CHAPTER 20: Third Wheel

CLAIRE’s P.O.V.

We decided to use Darren’s car instead of Kate’s. This is my first time going on a date with a third wheel. How can my old best friend endure all of this painful scenes? Does she really that good at keeping her feelings hidden?

“So, where should we go?” Kate asked curiously.

“I’ll bring my wife to a special place.”

Darren reached and held my left hand. His other hand is still focus on the wheel. Though he didn’t look at my direction, I felt him squeezed my hand.

“Where are we going exactly, Darren?” I asked, not wanting to waste another moment to find out the place. It was like he’s the one asking for the same exact question earlier and now I’m the one drowning myself into curiosity.

He didn’t answer. He just gave a small kiss on the back of my hand he is currently holding right now. I wonder if all of this sweetness is just because Kate was in the car with us. I even saw her rolled her eyes in the front mirror.

“It’s a secret... Though I’ll give you a clue. We are almost there.”

I heard my old Best friend sighed, before resting her head on the window. By the time the car came to stop, I already found out where we are. Of course we are going here. I introduced this place to him and he like it very much.

“Surprise.”

I gave him a small smile before hopping down the car without any warning. Darren was shocked, getting outside as well when she saw what I just did. I felt relieved as the cold breeze touched my face. Finally, I could breathe for a while.

“Do you like it? Do you want us to go to the bridge?” he asked, holding my hand.

Every time that I feel his touch, my mind is reminiscing the moment that he hurt me. I touched my bruise unconsciously because of that memory. He look down to it, brows furrowed as if asking me who done this thing. But as he realized that it was him, his expression suddenly became soft.

“Claire... I’m–”

“What are we doing here? Is this the kind of date that the great Darren Herrera wanted? In this kind of place? What the heck?” It was Kate, finally stepping out of the car.

“It’s not the place, Kate. It’s the person whom with you that matters the most,” I murmured.

“Duh... Whatever.”

“This is where Claire brought me at our first date. That’s why this place is very special to the both us. Also, I don’t want to share this with someone else. Though because you wanted us to prove our love for each other, so I’ll let you enjoy this place just for once...”

Kate rolled her eyes. Darren snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

“Darren...”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing.”

“Let’s talk later, wife.” He planted a kiss on my forehead.

We walk there peacefully, enjoying the view and the silence of the place, away from city noises. I look at Kate, observing her every move. She look bored while following our steps from behind.

“This is so boring...” Kate called us.

Darren and I stopped walking and turned our gaze towards her.

“You want us to have a date, right? This is how we’re dating. If you have a problems with that, then you are free to leave,” Darren explained.

“Can’t we just eat first or something? I’m hungry.”

Some memories from high school invaded my mind. Kate is always like this... She’s most likely to be bored and hungry at the same time. I just smiled to myself as I realized that not all stuffs about her change. She’s still my old best friend. The friend who stick by my side in good times and bad.

“If you want to eat–”

“Darren, maybe she’s right. We should eat first. My stomach is also growling.”

Darren look at me unbelievably.

“Please...”

“Why didn’t you say so? Come on. We’ll grab some food.”

I smiled at him. This time, it was a real one. I saw his eyes shine because of what I just did. He squeezed my hand before pulling me towards the car. Kate followed us, still looking bored.

From the small park, we drove all the way to the small family restaurant where we ate with Elijah previously.

“Again, what’s this? Did you really stoop down this low for this woman, Darren?”

“Don’t judge the place if you haven’t tasted their food yet. Elijah and Claire introduced me to this restaurant.”

“Whatever.”

As we walked towards the entrance the scent of the delicious foods bombarded us. Kate closed her eyes, sniffing the good smell.

“Not bad...” I heard her whispered.

We found a seat in a round table. One of the servants gave us the menu, and Kate’s face lit up as soon as she saw the gorgeous looking food plating in the pictures. I smiled to myself as I saw her mood lift up.

After a few minutes or so, the waiter came back to us and take our orders. He told us to wait for a few moments before our food is to be served. We just nodded and smiled at him.

“What a slow service,” Kate hissed.

Darren didn’t mind her. He’s currently sitting beside me while staring at my face. I feel the awkwardness lurking in the silent air.

“Please stop staring...” I finally got the courage to tell him how I felt.

“Sorry. I just can’t help it. I didn’t see you for a whole week. What do you expect me to do?” he whispered back.

