Chapter 98 - The Long Wait (2/2)
But Miguel pursues it. ”Do you know that? Are you aware that he likes you?”
He got sick because he likes me so much, is what Claire wants to say, with a pang of regret. Instead, she dodges the question. ”He hired me to do a job for thirty days, Miguel. I'm his fake fiancée, his semi-pretend executive ȧssistant. I'm not sure if genuinely liking me is part of the job description.”
Miguel laughs. ”You should play dodgeball, because you're very good at dodging things.”
”I don't know how to respond to that.”
”Well,” he says. ”I can't blame you if you want to keep things strictly professional between you. My brother is a difficult person to be with. He has his deep passions. When you hurt him, he gets hurt deeply, perhaps even scarred. I'm the younger one, but to tell you the truth, I act more like his elder brother. I'm always trying to be on the look-out for his welfare. That's why the first time I heard about his new fiancée—which is you, supposedly—I flew out here to check him out and see if he wasn't being crazy or something.”
”He was really being crazy for hiring me,” she says.
”And you're crazier because you agreed to this.” He smiles.
”I know. When I started, I thought this was only a job. I can endure a job. It was supposedly only a month. But now…”
”But now…what?”
But now I think I've fallen in love with him for real, Claire wants to say. But she keeps that to herself. ”But now, I don't know.”
Miguel sighs. He takes a sip of his cold beverage. ”I wish I could be sick, too, so that I'd feel that you care about me.”
”Stop it,” she says. ”Not here, Miguel.”
”Just saying. Can't blame a man for trying.”
”Aren't you even worried that Gabriel might never recover?”
He gazes at her. ”I told you. I'll never believe in a thousand years that something stupid like this flu or whatever this is, could defeat him. I know my brother. He will emerge from this stronger, and perhaps crazier, than ever. Oh, I couldn't wait for more of his ideas on making women happy.”
”Really?”
Miguel pauses. ”You won't believe it,” he says. ”But ten years ago, Michelle Alcantara was my girlfriend.”
It takes a full moment for Claire to realize what he just said. Her brow creases. ”What did you say?”
”Michelle. Gabriel's evil ex. She used to be mine. But I love my brother so much that I…Well, how does one say this without sounding like an utter fool? I gave Michelle away. Because I thought it was a worthy sacrifice. But knowing what we know now, maybe it was the worst decision ever, made by yours truly.”
”Are you for real?” Claire says. ”And did Gabriel know about your 'sacrifice', as you describe it?”
”Yeah, absolutely,” Miguel says. ”And he was—”
Miguel is cut mid-sentence as the doctor reappears bearing Gabriel's medical results, his face grim. Claire doesn't even speak; she just reads the doctor's face intently, even before he begins reciting Gabriel's medical condition.