Chapter 9: Chapter 9

"GOOD morning, hija."

It was Monday morning. It was already midnight last night when Adam and I landed in Seattle.

We parted ways after he left me at the parking lot of The Tribe, the bar where I met him last Friday night. Thankfully, my car was still there.

I sat down on my chair after greeting my parents. I picked up the bowl of fried rice and put some on my plate.

"How's your weekend getaway with Marcus, hija?" Mom asked me.

I stilled. So that's what Marcus told them? That I was with him this weekend.

"It was good, Ma," I replied, trying to sound as casual as possible. I wasn't used to lying to my parents.

"You went to Bahamas?" she continued to ask.

"Yup." I grabbed the bowl of corned beef and put some on my plate. "I wasn't supposed to go with him, that's why I wasn't able to tell you about it. He literally just dragged me along with him last Friday night. I also wasn't able to call you because I left my phone in the office."

I brought my cup of coffee to my lips and sipped from it.

"It's okay, hija." My mother smiled at me. "I can see you really enjoyed that weekend. Look, your skin is glowing," she said, looking at my face. "But why is your body covered, hija?"

I almost choked on my coffee with Mom's question. I was wearing a white turtle neck top under my black blazer.

I failed to conceal the hickeys on my neck with makeup so I had no other choice but to wear turtle neck tops to cover them.

"I was arranging my closet earlier and saw this top and decided to wear it." I shrugged. "I mean, it's such a waste if I won't use all the clothes I used to wear in the States."

Thank God my mother didn't comment any further. Using a fork, I picked up a sausage from my plate. I was about to bite it when an image was displayed in my head. I bit my lower lip and slightly shook my head. Shit.

"Well, I'm glad you're having a proper breakfast right now," Mom commented while looking at me. There's a satisfied smile on her face.

I wasn't used to eating breakfast. But I guessed I needed to eat a proper meal from now on if I wanted to last for six months.

I've decided to go back to my doctor today. Maybe this afternoon. I walked out of the hospital last Friday after finding out my diagnosis. I mean, who wouldn't panic if you learned that you'd die in six months, right?

But now, I realized that I needed to talk to my doctor. I needed to at least get proper medication for me not to deteriorate faster. Or maybe… maybe there's still a chance that I'd survive this. Well, miracles do happen, don't they?

"Claire, don't you have an early meeting in the office? " Dad asked me. He put down his newspaper and looked at me.

I pursed my lip. "Nothing, Dad."

"Come on, Alfonso. It's a good thing our daughter's having breakfast with us."

It was the first time I got to enjoy breakfast with them after years. I was always rushing every morning.

Dad cleared his throat and glanced at his watch. "I just wanted to remind her that if she doesn't leave any minute now, she's gonna be late for the office."

Dad was very strict when it came to time. When he was still working for the company, he never once went to the office late.

I looked at my watch. Dad was right. I might get late if I don't leave now.

"Yeah." I took another sip of my coffee before I stood up. "I'm going."

"Take care, hija."

I already came up with a plan. I'd go to work for the whole week and finish all my pending work and appointments. Then, I'll take an indefinite leave. I'd fly out of the country. I'd probably go to Europe. I'd enrolled myself in a short art class like what I've always wanted for myself.

Of course, I won't disclose my health condition. I'd just tell them I've been burned out from work and that I needed to take a break from everything.

I didn't know how my parents would take this but I've already decided. I wanted to do this for myself. I needed this for myself. I promised myself I'd do things that would make me happy this time.

"Good morning, Ma'am."

Jenna greeted me when I reached the office.

"Jenna, please cancel all my meetings this afternoon."

She acted surprised. "But Ma'am, today was your meeting with Mr. Casillas. He told me tomorrow's his flight to Paris so he's only available for today.

"Alright. Don't cancel on him," I said. "Just clear all my schedule for the next few weeks. I'd file an indefinite leave by next week."

My secretary widened her eyes. Then she blinked. "M-ma'am?"

I wasn't even shocked by her reaction. Ever since I started working in the company, I never once filed a leave of absence.

"Ma'am, are you sure you're okay?" Jenna asked, this time she was giving me a suspicious look.

I pursed my lips. "Yes. Jenna. Just do what I say."

"O-okay, Ma'am." She finally nodded at me. I walked past her and entered my office. I was already working for thirty minutes when the door opened. It was Marcus. He went straight to me.

"Claire."

I put down the papers in my hand and looked at him.

"Did you really go to Bahamas?"

"Of course."

