Chapter 60 - The Missing Piece in her Memory Puzzle (2/2)
”Come on, Mary, we've had this conversation before. Claudia cannot make you work through your lunch while she's out there, taking her own sweet time and enjoying two-hour lunches at some swanky place.”
”She can do that because she's the boss.”
”She's not the boss, Mary. Gabriel is, and I have Gabriel's ear.”
”Uhh, I'm not so sure about that, Bella.”
”What are you not so sure about?”
”I don't really know Gabriel. He's a demigod who lives in the castle high up in the clouds. What matters to my fate in this office is the approval of my immediate superior, and that's Claudia. And if Claudia doesn't approve, then my life turns into a living hell.”
Claire says nothing at first. She also watches paper spewed out by the copy machine. Then a name on the document catches her eye. ”Are these documents Jake Magno's business dealings?”
”Yeah,” Mary says curtly.
”What's Claudia's business with Jake?”
”Didn't you know?” Mary says. ”Jake Magno has been fired.”
”What? Isn't he one of the top sales managers here?”
”Yeah, he was. But Gabriel fired him.” Mary makes a big shrug and looks at the door to make sure no one's coming. ”Jake was fired the day after your dinner date, remember, the other night? And you know what the chatter is?”
Confusion knits Claire's brow. ”What?”
”That Jake was fired because he dated you.”
Claire is speechless; suddenly, a million questions run through her head. ”Wait a minute. I don't remember what happened with that dinner date,” she says out loud. And indeed she doesn't. For one thing, why and how does Mary know about that date? It was supposedly a private matter, she didn't tell anyone about it. And another thing, it's only now that she realizes she doesn't remember how that date ended. Did Jake drive her home, back to the Residence? Was it the night before the morning when she woke up smelling of whisky and with Gabriel beside her?
The more she tries to remember, the less it all makes sense. ”Did you talk to Jake before he left?”
”Oh, no,” Mary says. ”He never came back. It was his lawyer who came here and spoke with Claudia. Later I heard Claudia speaking excitedly to Gabriel on the phone. It sounded urgent. Like there's some legal trouble or something.”
Claire sighs. There's a big, black, inky darkness in the middle of her brain pertaining to the memory of that night. And she had never thought about it because of Gabriel—he made her so busy in the past couple of days that she never had a chance to reflect on it. And now, it boomerangs to her with a terrible sense of urgency. Jake's termination—did it have anything to do with her?
”Oh, there you are,” a voice is heard by the door.
”Oh, Mister Tan!” Mary says. ”Good morning, sir!”
”Good morning,” Gabriel says nonchalantly. He looks like he just arrived. ”I've been looking for you Cla—err, I mean, Bella.”
”I've been waiting for you,” Claire mutters, her face grim. ”We need to talk.”