Eva walked back with Gabriel towards his office.
They've waited by the elevator together. "Mr Moore." Claire scowled at him and she walked passed him.
"Mrs Thompson, weren't you intending to use the elevator?" Gabriel asked.
"I was but not anymore. The thought of being in a confined space with you makes me feel sick. I rather climb the thirty-six floors." Claire said coldly readying herself for a rather strenuous workout.
"Don't be ridiculous." Gabriel grumbled at which Claire gave him a death stare and left to climb the stairs. Eva started laughing behind him. "What's with you?"
"She seems like a handful." Eva laughed.
"Something like that." Gabriel said in agreement, still unsure how to break the news to his sister.
"Looking at your track record, I can't believe that she's still working here."
"She's the best that there is." Gabriel said defensively.
"That never stopped you before."
"I never had anyone this good."
"You know, I like her." Eva said with a smile.
"You've heard her, thirty-sixth floor. Feel free to introduce yourself." Gabriel grumbled.
"Sure." Eva pressed the button with '36' on it as soon as they got in the elevator. Gabriel scowled at her when she walked out on Claire's floor, but Eva couldn't care less as she merrily waved him goodbye.
Gabriel had a bad inkling about what was to happen, but also, he hoped that Eva and Claire will get along just fine, or maybe that Claire will reveal their relationship so he didn't have to.
"May I help you?" Gina walked up to Eva with a welcoming smile.
"I'm looking for Miss Thompson."
"She should be here any minute, ma'am." Gina smiled warmly. "Do you have an appointment?"
"I'm afraid not." Eva shook her head, worrying now that she will not have a chance to check out Claire. it took a particular type of person to name-call her brother without an ounce of fear. Her sisterly instincts told her that Claire and Gabriel are more than just colleagues, or at least, she felt that Gabriel must fancy Claire, otherwise, he wouldn't tolerate her behaviour as well as he did.
"That's fine." Gina smiled reassuringly. "Claire is on the way back from her meeting and should be here any minute, and I believe she has drop-ins next so she should be able to see you anyways."
"Drop-ins?" Eva raised her brows.
"Yes, Claire schedules drop-ins on a daily basis so that anyone in here can approach her without needing to wait for an appointment or meeting. There's at least an hour in her schedule on a daily basis that we can use to bother her without needing to ask permission or announce it." Gina explained. "It's also for other personnel that may have an urgent enquiry. But be warned that she will prioritise anyone from her department so it might be a bit of a wait."
"That's fine." Eva said with a smile, still curious about Claire's approach to her subordinates.
"Would you like to sit down in the waiting area? I can bring you tea or coffee?" Gina offered.
"Are you Miss Thompson's assistant, then?" Eva asked curiously, studying Gina carefully. Gina was slightly shorter than Claire, with dark brown eyes, and a black curly bob, with honey-coloured skin. But the most eye-catching feature was her vibrant smile.
"Oh no, I am not." Gina shook her head. "I'm a senior designer. Claire doesn't approve of assistants." Gina smiled. "We all take turns in welcoming guests. It's meant to make us seem more approachable too."
"That's an interesting approach." Eva said, still amused by it.
"Coffee? Tea?" Derek asked Gina and Eva. "Sorry, Derek Wood, vice-head of the department." He introduced himself with a smile. "I'm about to get a pot of coffee going if you guys fancy any." He said to them.
"Yes, please." Eva agreed.
"Milk? Sugar? Sweeteners? Coffee syrups?" Derek offered. "We have few dairy-free alternatives too."
"Some milk and two sugars." Eva replied with a smile. "Thank you."
Derek disappeared to get coffee.
"Do you need anything while you wait?" Gina checked on Eva one last time.
"No, I'm fine." Eva said as she sat down on a blue velvety couch beside Claire's office. She watched carefully the employees and how they interacted. The atmosphere in the office was friendly and relaxed. The only bit of tension was when the employee was talking with a contractor on the phone, but as soon as he disconnected he took a deep breath and had another colleague check on him, which soon brought a smile back onto his face.
