DARREN’s P.O.V.
“Are you sure about that, Darren? I mean, no offense but... Finding a woman that will act as your wife? Seriously?”
“Well, how bad could it be? Any woman would love to play along as my wife. And in fact, I will be paying whoever it is.”
“Don’t be so full of yourself, bro. I have read tons of stories about this kind of situation and stuff and guess what?”
“What happened?”
“The protagonists fall for each other in the end.”
I chuckled before answering him.
“That’s hilarious. I will never fall for anyone below my level. That kind of story will never happen to me, Elij.”
“Yeah. Whatever you say, bro. But just so you know, I’m not sure if I can find that someone you are looking for in just a short span of time.”
“Yes, you can. Just show them the money and I’m pretty sure that they will accept it.”
“But what if they slapped me?”
“You’re so funny, Elijah. I promised they won’t be mad at you. Just ask them nicely.”
“Good idea, bro. What if I say, ‘Hey, you want to be my bestfriend’s wife? Here’s the money, take it.’ Like that?” He chuckled.
“You’re a lunatic. Of course not. If you put it that way, there’s a higher chance that you will get slapped or something.”
We both laughed at our own jokes. One thing that I liked about Elijah, he is a good friend, indeed. He never judge my bad decisions in life like what my Dad always did.
After planning out about everything, we decided to head home. And because I don’t have a car with me, Elijah offers me a ride. Good thing that he invited me into his car, because right after we got inside, rain started to fall heavily.
“Damn this weather.”
“Stop picking on everything, Darren. Are you mad about the rain or because of your father?”
“Shut up, bro.”
“Okay, okay.”
Along the highway, we can see the view of the wide rice field and a few buildings around the area. There are even schools and hospital buildings nearby.
“Is that... Claire?” Elijah asked.
And since I don’t know who is he talking about, I looked out of the tinted window and saw a lady standing under the shade, half wet while wearing a teacher’s uniform. Same as what Elijah’s wearing right now.
“Bro, I think she’s wet,” I declared, out of the blue.
“Yeah. Do you mind if we give her a ride? Their house was only a few meters away from here. We will passed it by. I could drop her off.”
“Sure. It’s your car, anyway.”
Elijah stopped the car to the nearest spot that he can from that woman. And since the shade was on the right side of the road, I was able to see her face clearly as the window of the car went down.
“Hey!” called Elijah. She didn’t look up.
Maybe Elijah’s voice wasn’t loud enough for her to hear. Not to mention the rain that was pouring heavily since we got in the car.
“Teacher Claire! Can you hear me?!” Right now Elijah was starting to wave at her like a crazy person just to get her attention.
“Is she deaf?” I curiously asked.
“No, she’s not, bro. She just simply cannot hear my voice due to the heavy rain. Maybe you can try calling her.”
“What?! W-why me?”
“Duh. You are closer to her.”
“What was her name again?” Damn, I’m really bad at memorizing people’s name.
“Claire. But you can call her Teacher Claire or Ms. Braganza if you are not comfortable with her first name.”
Of course I’m comfortable at using this stranger’s first name. Why would I wouldn’t be, right? She’s just an ordinary girl.
“Ms. Braganza!” I shouted. In the end, I still didn’t manage to call her by her first name.
But she looked up this time. Maybe she can heard us right now since the rain was starting to pour lightly.
Our eyes met, and just as this moment, I felt an unexplainable feeling on my stomach. What is this new weird sensation? Looking deep into her eyes makes me nervous in the extent that I wanted to hide from her forever.
“H-hi...” I tried to make a normal conversation, but I failed.
She just smiled at me, flashing her tiny white pearls. She also have a dimple on her right cheek, making me tremble and smile unconsciously. I stare at her face, from her almond shaped dark eyes down to her pink, kissable lips.
Her face reminds me of something. Or maybe someone. Indeed, she’s like an angel to my eyes. A face like my mother’s. Except that their eyes were different in color, of course.
“Hi! Where is Teacher Elijah?”
I quit staring at her. I don’t want her to think that I’m a creep or something.
“Elij, s-she was l-looking for you.”
“Oh, I see. Hi, Teacher Claire!” he looked outside of the window.
Again, I saw her smile. I think my heart just skipped a beat right now.
“What are you doing here? I thought you already headed home earlier.” Her voice... It was nothing like those that I heard of before.
“Well, a friend called me. We met at the coffee shop nearby. How about you? What are you still doing out here? It’s already late. It’s dangerous for a woman like you to be alone at night.”
“I’m fine. I’m just waiting for a taxi.”
“Taxi? With this rain, you can’t find any, Teacher Claire. Do you mind if we give you a ride?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Then get in.” Elijah flashed a smile towards her, and she did the same.
I don’t know what’s with me but after seeing a series of sweet smile from her, my tongue couldn’t say another word anymore.
“Thanks, Elij. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go home on time.”
“It’s a pleasure.”
I was still looking at her from the front mirror when suddenly her beautiful eyes landed on mine. She smiled, but I looked away, trying to hide the way I’m feeling right now by putting on a facade of arrogance.
“Hmp. What an arrogant man,” she whispered, but still, I managed to hear her voice.
“We’re almost there, Teacher Claire.”
Minutes passed by, and now she’s hopping down from the car waving her goodbyes to my bestfriend.
“Bye, Teacher Claire!”
“Bye, Teacher Elijah! Thanks for the ride!”
My bestfriend just saluted to her before starting the car engine again. He was smiling to himself and I caught a glimpse of blush on his cheeks.
“What’s with the smile?” I asked, feeling irritated.
“Do you like her, bro?”
My mouth fell wide open as I heard those words. And what kind of question is that? How did he even know? Does he noticed my actions?
