabriel."
"I am ill." Gabriel declared whilst pretend coughing. "Cough, cough."
Claire's mouth dropped at Gabriel's performance. Claire took another slipper off and threw it at Gabriel, this time bouncing off his leg. She didn't throw it hard enough to harm him, but it was still hard enough to unload her frustration. Gabriel laughed almost maniacally.
"You just want to use my kindness against me!"
"You're hardly kind, Claire," Gabriel said through fits of laughter. "You just threw two slippers at me, although I'm ill. Not to mention how horrid you were to me yesterday."
"How was I horrid to you?" Claire raised her brows, still clenching her jaws.
"You threatened to go to Pierre." Gabriel stopped laughing, now sounding hurt.
"Honestly?" Claire scoffed. "I had to persuade you to take your meds. If you cared about me you wouldn't make me go through it."
"How does it affect you? It's my health that's affected."
"Did it cross your mind even for a second that I care enough about you that seeing you in that state hurt me?! And knowing that I could do nothing to help you because you didn't want to let me almost destroy me!" Claire yelled, turning all red. "You can't be this selfish, surely!" Claire took a deep breath. "I wouldn't have acted on that threat but I was desperate to help you!"
"Hang on." Gabriel put his palm out to stop her, trying to process the string of words that just escaped her mouth. "You care about me?"
Claire looked at him with even more disbelief and irritation.
"You're questioning it?!" She almost screamed. "Do you think I'm here because you've asked me?"
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't need to beg me to stay with you! I came back for you!"
"You came back for me?"
"Frankly, everyone's suspicion was right. I didn't intend to come back after my career break. But I needed to see you. I needed to see that you were okay." Claire started sobbing.
"I thought that you hated me." Gabriel took a few steps down.
"I did!" Claire screamed.
"I'm genuinely confused."
"And so am I!" Claire roared.
"Do you hate me now?" Gabriel asked carefully.
"I don't know!" Claire lowered her voice but it was still raised. "I don't think so." She replied much quieter, surprised by her own words. "I don't." She finished in a surprisingly calm tone. Her phone pinged and she distractedly looked at it.
It was a notification reminding her of the 'our first big fight since we're dating' event on her calendar. She looked at Gabriel with amusement, wondering how much of that was intentional, and how much was a coincidence.
"I'm glad that you don't hate me," Gabriel said softly as he walked up to her. He kissed her on her forehead, giving her slippers back. "If you don't feel comfortable you don't have to stay with me tonight. It's okay."
"I'm sorry," Claire uttered. "I'm sorry for saying that I would go to Pierre. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was desperate to get you better."
"I'm glad to hear it." Gabriel smiled, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I'm sorry for being so stubborn yesterday. I promise to be better next time."
"Why did you refuse help?"
"Because, like you, I am hyper-independent. Accepting help equates to being weak in my messed up mind."
"Are you feeling better now?" Claire asked with worry.
"Yeah. Besides a mild headache, I'm fine. I don't think I ever slept in this late before. Martha woke me up for lunch."
"That's good." Claire smiled.
"Thank you for taking care of me last night. I wasn't able to thank you properly yet."
"I have a particular weakness for people that are vulnerable."
"I knew that you have too kind of a heart." Gabriel laughed. "I thought that I'll toughen it up, but it might be that you're softening mine instead."
"You called me cruel so I guess I'm not that kind."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Gabriel laughed. "You're a vivid negotiator. You recognise your opponent's weak spots and poke right at them."
"It's not how I usually negotiate. I try to make our clients feel like we're on the same team." Claire sighed. "I guess I couldn't with you. I've let my emotions get in the way." She admitted with embarrassment. She now felt worn out with her sudden outburst, feeling ashamed of her reaction.
"I hope I did alright for our first fight?" Gabriel asked with a smug smile.
"I'm not sure if it's a fight if it only goes one way. You need to try harder next time." Claire joked.
"I don't think I have a heart for it," Gabriel admitted gently pulling Claire closer, inviting her into the hug. Claire hesitated but she leaned her head forward, burying it into Gabriel's chest. "I hate seeing you stressed out. I'm sorry for agitating you."
"It's okay. I'll get you back soon enough." Claire mumbled into his chest, which turned out to be the most comforting thing ever. She let go and started walking back towards the dining room.
"Where are you running off to all of a sudden?" Gabriel followed her.
"I'm just grabbing my dress for tomorrow. I was going to put it in my bedroom."
"Can I see it?" Gabriel looked at Claire with anticipation and excitement.
"Yes, tomorrow." Claire picked up a large box and her handbag.
"Really? I am curious about it. Maybe we should match our outfits?" Gabriel still had a bounce in his step as he walked beside Claire.
"Match our outfits? I didn't think you'd be into cross-dressing."
"That's not what I had in mind. But maybe we could match some colours or patterns?"
"The theme is black and white. You know the colours." Claire laughed.
"What about jewellery? I could try to find a tie pin or cuff links to match your jewellery."