Meanwhile, Claire huffed as she climbed the stairs.
"What a selfish prick?!" She grumbled under her nose with each step. "Fuck him and his family!" She stomped her feet before continuing the climb. "What am I going to do? What will I tell mum and dad?" Claire let out an exasperated sigh, feeling her anger slowly dissipate as she continued climbing, slowly changing her attitude to trying to find a solution to her new problem. "I mean, they haven't worked out that we're married, but how long will it be? And the media is going to find out about the…" Claire stopped on the twenty-fourth floor, trying to catch her breath and deal with her panic attack. "Why is everything so stupid?!" She wanted to scream at top of her lungs. After a few moments, she continued climbing, eventually making it to the thirty-sixth floor.
She tidied herself up before entering the office.
"Claire, are you okay?" Gina hurried towards her.
"Great, thank you." Claire smiled, showing full composure.
"Why are you going up the stairs?" Gina furrowed her brows.
"I needed a workout." Claire said with a smile.
"Claire, you have a visitor." Gina said with a smile, nodding towards Eva. Claire recognised Eva from earlier, when she briefly saw her with Gabriel. Even though Eva looked friendly, Claire felt suspicious of her.
"Good afternoon, I'm Claire Thompson. I don't think we had a pleasure yet." Claire introduced herself shaking Eva's hand with her unspoken (faked) confidence.
"No, we haven't had a pleasure yet. I came here on a personal matter." Eva said carefully.
"Oh, come in please." Claire said inviting Eva into her office, Derek quickly brought them coffees as they were sitting down.
"Thanks, Derek." Claire said with a smile.
"Well, I should start by introducing myself, shouldn't I?" Eva laughed as she sat down opposite Claire.
"No pressure at all, but it might be helpful in the future." Claire joked.
"I'm Eva Moore." Eva said with a wide smile. Claire looked up at Eva with surprise only now noticing a resemblance between the woman before her and the woman in the photos that she was shown by Gabriel. "I am Gabriel's sister."
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realise." Claire looked down trying to work out how to deal with the new information. She wasn't sure how to act around Eva and whether Eva already had some idea about her and Gabriel's relationship. She decided to approach it cautiously, as she didn't want to be the one to reveal it. After all, it was up to Gabriel to do so, but maybe she already knew and hence she was here. "May I ask if it were Mr Moore who send you here?"
"No, not at all. If anything, he probably is cussing me out right now." Eva laughed.
"I see." Claire said with a slight nod.
"I accidentally saw you with my brother this morning. I never saw anyone piss him off quite like that."
"Miss Moore, is it?" Claire double-checked at which Eva nodded. "I am sorry for that. I truly am. I am struggling to deal with your brother right now. I don't usually go parading around and name-calling people."
"Please, don't apologise. If anything, I was happy that someone bothers him this much."
"I don't think it's just bothering him anymore." Claire said with a shy smile.
Eva laughed.
"Do tell."
"I'm not sure what to say. Mr Moore did need a new budget for fixing the walls in his office, and I might be the reason for it."
"Fixing walls?" Eva repeated.
"Sorry, I probably shouldn't have shared that." Claire blushed.
"No, of course, you had to tell me!" Eva laughed. "I need to know what my brother is up to."
"I'm not sure whether I'm the best person to ask about that."
"Well, maybe not. But you sparked my interest this morning. I never saw anyone stand up to Gabriel with not an ounce of fear."
"What is there to fear?" Claire asked with a shrug.
"Nothing. He's just a loud man-child." Eva agreed. "Hot-tempered man-child."
"Exactly." Claire nodded.
"Do you like him?" Eva asked directly. Claire hesitated.
"Not really." Claire said somewhat honestly as she was still angry at Gabriel.
