Claire found Rosa to be encouraging. Claire was to look for any evidence she could of her past life whilst Rosa promised to help her look em for everyone else that was missing.
But weeks have passed and there was still nothing. A two-year anniversary has passed with Claire sobbing at her lost time with Gabriel. As she laid on the new bed in her apartment, all alone, she recalled the last few days she had with Gabriel which only happened because she disobeyed Pierre.
She remembered how Gabriel got the bed into the new apartment along with the few boxes from the storage that contained her belongings.
Claire sat up straight, wiping her tears off. Gabriel had a storage full of her belongings. Claire sat in front of her new laptop and searched for every storage archive she could, every database she could access. And then she reached out to Rosa for help. Rosa kindly send her more lists and databases from the entire country.
Claire went through the list of millions of names. It took her every night after work for weeks, before she reached letter T. Her stomach tingled when she read 'Gabriel Thompson' on the paper. Gabriel mentioned that he didn't actually use his name for the storage. It was a potential contender.
Claire went to the location straight after work and she spoke to the person at the reception of the huge storage facility.
"Oh yeah, that storage is going on auction next week. The fees haven't been paid in a year now so per our policy we are listing it for public auction."
"Is there any way I can purchase it before an auction?" Claire asked but the woman shook her head.
Claire returned on the day of an auction, bidding for the storage unit with passion not even certain if it truly was the one that Gabriel owned.
She won but barely, depleting all of her savings.
She felt the tightness in her chest and she struggled breathing as she was given a set of keys and she finally could unlock the room with metal door. She pushed the door open and froze before dropping to her knees and crying.
Her desk, chair, paintings from her office in the villa, and many boxes, all of it was there.
She slowly looked through the boxes that Gabriel and Mark must've packed themselves. She looked through her clothes, jewellery, designs, contracts… Contracts.
Claire felt a storm inside of her as she looked at the page with 'Gabriel Nathaniel Moore' and 'Claire Elise Thompson' across it. If Gabriel wanted evidence, she had it.
She sat at her desk and went through every single bit of what she owned before.
Her first urge was to run back to Gabriel and shove the contract in his face but then she recollected her thoughts. Gabriel didn't want to see her for whatever reason. A contract wasn't going to make him fall into her embrace again. Not only that, she still didn't understand what has happened.
After a storm of emotions and many conflicting thoughts, Claire tidied the documents and left them int he storage, making sure that she had all the fees settled for years to come.
She did take a few boxes of her clothes though. She could use them now that she was still building her financial security.
She met with Rosa some time later and told her that she found evidence and passed Rosa a spare key for safekeeping. She didn't dare to even attempt to explain that she decided not to act and that she decided not to approach Gabriel, not yet.
She continued living as before, working for Crimson Tech and succeeding more and more.
"Hey, I will attend the client dinner with you tonight. I'm really interested in that contract." Christopher announced as he caught her in the corridor.
"Of course, Chris." Claire responded with a smile as they both entered the lift. "How is Emilia?"
"She's well." He responded shortly.
"I've heard that she moved to the States."
"Yes. She received an amazing job offer there."
"More amazing than Crimson Tech?"
Christopher smiled sadly.
"I suppose."
"The dinner is at 18:00, Central London." Claire informed him as she left the elevator.
"Splendid." Christopher nodded.
Sometimes Claire saw some parallels between Christopher and Gabriel which was startling. And sometimes, she saw just how different they were. She shook those thoughts away and continued on with her day.
Hours later she walked into the Horton Club for the first time in over a year. It felt almost alien at this time. She looked up at the ceiling.
"What are you looking at?" Chris asked her directly.
"I just love the work of Gorcea." Claire admitted as she looked at the painting of the sea and clouds that were beyond realistic. "He painted while standing, just like Michelangelo and the painting in Sistine Chapel."
"That must've hurt." Christopher mumbled as he bend his neck to look up.
"Michelangelo damaged his back and eyesight while doing his painting. I haven't heard anything of Gorcea's injuries but I wouldn't be surprised. Also, Gorcea painted on the wet plaster to make sure that colours were vibrant."
"Modern Michelangelo." Chris nodded in approval.
"Mr Hayden, Miss Cooper, this way please." The waiter interrupted them leading them to the table where they met the client. Signing the contract went smoothly and the client quickly departed.
Christopher and Claire stayed behind to finish their meal before heading back to their city.
Christopher waited patiently as Claire went to the bathroom.
Once Claire walked into the small corridor between the bathrooms and the dining room, she froze at the sights of Gabriel who stood by the wall. He stopped in his track and looked at Claire, studying her from her head to her toe. Claire nodded at him, wanting to run away from him. She couldn't bare it.
