CLAIRE’s P.O.V.
“So... Who’s Gabriel?” he asked, looking at me while patting a bag of ice on my cheek.
“Do we really need to talk about this right now?”
“It’s fine if you don’t wanna answer my question. I’m just... Curious.”
“Why are you so curious about it, anyway?”
“Hmm... Just look at what happened, Claire. If only I knew about this earlier, we could have avoided that scenario at the office.”
“It’s your fault. You didn’t tell me that you’re engaged to Kate. You should have told me that at the first place.”
“Okay... I’m sorry. I just didn’t know that you two have already met before.”
“She’s my high school bestfriend...”
“So what’s the story between you two? I’m badly curious about it. Don’t you think I deserves to know the truth after w
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. After lunch, I still couldn’t compose myself properly. Darren and I bid our goodbyes to Alexa before deciding to leave. I just let our Dad sleep as much as he wanted and we didn’t bother to wake him up. He needs to rest as much as possible.“Stiff at my presence?” Darren arrogantly asked while driving his car. I didn’t answer. I just rolled my eyes on him instead.“Don’t worry. Whatever it is that I’ve said earlier, it was all for a show.” I was stunned for a moment. I shook my head at how stupid I am to believe in his lies. He’s right, everything that we’re doing is only for a show. For the sake of our fake marriage.“Are you alright?” He sounds worried but maybe I was just assuming and imagining things again.&l
CLAIRE’s P.O.V.“Knock-knock!” Alexa and I turned our gazed at the door, where a man is currently standing while looking at us. He grinned before waving a tons of shopping bags at our faces.“Darren... You’re here... Again.”“Looks like you don’t want me to be here.”“Well, if Claire doesn’t want you to be here, then you can visit me. I would like you to be always here in our hospital room,” Alexa stated as she run towards him.“Hey... I bought something for you,” Darren smiled widely at her before giving her almost half of the bags he had. Alexa happily took it all before thanking him. She opened the bags and surprise was all over her face. It was full of branded clothes, chocolates, toys, and more. I could see the happiness in her eyes.“Thank you so much, Darren!” She hugged
DARREN’s P.O.V.“Hey, bro,” I could feel the sleepiness in Elijah’s voice.“Hey...” I smile for apparently no reason.“Why did you call me at the middle of the night?” he asked.“Nothing... I just... I couldn’t sleep.”“Why? Is this about Teacher Claire?”“How did you know that?!” I sit up from laying on my bed.“I can sense your happiness over here.” He chuckled. “Claire was just like that earlier this morning. I often caught her smiling to herself while we’re at work.” It felt nice to heard those words coming from Elijah. Thanks to him, I could finally sleep now knowing that our feelings are mutual.“Bro, you two are in love!” he shouted at his phone. I pulled mine away from my ears because of his high pitched voice. Is he reall
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. I was dumbfounded when I saw Darren inside of the teacher’s lounge. I am supposed to be packing my things up right now so that I can go home early. But I couldn’t, because he was sleeping peacefully at my chair and I didn’t wanna ruin this beautiful view.“I don’t know why I keep holding on to this stupid deal... But I know one thing’s for sure... I don’t want to end this set up of ours... Not yet...” After I whispered those words, I saw him slowly opened his eyes.“Hey,” he greeted me with a smile.“What do you think you’re doing here, Mr. Herrera?” I questioned him. He chuckled before getting up into a sitting position.“What’s with the attitude?” he asked, confused. I rolled my eyes on him before gr
DARREN’s P.O.V. Weeks passed. Right now I’m preparing myself for Claire and Elijah’s high school reunion. Later today, I will finally meet that guy named Gabriel. I’ll admit it, I am badly curious about him. I badly wanted to saw his face and how he act towards my wife. Yes, my wife. I’m claiming Claire as my property. I dialed her number out of excitement. Luckily, she answered my call after a several numbers of rings. I couldn’t say a word because nervousness suddenly invaded my system as soon as I heard her voice.“Hello?”“It felt nice to hear your voice,” I complimented. I smile unconsciously as I heard her chuckled on the other line of the phone.“Are you ready? I’m gonna fetch you up later. Just wait for me, okay?”“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Mr. Herrera. Why di
