by Marie Astor
Thinking back, Alec understood that what he had perceived as impertinence was nothing more than Claire’s good-natured attempt to break the ice between them, but she could not have picked a worse topic. When it came to his family, Alec preferred to keep mum. And even though Claire had seemed to enjoy the food and politely answered all of Alec’s questions about her work, the conversation between them remained strained for the rest of the meal.
It had been a while since Alec had experienced any difficulties with members of the opposite sex. In truth, he could not even remember such an occasion. Starting from his boyhood, he had been blessed with handsome looks, which had translated seamlessly into his teens, and now, his manhood. He was by no means vain, but he did own a mirror, and even if he did not, the constant compliments on his looks and charm that were lavished on him by his numerous flames left no room for hesitation as to his effect on women. Until now, for Claire was impervious to Alec’s charm and looks, and presently, he was at a loss as to how to change her mind.
Chapter 28
Claire settled at her desk and rested her forehead against her forearms. Up until her lunch date with Alec, she had actually believed that she had social skills, but now, she knew that she was hopeless. Somehow, David had not only managed to break her heart, his betrayal had also wiped out all her flirting capabilities. Claire felt her face grow warm as she replayed the details of her lunch with Alec. Could a conversation between two people be any more strained?
The outing had started pleasantly enough. When she showed Alec around Castelan’s building, they seemed to really connect. It even seemed to Claire that there was a hint of flirtation in Alec’s voice. But once they got to the restaurant, everything went wrong. She had tried to make conversation, but Alec became distant and reticent. Perhaps it was something she said. Maybe she should have held her tongue instead of peppering him with questions about his family, but at the time, it was the only topic of conversation she could come up with. Well, now she wished she had remained silent instead. At least memory of her silence would not have been nearly as embarrassing as the memory of her blabbering like an idiot.
She bit her knuckles, thankful that Jake was not at his desk. For now, she was spared inquiring glances and questions.
Well, at any rate one thing was clear now. Any illusions she might have had about Alec becoming anything more than her upstairs neighbor were gone. Just what on earth had possessed her to imagine such rubbish, Claire had no idea, but now it was time to get back to reality, no matter how mortifying.
So what if her ex-fiancé had cheated on her with a woman almost twice her age, and there were no social prospects to speak of? Claire still had her career. She loved her job, and from this moment on, she would not allow any distractions, which meant that despite her disastrous outing with Alec, she would see him again because she still needed to get a copy of his great uncle’s photograph from him. In fact, Claire would love to get more than a copy. It would be wonderful to get an original, on loan, of course, for the exhibition that she was organizing to mark the opening of Castelan’s building. Claire had already spoken with Professor Barnardo, and he was arranging with the National Library of Catalonia in Barcelona to borrow Castelan’s original letters for the exhibition. The exhibition – that was what Claire needed to focus on at the moment – that, and her fifty-page report to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
No sooner had Claire opened the draft file of the Commission report that her phone rang.
“Claire Chatfield speaking.” Claire held the receiver with her shoulder against her ear as she continued to type away at the report.
“Alleluia, you’re alive!” Lindsay’s voice rang sarcastically on the other end of the line.
“Hi.” Claire sniffed guiltily, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. “I’ve been meaning to call.”
“Yeah, right. You know that you’ve never been a good liar. But I forgive you. That’s what best friends do. They forgive each other, and they don’t keep any secrets from each other.”
“I’m not keeping any secrets,” Claire retorted before she realized that she had said exactly what Lindsay wanted her to say.
“Oh, yeah? How about that hot lunch date you had?”
“How do you know about that?” Claire started and immediately answered her own question. “Jake told you, didn’t he? So I take it things are going well between you two?”
“Yes, they are,” Lindsay conceded dreamily. “But don’t try to switch the subject. I want to hear all about your hot date with your handsome neighbor.”
Claire sighed. When Lindsay had her heart set on something, there was no way of talking her out of it, so she might as well spill the beans or risk being subjected to endless interrogation.
“It was not a date,” Claire said quietly. She had hoped it would be, but that was before she discovered that she had no idea how to behave on one.
“Come on!” Lindsay fumed. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”
“It really wasn’t. I took Alec on an architectural tour, or didn’t Jake tell you about that?”
“Yes, yes, he told me all about the building, but that’s not what I want to hear about. Not everyone gets all hot and bothered over brick and mortar, you know. So tell me what happened after you gave Alec the tour.”
“We went to have lunch at this Catalonian restaurant…”
“So it was a date,” Lindsay snorted triumphantly.
“Well, it kind of started as one, but then it fizzled.” Claire blinked. She had intended to stoically bear her disappointment, but Lindsay had opened a can of worms, and now, Claire needed a shoulder to cry on. “I think I lost my mojo. It was a complete disaster.”
“Don’t say that,” Lindsay’s voice rang with alarm. “I’m sorry for being so pushy. I didn’t mean to upset you. If you don’t want to talk about it, I completely understand.”
