The Dark Proposal (The Claire McCormick Trilogy) (7 page)

A little intimidated, Claire tried to sound sweet as she said, “How about we just go to your place? I mean, it’s been a week.”

Frowning, he lowered his head down to look at her. “I know, but wouldn’t you prefer something to drink? Besides, I’m not quite in the mood.”

She was startled. What man would not be in the mood if it had been a while?

“Dan, is everything okay?” She touched his elbow.

Sighing more patiently, he turned away and paused. Then he said, “The midterm papers have been, as I said, weighing down on me. And, Laura is once again not considering me for the upper classes. She told me after I lost half of my forty-five students, she is concerned that I may be far too tough on them.”

“And that somehow effects how you’ll be as a 200 or 300 level professor?” Claire shook her head. “That’s unfair. I’m sorry, love.”

Daniel continued to stare into space, expressionless, for a few more minutes while she affectionately squeezed his elbow. Then he mumbled something.

“What did you say?” She hoped she didn’t hear what she thought she heard.

“Nothing,” he took a deep breath. “Its just you would think with Colin Willis dead, there would be more chances of me moving up.”

Incredulous, Claire blurted out, “Are you kidding me? You sound like him being killed was a good thing!” She let go of his elbow and stepped back.

Daniel paused as if to bring himself back to what was going on around him, allowing some life to return to his face. His expression to that of shame and turned to face her. “Okay, that was stupid and callous to say. I’m just completely frustrated and its coming out the wrong way.”

“Still,” she pursed her lips together before continuing. “That was kind of mean.”

He twisted his mouth in regret. They simply stood there in the middle of the sidewalk, waiting for the other’s next move.

Finally, he said in a hesitant voice, “If you want, we could go back to my place. You were right, it has been a while.”

She hesitated before leaning up to plant a peck on his lips. “Okay. I’m hope you would feel a lot better afterward.”

Nodding, he rejoined his hand with hers and they headed for the subway.

As they rode the elevator up to his apartment, they chatted about Claire’s new assignment from a major news website, which was given to her after she pitched a story to it, along with her recent clips. This was a big step in her freelancing and she was both nervous and excited. He was proud of her, and insisted nothing would change how he felt for her no matter the results of the assignment. “You relax me, and put things in perspective for me.” He whispered to her as they stepped out onto his floor.

She leaned in to give him a delicate kiss. She pulled away a few inches to say back, “I am your rock, and that makes me happy.”

A smile crept up his face as he unlocked the door. When he opened it, he purred, “Now how about rocking me in other ways?”

Giggling, she threw her arms around him and feverishly kiss his mouth. He responded by doing the same back, but also leading her to the bedroom, where they began to undress each other in a rapid pace.

Once they were both free, he lowered her onto the bed and crawled on top of her. He began to kiss all over her chest, but it was not putting her in the mood. Putting her hands on the sides of his head and lifting it, she said, “Wait, wait! Can’t we turn the lights on for once?”

Grunting, Daniel said, “Why ruin the moment? It’s more beautiful in the dark.”

“Yes, but, we almost never do it with the lights -”

“Claire, please, let’s just do this.” he said, running his hand through her brown hair.

“Okay,” she surrendered and wrapped her legs around him for him to continue. As he prepared her for the connection, she tried to relax and enjoy the sensation, but she couldn’t get out of her mind how curt he was being toward her lately. This was not the first time he refused to make love with the lights on, and it was not the first for him to get upset over the slightest thing. Maybe things at Richmond College were more tough than he’d said. Maybe their relationship was moving too fast.

As he entered her, Claire reluctantly went along. This was unlike her as well. But she quickly pushed it out her mind to focus on the moment. Whatever the problem was, she hoped they would get passed it.

In November,
the couple continued to see each as often as possible. Whenever she wasn’t working at the college or working on an article, Claire devoted more of her time to Daniel. She was happy being around him and was enjoying being in the city. But her roommates were not so pleased.

“I’m happy that you’re in a good relationship with someone,” Monica said over dinner one Thursday. “But this is the first time we’re seeing you all week.”

