19. Surprise Ride.

[Claire]
It took about a week before I got over the excessive alcohol I had taken in and I swore never to go near any bottle for the rest of my life.
Throughout that week, I just lived like a ghost, I went to work, came back home, and slept immediately. I didn't even have the time to think about Jean's threat.
He didn't text me again after the strange text he sent me, so I felt a bit safe.
I appraised my jewelry online and I calculated that it would be enough to pay Jean back so I wasn't too bothered about the debt, I was going to wait till the three weeks were up though before I gave him the money.
I didn't want him to know that I had that kind of amount handy, though it would've been great to see the look on his face.
I was almost done with my work at the office and I was looking forward to going home. I loved working, but it could be stressful at times and I just really loved to go home and have a hot cup of chocolate drink before bed.
I rarely cooked, so I'd been surviving on take-outs which was mostly pizza, I only got to eat full meals when I took myself out for lunch and dinner or when I cooked.
It wasn't like I was a bad cook or anything, I learned to cook from Nana while I was growing up but these days, it just felt harder to cook than it usually was.
I blamed it on tiredness from work though.
My phone rang just as I was packing up my desk after closing hours and I frowned, the caller Id was unknown.
I thought about ignoring the call but the thought of it being Jean came to me. I might not like his behavior towards me, but I was still attracted to him, or maybe more, I didn't know.
"Hello," I spoke on the phone immediately.
"I'm outside your office, come down immediately." Jean's husky voice demanded through the phone.
"I'm still busy with work, I can't just leave now." I lied.
"Don't lie to me, I know that you're about to head home, I'll drop you off." He said, this time his voice sounded softer.
"I don't need you to drop me off, I can manage by myself just fine." I wasn't going to let him manipulate me.
"I'm sorry, did I make it seem like you have a choice, meet me outside now." He bellowed and cut the phone.
I frowned and hurriedly packed my things, every day I was learning something new about Jean and if there was something I didn't want to find out, it was how far he could go with his threats.
I waved goodbye to my colleagues as I walked out of the building. I looked around for any sign of Jean when I heard a car honk beside me, I knew it was him but I decided to ignore it.
I purposely started walking in the opposite direction of the car, I did not want to make things easy for him.
"You're going in the wrong direction," Jean spoke loudly behind me.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you." I smiled innocently at him.
He looked at me dazed for a while and his eyes twinkled with an unknown emotion.
"You look beautiful when you smile." He finally said and moved closer to me.
My eyes closed of their own volition as his fingers caressed my cheeks lightly.
How could he be so aggressive and soft at the same time, he was giving me mixed emotions and signals.
"Do you no longer hate me now?" I just had to ask.
"I never hated you, Claire, I could never hate you." He said and leaned closer to me.
We were about to kiss when the noise of other people leaving the office caused us to pull apart.
"Let's go." His features hardened once again and I hurried after him as he walked away briskly.
The drive home was quiet, neither of us spoke as he drove me home. There were a lot of questions on my mind, but I didn't know how to ask him.
"Ask away?" He spoke all of a sudden just before we arrived at my neighborhood.
"What?" I was confused, I didn't say anything.
"You've been sighing unconsciously for a while now, it must mean you have a lot on your mind." He explained.
"Okay, why me, what do you want from me?"
"At the moment, the money you promised to reimburse me." He said and I saw the shadow of a smile tug at his lips.
"What happens next, after I reimburse you, will you leave me alone?" I inquired.
"Do you want me to leave you alone?" His eyes left the road for a while and focused on me.
'No, I want you to stop treating me so coldly, I want the old Jean back.' I wanted to say but the words stuck to the back of my throat.
"Yes," I said instead and looked outside the window, I didn't want him to see that I didn't mean that.
"Fine." He said and the car turned silent again.
It hurt me to hear him say that and I wanted to tell him that he misunderstood me or that it was a joke, but I didn't.
"Get out." He said icily as soon as he parked the car.
"Thank you for the ride." I decided to counter his rudeness with politeness.
"I didn't do it for you, I needed to get something in the neighborhood." He said coldly and faced away from me.
"Okay," I said and turned to go out of the car. "I'll reimburse you the money you spent on me at the end of the week."
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel and I feared that he would break them.
"No need, I have no use for the money anymore, and don't worry, I won't bother you anymore." His statement shocked me into silence, I didn't know what to say.
"It's alright by me, I want to–to pay you back." I stammered out when I recovered from the shock.
Why was he doing this now?
I feared that it was a trap.
"I don't want your soiled money anyway, you probably got it from one of your many lovers."
.
.
[Luke]
I don't know what came over me when I sent Claire that threatening text, I felt so bad after I sent it, but I wouldn't send an apology after it.
I told myself she deserved it, she was the one who offered to pay me at first.
I was only just calling her bluff and I wondered how long it would take her to call me and eat back her words.
Maybe then I would make her an offer she wouldn't be able to resist.
One week passed and I didn't hear anything from Claire, I worried about her, I wondered if she was feeling agitated about her debt.
By Wednesday, I couldn't stop the need to see her and I decided to drive her home from work.
Anything so that I could see her and spend some time with her, I guess.
Things at the Palace were going on, as usual, Sir Thomas didn't tell the King anything about the night I slept out and I followed my schedule to the best of my abilities.
I didn't really have any outings for the rest of the week except an event at Bernard's company, naturally, I would have refused the invitation but I wanted to see for myself the man who was trying to get his hands over Claire.
I nearly slipped when I went over to pick Claire from the office, she looked so beautiful that for a moment she looked almost angelic.
I was about to kiss her and she would have let me if we hadn't been interrupted.
I was instantly annoyed because that wasn't what I intended to do, the way she affected me annoyed me.
I wanted to teach her a lesson and expose her for who she truly was and then have her eat back her words, she had this annoying holier than thou attitude and I wanted to expose her true nature.
"I don't want your soiled money anyway, you probably got it from one of your many lovers."
I was a sore loser, I admit that now when she said she wanted me to leave her alone, it hurt me more than I would like to admit and so I only said that to get back at her.
"What the f*ck do you mean?" She swore angrily.
I'd never heard her cuss before and I was shocked for a minute.
"I know about Bernard and who knows how many else are out there," I said slowly.
"So that is what you think of me?" She asked with tears in her eyes.
"Yes," I replied coldly.
"Then f*ck you, I don't ever want to see you again."