“Me? Oh come on, Elijah. Maybe it’s you. I even caught you smiling to yourself.”
“It’s because I’m embarrassed for you!” He laughed out loud before continuing his statement. “Bro, you look awful uneasy since the moment that my co-worker step a foot on my fucking car!”
“Did I?” I glared at him.
“Yes, you did.” Again, he laughed harder.
I rolled my eyes in disgust of his annoying laughter. I even plugged in my headphones into my ears as I start pretending that I’m not listening to whatever it is that he’s saying.
“You know, bro, I already knew that style of yours. Your headphone’s wire wasn’t even plugged in to your phone.”
He laughed again, louder this time. I couldn’t help myself but to smile because of the embarrassment. How come I didn’t notice that before?
“You’re in love with Teacher Claire! And boom! It was a love at first sight,” he mockingly declared.
“Psssh. Whatever, Elij.”
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. After stirring my coffee, I inhaled the rich aroma coming from the black hot liquid inside of the cup. I savour the bittersweet taste before I came back to my senses. I need to start walking from our house to the school building that I was working at now.“Alexa? Did Dad already took his meds?” I called out to my little sister.“He’s done!” she proudly stated, revealing a thumbs up out of her tiny fingers.“Please take care of him. I’m gonna go to work now. I’ll be back soon.” I kissed the top of her forehead before picking up my stuffs from the small chair behind our door. I sighed as I started walking towards our school. Our life may not be as good as others but I can proudly say that I worked very hard to provide our daily needs. There’s no shame in that. And one more thing, I
CLAIRE’s P.O.V After my class, I went to the teacher’s lounge to meet Teacher Elijah. I thought I was late but when I saw him standing there, flashing a nervous smile, I instantly know that something was up.“Hey. Why are you smiling like that?” I suspiciously asked.“Nothing. Maybe we should go. My friend was already waiting for you.” I nodded before motioning him to start walking. I can’t help but to think that Elijah was hiding something from me. What’s the deal with this guy?“Are you really sure about this, Claire?” he asked, for several times I guess.“Yeah. But if you’re hesitating like that, there’s a higher chance that I will cancel this meeting.”“I’m sorry for being uneasy. I’m just nervous. Anyways, let’s go.” We got insid
CLAIRE’s P.O.V.“Are you okay? You want me to get you a food or something?” Elijah asked me, for a hundred times I think.“I’m fine, Elij. You can leave us here. I know you’re tired. Get some sleep. I can handle this.”“Are you sure?” He looked at me, worried.“Yeah. And thank you for helping us.” He nodded before walking towards Alexa.“Hey,” I heard him greeted my little sister. Alexa just smiled at him. A few moments later, after he realized that my sister wasn’t planning to say a word or anything, he just tap her head before saying goodbye.“Bye, Alexa. Bye, Claire.” He waved at me and I waved back. As soon as he was out of sight, Alexa came near me and hugged my legs. I instantly knew that she’s crying because my jeans was starting to
CLAIRE’s P.O.V.“We can’t lose Dad, Claire. Please do something.” Alexa looked worried, with tears still streaming down her cheeks.“Don’t cry. I’ll do anything as soon as I find out what happened.” The doctor came towards us, a sympathetic look plastered on his face.“Ms. Braganza, your father needs to undergo a surgery. We need to operate him as soon as we can. His heart has two holes, and he’s in a very dangerous state right now.” At that moment, I instantly knew that Mr. Herrera was right. I think it’s time for me to beg. It is time that I set my pride aside and be a good daughter even just for once.“We will perform the surgery as soon as we receive your permission. For now, I think you need to prepared a huge amount of money for the operation expenses.”
DARREN’s P.O.V. I called my lawyer as soon as Claire agrees to my own terms and condition. I looked at her, feeling guilty every time that I remembered her crying face. I’m not sure if she did cry earlier. Though I could see the sadness on her eyes up to now.“Do you need anything, wife?” I asked, trying to put a facade of arrogance again. I don’t know what’s with me, but everytime I saw her face, I feel nervous. That’s why I’m trying to act cool and dominant whenever that she’s around.“Wife? Is that an endearment?” she asked, arching one of her brows.“Maybe... What do you think about it?”“Can’t you understand sarcasm, Mr. Herrera?” I stopped as I look at her face. She was seriously mad at me for calling her that way.“Well, after an hour or s
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. He called me wife for a second time today. But instead of feeling pissed by his voice, I felt warm crept into my cheeks and I don’t know why. He pulled me inside of a jewelry store before calling the saleslady on the counter.“Hey, miss. I wanted to buy the diamond ring with the highest value in here. One for me, and one for my lovely wife.” Again, I felt butterflies on my stomach. The saleslady looked shocked at first but after a while, she smiled at him before pulling out a small vault from the locked wall of the store.“Here you go, sir. This diamond ring cost one hundred thousand US dollars each.”“I’ll get it.”“Darren!” I looked at him, shocked at how he unwisely spent his money. He just smiled at me as a response. Amusement was al
CLAIRE’s P.O.V. I wake up at the smell of roasted bacon and garlic fried rice. What a great way to start anyone’s morning. I slowly sit up from laying down the bed. Darren’s not in this room anymore. I decided to use his bathroom since he’s not here and I wanted to prepared myself before seeing his Dad. I grabbed my towel and toiletries before opening the bathroom door.“What the hell?!” It was Darren, half naked. My eyes widen as I saw his wet masculine body. The water streaming down from the shower also make an intense effect to the view I am seeing right now. I can’t help but to bit my lower lip.“I’m s-sorry.” I stood there like a statue, unable to move my feet.“Stop watching!” I closed my eyes shut and run as fast as I can away from him. I slapped my
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