“Well, it’s too late now,” Claire sniffed. “You’ve dredged it up, and you’re going to listen.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Lindsay’s voice was riddled with guilt.
Starting from the previous night, Claire gave a complete account of her encounters with Alec, including every minute detail that she had been agonizing over before Lindsay’s call.
“So, where’s the disaster? It sounds to me like you had a perfectly nice date, and he was a complete gentleman. He even saw you off to the office.”
“Didn’t you hear anything I said? We had nothing to talk about it. I tried to make conversation, but I ended offending him by prying into his family details. And then, I blabbered about the menu. It was mortifying!” Claire bit her tongue. She did not want to sound too desperate. “But it doesn’t matter anyway. I’m not looking to date anyone right now.”
“I think you’re exaggerating. So you’ve asked him a few questions about his family, and maybe he thought it was too much. So what? He didn’t storm out of there, leaving you to pick up the tab, did he? It sounds to me like you were both nervous.”
“I hardly see any reason for Alec to be nervous. It’s not like he doesn’t know his way around women.” Claire remembered Alec’s model-like girlfriend. If he could be comfortable around her, there was no reason why he should be nervous around Claire.
“Have you considered the fact that you’re not like other women?”
“What do you mean? Is there something wrong with me?” There has to be, Claire thought, I’m socially inept.
“There you go again. Where is your self-confidence? There’s nothing wrong with you. In fact, if anything, everything is uniquely right. You’re smart, attractive, and intelligent.”
“So are you.”
“I know. Why do you think I’ve been having such a hard time finding a guy? Most women pretend to act like bimbos around guys, and men are used to that, but once they meet someone different, they are at a loss of what to do.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that…” Claire sighed. Lindsay’s words were awfully tempting to belie
ve. “I think you’re embellishing it. The fact of the matter is that I’m kind of a bluestocking - always have been.”
“Well, if you define bluestocking by having a good education and a stellar career, then yes, you fit the bill perfectly. Listen, Claire, I know what you’re feeling right now. I’ve been there before.”
Claire was about to interject, but halted. Lindsay did know what she was talking about. Granted, she had never been cheated on by her fiancé, but she had been lied to and dumped for a more suitable match by her ex, Matthew Prince, III of Hartford, Connecticut.
“And I know that it’s too soon to jump into seeing someone, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t have some fun. Get your dating legs back. So what if today’s lunch didn’t work out as you planned? Although I still think that you’re jumping the gun here… Regardless, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Tomorrow, an even hotter guy could move into your building or bump into you on the street.”
“I promise to keep my eyes open,” Claire conceded. “So tell me about you and Jake.” There was silence on the other end of the line. “Lindsay, are you there? Don’t even try dodging me after I told you everything about my fiasco with Alec.”
“Yes, I’m here.” Lindsay paused. “I really like him, Claire. I know Jake puts on this womanizer act, but he’s not like that at all.”
“Well, that’s great.”
“Yeah, but it’s also scary.”
“How is it scary? Weren’t you just telling me that there are plenty of fish in the sea?”
“There is, but Jake is not like the rest of them, at least not to me. I’m just scared to screw it up like the last time.”
There it was again, the shadow of Matthew Prince, III of Hartford, Connecticut, rearing its ugly head.
“You didn’t screw up anything, Lindsay. You just happened to pick a jerk for a boyfriend.”
“It’s easy to say that, but I can’t help thinking that maybe I could have made a better effort, tried to suck up to his mother more, fit in with his friends… Instead, I was so intent on being me, I lost sight of us as a couple.”
“You mean you refused to mold yourself to fit into Matthew’s life, and he was too much of a wimp to stand up for you,” Claire cut in. Normally, she would not be this blunt, but now was no time for diplomacy. “Matthew was the one who gave up, Lindsay. He left you in order to please his parents and his friends, so now he’s stuck with that humdrum fiancée of his.”
“Wife. They got married a month ago. It was in the Times weddings section.”
“Is that what this is about?”
“No… Yes.” Lindsay sighed. “When I saw that photo, I could not help thinking that it could have been me standing next to him, looking perfect in a fairy-tale wedding gown.”
“You’ll have your perfect wedding, Lindsay, and you’ll have it with a guy who loves you for who you are, not for your pedigree.”
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean to have a pity fest. I should be the one consoling you.”
“I think I’m doing okay right now. But I really have to go; I have a ton of work on my desk, and I haven’t even started yet.”
“Sure, just one more thing. Amber has been asking about you. Maybe you could give her a call; she sounded really worried.”
“Maybe she should have thought about what covering up for David would do to our friendship.”
“I can’t argue with you there, but you know Amber. She won’t take no for an answer.”
“Let me worry about that.”
“Fine. Good luck with work. I’ve got to get cracking on a deadline myself.”
Claire hung up and glanced at the clock. It was almost three o’clock, and she had so much to do, but her mind refused to focus on hyperboloid structures and conoid shapes that defined Gaudi’s and Castelan’s architectural styles; instead, she wanted to think about Alec.
