Questioning the reality

Claire stood up immediately and started to pack her handbag in a rush. She didn't have much to pack aside of a few printed reports that she brought with her just in case.

"Miss Cooper…" Gabriel tried to start a conversation. "Elise…"

Claire paused, trying to hold back the tears. Just the sound of his voice vibrated her to the very core, to her very soul. She hated that she wasn't 'Claire, dear' anymore.

"I didn't realise that you were going to be here, Mr Moore." Claire replied rather coldly. "I would've forced Christopher to come here himself if I knew." She said honestly.

"Are you avoiding me?" Christopher asked directly.

"Of course." Claire answered abruptly. Gabriel was still surprised by how upfront she was. "I do not wish to be arrested, Mr Moore." She said with spite in her voice. Gabriel gulped as he remembered his own words when she cried in front of him. He should've been more careful with how he spoke to her.

"He is going to choose Crimson Tech because of you." He tried to change the topic.

"Then maybe you should've said something about Diamond Corporate?" Claire tilted her head. Her eyes were now on Gabriel, challenging him beyond the words that she has spoken, provoking him.

"What you have said is true." Gabriel turned his gaze away, unable to withstand Claire looking directly at him. It was as if she saw right through him.

Perhaps she did. Gabriel felt a storm on the inside. The way she looked at him was as if she knew him inside out. But he didn't know her.

Claire nodded at his statement. She knew Diamond Corporate inside out, and she knew it's strengths and weaknesses. "The current exec board is not doing DC any good." Claire said as she started to put her coat on. "Gordon drove the finances above and beyond. You have gone backwards in the last year."

Gabriel went silent for a moment as he watched Claire button up her coat. She felt Gabriel's gaze on her but he didn't speak any further. He just observed her in complete silence. It was unnerving.

It was difficult for Claire to look at him with that yearning that she felt, wanting to wrap her arms around his neck and plant hundreds of kisses on his clean shaved face.

But he looked better without her. He looked healthier. His sunken cheeks gained colour and some roundness to them that didn't hide his cheekbones or perfectly shaped jaw. He started to fill up his tailored suit again. And he didn't even wear the metal brace like before. Whatever happened to him in the past few months, nearly a year now, it was good for him and somehow that hurt the most.

"How is Mr Hayden treating you?" Gabriel asked, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Well, thank you." Claire replied quickly, eager to leave the room as soon as possible.

"Do you enjoy your role?"

"It's good."

"Is it your dream job?"

"I was always a designer." Claire picked her handbag, turning around and walking away. She didn't even say a goodbye. She was barely holding up by now.

"Elise, I did wonder what explanation you wanted from me when you came to see me." Gabriel said carefully as Claire already reached the door. Claire stopped and looked back at him, he looked away, as if he was embarrassed by the question that he just asked.

"It doesn't matter right now." Claire said with sadness in her voice that couldn't be feigned.

"You were determined to see me. You spend months harassing my staff."

"I didn't harass anyone. I have followed every step to get to see you but I was declined a meeting every single time. I had no feasible way of approaching you. Turns out that when your life is shit, people treat you like shit as well." Claire let out a defeated sigh as Gabriel stood up and approached her. "I guess I wanted to know why you chose him over me."

"Whom?"

"Your father." Claire looked directly into Gabriel's eyes, not buckling under their stormy coldness.

"Why wouldn't I?" Gabriel furrowed his brows. There was something about Claire's question that made him feel even more uneasy. He didn't know what was Claire's connection to his father.

Claire paused and after a moment she automatically placed her hand on his shoulder, her fingers running across where she knew he had scars but which she couldn't feel through his suit.

"Because we both know that he is a bad person." She said as her eyes glossed over.

Claire let go off his shoulder feeling like she crossed the invisible line, again. She didn't realise how much that small action and her words triggered Gabriel.

"Would you like a drink?" Gabriel offered unexpectedly.

"No. I have a long enough of a journey back home." Claire answered.

"Do you live far?"

"Guildford."

"Do you need a lift?" Gabriel asked as he put his hands in his trouser's pockets. For a moment he looked nervous, like a teenage boy that approached a girl he liked. It was a boyish level of anxiety as he spoke to her. He started switching from one leg to another.

"To Guildford?" Claire furrowed her brows. "I have the company car with me."

"I see." Gabriel seemed dissatisfied with the answer.

"Can I ask you a question?" Claire braved it at last. "I have a different question now."

"Go on."

"It is probably a stupid question but…" Claire hesitated. "Are you pretending to not know me or do you not remember me?"

"I-…" Gabriel seemed to study Claire's face to gauge her reaction. He hid it for a long time and her question exposed him directly. "I do not know you. Not beyond the three times I've seen you now."

Claire nodded without reassurance. A silent tear escaped her eye and run down her cheek.

"Thank you, Mr Moore." Claire left at last, using the last of her will to stop herself from running.

There were many things that Claire didn't know:

One: Gabriel was honest in his answer.

Two: Claire intrigued Gabriel when she persisted to meet him only to tell him that she used to be his very wife that he had no recollection of. She caught his attention earlier than that but then she truly created a small crack that he couldn't fix.

Three: After Claire told Gabriel of the buildings that she designed whilst in Diamond Corporate, he went and checked the design files to find that the designer was not named on any of them which was very unusual.

Gabriel lingered around after the meeting with the shareholder because he struggled to contain his curiosity. The woman that broke down in front of him months earlier was very different to the one that in a very outspoken way manipulated the investors in choosing the company she worked for instead of Diamond Corporate.

The way she led herself with confidence while with others was different to how she was around him.

He wanted to ask her to tell him her story but he was afraid that she might truly be crazy and he was leaning into that delusion. But more terrifyingly, he was afraid that what she said was true and his life was a big delusion itself. Since Claire, or rather Elise, showed up, things stopped making sense, at first at the micro level, and then slowly on a bigger scale. Gabriel started to question his reality.