Chapter 94 - The Insidious Sense of Coming Down with Something Really, Really, Really Bad (1/2)
By the time they reach the threshold of the Residence, Gabriel is quiet, as though he's feeling weird. He knows he should be happy, even if Claire hasn't given him any definite answer yet. Anyway, she wouldn't let him walk with him arm in arm in the most romantic rain in the history of mankind if she doesn't at least reciprocate his feelings. But still, there must be something in that cold rain that has struck him—he hadn't been working out, he's been under too much stress lately, and running like mad through that curtain of cold water must have been short of suicide. So by the they reach the Residence, Gabriel's slightly shivering from the cold.
”Are you all right?” Claire says, squeezing him in the arm.
”Y-yes, I'm fine,” he tries to smile. He takes a deep breath if only to hide his chattering teeth.
”You're soaking wet, Gabriel. First, you must change quickly into some dry comfy clothes. I'm sure we this place has something of your size. You own this entire building.”
He lets her take the lead to the elevator. Inside the lift, he's tempted to pop the question again, but there's something about Claire's demeanor that says take it easy, relax, you don't have to worry anymore.
Claire stares at him. ”You're red in the face, Gabriel. How are you feeling?” Then she places a palm on his forehead before he could react. ”You're quite warm! Do you feel sick?”
Of course, Gabriel, with all his macho persona, says, ”I'm fine, Claire. I just want to see you off. Bring you to your suite.”
Claire gazes at him funny, as though she's trying to fathom the truth of his words. With Gabriel, it's always hard to know the truth; this man always places his ego above everything else. Claire sighs; if he insists he's feeling fine, then so be it.
They stop by the door of her suite. ”Won't you come in?” Claire says. ”You need to change your clothes.”
Gabriel smiles. ”No need for that. I'd just scoot back to my place. I'm calling up my ride.”
Gabriel's eyes are bloodshot, and in this efficiently air conditioned room, his rain-soaked suit is causing him to shiver. ”You're not fine, Gab,” she says, then she gently touches him in the neck, and on the forehead. ”You feel warm.”
Gabriel gazes at her. ”That's right. I'm probably dying. Can you give a dying man his last wish?”
She has an inkling of what he'd say, but even so she still asks, ”And what would that be?”
”A kiss.”
She tries hard to keep a straight face, forcing herself not to smile. ”I haven't said anything, Gabriel. I haven't said yes. We're not…we're still…You're still my boss.”
He sighs. ”It's only a kiss. After all, I walked you home.”
”So you're asking for 'payment' for walking me home, is that it?”
”Alright, not payment. Scratch that. How about a semi-kiss, a semi-goodnight kiss. For starters?”
”Starters for what?”