"That's unfortunate. I do hope that this will not translate on to me as I am genuinely interested in befriending you."
"I do not make a judgment on people based on things they have no control over."
"That's good. I know there's a banquet next week, and I wondered if you were coming."
"Of course. Your brother didn't want me to so I need to." Claire shrugged. "I need to antagonise him."
"Why didn't he want you to attend?" Eva raised her brows.
"I don't know." Claire lied.
"I'll see you then. I don't want to infringe too much on your work."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Moore." Claire stood up shaking Eva's hand.
"Eva will suffice."
"Of course, Eva."
"Please don't stop driving Gabriel insane, Claire." Eva left with a smile finding her way to the forty-second floor.
"And?" Gabriel asked her coldly as she entered his office.
"She's charming. I think we can be best friends. Even though there was a mention of a new budget for fixing the walls?"
"Please, Eva." He covered his face up as he blushed in embarrassment.
"I have more questions than answers though." Eva realised as she sat opposite Gabriel.
"Go have a rest. We can talk later. You must be exhausted."
"As tired as I am, I want to know what business my brother tangled himself in." Eva grumbled at him.
"Later. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes."
"See, how can you date if you don't even have time for your sister?" Eva asked as she stood up, led out by Gabriel a step behind her.
"I don't know." Gabriel answered as he opened the door for her.
"Come on, I need to meet a saint that you're dating!" Eva exclaimed cheerfully. Gabriel scowled at her, and a whisper travelled across the office.
"Go away." Gabriel said coldly.
"YOU ARE SEEING SOMEONE!!!" Eva exclaimed with even more enthusiasm.
"Do you need to announce it to everyone?" Gabriel was dissatisfied.
"Pattison must know something!" Eva turned to Mark.
"Please don't involve me in this." Mark pleaded.
"Klaus is waiting downstairs." Gabriel informed Eva.
"Klaus? Not Pattison?" Eva raised her brows. "Are you worried that he'll tell me something?" Eva asked mischievously.
Claire walked across the office with files in her hand, her death stare landed on Gabriel but she smiled at Mark and Eva.
"Claire!" Eva said excitedly.
"Hi, Eva." Claire gave her a nod. "Mark, I've brought the printed proposals for the board of directors meeting on Friday. Would you mind having it reviewed and added to the agenda?"
"No problem, Claire." Mark nodded as Claire was passing him the documents.
"It's my job, too." Gabriel said coldly as he intercepted the files mid-air. Claire scowled at him silently. "I'll do it."
Mark took a step back, afraid of being right between them.
"Mark is the one putting the final agenda together so it'll be quicker if it gets straight to him." Claire said sternly, as she pulled the files out of Gabriel's hands and passed them to Mark. Gabriel looked at her with utter disbelief, Eva was snickering behind his back, and Mark looked increasingly terrified.
"I can proofread it and send comments across." Gabriel suggested, taking the documents from Mark again.
"It is already proofread and I do not care for your comments. You can vote on it as everyone else on the board." Claire took the documents off him.
"I can provide you with an invaluable insight of a self-righteous asshole." Gabriel said with irritation.
"Someone who thinks they're always right will not be able to see past their own nose enough to be able to provide constructive feedback and valuable insight." Claire replied, her voice so sharp it felt like it was about to cut through the glass.
"For someone who insisted that I should look from another perspective some time ago, you really are narrow-sighted."
Gabriel's comment struck a note with Claire who went silent, but her eyes clearly showed her murderous intent.
"As Charles Dickens once said, he would make a lovely corpse." Claire said coldly. Even Gabriel felt a cold chill go down his spine.
"Charming as always." Gabriel said with a sneer. "Hang on, that's the proposal for extending our research activity?" Gabriel asked as he started flipping the pages.
"I'm sure that you can read it, seeing your insistence to do so." Claire said before she walked away.
"I LOVE HER!" Eva exclaimed. "She's a proper boss."
