Chapter 88 - The Phone Call (1/2)

For some reason, the idea of actually working with Michelle has fired her up. Claire remembers her last encounter with Michelle, here at the office as Bella, and Michelle seemed to like her. It must be a strange twist of fate. And if Michelle indeed arrives tomorrow, then it's going to be interesting to see how that plays out.

Now, first things first. Claire must start learning the ropes with this company. Gabriel said he's opening the path for her learning. It's only a matter of formal training. Claire's smart, anyway; she could easily learn about the business. It's also the first time Claire realizes maybe she has a long-term future in the company, after her initial 30-day contract with Gabriel. Maybe. Gabriel's issuing a memo later this afternoon, informing Claudia's team to ”adopt” Claire as an intern. ”But not an intern 'intern',” Gabriel clarified. ”You'll be acting as my representative, so I'll remind Claudia to treat you very nicely.”

Hmm. She'll be working with Mary. That sounds exciting. Claire scans the faces of everyone else; at least the ones whose heads she can still see in their respective cubicles. Maybe this place is rich with untold stories. Maybe there are many people here, like Mary, who have suffered from wrongs that must be made right. So Claire hunkers down on her computer and starts typing her plans. She's so intent on working that she doesn't realize a couple of hours have already passed. It's almost nearly lunch. Gabriel's still in his room. Should she ask him if he wants a ”working lunch” with her, to discuss the plans? But as she mulls it over, her desk phone rings.

It's Miguel, his voice seemingly excited for some reason. ”Hey, how are things over there? Is everything good between you and Gabriel?”

”Yeah,” she says, but in a low voice, to keep anyone else from hearing her. ”Why should you ask? Is anything the matter?”

She hears him laughing on the other end of the line.

”Are you for real?” Miguel says. ”You slapped him last night, remember? I sure as hell remember.”

”Well,” she says, ”I've gotten past that. I'm here just to work.”

But Miguel continues to giggle. ”You should have seen Gabriel's face when you left. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. He was so stunned.”

Even Claire has to giggle at that. ”Really?”

”Aw come on,” Miguel says. ”You know Gabriel has never been slapped.”

It is only now that Claire realizes the magnitude of what she did last night. ”Oh, my God, are you serious?”

”Yeah,” Miguel says. ”That's why I was sooooo surprised. I wasn't even sure how Gabriel would react. I thought he would lose his temper and be angry at you. I thought he would run after you and fire you on the spot or something that a normal boss would do. But then again, he isn't really a 'normal' boss, is he?”

Claire ignores the last line. ”So how did he actually react?”

”Well, he had his hand on the cheek you slapped, and he was like that for a long time. Like, for several minutes. As if the cheek was about to fall off and he was just trying to stop it from falling to the ground.”

Claire laughs, despite the supposed seriousness of the situation. ”And then?”