"Did you come here to haunt me again?" Gabriel's voice startled her. She forgot how deep his voice was. Claire fidgeted with her hands nervously before she forced a smile onto her face.
"No."
"I thought I was the love of your life. Are your feelings that fleeting?" There was a bite in Gabriel's voice.
"Do not diminish my feelings." Claire said sharply as she tried to walk away.
"How may I not if you're dressed like this whilst with another man?" Gabriel tilted his head. Claire stopped momentarily, Gabriel's words not sitting right with her. She turned around to face him.
"An I not to live my life even though you told me to stay away?"
"Is it money that you need?"
"Excuse me?" Claire blushed in ruby red at his tone of voice and the level of contempt in it.
"Then why him?"
"Who?" Claire furrowed her brows as she looked up at Gabriel.
"The man that you're with."
"He is my friend."
"A friend?"
Claire nodded before she started to walk away again.
"Weren't you meant to bring evidence?"
"I have none." Claire shrugged as she lied.
"So you stopped trying?" Gabriel's question took her aback again. He really got to her that evening.
"Yes, I have stopped trying." Claire partially lied. "I gave up. I have just accepted that I'm crazy and I had some psychotic breakdown." Claire rolled her eyes as she spoke with a hint of sarcasm.
"I didn't think you'd give up that easily." Gabriel took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
"I didn't want to upset you and that is what happened when you saw me. I didn't want to see you being hurt. You seemed content enough without me. I-… I just want you to be happy, and if that is without me, so be it."
"So, you rather be with your friend?"
"No. I rather be with you. But if that is impossible, I rather be alone. Christopher is my friend and boss and we just had a meeting with a new client. As much as I would love to hide in some cave, I need to keep going on so that I can keep a roof over my head and food in my mouth."
"Your boss?"
Claire nodded silently.
"What do you do?" Gabriel asked. Claire didn't expect the conversation to continue.
"I'm a designer."
"What do you design?"
"At the moment it's tech. I used to design buildings."
"What kind of buildings do you design?"
"The Plaza in Hilton Square. The Royal Hotel. Prism. The yellow villa." Claire replied honestly. "Everyone might've forgotten about me, but my legacy stands."
"I am certain that many of those designs came out of Diamond Corporate." Gabriel furrowed his brows.
"Well, yes." Claire smiled weakly. "I used to work in the Concepts and Services Department."
"You worked in my company?"
Claire nodded without an answer, confused as to why Gabriel still pretended to not remember or even know her.
"Have a good evening, Mr Moore." Claire bowed her head before she walked away, feeling his burning gaze on her back.
She was glad that Christopher was ready to leave and that he offered to drive her back.
Christopher spoke to her of their work all the way back. She wanted to ask him about Emilia but she didn't dare. Until he said it himself.
"Miss Cooper, I am sorry if my work contributions are not up to par in recent days."
"I haven't noticed." Claire lied.
"That's good."
"Well…" Claire didn't want to end that conversation.
"Emilia left me." Christopher admitted not too far away from Claire's apartment. "I am struggling to cope with it."
"Do whatever you can to help yourself." Claire advised. "It's tough when it happens. The heartbreak is beyond any imaginable pain if you truly love them."
"Yeah." Christopher agreed. "I can see in your eyes that you have lost someone too."
"In some way, yes." Claire forced the smile.
"How do you cope?"
"This time it's mostly antidepressants. Before there was alcohol. Sometimes there's workaholism. Make your pick." Claire smiled at Christopher trying to be encouraging.
"I'm not surprised that she left. She went through so much while she was with me." Christopher confessed. "Like a ridiculous amount of things."
"Really?"
"Oh God, yes. At one point she was kidnapped by some group because they wanted my money."
Claire's eyes widened.
"Group X?" She asked in almost a whisper. Christopher looked back at her and furrowed his brows.
"How do you know?"
"Someone told me, an agent."
"An agent?" Christopher asked quickly. "A woman or a man?"
"Woman. Young woman. Scarily young woman."
"Black curly hair?"
"Yes!" Claire nodded. "You know Rosa?"
"Agent Rosa Summers from FBI? Yes! She was the one who found Emilia. She was a godsend." Christopher studied Claire. "How do you know her?"
"I've got myself in a mess. Different kind of mess. More like a bounty on my head kind of mess."
"Shit." Christopher shook his head. "Has that been resolved?"
"The bounty part yes. Not everything though."
"Do you need any help?"
"I don't think so, but thanks for offering."
Claire thanked Chris for dropping her off and left, going back to her apartment.