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. Although I already knew he’s coming, I’m still shocked when I saw his face again. After all these years. I finally meet the man whom I entrusted my bestfriend’s heart, but ended up liking me. The reason why everything about me and Kate faded away. The reason behind why my previous friend loathed me the most.“Are you alright?” Darren asked, looking worried at me.“Y-yeah.”“Are you sure? You look stunned. I could take you home if you wanted.”“No, no. I’m fine. As if I’m still affected by the past. Don’t worry, Darren. I can handle this. And besides, Kate is here. I highly doubt that Gabriel could even talk to me.”“You sound disappointed.”“I am not!” I answered too quickly. Darren averted his gaze towards the stage. I saw him sent death raging
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. I look at the yellowish bruise at my arm. It’s been a week since Darren and I fought. Ever since that day, we never talked. Elijah wasn’t telling me anything about him either. I feel lost... Not knowing what do to next after that day until now.“Okay, class dismissed,” I announced after seeing the time on the clock hanging by the wall.“Bye, Teacher Claire!”“See you tomorrow!” I gladly waved back at those students who smiled widely at me while making their way out of the classroom. One of the reason why I chose to be a teacher is that because children can temporarily relief the tension and sadness. The smile on their cute little faces will make anyone’s heart melt in awe.“Claire!” I saw Elijah running towards me, looking worried.“What?” A
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 bestfriend 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
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. Looking at Mr. Herrera with Cloey in his arms, I couldn’t hide the happiness that I’m feeling right now. It’s like when Darren first met her, the emotions were mixed with each other. Cloey deserves to have a complete family.“Yey!” Cloey beamed as her grandfather put the last piece of the puzzle on the board.“Do you want us to build another one?” Mr. Herrera asked and my daughter quickly nodded. He took a week off of work just to play with Cloey. We are now living here in Herrera residence. Dad decided that Alexa and him will stay at grandma’s house but they promised that they will visit us here very often. That wasn’t a problem for Darren and Mr. Herrera owned a private plane and chopper. We can easily pick them up if ever.“Hey,” Darren greeted as he sat beside me on the couch opposit
DARREN’s P.O.V. I looked at Claire, who is now nervously staring at her reflection on the mirror. I almost laugh as she trembles when my hands touches her shoulders.“Hey...” I greeted her, trying to suppress my laughter.“You startled me!” she complained.“Sorry, wife. Just, don’t be nervous, okay? Dad will be the one who supposed to be surprised so please, stop worrying now,” I assured her.“Okay... I just... What if... What if he doesn’t like Cloey? Or what if... He’ll be mad because you didn’t come home for over half a year here...”“That wouldn’t happen. Everyone loves Cloey. And hey, I promised to him never to come back here if I still haven’t got you yet... So I’m sure he will be glad to see you... With a bonus, of course. A grandchild he’s been waiting for.”“Okay, okay. I ca
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. We are currently on a trip, waiting for our plane to land in order to see our home again. The country we’ve come from. How I miss the fresh air and the very accommodating people. Because of Darren, I finally got the chance to feel that again. Speaking of him, he’s now sitting by my side while our daughter is in another seat next to him. She was looking out of the window, while Darren is staring intensely at me.“What?” I asked, confused at his stares.“Nothing. Just let me stare at you for a moment.” I just chuckled before giving him a quick peck of a kiss on his cheeks. He instantly blushed, and that made me laughed.“What was that for?” he asked.“Uhm... Nothing? I just wanted to kiss my husband.” Again, I saw a
