Authors: MJ Summers
Claire fought back her tears as she brought out the dessert. She rounded up the dinner plates with Alicia, without making eye contact with anyone.
Trey smiled up at her and as she walked by he gave a low whistle, "Well Miss Claire, I do believe you got a new hairdo! If you get sick of that old man you're dating, you should come find me."
"I'll keep that in mind," Claire said without looking up, as she walked back to the kitchen.
She placed the plates on the counter and went back out with another tray of dessert. She almost dropped it when she turned toward the buffet table and came face to face with Antonio. She stood completely still, her feet feeling like they had suddenly been cemented to the floor.
"Hi Claire Bear, I came to get you," he said, giving her the smile he had practised in the mirror for hours before his first billboard shoot.
"You have
got
to be kidding me," she said, dropping the tray on the table with a thud and turned back to the kitchen. The restaurant grew silent, everyone waiting for the show to start.
Antonio followed her through the kitchen door.
Claire kept moving, "Alicia, this is Antonio, he's just leaving. I'm going to help him find his car. I'll be back in a minute. Do you mind putting the other dessert trays and the ice cream out?"
"Sure thing Claire," she answered, keeping her eyes on Antonio the whole time. He tried the same smile on her but stopped when he saw her glaring.
Claire opened the back door to the kitchen and walked out quickly without breaking her stride. Antonio hurried to keep up with her.
"Claire, I know you're angry with me. I came all this way because it's over between Stacey and me. I want you back, we are meant to be together."
Claire continued to walk in the direction of the parking lot. Antonio grabbed her by the elbow and turned her to face him, "Stop. I need to talk to you Claire. Just give me a few minutes of your time. I flew here for you, it’s the least you can do."
"Not really, Fuckwit. The least I can do is nothing, which is exactly what I'm going to do," Claire said, yanking her arm back and continuing to walk.
"Come on Claire, I wouldn't have flown out here if it wasn't important. I'm just asking for twenty minutes of your time. We have a lot to sort out," Antonio said, keeping pace with her.
"I really have nothing to say to you and I don't give a shit what you have to say to me," Claire replied, giving him a look of pure venom.
He touched her arm with his hand, "Claire, beautiful Claire, please just give me twenty minutes. I've come all this way and I know you'll want to hear what I have to say."
She pulled her arm away and wiped it off. The thought of him touching any part of her made her nauseous. As she glanced as his perfectly coiffed McDreamy hair, and his two-day stubble that he spent hours keeping the same length, she didn't know what she ever saw in him.
He looked down at her, "I know I fucked up. I know that. But I need to talk to you. If you won't hear me out, I'll just keep coming back until you do. I'll march into that restaurant over and over until you listen to me."
Claire sighed and shook her head with disgust at what she was about to do, "Fine. I will meet you in town at nine tonight. I'll come to the Starbucks on Centennial Boulevard. I won't wait for you. If you aren't there on time, forget it. I'll give you 15 minutes and then you leave me alone forever. Got it?"
Antonio smiled at her, "That's my girl, I knew you would come around. I'll see you at nine, Claire Bear."
Claire turned back to the restaurant and walked away, shuddering with disdain.
* * *
"So that's your ex?" Alicia said when Claire returned.
"Unfortunately," Claire sighed, feeling suddenly exhausted.
"I take it he wants you back?"
"Looks like it. I don't know. I agreed to meet him at Starbucks in town later to hear him out. He threatened to just keep coming back here otherwise. I have a few choice words for him as well, so it might be worth it."
Claire started loading the dishwasher with the stacked plates.
At eight-thirty, Claire was on her way to Starbucks. She had changed into dark boot-cut jeans and threw on a crocheted off-the-shoulder taupe beach sweater over her tank top. She had also changed from her wedges to her navy ballet flats to give some relief to her aching feet.
She wished that she could talk to Janet right now, but it was the middle of the night in England. If only she could just crawl into bed with a bucket of rocky-road ice cream and watch some romantic comedy where the endings were always happy. Instead, here she was driving to meet her scumbag ex and then would need to go back to the ranch after and break it off with her current scumbag boyfriend. After that, she would need to find a way to start her life over again for the second time in two months. That thought would have to wait. Right now, she had her anger occupy her mind.
When she pulled up to the coffeehouse, she was five minutes late. She saw Antonio sitting at a table on the patio. She clenched her jaw as she got out of her car and tossed the keys in her purse. It was a hot summer evening and even though the sun had been down for a long time, the air remained warm.
