Lisa knew she looked downright evil, but she couldn't bring herself to care. How could Claire wiggle her way into Axel's heart so quickly, when she had been trying so hard for years? She knew the moment he pulled up her profile that his cold heart had taken a solid punch. The cracks in his icy nature were very obvious. He even invited her to join them for lunch!
Anger had made her leave the compartment earlier. She needed a good plan, and fast. She could not let a nobody like her take Axel away from her. Finding out about her basic information was easy. Claire McLennie was born and bred right there in Creek Falls. Her profile was not so interesting in Lisa's point of view.
She had never travelled out, and all the schools she attended were public schools. Her file was inaccessible. Lisa thought that was odd and called her investigator.
"What do you mean, you can't access it?"
"It's exactly as I said." Lisa tried opening the file again with her phone. "It's asking for an encryption key."
"Oh." Her investigator sighed. "It's a classified file. The government does not allow unauthorized access to such files."
Lisa perked up. "Does that mean she has something to hide?"
"Most likely. Want me to look into it?"
Lisa smiled. "Oh, absolutely."
She was in a good mood when she returned to her seat. She tried reasoning with Axel, but he was too smitten to care. There was no way she was going to digest her food with Claire sitting across from her, so she excused herself to go to the bathroom.
She checked all the stalls to make sure they were empty, then she called her private investigator again.
"How soon?"
"Depends on the extent of the red tape."
"Get it done as soon as possible."
She hung up and crushed the phone between her fingers. "Claire McLennie, I'm coming for you."
********************************
Claire didn't know what made her open her eyes, all she knew was that when she did, the guy with the kind smile was standing over her. The sun was setting in the sky, and the sunset bathed his profile in warm shades of orange. His eyes crinkled with a wide grin when she woke.
"Finally. I was thinking I would have to shake you awake."
Claire sat up and wiped the drool from her lips.
"Did you whisper my name?"
His grin widened. "I might have."
"Would you tell me your name so I can whisper it when you fall asleep?" Claire asked, laughter dancing in her eyes.
He threw his head back and his body shook with silent laughter.
"Donald." He stretched his hand out for a handshake.
She laughed and took his hand. "Claire, but apparently you already know that. Did you G****e me?"
He pulled her up gently. "I like to assure myself that whoever is sitting behind me will not impale me with a six foot pole."
The color drained from Claire's face. Let him be joking, she chanted in her mind. He should better be joking. It was too early for her past to resurface, and she wasn't even in New York yet.
"Relax, I'm kidding." Donald hurriedly assured her when he saw her expression. "I like to fool around. Sorry." He smiled sheepishly.
His smile put her heart at ease and she turned to face him. "No, no, it's alright. What's going on?"
"My boss would like you to join us for lunch."
"Oh." Claire looked back at Mr. Arrogant's profile, then whispered. "Was it your idea?"
Donald smiled. "No, it was entirely his."
Claire shook her head. "I'm sorry, I still don't believe you. He doesn't look like he has it in him."
Donald chuckled. "You say out whatever is in your mind, don't you?"
Claire flushed in embarrassment. "What's the point of keeping what you feel inside when you could just…say it out, you know?"
"Mm. That's not a bad way of reasoning. But it will only help you to be completely honest if you deal with completely honest people too. Otherwise, you'll get used a lot."
He let Claire go ahead of him towards Mr. Arrogant and Miss Saucy. She paused midstride and grabbed Donald's arm.
"Your boss. What's his name?"
"Uh, Axel?"
Claire nodded. "And the lady?"
"Lisa."
She let go of his arm. "Thank you. I got tired of calling them Mr. Arrogant and Miss Saucy in my head."
Her eyes widened and she slapped her palm over her mouth when she realized she had said that out loud. Donald only laughed and gave her a gentle push forward. Claire thought he was one of the kindest people she had ever met.
Lisa was having one of those temper tantrums again. She didn't seem to stay without having one. Claire contemplated going back to calling her Miss Saucy, but decided against it. She didn't want to be thrown out of the plane halfway across the ocean.
Donald and Claire exchanged glances, then he walked ahead of her and coughed discreetly. He announced their presence and Lisa left the compartment almost immediately. Claire was glad. Having to eat with her wearing such a hideous expression would surely have been bad for her digestion.
She had overheard some of their conversation. She never really had strong dislike for people, but she could feel herself start to really not like Lisa. She was so full of herself, and didn't care that others were humans too. She knew she should not be happy that Axel was giving her the cold shoulder, but Claire was. It ticked off one box on her very short list of the things she liked about him.
Axel surprised her by passing her a plate of the most delicious looking sweets she had ever seen, and she ticked off another box. If things kept up this way, she would end up even tolerating him.
"There is no way this is plane food." Claire blurted out.
Donald smiled. "We have our flight chef."