"I am not going to wear much jewellery," Claire responded honestly. The dress was more than eye-catching and besides silver stud earrings, she decided not to wear any other jewellery."
"Why?" Gabriel furrowed his brows. "Do you want to go jewellery shopping tomorrow?"
"No, thank you. I think my outfit will be better without jewellery to distract from it."
"We can still go spend some of that money. You haven't touched a penny off the card that I gave you."
"Are you monitoring my spending?"
"No, I'm only ensuring that you have sufficient funds. So, in case you've run out, I could transfer more."
"I'm sure whatever is on that card is sufficient." Claire laughed.
"I don't know. I wasn't sure what to base it off. What I gave you initially was more like a test run to gauge how much you needed. Like, 500'000 is nothing."
"What?" Claire looked at him with surprise.
"Your current card has about 50 million Pounds. Did you not even check it?"
"No, I haven't. And what would I need £50 million for?!"
"It's enough for a small shopping spree?"
"Wow…" Claire rolled her eyes. "We live two very different lives." She walked into her bedroom, putting the box carefully on the side, along with her handbag.
"Come on, Claire. It's your life, too." Gabriel smiled. "Besides, it barely touches our disposable amount of money."
"Hang on, what?" Claire looked at Gabriel with ever more surprise.
"Our disposable amount is almost £10 billion. Surely you knew our worth is over £100 billion now if we take into consideration our assets."
"£10 billion?!" Claire's mouth dropped open. "You have £10 billion?!"
"WE have £10 billion." Gabriel corrected her as he stood by the door, leaning against the frame.
"And I married you for £200 thousand." Claire laughed as she shook her head in disbelief. "Life is so unfair."
"It is." Gabriel nodded.
"I wish I had rich parents," Claire grumbled.
"What?" Gabriel was hurt by that remark. "I came to my wealth myself. I might have grown up privileged, but I worked my ass off since I was 18 to get this company up and running. Don't disregard my work because of my background." Gabriel sounded irritated. Claire looked at him curiously, annoyed at herself for being so outspoken.
"I'm sorry, Gabriel. I didn't mean to offend you."
"I know." Gabriel sighed. "It might be a rather sensitive topic for me." He smiled at Claire.
Claire went to the closet to get changed, leaving the door open wide enough that she could still hear him, but narrow enough that Gabriel couldn't see her.
"May I ask why?" Claire's muffled voice sounded from the walk-in closet.
"I-…" Gabriel stuttered.
"It's alright if you don't want to share it. I shouldn't be picking on it if it's a sensitive topic."
"I don't get along with my father," Gabriel answered honestly. "We do not share a lot of fundamental values. I don't think I like the idea of people giving him credit for my work."
"Oh." Claire felt bad for Gabriel as his voice made it sound like it was a genuinely hard thing to share, but somehow it made her feel better, and maybe it gave her hope that he wasn't going to discard her once she revealed everything to him. "That sounds tough." She walked out of the closet wearing her nightie, quickly moving across towards the desk where she started taking hairpins out. Her hair fell in thick waves - shaped by the bun that she had throughout the day.
"It is what it is." Gabriel shrugged dismissively.
He bit his lip as he watched her in awe. She was unconcerned about his presence, popping into the bathroom and brushing her teeth. "Are you going to go to the banquet with me? Or was it one of those empty threats and promises?" He asked with curiosity, happy to change a subject.
"I'll go with you," Claire replied. "I meant every thing besides my threat about Pierre."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"The rules are the same. Don't be too obvious about this whole thing." Claire gesticulated pointing between them.
"Are you planning to keep it a secret forever?"
"No." Claire smiled. "Just long enough for this to blow over so that I can tell my parents in person."
"Ah, okay. I was worried that you were ashamed of being with me."
"Maybe a little." Claire teased as she walked up to him.
"Why?"
"You're just a little too handsome for my liking."
"This evening brought so many new revelations to me." Gabriel laughed. "Firstly that you care about me, and now that you think I'm handsome."
"And my main revelation was that you have more money than I ever imagined." Claire laughed as she walked out of her room.
"It's our money and you are yet to spend it," Gabriel grumbled. "Where are you going?"
"You've annoyed me too much. There's no way I can fall asleep now. I might watch TV for a bit." Claire grumbled. Gabriel followed her back downstairs.
"Last night you've hummed some melody that I recognised but I couldn't yet place," Gabriel said as they entered the living room.
"It's probably because I'm really bad at vocalising melodies." Claire laughed walking past the sofa that she initially intended to sit on. "It's a composition by one of my very favourite musicians." Claire walked up to the piano instead. "He is quite peculiar and fantastic. He doesn't have any classical music background and he uses non-traditional elements in his compositions, somehow making them this little bit more magical." Claire opened up the piano and started playing flawlessly. Gabriel leaned against the piano and listened to the music with his eyes closed and pure bliss on his face.
"Did you say that it is one of your favourites?" Gabriel asked curiously.
"Tiersen is definitely my favourite musician." Claire nodded, continuing to play the composition that progressively increased in complexity. "But my favourite is slightly different."
