Chapter 112 - The Blackout (1/2)

Claire almost chokes on her panic. She stares at the phone in her hand. What in hell was that call about? She dials Gabriel's number, but it only rings and rings. Jesus, what happened to him? Her hands have started to tremble as she dials Miguel's number.

”Hey, there,” Miguel's voice seems cold and distant, and there's club music in the background. ”What's up, Claire? Boyfriend problems?”

”Miguel, listen,” she mutters. ”Can you hurry over to Gabriel's place? Like, now? Something strange happened.”

”What? What do you mean?”

”He called me up. He sounded like he's struggling to breathe. Then the line went dead, and I could not get hold of him anymore.”

”Jesus Christ,” Miguel mutters. ”But I'm outside the city. Might take me half an hour to get there. But I'm going there now. You go ahead. Call up his butler, that guy named Lopez? Or Dale. Anyone that can go to him the quickest.”

”Yes,” is the only thing she manages to say. ”Please hurry.”

She frantically dials Dale's number, but five rings and no one's answering. She tries calling up Lopez, who fortunately is on speed dial on Gabriel's desk phone. She bites her lip as the phone rings seemingly endlessly. After five rings, Claire decides a lot of time has been wasted. She bolts out the room, grabs her bag and almost half-runs out of there, all the while the image of Gabriel sprawled on the floor with no one to help him flashing on her mind.

She's already in the lobby and about to walk out of the main doors when she realizes she hasn't called up Dean, her chauffeur, who's probably in some diner having coffee, waiting for her call.

”Can I use your phone?” she says to the security officer manning the lobby's reception.

”Sure, Ma'am,” the officer says.

Calling up Dean wasted a few minutes, as his phone only rang and rang, and the only reason Claire patiently waited is the fact he's the only way to reach Gabriel, and reach him fast. When Dean finally picks up, Claire almost yells at him. ”The foyer, Dean, two seconds. Please hurry.” She almost slams down the phone, earning her a curious gaze from the security officer.

”Any trouble, Ma'am?”

Only then does Claire realizes what a mess she is. She takes a deep breathe. What are the chances Gabriel is actually fine, or maybe his butler is already with him? ”No trouble. Just…just need to see my…boss.”

”Oh,” the security officer's face lights up in recognition. ”You're Mr. Tan's secretary! I should have realized it's you. You must be the latest in his string of hot…err, I mean, beautiful secretaries.”

For a moment Claire is tempted to correct him. I'm the love of his life, not just his secretary, she wants to scream. But she takes a deep breath. And thankfully, her service Bentley screeches to a dramatic halt in front of the building. ”Thank you for the call,” she says to the security officer, before running out.

”Gabriel's place, and please get there the fastest without breaking any law.”

”Yes, Ma'am,” the chauffeur says. ”Did something happen?”

”It's Gabriel,” she starts to say, but the worry building up in her heart makes her stop talking. She looks out the window. She wants to blame herself. She didn't really have to go to the office today, did she? Those memos, she could have sent them tomorrow. Why did she have to leave him, alone, in his suite? Why did she ever believe in his outward show of strength and well-being? Now it turns out he's not yet well at all. She should have known—Gabriel has always been like that, always ”I'm fine, I'm cool.” Remember when he confessed just the other day in the rain? The gigantic ego, with his ”I rarely get sick I'm like Superman” bluster? Now this.

Then she realizes they have not moved in minutes.

”What's the matter?”

”It's…” Dean, exasperated, gestures toward the scene in front of them: utter chaos. There's an upcoming intersection, and vehicles both big and small are in disarray right in the middle of it. ”It seems the stoplight is not working, and there's no traffic enforcer in sight.”

”Can we try some alley, some shortcut, perhaps?”

”There's a small side road some twenty meters ahead,” Dean says, ”but it's usually one-way only, and the traffic direction opposes us.”