Claire nodded and took a big bite. She literally had to suppress her a moan when her taste buds exploded with the wonderful flavors that filled them. She sighed instead and Donald's smile widened.
"That good?"
Claire shook her head. "Are you kidding me? It's not good. It's wonderful!"
Donald winked at her. " I guess you'll be joining us for every plane ride from now on?"
Axel choked on his food and started having a coughing fit. Claire wondered why Donald was giving him a funny look, instead of helping him. He looked like he would burst out laughing any minute. Axel was wearing his usual frown, though. Claire guessed he was not as amused. He pulled out a plain handkerchief and daintily dabbed at the sides of his mouth.
Claire didn't know why the plain handkerchief attracted her attention. She looked at his wristwatch as it caught the golden light of the setting sun. It was a simple watch with a plain band and an even plainer face. His suit was plain. There were no extraneous decorations.
Her eyes travelled to his dark hair, cut and combed in a simple way. Not a hair was out of place. Yet, Claire knew there was nothing simple about Axel. He radiated power and he certainly looked like a man who couldn't be toyed with.
When her eyes met his, she felt herself get lost in their bluish intensity. Back home, she had seen a few blue eyed men. But none of them could boast of deep blue eyes that could assume an even darker shade as his did that moment. He was watching her closely, carefully, as though figuring out what she was up to.
"Done checking me out?"
She could not get enough of his voice. He rarely spoke, but when he did, she couldn't help but listen. His voice was like velvet. It lightly brushed over her skin and left her with goosebumps at its soft feel. She needed to get out of here, and fast. She did not trust herself to not do anything foolish at that moment.
He was frowning more intensely now, probably wondering why she had not answered a direct question. The truth was, she felt hypnotized. That was funny, coming from her, seeing as she did not believe in any of those stuff. She decided to deflect.
"Why do you always frown?"
She knew her question surprised him. He did not react physically, but Claire saw it. The shutters closed in his eyes. He was wary, and she knew it. What she wanted to know was why. Why would he become guarded when she asked a simple question as that?
Donald coughed lightly. When she turned to him, he lifted a finger and wagged it in her face.
"Don't even think about it."
Claire giggled. "Think about what?"
"I know what you wanted to ask." He inclined his head a certain angle, slumped his shoulders and tried to mimic her voice. "Why do you always cough?"
Her eyes widened. "I do not do that!"
"You're going to tell me that wasn't on your mind?"
"That's not what I'm talking about!" She waved her free hand about in the air. " I didn't do that…shoulder thing. And I don't croak like that!"
Donald threw his head back and roared with laughter. "My God, you look adorable! And positively livid!"
Tears formed in his eyes from laughing so hard and Claire pouted. "That's not fair."
She pushed her plate aside and folded her arms across her chest.
Donald lifted his hands. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry," he said, then fell into another bout of laughter.
She huffed and glared at him until he stopped laughing.
"Fine, fine." He sniffed and straightened. "I'll stop teasing you now."
Claire gave him a side-eye.
"I'm serious! Punch me if I tease you again."
Claire cracked her knuckles and gave him an evil smile. "Oh, trust me, I certainly will!"
Axel knew Donald was baiting him again, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Her question had stumped him. Granted, all she had done since he had met her was surprise him. He had not been paying any attention to what Lisa was telling him. All he heard was her voice as she reacted to Donald's teases. She even teased him right back! Lisa was right. He had changed. He had never enjoyed female company. Now, all he wanted was for their banter not to end. He sat back in his seat and let Donald work his magic. Donald was more than a friend to him. They had been together through thick and thin. Anyone who could pass Donald's "like" test was one step closer to being Axel's acquaintance. He completely trusted his judgement, and apparently Donald was quite taken by Claire. It was not easy for Donald to trust anyone. His background made sure of that. Yet, Claire had snuck past all the walls of hate that injustice had built in his heart. She had snuck past all of Axel's defenses too, and so eas
Claire didn't know why Axel took her side. No matter how much she thought about it, she always arrived at the same conclusion. He had nothing to gain from defending her. In fact, he stood to lose. Afterall, Claire did not want an enemy like Lisa. She was simply too vicious.Claire was happy she would not be around her anymore. After this flight, she hoped to never see Lisa ever again. She would miss Donald, but well, that was life. As for Axel…she grudgingly had to admit that an hour of lunch with him had made her feel that maybe there was more to him than the arrogance he projected.She also felt it would be good to stay away from him. He was starting to affect her in ways she didn't even want to dream about. If she ever thought about it, all she saw in the end was disaster. She couldn't wait to get off the plane, get settled, and start her life, away from these people who were way higher than her social class.She couldn't sleep again, so she resorted to staring out the window for t