He trace the skin covered by a yellowish bruise in my arm. He look guilty, as if he was fighting the urge to cry. It wasn’t his fault, anyway. I can’t help myself but to think that maybe... Just maybe, he was jealous because of Gabriel.

“Too bad, we didn’t see the bridge at the park,” he said, still staring at my bruised arm.

“We can still go there after this.”

He nodded before planting a kiss on my bruised arm. Kate stared at us blankly and then rolled her eyes. Before she could open her mouth to say something, the servant approached us and delivered our foods.

“Thanks,” Darren stated before giving him a tip.

I just smiled at the waiter as a sign of gratitude before he leaves. I look at Kate who’s now raising one of her brows at the food she ordered, looking unsatisfied.

“This doesn’t look like anything I saw in the menu,” she complained.

“Just taste it. I’m sure that you will be amazed.”

She shook her head before picking up her phone on the counter. Darren and I just shrugged our shoulders before we started eating. Kate just sat there, watching our every move while using her phone. We didn’t mind her. In fact, we ate like there’s no other people watching us. A few moments later, Kate received a call and she excused herself to us before answering it.

“So... Where are we going after this?” Darren asked.

“It’s all up to you. But I thought you wanted to see the bridge at the park?”

“Yeah,” was his short reply.

We sat there, waiting for someone to open up another topic so that we can start our conversation again. When he finally realized that I wasn’t planning to respond or something, he sighed.

“About what happened last week...” he muttered. I just look directly at him.

“It’s fine. We don’t need to talk about it. Besides, I heard from Elijah that Gabriel will be coming back to States next month. Not that I’m interested or something.”

“I-I’m s-sorry, Claire. I didn’t mean to hurt you...”

He brushed his hand on my bruised skin for how many times today. He looked sincerely apologetic. I just smiled at him as a sign of forgiveness.

“I know that I don’t have any rights to be jealous but... I did. That fight of ours was all my fault. I’m taking the blame, Claire. I don’t know why I’m feeling like this but maybe...”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me.”

“Yeah. But I want to. I’m sorry for not talking to you for the past week. I’m just ashamed of myself for what I’ve done that night. Our marriage is nothing but fake... That’s why I don’t have any rights to be a demanding person.”

Does he seriously think that I’m mad just because of that? For Pete’s sake, I was worried sick thinking what will I do if he didn’t want me to be his temporary wife anymore. I’m starting to came up with a plan on what will I do next if this deal of ours came to an end. It is hard to admit that I’m afraid of losing him.

“I’m not mad. I’m hurt. That is two very different things. All I’m asking was for you to trust me. I wouldn’t do anything that could ruin our current relationship.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.

“Nothing. Never mind what I’ve said. The point is... I’m hurt because you rather believe in my old best friend than me. Whatever it is that Kate told you before, it’s not true, Darren. I hoped you believed in me that night.”

“I believe you.”

“Then why didn’t you listen to me?” I asked, tears are started to form at the corners of my eyes while reminiscing what happened that night.

“I’m really sorry, Claire. Please forgive me,” he pleaded.

He wiped my tears away using his thumb before planting a kiss on my forehead.

“I wouldn’t do it again, I promise. I’ll always listen to you from now on, wife.”

I didn’t answer him. I just let myself be captured by his embraced. And I wouldn’t deny it. I missed this man. I missed his scent, his embraced, and everything about him.

He look directly into my eyes... Down to my lips. I was out of breath for some reason. Or maybe because of the fact that our faces are just a few inches away from each other. As he moves closer towards me, I decided to close my eyes and wait for whatever it is that’s going to happen.

After a few moments or so, I felt his lips on mine. We share another kiss. Our faces collided and I couldn’t think of anything except him. That kiss was a tender yet very passionate one. We pulled away from each other right after what we did to catch our breaths.

“What the heck?” We turned our gaze to the owner of that voice. It was Kate, and she’s finally back while holding her phone.

“Kate,” Darren stated.

She’s obviously mad, looking at us unbelievably. As if she still didn’t want to accept the fact that she lose in her own game. Tears started to stream down to her cheeks before she intensely shakes her head. Kate look at me with a fire of anger in her eyes.

At that moment, I finally realized that she still wouldn’t leave us alone after we already proved ourselves and everything about our relationship to her. She suddenly ran away, looking broke because of what happened.