Chapter 21 - The Bikini Showdown (1/2)

Michelle Alcantara obviously loves being the center of attention. It's the currency of her life. And she doesn't even have to work hard for it—probably born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, Michelle was born in luxury and privilege.

That's why as she moves her hɨps to the beats of the DJ at the center of fawning admirers, who ape her every move and sway along with her, Michelle couldn't help but smile at the thought of completely cramping the style of Gabriel Tan's supposed fiancée. She doesn't buy it, that whole fiancée thing. She knows Gabriel. She knows this man wouldn't be able to move on as quickly as that. For ten years Gabriel danced on her palm, at her beck and call, completely smitten. Sure she had been cheating on him countless times, but Michelle could not believe that the one and only time Gabriel found out about her secret trysts two weeks ago would be a total deal breaker: Gabriel is head-over-heels crazy about her. She knows this isn't true. And Gabriel isn't the kind of man who would actually like—more so fall in love with—that stupid fat cow now standing on the sidelines of the pool. Michelle doesn't buy it. There's something about this she couldn't quite put a finger on. But for the meantime, she'll enjoy the world's attention. She'll swim in all the love. As always, she'll take what she can get.

Claire watches Michelle and her entourage in the middle of the meter-deep pool, dancing coquettishly with ċȯċktails in hand, and she knows Gabriel is silently being destroyed right at this very moment. She looks at the man beside her: Gabriel is watching the scene unfold, but surprisingly, there's no emotion on his face. As though he's emotionally detached from this otherwise seductive spectacle. Claire second-guesses what must be going through Gabriel's mind: all those tender moments he once enjoyed with Michelle—can he really turn his back on them all? Can't he really forgive Michelle's cheating? How hard is it to just throw your hands up in surrender, and announce to the world that, alright, Michelle, you win! I still love you. What I had with Claire is fake, it's all an act. Can we get back together?

”Go ahead,” Claire mutters after a while.

”Go ahead what?” Gabriel's voice is exceptionally calm, given the situation.

”Go ahead and tell her you want to get back together,” Claire says. ”There's no point keeping this up. Look at the lengths she'd go to just to get your attention. That's a desperate woman. That's a power move, Gabriel. She's doing this because she's not going to give up, she's not letting what you two had go to waste.”

Gabriel smiles wryly. ”She let it all go to waste the moment she cheated on me.”

”Maybe that's just one moment of weakness. Surely, we all have—”

”That's not only once, Claire. I know she had been cheating on me so many times that I've I lost count. But you know the stupid thing I did? I actually put up with it, pretended that I didn't know, acted like everything's fine in my part of the world.”

”What?” Claire couldn't believe her ears.

”Yes,” Gabriel mutters. He takes a ċȯċktail from a passing server and downs it in one go. ”I was a fool. But there's a point you must say stop to all this foolishness.”

Gabriel turns to her and smiles. ”Don't be sorry. There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm now fine with it. See, I have a new woman who loves me.”

Claire has to laugh at that. ”Yeah, a woman who loves you because of a year's worth of salary you're paying her.”

Gabriel's smile dries up. He appears offended. ”Yes, I know. People only love me if I pay them to do so.”

”Oh, no,” Claire panics. ”I didn't mean it that way. I, uhh, I only meant… I…”

”Don't worry, I get it.” Gabriel grins, but there's no joy in it. ”I understand, Miss Monteverde. This is all an act. Don't worry, I won't forget next time. I'm sorry for being such a sentimental prick.”

He takes a bottle of beer from another passing server, and wordlessly downs the entire contents in one go. When he finishes, he's a little red in the face. ”In fact,” Gabriel says, slurring slightly, ”here's Phase 2 of our little act.”