Chapter 70 - The Fall of the Ice Queen (1/2)
Has anyone died from walking in the rain? Claire has no idea. But since Gabriel told her she's free to take the rest of the day off, and she thinks maybe she could give the chauffeur some ”me time” too and not call him up, she has decided to just take the sidewalk. Revel in the overcast weather. This midday rainstorm is rare, especially in these months, and it brings with it so much melancholy. Perhaps walking all the way to the Residence will help clear her head.
That's what she has been telling herself. But the truth is, she has been on the verge of tears even while the elevator descends. She's confused, really. Why does she feel this way, anyway? It's not like Gabriel had told her to disappear from his life. Other ”employees” would be happy to get a precious half-day. So why does she feel like when Gabriel told her to take the rest of the day off, it sounded like a death sentence.
The rain has faded into a drizzle, but as Claire didn't use an umbrella, she's soaked. People stare at her like an oddity. ”Is she crazy?” she overheard one. ”Are they filming a movie here? Is this a drama scene?” muttered another. ”Is she a goddess?” she thought she'd heard one say, too, but maybe it's just the voice in her head.
She passes by the Starbucks where she used to get his coffee. For a split-second, Claire thinks of entering it and see of Brad is there. She stands by the threshold for a minute, undecided. Then she walks on—Gabriel, again. All these things. All these memories. Has she turned into a drama queen?
Back in college, or high school even, Claire Monteverde was the Ice Queen, because she defended her lack of a lovelife as her own decision. ”I'm too busy for boys,” she'd say. ”I'm just focusing now on completing my studies,” she'd say. But the truth was, she had been longing for someone who could be with her, to share those nights when she'd been cramming for an important exam or writing a thesis paper. But she intimidated all the boys, and the few that managed to actually date her and get the dubious privilege of being called her ”official boyfriend” were social misfits, anyway, the dates awkward and insufferable, leaving her more scarred than hopeful. Long story short, no one has ”popped her cherry,” as the slang goes. Worse, Claire didn't really ”grow up” in an emotional sense; despite her striking beauty and intellect, she's just a little girl, waiting for someone to love. And she's naïve to the core, never realizing that accepting Gabriel's job offer of posing as his fake fiancée would change her, trap her in a vicious cycle of hope and despair, love and melancholy.
All these thoughts run through Claire's head now, and she feels like drowning. She looks up at the sky, and the gray clouds offered little reprieve.
”You're quite early, Ma'am,” Dale greets her as she walks absent-mindedly into the Residence's lobby. ”And you're wet! Did you have an accident? You could get sick!”
”Then that's good because I want to die,” she mutters, but a voice in her head simultaneously berates her with, ”Don't be a goddamn fool, woman.”
Dale laughs awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to that. ”Let me ȧssist you to your suite, Ma'am. You need fresh, dry towels and maybe a soak in warm water.”
”What I need is love,” Claire slurs, as though she's drunk even when she's not. ”The kind of love that won't tell me to take the rest of the day off just because his ex-fiancée paid him a visit!”
”I, uhh,” Dale stammers, ”I'm not sure about… Are you okay, Ma'am?”
”I'm okay, of course, I'm okay,” she says. ”I'm just…” Then she remembers the lyrics of a song she'd overheard on her way here. ”…Dying inside…to hold you…” she says in sing-song.
Now Dale is panicking. He's thinking maybe he should call up the big boss, Gabriel Tan, and report this strange behavior. Because you don't come in soaking wet, if you're still normal, right?
”Please wait for me here, Ma'am, I'll just call up someone at the reception desk. Will be gone for a sec,” Dale begins to say.
But Claire grabs his hand. ”You're going nowhere,” she says. ”Bring me to my lair, pronto!”