Chapter 159 - The Stop-over (2/2)

Dale shrugs. ”Maybe a couple of hours, give or take.”

”I must find him,” Claire says. Then without further ado, she runs out into the road.

Dale scratches his head. What's wrong with this couple? They are always looking or running after each other. When can they ever meet and settle down and just enjoy each other's company, perhaps forever?

”Oh, well,” Dale mutters to himself as he walks back to the back-of-house area, where his colleagues must still be talking about the future, and how they'd face the uncertainty of joblessness. He'd be happy to tell them there's no longer any reason to be afraid, that Claire's back, and so is the long-term outlook of their tenure. But at this point, Dale knows the sheer unpredictability of this union—how at any moment, Claire could change her mind, or something unexpected happens, and something worse would descend on their lives. So he will withhold that news of Claire being back for good, at least for the time being.

Meanwhile, once Claire is out on the street, she immediately catches sight of Dean, having a smoke by the Bentley at the end of the driveway. She hesitates for a moment, wondering if she still has command of him. Why not make a stab at it? She waves a hand. Dean has already seen her, and is half-running toward her.

”Miss Claire!” The happiness on Dean's face is unmistakable. ”My God, I've never been so happy to see you back!”

Claire doesn't know what to say, she so just smiles.

”You're looking for Gabriel?” Dean says.

”Yes! Have you seen him?”

”I know where he has gone to,” Dean says. ”So let's go and make a run for it.”

”Thank you so much, Dean!” she manages to say, even as they run toward the car.

But Dean stops before he opens the car's door. ”But Miss Claire, please promise me one thing.”

Claire stops, too.

”Please don't leave Gabriel like that. No matter what happens, no matter what you fight over, please talk to him before you make that kind of decision?”

”I'm sorry,” Claire says, almost teary-eyed. ”I promise.”

Dean gazes at her for a moment. He smiles. ”Thank you, Miss Claire.” He opens the door for her and ushers her inside. ”Reconciliation with Gabriel is going to happen in about T minus ten minutes,” he says before he snappily closes the door.

Claire smiles despite herself; only now she realizes how much havoc she has caused by running away like that. She's in a different league now, in a different world; a month ago, when she was still living in the apartment and just looking for a job, she could disappear and nobody would notice; maybe her parents back home would get to know about it only weeks later. But here, now, she disappears for a few hours and other people's lives go in disarray, their employment put at risk. And slowly, the gravity of being with Gabriel sinks in—this is what it means for being with a captain of industry.

The Bentley is backing out of the driveway when Claire taps Dean on the shoulder.

”Dean, can I ask you something? I'd appreciate it if you could give me an honest answer.”

Dean looks at her in the rear-view mirror. He smiles. ”Sure, Ma'am.”

”What would you do if you were in my position?”