This Crazy Rich Boy

"Really?" Claire says incredulously. "Is this really for me?"

She's pointing at a trenta-sized coffee that Gabriel is handing her. They're in his office at nine in the morning.

"Yes, of course," he says cheerfully. "I bought two, see? So the other one's for you."

"I'm sorry, Gabriel," she sighs. "I'm just not used to this. It's usually me who gets you your caffeinated beverage."

Gabriel smiles as he throws his body on his big boss chair. He seems to be in good spirits. Today seems to be one of those days when he'd woken up on the right side of the bed. "I feel good today, Claire. One of my problems got mysteriously solved."

That sends a jolt to Claire's heart. She immediately has an inkling of what Gabriel is talking about.

"Imagine that," Gabriel continues. "One day your shoulders are heavy with untold burden of so many untold complexities. Then another day, everything seems to have vanished."

"What are you speaking of?" Claire has to ask, although she somehow knew what is coming.

"Got a phone call from Jake Magno's lawyer this morning," Gabriel says. "He's withdrawing all the charges. Everything. Even says sorry. Unbelievable."

He gazes at her, as though waiting for her to say something. The truth is, Gabriel really knows what happened. The commander of the secret bodyguards he had ȧssigned to protect Claire had called him up as soon as Claire ordered her chauffeur to drive to that bar. They sensed something was up, and the bodyguard, acting on long-standing instructions, felt it proper to let him know. "Don't ever let her out of your sight," he had told him. "Anticipate the surprises, if you can. Read the environment. Act two steps ahead of whoever Claire's meeting."

Later, that night, the bodyguard called him up again to report, in detail, what happened. The bodyguard's account dropped Gabriel's jaw—he'd never expect Claire, the "Virgin Princess," would be capable of acting like that. It was like a scene lifted from a comic book. And here he was, all the while thinking he'd been trying to save this damsel in distress, when as it turned out, she could very well defend herself—you just give her a fighting chance.

And what really touched him deeply was the bodyguard's account of what Claire told Jake, as the man lay on his back, his face bloodied: "Get out of our lives."

"OUR lives," she said. For some reason, that tickled Gabriel Tan's heart. He kept muttering the phrase to himself as he tried to sleep that night: OUR lives. Get out of OUR lives. OUR lives, she said. He couldn't stop but feel a childlike glee, some deep-seated gladness, whenever he uttered that phrase out in the open.

That's the reason why he was so cheerful this morning. Not the fact that Jake Magno's withdrawing all his stupid made-up bullshit legal charges. Because if push came to shove, Gabriel would have no choice but to stomp on the little fires Jake would make with all the might of his clout. He was a giant, a titan that Jake had the unfortunate mistake of waking up. Truly, Claire didn't have to risk her safety just to threaten Jake. But then again, maybe give the woman some credit: maybe she really needed to get that rage off her ċhėst.

What Claire had done only endeared her deeper to him. As the days wear on—and these are precious days—Gabriel discovers things that make him realize Claire's beauty, not only physically, but as a well-rounded beautiful person.

"Maybe he had a change of heart," Claire says. She smiles. She shrugs. "It happens, sometimes."

"Yeah," he says. "I just wouldn't expect any change of heart to be coming from that snake."

"Sometimes things work in mysterious ways," she says coyly.

Back at her desk, trying to pretend to work, Claire is also feeling a bit cheerful. She's glad that it worked. Of course, she has no idea that Gabriel knows. She wouldn't tell him to brag about it—it's enough that it worked, and she will keep it as a happy secret—that is, until her employment here is over. She will still pursue filing a case against Jake. But that can wait.

Claire keeps gazing at the office's entrance. Mary has not yet arrived. She has a ton of questions for Mary. What Miss Cassandra told her last night gave her the screaming mimies, but she has kept reminding herself that this is just some bitch; if she survived the likes of Jake, surely she can overcome whatever Michelle Alcantara can throw at her. But she needs Mary—she wants to know a lot of stuff about Michelle, and perhaps, Mary can throw some light upon the mystery.

The next time she looks at the wall clock, it's almost noon. Gabriel is still in his office. She can hear his voice; he'd been on the phone the entire morning. And oddly, he hasn't summoned her. It's times like these that make her realize how her role in this office is purely ornamental—she has no real contribution. She disappears today and it would even cause the slightest ripple on the grand scheme of things here. For a moment, that thought depresses her.

"Jesus, of all the days you had to be unavailable, why today?" Claire mutters to herself, noting that Mary hasn't arrived yet. After a while she stands up, intending to knock on Gabriel's office door. In her head she's trying to make up some excuse to talk to him. Maybe ask him about where he's having lunch,which might remind him to ask her out. After all, executive secretaries normally have business luncheons with their bosses, right?

But as she stands up from her desk, she catches a sight of the main entrance door opening. It's as if the world slows down as the double glass doors swing open, and in walks none other than Michelle Alcantara, looking impeccably fashionable wearing what looks like the hide of dead reptiles. And the first thing she does is set her laser-guided sight upon poor Claire, who freezes like a deer in headlights.