Claire was surprised and asked, “Why is this a problem?”

“Because it’s like you’ve forgotten about us,” Samantha spoke up. “You hang out with
 
Daniel and his friends, but you haven’t brought us along in a while. He doesn’t even come to the Island anymore to see you.” Shaking her head, Samantha said, “What the hell is all that about?”

Claire opened her mouth to answer, but immediately closed it. There was a point to that. Daniel hadn’t asked about her friends in a few weeks, and he had expressed his distaste for Staten Island to her. But even she knew the place was boring compared to the exciting nightlife of the city, so why he should prefer Manhattan?

“You guys, he lives in the city,” she explained. “No one who lives there would want to come out here. Besides, the transportation sucks.”

“But he works here, right?” Samantha said. “Why can’t he spend time with you after class? How come he never spends the night here?”

“Sam, calm down,” Monica patted her arm. Looking at Claire, she said. “It’s just that it seems to us that everything revolves around Daniel.”

Feeling frustration growing, Claire answered, “I can’t believe you’re saying this. I am not a doormat!”

“We’re not saying that,” Samantha said. “What we mean is, we’re seeing less and less of you, and we’re concerned.”

Claire darted her eyes between the two young women before snapping, “God, you’re treating me like I’m some stupid child. You were all for me dating Dan, and now you’re telling me not to?”

“No, Claire -” Monica looked apprehensive.

“Don’t give me that!” She stood up. “I’m happy with someone, and I’ll spend as much time with him as I feel like it!”

“Sit down!” Samantha yelled. A thump suddenly sounded above them, indicating one of their landlords was walking around. It was possible the Palermos’ could hear their argument.

Sighing, Samantha gathered herself and looked at Claire. “You do what you want. Just do your bit with the rent and bills, okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” She sat down again and the three finished eating in an awkward silence.

Claire was angry with her friends for the remainder of the day. But when she went into the city Friday, she realized they were right: it wasn’t fair that Daniel wasn’t doing his part in the relationship. But when she tried to ask that he come to the Island for weekend, he simply changed the subject, and Claire wasn’t sure how to bring it up again.

Thanksgiving week rolled around, and Daniel suggested they get together the night before the holiday. It had been a while since the two spent a romantic night alone and he felt this would be a good night. Besides, she was going to New Jersey to her family for the four-day weekend and he couldn’t make it. Plus, he had something to tell her.

“It’s something important,” he told her over the phone. “It would be best if it was just you and I.”

“Okay,” she said, noting he sounded as distant as they first met. She would’ve wanted to celebrate the night with Monica and Samantha or with his friends. But they had not spent some quality time together in a few weeks, so why not?

CHAPTER FOUR

Stepping off the ferry and entering Whitehall Terminal that Wednesday evening, Claire felt her heart pound in anticipation. Daniel had something to tell her, and that could be anything. The way he told her this sounded as if it would be a major turning point in their relationship. Perhaps he was going to ask her to move in with him? The thought of that had her overjoyed. Even though her roommates wouldn’t survive without her and they would have to get someone to take her place, they would be happy for her.

She stepped onto the escalator to get to the ground level of the terminal. Scanning the crowd as she descended, she didn’t see him waiting for her as he usually did whenever she came to the city. Biting her lip, she grabbed her phone from her handbag and checked to see if he had responded to her text when the ferry docked. Nothing.

Claire slowly exhaled. Maybe Daniel was still on the train to the terminal and had poor reception. But he always made it on time. Was the train delayed?

Before she could wonder if this was a sign of which way their relationship was headed, Claire spotted a flash of dark blonde hair lit by the lights outside near the terminal entrance. She looked closely and saw Daniel open the glass doors and enter the terminal. Her face broke into a relieved smile and waved to him. He saw her wave and smiled back.

When she got off the escalator, she walked right into his open arms. “Hello darling,” he said softly and they kissed. The kiss was deep and full as though they had been reunited after being apart for too long. Claire noticed he was panting a bit from possibly rushing up the subway stairs. She laughed silently to herself over her unfounded fears.

