This Crazy Rich Boy

Claire's eyes are closed, yet all her senses are acutely in tune with the wonderful thing Gabriel, her boss, is doing with her mouth. At this point, he has stopped all pretense of giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, as they're actually shamelessly kissing, right there in the reception lobby. Claire doesn't know what to feel—she's very well aware that if she was blushing previously, her redness at this point would be on a different level now. She'd be swooning. And because she's pretty sure Gabriel's eyes are closed too as he "passionately" plays with her tongue and lips, he also doesn't realize it.

She loses track of time, of the minutes as they pass by. Then at one point, she hears something distinct, which seemingly is coming from far away: the sound of someone clearing his throat.

She opens her eyes, adjusting to the sight of the hazy figures of two people looming over them. Gabriel stops kissing her, too.

"Uhh, Mister Tan," one of the figures says, and as Claire's vision pulls into focus, she realizes it's the doctor from last night, with the pretty receptionist. "Is there anything I can do here?"

Gabriel stands up reluctantly, as though waking up from a lovely dream. "Doctor, she was feeling ill. I was trying to give her a… a… a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

The doctor fake-coughs at that, yet tries to compose himself. He approaches Claire, who is already sitting awkwardly on the sofa, still in her bathrobe. He gently puts a hand on her forehead, and examines her eyes. He feels her pulse. It takes him about a minute to declare, "She's fine, Mister Tan."

"Are you sure?" Gabriel says.

"Yes," the doctor says, visibly uncomfortable with trying not to say the obvious. "It seems Miss Claire experienced some after-effects of what she had taken, uhh… Last night."

Gabriel nods. "Yeah, that's why I was resuscitating her."

"Yeah," both the doctor and the receptionist say in unison. They look at each other, trying not to grin.

"Had to do that," Gabriel says. "Because we don't know what could have happened." He puts his hands on his hɨps and turns around, looking for more approval, like he really believes his own bullshit.

The doctor clears his throat. "It's so gallant of you, Mister Tan, to do everything you can to keep her safe."

"Yeah!" Gabriel exclaims.

And while all this is taking place, Claire is gazing at them, trying not to laugh at this silly charade. For some reason, she finds Gabriel's shenanigans, whether he really believes it or not, deeply amusing. Gabriel could not do anything mean or nasty. He seems insane, but as far as she's seen it, mostly in a good way. Like "insanely cute," if that makes sense.

"So I think we're ready for some pampering," Gabriel declares. He offers his hand to help Claire get up from the sofa.

The receptionist flashes her sweetest smile. "Sir, we have prepared a truly lavish couples treatment for the two of you."

"Perfect!" he says.

"Can I choose what treatment I like?" Claire asks.

"Then what treatment would you like?"

She mulls it over for a moment. "A nice backrub?"

Gabriel laughs. "Jesus, Claire, you're in a luxury spa. They do more than just give you a backrub. Haven't you had a spa treatment before?"

She shakes her head. "I don't know what to expect," she says sheepishly.

"Then let them surprise you," he says.

The receptionist leads them down the hallway lined with huge imposing wooden doors on both sides. She unlocks the last one. When Claire sees what's inside, it takes her breath away. It's a lavish suite, with a couple of what look like massage beds. And in a corner, surrounded by glass walls that give views of the city below, is an ornate marble bath tub.

Two lady attendants greet them. When one starts disrobing Claire, she recoils. "What are you doing?"

The lady attendant smiles patiently. "I'm preparing you for treatment, Ma'am."

Claire turns to Gabriel for answers, but already he's lying face-down on one massage table, while the other attendant starts preparing materials for the relaxation treatment. A white towel is draped over his shapely buŧŧ.

"Relax, Claire," he says. "Let them do the magic for you. Trust me, you'll love it."

"But she's taking my robe off."

Gabriel laughs. "Don't worry, I won't look."

"Turn to the other side," Claire insists.

"Seriously?" Gabriel says, and mutters to himself, "It's not like I haven't seen everything."

"What did you say?"

"Oh nothing," Gabriel says. "Turning away here, and not looking, not even a peep," he says, as he makes a big production of how he's really turning to the other side, away from Claire.

A tiny smile curves Claire's lip. "Thank you, Mister Tan," she addresses him formally. "I'm keeping an eye on you. Don't look."

Jesus, Gabriel mutters, as he tries not to giggle. She's so cute when she's being like this. I've seen everything, Claire. And I love what I've seen. It's amazing. But I'm not some sleazebag like Jake Magno who would try to take advantage of a nice girl like you.

Jesus, Claire mutters, as the lady attendant gently disrobes her. After the embarrassment in the bedroom and that weird "mouth-to-mouth resuscitation," she's no longer sure of what to think and expect. She feels that no matter how much she puts up a façade of independence, half of her wants to surrender everything to him. Every moment is a struggle. And sometimes, Claire thinks if she's not going to be the one who ends up crazy here.

"The bathtub is filled with herbs-infused water, Miss Claire," the lady attendant says. "It's going to rejuvenate not only your skin, but also leave you with a youthful glow. Not that you really need it because you are already so lovely. But you'll see." She smiles and gestures toward the tub.

Claire understands. She checks and sees that Gabriel is still turned away from her, waiting for her to get in the tub and out of his view. Then she gingerly steps into the tub. The water is perfectly warm, effusing what some familiar fragrance. She slips into it and lets the water ċȧrėss her body.

"Perfect, Miss Claire," the attendant says. "And now I'm going to fill the tub with these special seaweeds. This is an organic seaweed bath, and one of the world's most luxurious. It will detoxify you and leave you feeling exquisite."

She carefully pours the contents of a ziploc bag into the tub's water. It looks like dried seaweeds. But as it soaks in the water, the seaweeds hydrate and spring back to life. The lady attendant ensures that Claire's body is completely covered with seaweed.

"How is it?"

"It feels…strange. But relaxing. Like wet slimy hands are all simultaneously and gently ċȧrėssing me," Claire says.

"And that's only for starters," the attendant says. "I'll let you soak for a while. I'll watch the time. But you'll discover for yourself the wonderful sensation that this treatment brings."

Claire could see Gabriel on the massage table. His attendant is placing what seem like pebbles on his back. Gabriel could not see her because his head is in the face hole of the massage bed, and from the looks of it, he might have already dozed.

Claire sighs. "What are we now, Gabriel?" She touches her lips, trying to remember the sensation of Gabriel's lips on hers just a few minutes ago. She wonders what would happen to her heart when all this is over. Can she really walk away from this as though nothing happened? When she first signed up for this, she had been warned that her boss is one of the craziest, most eccentric persons you'd ever meet. But now, as she gazes at that man on the massage bed, Claire realizes she's probably the one being driven crazy. All she does at each moment of her time here is trying to fight this growing feeling, this deepening sense of attachment. And as the luxury seaweed soak does its job to rejuvenate her skin, Claire realizes that even it could not reach her heart and heal its deepening ache.