"I'm supposed to be the boss though." Gabriel mumbled as he looked through the papers. "At least I would make a LOVELY corpse." He snickered. "Mark, add it to the agenda. There's nothing I can improve on." Gabriel said with a sigh as he gave the file to Mark. "Don't you dare say that to Claire though." Gabriel put a hand in his pockets as he turned to face Eva. "And you, go to my house and have a rest. Martha will show you to the guest room and Jonathan will get you whatever you want to eat."
"What time will you be back?"
"I don't know yet." Gabriel admitted as he rubbed his face. "Shouldn't be too late. Feel free to use whatever at home, two rooms are locked and off limits, but that's about it."
"Two rooms off limits?" Eva asked curiously.
"I'll talk to you later." Gabriel said before grabbing his briefcase and walking off to his meeting.
"So… Pattison!" Eva turned to him with excitement. "You must know something, right? It must've been entertaining with Claire being around, too."
"Entertaining might be the wrong word for this." Mark mumbled. "At this stage, I'm more terrified of Claire than Gabriel."
"I like her a lot." Eva nodded.
"Excuse me, Miss Moore, but I do have another matter to attend to." Mark smiled before hurrying away. Eva looked around the office wondering if anyone else could share the gossip, but Gabriel's office was filled with a silent and serious lot who were all glued to their computer screens. Eva wondered how in the world two departments can be so different within the same company.
Feeling tired and defeated she went downstairs, to the underground parking lot, where she found Klaus waiting for her.
Eva was surprised to find that her brother moved, and more so, by the style of the villa he lived in. It definitely felt very different to what Gabriel would have chosen previously.
Claire tried to go to her meeting later in the afternoon, but as soon as she walked out into the square a swarm of reporters and paparazzi ran toward her.
"Are you Miss Thompson?" Someone shouted from the crowd that pushed towards her. Claire started to panic, feeling claustrophobic, as she clenched her phone in her hand, unsure of what to say or do. She froze, staring blankly at flashing lights and what seemed like tenths of blank faces that she couldn't recognise. "Miss Thompson, what is your relationship with Gabriel Moore?!" "Miss Thompson, how did you get promoted at such a young age?" "Miss Thompson…" "MISS THOMPSON!" Someone knocked Claire's phone out of her hand. She looked down at a cracked screen and shards of glass. She squatted to pick them up, trying to compose herself.
"Claire…" A familiar voice cut through. Mark's hand grabbed her by her arm, helping her up. He looked at her phone recognising the panic that was overtaking her, a pure fear in her eyes, as yet another reporter yelled in her direction in an accusatory tone. "I'll get you out of here," Mark said to her in a comforting tone. The bodyguards appeared at last, along with the company's security, pushing on the gathered crowd, making space for Claire to walk through. "Why don't you cancel your meetings out of the office? At least until things settle?" Mark suggested pulling her back into the building. "I'll get Zoe to contact the reps and arrange a video conference instead. Also, I'll get you a replacement for this." He said as he took a broken phone from her.
"Miss Thompson, did you sleep with Mr Moore to be promoted?!" The Voice of another reporter cut through to the lobby.
"Don't pay attention to this." Mark said reassuringly. "Take a few minutes of a break before you get back… Claire?"
Claire still wasn't responding. She felt as if she was caught in the whirlwind, now feeling her chest tighten so much that she could barely breathe, the world seemed to be spinning and all the voices seemed to be echoing in the background. She couldn't hear Mark, not over the screaming reporters and security just behind a glass wall. Someone banged on the window to get her attention. Claire's ears started ringing and she instinctively covered them and squatted, dropping her briefcase which opened and spilt tenths of pages across the floor.
Mark squatted beside her, noticing that she was hyperventilating. He tried to calm her down by rubbing the side of her arm, but he didn't realise that just overwhelmed her further.
