Chapter 48 - The Big Meetup (1/2)
Claire doesn't know what to say. Or what to expect. Where's Matilde Tan? Where's the grand iron lady, the matriarch of the Tan clan? She came here fully expecting to meet ugly things. Instead, what she encounters is someone who makes her jaws drop.
”Hello, Gabriel!” The man is all smiles as he gives Gabriel a big hug. ”It has been a long time.”
Gabriel laughs, then turns to her. ”Claire, I'd like you to meet Miguel, my younger brother.”
”Your—” Claire's brow is knitted in confusion even as Miguel shakes her hand, if too enthusiastically.
”So you're the incredibly lucky girl,” Miguel says, his eyes holding her gaze.
”I…I'm not…I mean…”
”I know,” Gabriel says. ”Not what you expected. But that was what I was trying to tell you a while ago.”
”Mom couldn't make it,” Miguel offers. ”She has to spend a few more weeks in that hotel in Switzerland to calm her nerves. Her ulcer is acting up again. Her doctor recommends staying away from stress as much as possible.”
”And this is supposedly stressful,” Gabriel mutters, shaking his head.
”Well, you know how Mom is,” Miguel says. ”Always so controlling, even when her body could no longer keep up.”
”Wait,” Claire says, ”do you mean your mom isn't coming tonight?”
Gabriel makes a big shrug. ”You got lucky, I guess?”
”And she won't be able to come for at least a couple of weeks?”
”Yeah.”
That means there's a big chance Claire won't even have to meet the iron lady at all—by the time Matilde Tan has fully recovered, Claire's ”work arrangement” with Gabriel would be over, and it would be up to her son to do all the explaining. She couldn't help but smile at the thought.
”Why are you smiling?” Gabriel says as they take their places at the dining table.
It's Claire's turn this time to make a big shrug. ”I guess I got lucky, indeed.”
The restaurant's staff begin bringing in food. Gabriel mentions it's going to be an amazing five-course dinner, but Claire still couldn't move on. Besides, she couldn't stop staring at Miguel's face. She didn't expect nature could still improve upon Gabriel's looks, but here Miguel is: a more angelic, sėxier version of Gabriel, if that makes sense. He also wears his hair long, a little past his shoulders, like some rock star from another decade.
”So Claire,” Miguel begins, ”how's my brother treating you?”
Claire decides to play a little coy. ”How do you mean?”
”Well, Gabriel was notoriously in love with his former fiancée.” He fake-coughs. ”And personally, I think two weeks were not enough for a man to suddenly get over his former lover of ten years and declare undying love for somebody new. But I guess, seeing you now in the flesh, I realize why. Any man could fall head over heels for you.”