"I didn't take you for Tiersen fan," Gabriel admitted.
"Hang on." Claire stopped and started playing a much slower melody, not any less gracefully than previous. Gabriel opened his eyes and watched Claire with the happiest smile ever. There was something ethereal about Claire in her satin nightie playing the piano, and unknowingly playing the melody that Gabriel knew well. "And I thought I've told you that you shouldn't make judgments based on stereotypes," Claire said as she finished, looking up at him with a smug face.
"I think this time my disbelief is for a very different reason," Gabriel admitted as he walked across the living room, opening a large cupboard with tenths if not hundreds of CDs. He picked one and played it through the sound system. It was exactly the melody that Claire played.
"You know Tiersen's music?" Claire asked as she walked across towards him.
"I love it. And Esther, even though much less known, is by far my favourite." Gabriel smiled, turning towards Claire. "The only reason I was surprised was that your favourite artist is also my favourite. And seeing how unknown he is around here, it's almost an impossibility."
"Indeed." Claire smiled.
"Please." Gabriel reached out his hand. "Let's dance."
"I can't dance." Claire turned red in embarrassment.
"That's fine. It doesn't have to be perfect." Gabriel said softly. "All it has to be is fun."
Claire nodded, placing her hand on Gabriel's. Gabriel pulled her in closer, placing his another hand on her waist. Claire hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder.
Gabriel gently led her in the rhythm of the melody, feeling Claire's body tense up at first but soon she started to relax, letting herself be taken by the music. She closed her eyes, letting the calmness of the song embrace her, and Gabriel's grip on her comforted her. Without thought, she leaned closer and closer to Gabriel, at last closing the gap between them. Gabriel's hand shifted onto her shoulder blades, gently resting on her skin as if he was afraid that she was to shatter like a porcelain doll. "So piano is a must in our new home." Gabriel decided.
"Can you play?"
"Not much." Gabriel laughed.
"If you don't play much, why did you get a piano?"
"Like almost everything else inside this house, it was for you."
"Me?" Claire looked surprised.
"Yes." Gabriel nodded.
"How did you know?"
"Your resume." Gabriel looked a little embarrassed.
"You bought a piano because of my resume?" Claire was a little shocked, stopping the dance and looking up at Gabriel.
"I've tried to make this place your home. At least temporarily, until we move to our actual home."
"Oh."
"How is that going? The designs for the new villa?"
"In all honesty, since you've told me that's for us I haven't even touched it." Claire blushed in embarrassment.
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want it to be designed with only me in mind." Claire looked at Gabriel. "I wasn't sure what you wanted. I would like to gather your ideas first."
"Oh." Gabriel was stunned into silence. "Please don't worry about me." He said quietly.
"But why?"
"My only wish is to have you by my side. I don't need anything else."
"Being with me doesn't mean that you have to hide your true self to make me happy. I want to learn who you are. I want to know your dislikes and likes." Claire sighed. "I don't want to feel like I'm living with a stranger for the rest of my life. I want you to show me yourself."
"I am. Admittedly, it's gradual, but now you know what my favourite book is as well as a musical composition."
"And you know so much more about me," Claire grumbled.
"Well, I don't think it's a fair game." Gabriel smiled. "I've had your resume, your employee records, and much more."
"You had Mark following me," Claire grumbled again.
"Yeah, that wasn't my proudest moment."
"Is your bedroom designed to your taste?" Claire asked curiously.
"Well, I've always leaned towards contemporary designs but not as much since I've been told that they are for introverted recluses."
"What's wrong with being an introverted recluse?" Claire asked.
"I don't know. It doesn't sound like a compliment."
"I don't care about your hurt ego over my random babbling. I want to design a home for you, too." Claire said stubbornly.
"Okay, I'll help you with the design." Gabriel agreed.
"Great!" Claire's face lit up in excitement.
"I'm guessing that it's going to be now." Gabriel sighed but he followed Claire across the room, turning the music off.
"I'll bring the laptop and my sketchbook across."
"Shall we go to your study?"
"My study?" Claire stopped in her track...
"Your study was made ready just before you…" Gabriel's voice disappeared. "Would you like to use your study? It's right opposite of mine." Gabriel asked after a moment.
Claire nodded, walking with Gabriel back up the stairs. Claire's mouth dropped when Gabriel opened the door to her study. The paintings that she admired in the attic were hung on the walls showing beautiful landscapes, it was painted with warm undertones, yet it was professional. It had a shelving unit with tenths of books on different aspects of design, and an oak desk that fitted Claire's style much better with its light design. "I hope that you like it. I didn't have much to work with." Gabriel looked worried. Claire was absolutely thrilled at it, she run up to Gabriel, bouncing and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Thank you." She said into his shoulder. "It's amazing."
Gabriel reciprocated her hug by placing his arms around her.
Claire clenched onto him for a good few moments before she let go, to his disappointment. She brought her laptop and sketchbooks in, keen to start the design from scratch, to make it something that was for them both.