86. The Reunion.

[Claire]
"Things must be pretty serious if he's asking you out to his School's reunion." Michele laughed.
"Urgh, why are you wearing that outfit again?" Sophie groaned.
"Because I have a baby bump to hide." I smiled as I pulled the compression tights over my belly.
My pregnancy was advancing well, my baby was growing well even though it was still a bit slow, I'd felt my baby's movement like little flutters in my stomach, almost a butterfly fluttering kind of feeling but I hadn't felt a solid kick yet and I should've by now.
I'd put on some weight and I was happy about that because it aided in hiding my bump, I knew that soon my bump would be too big to hide but for now, since I could hide it, I would.
"I miss your sexy body," Michele said and we laughed.
"Are you calling me fat, Mich?"
"No, I'm saying you're getting rounded like a potato." He joked and I laughed again.
It was great to relieve some of my stress and anxiety.
"At least show some cleavage," Sophie said and I turned to study myself in my closet mirror.
My breasts were tender, rounded, and full because of the pregnancy, they were also really sensitive and as I moved around, I regretted wearing such a sheer bodice that was rubbing on my nipples as I moved.
"I've shown enough, what more do you want to see?" I leaned down and thrust my breasts into the phone camera.
"I see breasts and lots of it," Michele said and I laughed.
"Okay, make sure you have fun today, Claire," Sophie said and I nodded.
"I thought he was the one that day but it wasn't him," I told her.
"He probably had forgotten about me and had moved on with his life." I mused silently to myself.
He was after all now taking on the responsibilities of the King so he probably had no time to think about anything else.
"When are you going to tell the poor man the truth?" Sophie asked and I frowned.
"Never, that man will never know about my child." I retorted sharply.
"Why, if you want to have something eventually with Jake, he should know the truth." She said and I groaned.
"Oh shoot, I thought you were talking about… don't worry, forget about it." I stuttered. "He's been really nice to me but I'm scared, Jean was also really nice to me, and look how that turned out, I can't trust him with my secret yet, besides he's a businessman, he might just be hanging with me just to get some insider secrets."
"Yeah, you're right, you shouldn't trust so easily again." She said and I nodded.
"Non, Claire, you only live once, live and love should be your motto, just because you were hurt once doesn't mean you'll get hurt again, Mon Coeur," Michele said.
"Thank you, Much but it's easier said than done." I sighed.
"Miss, the sir is here to pick you." A maid announced and I hurriedly said goodbye to them.
"Got to go, see ya later, bye, love you, kisses." I ended the call and adjusted my clothes.
I was dressed in a very corporate attire like my father loved.
I wore a navy blue pants suit, the blazer was long till my knees and it had a button at the middle and it was perfect to hide my little bump.
I let my hair down because Michele said it made me look younger and it was a trick popular people used to stop their faces from looking bloated.
"Tell him I'll be right there," I screamed as I sat down to put my sneakers on.
I would have gone for pumps or strappy heeled sandals but my condition right now did not call for that.
I applied a little perfume and them after checking my reflection in the mirror, I went downstairs to meet Jake.
"Hi." I smiled at him and his eyes lit up when he saw me.
"Wow, you look so beautiful." He smiled and pulled me into his arms as he pecked my cheeks.
"Thank you… erm… may we go." I awkwardly stepped away from him and itched my arms.
"Yeah sure, goodnight Mrs. Hamilton." He waved goodbye to my mom and I turned to her in surprise.
"When did you become Mrs. Hamilton." I mouthed to her and she laughed.
"I just found out that now." She shrugged and I laughed.
People's assumptions were really funny.
"Here, let me help you." Jake opened the door for me and as I slid into the passenger's seat, his hand brushed my waist.
It was unsure whether it was on purpose or not but it freaked me out and I did not like it.
"Please, I hope you don't try to touch me inappropriately in the future," I told him when he entered the car and his face turned red in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, I was only trying to help you, I didn't mean to… please forgive me." He fixed his eyes on the road as he started the car and drove us away.
***
"Wow, this is a beautiful event." I smiled, holding a glass of champagne.
All the friendly dates we'd been on, I'd made different excuses for not drinking but today I'd run out of excuses.
I did not take even a tiny sip but I pretended to and he was content with that.
Hume introduced me to a bunch of people and I was actually having a good time.
"Do you want to see my convocation picture?" Jake asked and I nodded.
"You came too of your class right?" I asked.
"Actually I didn't, it was this other kid, he was kind of my rival then but he beat me to the first place and I took second place." He told me, leading me to a picture board.
"Here, this is my class." He said pointing to a picture.
"Hey, let me see if I can find you." I giggled, when he was not looking, I dropped my glass of champagne on a waiter's tray and the waiter took it away.
"Ah, here you are." I smiled as I tapped his picture on the glass.
"Sharp eye." He said and showed me another picture, this picture did not contain as many people as the other one and the faces were clearer now.
"This is me, this is Luke, the guy I told you took first and this is Bianca, she was a very good friend of ours."
I did not listen to anything else he said after he mentioned Luke, I froze as I stared at the image in the picture.
"Y-you were in the same class with h-him?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"N-nothing, I'm just curious, you know because—" My words were caught off by a reflection in the glass.
It was Luke.
My face palmed immediately and I clasped my hands on my mouth, I suddenly felt the urge to retch and I held my blazer tight around my stomach.
"Luke, my friend." Jake turned to him and greeted him.
"Jake, it's been a while." Jean's deep voice sent tingles down my spine, I turned to look at him as I stood beside Jake, I grabbed his arm because I needed his support and he smiled at me.
"Forgive my manners, this is Luke, he's my school friend I told you about." Jake smiled at me.
Jean stared at me, his green eyes unwavering but he had no expression on his face, I had no idea what he was thinking at this time.
"Nice to meet you, Luke." I made sure to keep my voice leveled and sound cold.
"This is Claire, she's my—"
"Girlfriend." I finished Jake's sentence and stretched my hand towards Jean.
"I'm his girlfriend," I said again.
Jean's eyes flashed with anger as I said those words but he masked his emotions almost immediately.
"Nice to meet you, Claire, Jake's girlfriend." He said and shook my hand.
The air was crackling with tension around us as he stared into my eyes and I stared into his, none of us wanting to give up for the other.
"Yes." Jake coughed beside me, the spell was gone and so Jean let go of my hand immediately.
"I have to go to the bathroom." I excused myself immediately because my cold facade was going to be exposed if I let the tears fall.
I practically ran to the bathroom, when I got inside, I let the tears fall as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
It was harder than I thought, seeing him again.
"Claire." A voice I knew all too well called out and I turned away immediately to hide my tears.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded angrily.
"I came to see you." He said and I heard him coming closer.
I dabbed at my eyes immediately, thankfully for the fact that my make-up was waterproof and even my mascara was smudge-proof.
"What for?" I glared at him as I turned back to him.
"You know." He said and before I could reply, he launched forward, pulled me closer to him, and smashed his lips on mine roughly.