Her panic attack was just getting worse. The lights seemed to flicker and they seemed both dimmer and brighter at once, yet she couldn't focus on anything.
The breathing was increasingly difficult, each breath felt as if she was fighting her own lungs to get it in, and even then, it felt as if there wasn't enough oxygen to draw in. It was suffocating.
Claire fainted.
Mark's response was quick. He laid her on her back as security surrounded the scene to ensure that Claire wasn't exposed to the vultures on the other side of the door.
Mark undid the top of her blouse and someone passed him a pillow which he used to prop her legs, as his first aid training dictated. Claire started regaining consciousness within a minute, so he moved her into the respite room, waiting with her to see how she is.
"Don't tell Gabriel." These were the first words Claire uttered. "Promise me that you won't tell him."
"I'll try." Mark nodded feeling bad for complying. "Even though, I think that he should know. He should know what impact this scandal has on you."
"No." Claire shook her head. One of the security members passed her cold water to sip on and a cold flannel to put on her head which she bumped as she fainted.
"Okay." Mark agreed. He took out a phone and quickly send a few messages out to deal with his own meeting which he was going to be late for, as well as to ask Zoe for help with Claire's interrupted workload.
"I'll take five minutes and I'll go back upstairs." Claire announced. "I'll stay a little later tonight to avoid as many of them as I can."
"I can get you out through the back door." Mark offered. "But later in the evening will be safer."
"Okay." Claire agreed.
"I can give you a ride tonight so there are no further suspicions."
"Actually, I'll ask Zoe." Claire said after a moment of thought.
"Okay." Mark nodded.
"I don't want them to think that we have some indecent relationship too." Claire laughed nervously.
Within a few minutes she returned to her office, but as she couldn't focus, she worked in the meeting room to have a slight change of scenery. She was unaware that Gabriel was trying to call her and text her to let her know that Eva was going to stay with them. He thought that Claire was ignoring him which only agitated him further.
"Claire-bear…" Zoe came into the room with a warm smile. "Mark told me what happened downstairs. Do you want a lift tonight?"
"If you wouldn't mind?" Claire looked up at her friend with teary eyes. "They seem to be everywhere. A few followed me in the morning, but there's an entire herd now."
"I know. I saw." Zoe nodded. "Don't worry about them. You're going to make it through."
"If it's bad around the villa… would you mind if I…?"
"You can crash at mine, it's okay." Zoe smiled. "A sleepover will be nice. We haven't had one in ages."
"I know." Claire nodded.
With Zoe's and Mark's help, Claire managed to leave the company without much of an issue, and thankfully, there wasn't much movement around the villa.
"Hey, if you change your mind about the sleepover, just come around." Zoe said as Claire got out of her car by the gate.
"Will do." Claire nodded.
She was mentally drained, unbelievably tired.
"I was wondering if you'll come back home tonight." Gabriel said calmly as he came to meet her in the hallway. Claire's irritation only fuelled her previous anger. After all, Gabriel could take that attention off her and the occurrence earlier that day would have never happened.
"Why wouldn't I?" Claire asked sharply. "It's my home, too. I think it's your turn to pack your bags and leave."
"Well, I'm glad that you've accepted this as your home, but I don't appreciate being kicked out. Are you just going to kick me to the curb now?"
"If I were, I would have done it months ago." Claire rolled her eyes.
"Why are you so angry?"
"Why, even for a moment, you can't think of someone besides yourself?!" Claire raised her voice. "What do you think my parents will think if they see the news?! Did it cross your mind that it's going to hurt them?! Did you consider the impact this has on me?!"
"Did it cross your mind that it hurts me?!" Gabriel raised his voice slightly. "That you still act like we're strangers in front of everyone!"
"Seriously, you're comparing your egoistic needs to my parents finding out their only child is married from the news?! And to their family's enemy?!"
"And now I'm your family's enemy?!"
"Why? Did you think otherwise?!" Claire's voice raised further, echoing through the hallway.