DARREN’s P.O.V. I didn’t saw her walking down the isle. I didn’t saw her wearing an elegant gown or whatsoever. We didn’t have a grand engagement party, nor a nice venue or a huge crowd for visitors. We didn’t have the wedding everyone’s been dreaming of. But we got married. A simple, yet full of love marriage. Holding her hand, in front of our few witnesses while we vowed our promises to each other, it is the most amazing feeling I’ve ever had in my whole life. It’s not about how grand the wedding is. It’s about the person whom you’re gonna share that moment and the rest of your life with. And if it’s Claire, money doesn’t have a value for she is the most precious treasure that I have.“You are now officially husband and wife,” the judge announced, after we signed our marriage contract. “You may now kiss
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. After we asked for grandma’s permission, she let us leave. We are now on our way to the park, where Darren said that he asked someone to help him set up a small picnic there. Alexa was happily sitting in the passenger seat, eating tons of popcorns while me and my daughter are currently sitting on the backseat. Cloey is now asleep, and I’m thankful for that because she’s saving her energy for later. I often caught Darren glance at me in the front mirror. I’ll just smile, before I saw him blushing like a silly teenager. I’ll just laughed to myself, afraid that if ever Alexa, my little sister, hear it again, she will teased us nonstop.“We are almost there,” Darren announced, looking glad by the sound of his voice.“Yay! This is my first time going into that place! I wanted to see how does it look like!” Alexa energ
CLAIRE’s P.O.V.“That’s it. Let’s stop apologizing to each other now... I-I... I love y-you, Claire. I haven’t told you that before you leave and I know that I’ll regret it again if I didn’t tell you that phrase right now. I love you, ever since I saw you standing in the pouring rain that night in front of the school. I’ve been loving you since that day and until now... Two years had passed but nothing changed. I’m still into you. I love you so much. Please, don’t leave me again, wife.” After he said those words, I couldn’t suppressed the sadness mixed with joyous emotion inside of my chest. I cried, half happy and regretful at the same time. If only I didn’t leave. But that doesn’t matter now that Darren is already holding me securely in his arms again.“I’ll do everything to earn your trust again, Claire. I’ll do everyth
CLAIRE’s P.O.V.“I wouldn’t leave you and take our daughter away. You know I’m not that kind of guy. So please, stop worrying.” After he said that, I felt guilty. He didn’t trust me before, so I’m having a hard time trusting him now. I just nodded towards him, still silent when he opened the door of his car for me. The first time I saw him in front of the mall, I felt nervous, and I didn’t wanna told him the truth. I’m afraid that if ever he found out about Cloey, he will take her away from me using his money. But he didn’t. He stay contented at the fact that I only allowed him to meet my precious daughter along with me. We spend the day buying Cloey’s stuff. Anything that she wanted, Darren bought it for her. He also tried to give me some money for Cloey’s expenses but I refused to
DARREN’s P.O.V. Today is the day I’ve been waiting for. I’m going to meet my daughter. I woke up early to fix myself. I want my daughter to like me. I want her not to be afraid or anything when she meet her Dad. I’m also excited to tell this to Elijah and my father, wanting to know their reaction. But for now, I’ll just keep this to myself. I drove to the place written on the tissue paper. When I arrived there, Claire isn’t still there. I patiently waits, knowing that I will see my daughter and the woman I love in just a few hours. And I wasn’t wrong for after a half hour or so, Claire entered into the shop, carrying a little girl on her arms. Mixed emotions overwhelmed my system. I didn’t know what to do, and I can’t also open my mouth to speak any words.“Darren... Meet Cloey, your daughter.”
DARREN’s P.O.V. It’s been exactly twenty six days since I started to stay here, in front of the mall. I’m still hoping to see her, even if it’s impossible to know if she came here for the thousands of people who passed me by. I’m currently sitting on the bench, taking a sip from my drink. I looked closely enough to the people to identity whether they are my love or not. I’m wearing a hoodie and a sunglasses so that if ever Claire saw me and she’s still mad, she wouldn’t run away just like what she did before. My attention gets fully occupied when I saw someone walking... Like Claire. I instantly stood up, not wanting to missed this chance if ever. I ran after her, grabbed her hand and called her name.“Claire, wait!” I received a hard slapped coming from her.“Who the heck ar