David walked into a flower shop and placed an order for two dozen long-stemmed white roses. He signed the card for Claire by hand: Please forgive me. Love, David. The gesture had become routine ever since he fell from grace, shattering his well-ordered life into pieces. The florist took David’s instructions and nodded, a picture of tactful professionalism.
Out of the corner of his eye, David noticed magnificent yellow roses that the store had begun stocking upon his request a few months back, and he looked away. He wondered what Claudia was doing this very minute. Had she already forgotten him or did she too long for the passion that they had shared? How he ached to place an order for two dozen yellow roses, as he did in the blissful days that had come and gone like an unexpected boon. If he had his way, despite all the hurt and betrayal she had inflicted on him, he would forgive Claudia in a moment, if only there were a chance of them reuniting. Alas, these musings were merely wishful thinking, as David had to be on his best behavior. His future as the heir of Lawson Enterprises depended on it.
Thanks to his father’s lawyer’s efforts, Maury Wysotsky had agreed to nix any further reprints of David’s and Claudia’s photographs in Flashlight. As per his father’s orders, David had removed himself from the day to day operations of Lawson Enterprises until, as his father had put it, “the messy business dies down.” David’s removal from the business was labeled as harnessing David’s strategic capabilities. His supposed new task was reassessment of existing strategies in order to outline the course of new business ventures for Lawson Enterprises. In reality, David found himself with more spare time on his hands than he could handle. Right now, he wished for nothing more than to be busy at the office. Instead, he loitered in his apartment, poring over meaningless spreadsheets, waiting for his father’s forgiveness.
To make matters worse, Ryan Fink, Jr. of Fink Corporation was mocking David from the pages of every major newspaper. First, the bugger had prevented David’s father from buying up Fink’s property, and now, he was setting a striking contrast to David’s disgrace by becoming a social good-doer. He was turning one of Fink’s properties into a museum – a move that David’s ex-fiancée was responsible for by discovering that a crappy warehouse in Tribeca that no one gave a rat’s ass about for years was a rare example of architecture created by a disciple of Gaudi. David wished he had listened to Claire blabbering about this nonsense when he had the chance. Perhaps he could have persuaded her to give up the whole idea. As it was, his ex-fiancée was now touting the horn of his competitor – a fact that David’s father glowered about daily.
There was no other choice. David had to get Claire back and forget Claudia. He only wished he felt something other than career pressure to add to his motivation, but no matter how hard he tried, he came up empty-handed. Notwithstanding all the disgrace that Claudia had put him through, David could not forget her. Each day he thought of her more and more. His longing for Claudia was sustained by a few mementos of their time together, the cover of Flashlight magazine being the last and final addition to David’s collection. Despite the chaos that the photograph had brought into his life, David studied the image obsessively. The intense passion on Claudia’s face captured in the image meant only one thing – her angry parting words had been a front. She had loved him, and perhaps she still did.
Chapter 29
It was almost ten o’clock at night when Claire walked up the front stoop of her building. She might have shirked her work during the day, but she had more than made up for it by staying late at the office. Not that she found this strategy efficient, by any means. She swore to herself never to indulge into two-hour lunches again, no matter with how handsome the caller. She did get the work done. The first draft of her report to the Landmarks Preservation Commission was almost finished, and she was fairly confident that she would have the final version by the end of the week, and as for handsome callers… Claire had put Alec out of her mind, or to be more precise, banished any thoughts of him as soon as they entered her mind, which, to her chagrin, was pretty much nonstop.
From the mortifying fiasco of their “date” to his handsome looks, Alec had pret
ty much monopolized Claire’s thoughts. The only upside to this vexing development was that Alec had edged David out of Claire’s mind completely. In fact, Claire was shocked to realize that she had hardly given David a thought throughout the entire day – shocked because until a few days ago, she was set to marry the man, and now, she would not even give him a second thought. Of course, she had a perfectly good excuse not to. David was a lying pig and not at all the knight in shining armor he had appeared to be, but in his defense, Claire would not even give him a chance to explain himself… And David had tried, really hard. After his unsuccessful plea by Claire’s doorstep, he had been leaving her daily phone messages and sending her flowers accompanied by imploring notes to forgive him, but Claire would have none of it. A small part of her could not help but wonder if her reaction would have been the same without Alec being there to distract her. Or even more alarming, if David had not fallen from grace, could she herself have been guilty of the same wrongdoing? There was no denying it. From the moment Claire had barged into Alec’s apartment, her striking neighbor had sparked something inside her. She might have banished the feeling into the background of her thoughts, but it had stayed there, and every time she ran into Alec, Claire fell under his spell.
If asked to define her relationship with David prior to the Flashlight fiasco, Claire would have said solid. But now she wondered if solidity by itself were enough. Certainly, one wanted stability in a relationship, but one also wanted passion and romance and spontaneity; yet, David cared for none of these things, at least not while he was with Claire. And now that the initial hurt of David’s betrayal had abated, Claire could not help wondering whether she had been saved by the bell, and whether instead of resenting Claudia Block for rivalry, Claire should be thanking her for deliverance.