"Frankly, yes. I thought I was doing pretty well for someone that you still consider your enemy."
"Oh, stop it!" Claire yelled turning all red. "You're beyond selfish! All of this mess is because of your selfishness and over-inflated ego!"
"Ah, yeah." Gabriel nodded, his anger more contained than Claire's. "As always, I'm at fault." Eva showed up at the top of the stairs, catching their attention. Claire froze in the sudden realisation that she might've overheard her meltdown. "I've invited Eva to stay over, I hope that's okay?" Gabriel said as he ruffled his hair.
"Do something about it!" Claire exclaimed, her eyes welling up.
"Gabriel…" Eva started cautiously.
"You stay out of it!" Gabriel roared at her as he pointed his index finger as a warning. "I've told you that I can't. I am not going to lie. This is beyond me shushing it down. If I say anything it'll only get worse."
"Can it get worse?" Claire asked with worry.
"Of course." Gabriel nodded.
"Gabriel, have you…" Eva started again.
"Not now, Eva." Gabriel cut her off again.
"I just wanted to say that I understand where Claire is coming from. You're forgetting the impact those rumours might have on woman's relationships." Eva said as she started walking down the stairs.
"Doesn't she know?" Claire asked Gabriel in a whisper.
"No, I haven't said anything yet." Gabriel admitted.
"I can't deal with it tonight." Claire decided. "I need space."
"What?" Gabriel asked with worry.
"I'll stay at Zoe's until the weekend. I hope I'll be in better shape then."
"But you can't sleep without…" Gabriel was about to say 'me' but he stopped himself.
"I'm not planning on sleeping. I'm taking a few bottles of wine with me." Claire announced as she walked past the dining room and kitchen o reach the cellar, leaving Gabriel and Eva behind in the hallway, soon reappearing with a bottle in each hand.
"Claire…" Gabriel started with worry hoping to convince her to stay.
"See you Friday night or Saturday." Claire said as she left. "We can talk then."
Gabriel stared at a closed door for a few moments.
"I still like her, she just took the most expensive wine from your cellar." Eva nodded with approval.
Gabriel turned around and scowled at her.
As the front door opened again, he was hopeful that Claire has come back but it quickly turned to disappointment when Mark walked in.
"What's up?" Gabriel asked Mark in confusion.
"Oh, I was looking for Claire." Mark said honestly.
"What's the matter?" Gabriel's voice was sharp.
"I've just brought this." Mark showed a box with a new phone.
"Why?"
"Claire's phone broke earlier today." Mark said in hope that he will not be interrogated further.
"How?"
"I think she dropped it." Mark said but he wasn't convincing enough. Gabriel gave him a stern look that indicated that he will not let Mark leave until he knows the exact truth.
"How?" Gabriel repeated giving Mark the final chance to say the truth.
"I rather not…" Mark said as he backed towards the door.
"Speak." Gabriel ordered as he took a step towards Mark.
"One of the reporters knocked it out of Claire's hand earlier." Male said as he closed his eyes and clenched onto the box.
"One of the reporters? What happened?"
"Claire was ambushed by them this afternoon."
"And?"
"I've got her out."
"But?"
"They kept asking if she slept with you to get her promotion and about her relationship with you."
"And?"
"And, what?" Mark pretended that there was nothing else.
"What happened, Mark?"
"Claire had a panic attack and fainted in the lobby." Mark said, feeling like he betrayed her.
"Why did I not know of this?"
"Claire asked that I don't pass it on to you."
"Is she okay?" Gabriel asked with pure concern as his voice softened.
"Stressed out but yes, I think so. Zoe has been supporting her through most of the afternoon, along with Gina. She seemed better in their company."
"I see. Claire went to Zoe's now." Gabriel informed Mark. "Take the phone to her, please. I'll try to smooth things over."
Mark nodded, leaving in a hurry.