As Daniel took her hand into his and led to her to another subway train to go uptown, she was elated. She felt as if this night was going to be memorable and her love had great plans for her.

Indeed he did. First, he took her back to Les Lumières, where they had their first date. This time, Daniel got a table located in the back corner, a bit away from the rest of the restaurant so they could have more privacy.

At first, they chatted about their week. Claire was finishing up an article that was due the following Monday on a Brooklyn painter’s new exhibit. Daniel also had an article due which was about a growing non-profit organization catering to unemployed young men.

The two also talked about school and how the college was still reeling from Willis’ murder. Evidence of who killed him still had not been found, which baffled them both. Daniel brought up that the chairwoman still had not found a replacement for the courses set aside for Willis, though there were rumors she was looking to hire a new professor.

Claire flinched when she heard that and her boyfriend noticed. Waving his hand, he told her, “Don’t worry. I figured she would do something like that. After all, Willis’ classes were in the morning, something I cannot do.”

“But what about those 200 level classes you wanted?”

“Well, she did say I may be teaching Intro to Playwriting, mainly because the person who does it is moving up in the drama department and has no time for it. It all depends if the collaboration between the English and drama departments agree that I could teach it.”

She beamed. “That’s fantastic, Dan! Maybe this is a step for you to get plays produced?”

He modestly shook his head. “I mean, it would be great, but I don’t see it that way. I’ve got time to become a playwright.” Something caught his eye and he glanced up to see the waiter bringing over their orders.

When the waiter delivered their dishes and wished them a bon appetit, Claire leaned in and said quietly, “Was this the great news you had to tell me?”

He playfully frowned and he began to pour red wine into their wine glasses. “No, course not. I’ve got something better.” He poured the rich wine and handed a glass to Claire. He held up his glass a bit and said while looking directly into her eyes, “To the best friend I have got who has lit up my days as they grow darker.”

She giggled. “How poetic of you.” She clinked her glass with his and sipped her wine. When she put down her glass and picked up her fork, Daniel reached over and gently stopped her from dipping into her plate.

“This is what I have to tell you.” She lowered her fork and leaned closer. “Would you like to move in with me after this semester ends? And after that, spend part of December in Paris?”

Claire nearly yelped with delight. Paris! She always wanted to go there. She nodded quickly, “Yes! I will move in with you!”

Smiling from ear to ear, Daniel said, “Good. Then I’ll make the plans to help with your move in and for our trip.”

She could not contain her excitement. She was smiling to the point her face hurt, and panting with joy. When he reach for her hand and brought it up to his lips, she calmed a bit. He tenderly kissed her knuckles and said just as tenderly, “
Je t’aime
, Claire.
Je t’aime
.”

“I love you too, Daniel,” she softly said. They gazed at each other for a few minutes or more, almost forgetting the food in front of them or the world around them. Meanwhile, Claire’s heart was throbbing heavily, as if the more it beat, the more love came in. She wondered how long she would feel like this.

A couple of hours later, they arrived at Daniel’s TriBeCa apartment. Claire was so overwhelmed with excitement and love, she was kissing his cheek down to his neck as he pressed the button to the elevator. He chuckled and shrugged her off. “Relax, dear, relax!”

“But I’m so happy!” she said, holding his hand with both of hers. “What more could a girl ask for?”

“Oh, I’m sure there’s more,” he said as the elevator door opened and they stepped in.

As they went up, she pinned him into the door of the car, slowly leaned against him and started to kiss him. He responded graciously but started to chuckle again when she wrapped her leg around his waist. “Not here. The cameras,” he pointed to one above them.

“Oh come on,” she said playfully. “Let’s give security a thrill!”

“Since when are you so daring?” he said, taking her leg off his waist. “You’re not drunk, are you?”

Stunned, she protested, “No, why do you say that?”

He shrugged. “It’s just…I don’t know…” The elevator door opened on his floor.

“I figured I could at least entice you,” Claire said as she followed him out.