Antonio waved to her and stood up as she approached the table. He tried to kiss her on the cheek, but she pulled her face away and sat down quickly.
"Thanks for meeting me, babe. You look just amazing. I don't know if you've ever looked this good. You are hot as hell," he paused, hoping for some response. Not getting one, he went on, "I ordered you a chai latte, your favourite."
"Thank you," Claire said, leaving it on the table, "So what's so urgent that you had to come all this way?"
"Claire, I can't stop thinking about you, I hardly eat or sleep. Losing you was the biggest mistake of my life. I want you back. Things will be different this time. I'm done messing around. It will just be you and me forever. I promise."
"Stacey got bored when you stopped having to sneak around, right?" Claire looked down at her fingernails as she spoke.
"Well, she did leave me but it was because I was so heartbroken over you. As soon as I came home and found that you were really gone, I couldn't take it. I went nuts. I need you back for good," Antonio slid off his chair and bent down on one knee.
"What are you doing? Get up you idiot," Claire said with a look of pure disgust.
"Claire Bear, I know it’s what you always wanted. I know I'm late, but please, Claire, will you marry me?" he asked pulling out the ring box.
The people at the tables next to them were staring now.
"Sit down, Antonio. You're causing a scene," she ordered quietly.
He did as he was told.
"Do you honestly think I would consider marrying someone who only a few weeks ago I found out has been cheating on me for months, maybe even years for all I know? Are you insane?" she hissed.
"I am. I'm crazy for you. I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. It will be a fresh start. I've left the real estate business. I want us to open up a restaurant together wherever you want. Not here, but you know, maybe San Francisco or New York or something. We can be together all the time," Antonio searched her eyes, hoping to see her soften.
Claire sat perfectly still for a minute and then burst out laughing. She laughed for a couple of minutes straight, tears streaming down her face.
"Sorry, sorry," she said finally, "it’s just that I can't believe I was so upset about you a few weeks ago. You're such a douche. And your time is up." Claire stood up to leave.
"Wait Claire, I'm destitute. I have no money. You're the only one who can save me. I'm going to lose our house."
"What?" Claire spat out.
"I'm broke. I got fired from the office a few weeks ago. I made some bad investments with the firm's holding account and we lost everything. I need you behind me so I can launch my come back," Antonio's voice was pleading now.
"Stop it. You are embarrassing both of us," she replied, starting to walk to her car.
Antonio followed her like a little puppy, "Claire, please. I know we always kept things separate before, but if we get married and use your inheritance money, I know we could make a go of it. A restaurant, another real estate firm, whatever you like. We could have anything we want."
"Wow!" Claire stopped walking, rounding on him with an incredulous look on her face. "This is a new low even for you. You are actually telling me you want me back for my money. Well,
that's
an offer I can't refuse. Marriage to a cheating bastard who needs me for my dead parents' inheritance. That's just what every girl dreams of!"
Claire opened the door to her car, "You're incredible. Get yourself over to the airport and get the hell away from me. Don't think of contacting me again. Ever," she said in a quiet, even tone. She got in the driver's seat and slammed the door.
Antonio punched the top of her car, yelling, "Yeah, well fuck you! You were always a cold fish and now apparently you're a bitch too!"
Claire unrolled her window a crack, "You know what, Fuckwit? Stacey didn't leave you because you were heartbroken, she left you because you're a horrible lover. You're like a one-trick pony whose only trick is mediocre at best."
With that, Claire pulled away, shaking her head at the scene they had just caused. She sped off down the street, driving for a long time before realizing she was heading in the wrong direction.
"Son of a bitch," she muttered as she made a fast u-turn and started back to the ranch.
It was pitch dark as Claire left the city, now sobbing angry tears. She was furious at Antonio, at Cole, at her sister for moving so far away, and at herself for ever falling for either of those two assholes.
She sped down the highway, flipping stations on the radio, searching for a song that would suit her mood. Finally she hit on
Blow Me (One Last Kiss)
by
Pink
and blasted it, belting out the words as loud as she could.
As she took a sharp curve on the freeway, she saw something black run out in front of her car. She swerved and slammed on the brakes, causing her car to skid sideways. Suddenly everything went black.