Claire completely forgot about the near death experience as soon as she stepped foot in her apartment. Tears quickly filled her eyes as she looked around at what she could call hers."You've out done yourself this time, D." She had been willing to settle for a rundown apartment in the slums of New York, but Danielle was not hearing of it. She refused to take any money from her friend, so Danielle made her work her backside off to save enough money for the down payment on the apartment.Danielle insisted on paying the rest, asking Claire to return the money if she so wished once she started earning. Now, Claire was glad Danielle had insisted. From the plush sofas to the rugs on the floor and the marbled counters, it was obvious just how fortunate Claire was. It was not big or grand, but it was more than enough.The bedroom had an inbuilt walk-in closet, so Claire threw her carry-on bag inside, jumped on the bed, picked up the pillow and screamed into it. She took her phone from her po
Lisa could not believe her ears. Was he so shameless to openly confess his feelings for Claire right in front of her? Donald gave her a satisfied smirk."You shouldn't have bought the dress." He leaned in and whispered. "Stop trying so hard."Lisa gave him a bored look. "I don't know what you're talking about."Donald gave her a knowing smile. "Sure."Axel cleared his throat quietly again and they were forced to cease their bickering."I'm open to ideas."Lisa smiled and placed a hand over Axel's on the table. "That's something you need to figure out for yourself, Ax. It's your first time in love and a wonderful moment. You should learn by yourself."Axel pulled his hand out from under hers and turned to look at Donald. Donald shrugged."You're asking the wrong guy, Axel. I've never been in any serious relationship."Axel sat back in his chair and moved it slowly to the left and right."I guess I'll have to do this on my own then." He stopped moving the chair when he was directly facin
"What do you mean, your subject got away?"The person on the other end of the line stuttered. "Someone came in a car and drove her away.""Are you proud of yourself? I gave you just one job, to ruin her clothes so she will be late. That way, she is going to miss the interview. How difficult was that?""I'm sorry ma'am.""Oh, you will be, if that bitch gets the job!" Lisa yelled and disconnected the call.She sat in her car, heaving. Why was nothing going her way? At this rate, she would just have to do the job alone. She spied Axel's car turning into the parking lot and hurried out of her car to meet him. He nodded to her in greeting as he emerged from the driver's seat.Lisa looked around. "Where is Donald?""He said he had something to take care of.""And he didn't mention where he went off to?"Axel shook his head. "Why?"Lisa gave a delicate shrug. "It's an important day today. Surely he can't let anything go wrong. He has to be here to supervise most of the events."Axel bent in
After Axel had left her at the car park, Lisa had gone to check if Claire had arrived at the interview hall. Sure enough, there she sat at the waiting room, talking to someone on the phone. Lisa moved over quickly to the other side to get a better view, but Claire must have seen her and stopped saying whatever she had planned to.Lisa stood in the hallway for a while, just breathing. She needed to control herself if she was going to get any of this done. When she was sure she would not suddenly lash out, she adjusted her outfit and walked in. She kept her head down, using one part of her hair to cover her face."Hello. Are you here for the interview?" She asked, staring down at her phone.She held her breath, praying Claire did not recognize her."Lisa?" Claire squinted at her. "What are you doing here?" Damn! Lisa thought, how did she recognize her so quickly? She brushed her hair back and looked up. She contemplated telling Claire that she owned the company, but decided against it.
Claire was starting to wonder why the other applicants had not arrived yet. Surely, she couldn't have been the only one to apply for such an amazing job opportunity. She wanted to wander around, take a good look at the company, but she was afraid she was going to bump into Lisa again.Lisa had already made her have second thoughts about working at the company. The thought of seeing her often made her stomach churn. Besides, even if Lisa were not here, she was too strung up on nerves to get up from her seat. Claire didn't know she would feel so relieved when she saw a stream of applicants being led by Donald into the waiting room. She raised a brow at his presence, but refused to comment. He would probably just give her another one of his obtuse responses. Or worst still, a charming smile.As expected, his face lit up with a heart stopping smile when his eyes landed on her. He turned to the other applicants."Please, take your seats. Your interview will begin soon. Allow me to convey
Claire felt her knees tremble as she walked out of the interview room. He was there. How could he be there, seated at the head of the table? She had thought she would never see him again. Heck, she had thought she would never see any of them again. Somehow, all three of them had ended up in her life again. Why was fate so cruel to her?Myla rose when she entered the waiting room. "Oh dear, you look pale. Was it so difficult?"Claire shook her head and took her seat. "No, I was just a little surprised is all."Myla nodded sympathetically. "Is this your first interview?"It wasn't Claire's first, but she sure had never applied to a big company before. Better to let Myla think inexperience was the reason behind her reaction, than to let her know the real reason."Yes, it is.""It can be like that sometimes." Myla squeezed her hand. "But don't worry. I'm sure you'll pass."Claire exhaled on a shaky breath. She didn't have a problem with passing. All she thought about now was working under