This Crazy Rich Boy

"You look…good," Gabriel says as he opens the door for Claire.

"Thank you, Mr. Tan," she says, smiling.

For some reason, Claire's beauty bothers him—there's something he couldn't quite put a finger on. He's so distracted as he drives that he bȧrėly speaks, prompting Claire to actually say, "Is everything alright?"

Nothing's right, he almost says. But he just smiles. As he makes a turn toward the main road, Gabriel slowly realizes why: Claire Monteverde is extremely attractive. And he's bothered because even now, he's trying to maintain distance, trying to enforce his unwritten rule between boss and employee. But while technically, Claire's in his employ through some made-up bullshit plan to exact revenge on his ex-fiancée, each time he sees this woman, all dolled up courtesy of his own directive to his personal fashion stylist, his heart goes aflutter. But he must not show it.

And Jesus, why does she smell so good?

"By the way, where are we going tonight?" Claire says, smiling.

His mind blanks out for a second. "Uhh, that Italian place. Maroni's."

"Isn't that the restaurant on the rooftop of some building?"

"No," Gabriel says, "Err, I mean, yes. Yes, that's the one."

"I'm excited," Claire giggles. "I've only read about it. I've never been there. Couldn't afford it, obviously."

"The world is now your oyster, Claire, I promise," he says. "From now on, you get access to all the finest things in life."

Claire makes a weird smile. "From now on until the thirtieth day, you mean, Mr. Tan?"

Did he hear an almost inaudible sigh?

"Well," he begins, "let's see."

Claire gazes at him for a moment too long, then she looks out the window, so sad and beautiful.

"My brother and I love that Italian place," he says. "We usually spend our significant dinners there. It was there were I…"

Where I announced my engagement with Michelle, is what Gabriel almost says, but he catches his mouth at the last moment.

Claire doesn't seem to be listening, anyway. She's humming some tune, a familiar one that feels like a sad love song. Before long, the humming slowly turns into timid singing, as what Claire has a tendency to do.

"…and young and tan and lovely

The girl from Ipanema goes walking

And when she passes

Each one she passes goes 'ahhh'."

Gabriel turns to her and smiles. "I know that one," he says, and sings along with her.

"When she walks, she's like a samba

That swings so cool and sways so gently

That when she passes, each one she passes goes 'ooh'."

They both giggle. Gabriel taps the car's entertainment screen, addresses the in-car system with, "Play The Girl from Ipanema." And immediately, the song plays. They both sing along to the lyrics, and when they reach the third stanza, Gabriel notices that Claire's singing it with much more emotion, as if she's singing it from the bottom of her heart.

"But I watch her so sadly

Yes, I would give my heart gladly

But each day, when she walks to the sea

She looks straight ahead, not at me."

As the song tapers down to its conclusion, Gabriel gazes at her. "I've been a Jobim fan ever since he died in 1994. I love every song he made. Listening to them feels like I'm transported back to a long-lost time of innocence, and the only way I could bring it back is by listening to these songs."

"Me, too," Claire says. "Although I discovered him long after he's gone. I found an old CD of the Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto album in the bargain bin of an old record shop. I had no idea what it was but the title intrigued me. And when I heard it, I was instantly hooked." She smiles. "It has been my refuge song ever since."

"Refuge song?"

"Yeah. The song I sing whenever I feel sad."

"Wait, are you sad now? You just told me you were excited a while ago."

Claire, of course, couldn't tell him the reason for her melancholy—him mentioning that everything she's enjoying has a lifespan of only thirty days. That this happiness and excitement shall end, and shall end soon. But all she says is, "I don't know. I just felt like singing it, for no reason at all."

In the few days that they've been together, Gabriel has already known Claire, including her small quirks, and he knows the song was not "for no reason at all." But at this point, he doesn't want to navigate this emotional landmine. He feels it's not a good idea at all to descend with her into a deep pit of some un-nameable sadness, especially now that they're having dinner with his brother. It's supposed to be a happy reunion. It's his way to compensate for having to leave the meal earlier.

"I'm curious about Karen, too," he says. "I wonder what Miguel has in mind."

"Are we really getting the front seat to a great show?" Claire teases. "Because that's the only thing I'm hoping to witness."

Gabriel shrugs. "With Miguel, anything's possible." Including massive fuċk-ups, he thinks, but doesn't say it out loud.

Claire sighs. Her mind is wracked with so much worry. And her greatest fear: what if Karen tells on her, tells Miguel who she really is? That she's not the CEO of some company, as Gabriel so brazenly advertised to the world? That she's really of humble origin, that this is just a job arrangement? Claire doesn't really care so much if she gets exposed; she only fears for Gabriel, and the ruin of his plans. And for these reasons, Claire is torn about her remaining days with Gabriel: half of her wants it to end now, yet half of her doesn't want it to end forever.

"That's what really worries me most," she says as they arrive at Maroni's the restaurant. "The fact that anything's possible."