The next morning, Cole woke up with a terrible feeling. He had managed to get some rest, having downed a couple of beers before he went to bed. He realized now that he had overreacted to Claire's silence and attitude when he got back the day before. He had been exhausted and out of patience yesterday and had taken it out on her to some degree. He regretted telling her to just forget their relationship. He doubted she would take that lightly.
Quickly getting dressed and brushing his teeth, he jogged out the door and down the path to Claire's cabin with Otis following along. When he got there, he knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked louder. '
She should be up by now
,' he thought. He tried calling her phone but it went straight to voice mail. He hurried over to the restaurant to see if she was there already, but it was all locked up.
He took one last shot at finding her, thinking she might have gone for a run along the lakeshore. Cole doubled back to her cabin to knock again. If she had been in the shower, she should be out by now. "Claire! Claire!" he called.
When no answer came, he walked back over to the restaurant. The door was unlocked now and when he walked in, his face fell a little when he saw it was Alicia. "Hey Alicia, have you seen Claire this morning?" he asked, now feeling concerned.
"No I haven't," Alicia said, "Maybe she's still asleep?"
"I don't think so. I was just over at her place and then I went down the trail to see if she was out running. I can't find her anywhere."
"Oh, that's odd," Alicia said slowly, "Her ex showed up here last night during supper. She got him out of here fast and then agreed to meet him for coffee in town later. She said he insisted on having a conversation with her. Said he'd keep coming back if she refused."
Cole stared at her in surprise. That was the last thing he expected to hear. He felt like he had been punched in the gut. He stood quietly for a minute and then said, "If she doesn't show up for breakfast, do you need a hand?"
"No, I'll be fine, Cole, but what about Claire? I'm worried about her. What if something happened to her? I can't see her just leaving like that and not showing up for work."
"I think the most likely thing is that she ended up staying with him, they spent too much time making up and she overslept," Cole looked sick as he thought of that possibility.
"Maybe. I don't know," Alicia shook her head, "That just doesn't sound right. She was really pissed at him."
"Well, all we can do for now is wait and see. I'm going to head over to the office. I need to make up the bills for the volleyball team. They're leaving right after breakfast, which is not soon enough for me. Let me know if you hear anything from Claire," Cole walked out the backdoor, letting it slam shut behind him.
He searched the parking lot, discovering her vehicle was missing. "Fuck," he muttered to himself, rubbing his hand over his jaw.
* * *
Claire woke up in a bright room. She was lying down and could hear a beeping sound. She tried to lift her head, but it hurt too much when she moved. She gasped at the pain, letting her head fall back onto her pillow. After a moment, she held up her arm and saw that it was attached to an IV bag. She slowly started to put it all together in her mind. She could remember driving and singing and then seeing something run out in front of her car. Then nothing.
A few minutes later, a nurse came in to check on her, "Look who's awake. Welcome back Claire, you gave us quite a scare last night. How do you feel?"
"My head hurts. What happened?" Claire' voice croaked.
"You were in a collision last night; you hit a deer," the nurse paused, "You are going to be okay, but you'll have a headache for a few days and you're going to be really sore for a while. Your body got pretty bruised up and you have a bump on your forehead, but nothing is broken. You got really lucky. We've seen much worse injuries from this type of collision."
The nurse gently raised the head of the automatic bed and held out a drink of water for Claire to sip through a straw.
Claire stared at the nurse, trying to digest all this information, "What time is it?" was all she could think to ask.
"It's 6 a.m. I'm going to give you some more pain medication now, so you can rest, okay? Do you want us to call anyone for you?" the nurse asked with a concerned look.
"Alicia. I have to let her know I can't come to work," Claire replied slowly.
"Okay, your cell phone was brought in with your other personal belongings. I'll go get it and then you can call her. My name is Dawn, and I'll be here for you until the shift change in two hours."
"Thanks," Claire whispered. She shut her eyes for a minute, waiting for Dawn to come back.
Six hours later, she woke up again and saw her cell phone on the tray beside her bed. She turned it on in a haze, knowing she had to do something with it. It took her a few minutes to figure out that she needed to call Alicia. She searched for her number, dialled and then heard Alicia's voice mail come on. Claire’s voice was raspy as she started to leave the message.
"Alicia, it's me. I'm sorry I'm here. I don't really know where this is," she said pausing to look around the room, "It's definitely a hospital. I got hit by a deer last night? I'm sleepy now. Good night, sweetie.....oh, it's Claire.
"