I took out something from my bag and handed it to him. It was a souvenir keychain I bought from a local at the airport.

"Here. Proof that I really went there. Sorry, I wasn't able to buy anything else."

His lips parted while staring at the keychain in his hands. "Wow. You really did go there."

I frowned. "And where did you think I went?"

"I don't know." He pursed his lips. He took the seat in front of me. "I just couldn't believe you'd seriously go on a vacation." He arched his brow while examining my face. "Who were you with?"

"I told you I was alone." I frowned at Marcus. “Stop being so nosy, okay?”

Marcus shook his head. "Nah. You were with someone. I know you. You won't go there alone. So who was with you?" He continued to ask me.

Sometimes, I really hate that Marcus really knows me well. "Was it a guy?"

"What?" I frowned at him. "You know I don't have a boyfriend. "How would I manage to get a guy when you just literally told me I almost live here in the office? It doesn't make sense, Marcus.”

"Then who was with you? Why were you keeping it a secret?" His eyes slanted a little as he continued to stare at my face. "Damn. You looked different. You have an after-sex glow." My cousin grinned at me. "Who was it?"

After sex glow? Was there such a thing as that? I felt my cheeks flush.

"Oh. Now you're blushing." His annoying smile grew bigger. That made me roll my eyes at him.

"Fine," I finally said to stop him from annoying me. "I was with a guy… but he was a stranger. What happened between us was a one time thing."

Marcus' eyes widened in shock. He then blinked his eyes a couple of times before his lips formed a grin.

"Damn, Claire." He laughed as if this was the most entertaining thing he'd heard in his life. "You really are a Buenavista."

"Don't tell this to anyone," I demanded.

"I won't," he replied, still grinning. "So how did you meet the guy?"

"Shut up," I rolled my eyes. "You don't need to know about that."

He just laughed harder. I ignored him and drifted my eyes on the documents in front of me.

"Oh, by the way, I'll go with you to Singapore on Friday. We'll attend Amelie's exhibit."

"Really?"

I nodded without looking at him.

"What happened to you? You said you don't have time to leave our beloved company, didn't you? What? Is this the effect of spending a hot weekend with your mystery guy?"

My eyes went to him. "Shut up. He's not my man." I bit my lower lip. "I just realized that you're right. I needed to take a break from work. I needed to get a life outside this office."

"Wow. You've finally realized that, Claire. Whoever that man is, I wanted to thank him. He did a great job." He winked at me.

Yeah. He really did a great job. Damn. My cheeks flushed when I remembered how good he was in bed.

I rolled my eyes. "This has nothing to do with him. I just realized that I really needed to balance out my life. I've been working my ass off for years now. It's time to take a break." I pursed my lips. "Next week, I'll file a leave and travel to Europe. You know I've always wanted to visit Europe."

"Wow…" Marcus exclaimed. "I can believe I'm hearing this all from you. I feel like I've been talking to another person right now. Are you sure you're my cousin? Or you're just a clone pretending to be Claire?"

"Shut up, Marcus. That's what you get for watching too many Sci-fi movies."

"Can you blame me, though? You're talking as if you're going to die soon," he joked.

I loosened the hold of the pen in my hand. "Stop those morbid thoughts." I frowned. "I just wanted to go on a nice vacation."

"Alright. But do your parents already know about this?"

"Not yet. I know I'd disappoint dad but—"

I wasn't able to finish when I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I clutched my abdomen as I searched for my medicine bottle. I opened it and popped one tablet into my mouth.

"You're still drinking this?" Marcus asked me as he grabbed the bottle I placed on my desk. "Didn't your doctor give you something else?"

"She said it's okay if I continue taking this." I lied. I waited for a few more minutes before the pain eased away.

My phone rang. It was a strange number. I excused myself from Marcus before taking the call.

"Ms. Claire Madrigal," said the voice on the other line.

I cleared my throat. "Yes? May I know who's this?"

"This is Doctor Angie Jiménez of St. Catherine Doctors Hospital."

She was the doctor who examined me. Why was he calling me? Was it because I walked out on her? But I already paid her consultation fee. I glanced at Marcus who was busy playing with his phone. I walked to my pantry area before I speak again. “What can I do for you, Doc? I mean, do we have a problem here?”

"I've been calling you since Saturday but I couldn't contact you, Miss Madrigal," she continued. "Can you swing by my office today? I have something to discuss with you."

I bit my lower lip. "I'm not available for today, Doc. How about tomorrow? I'm sorry, I really couldn't cancel my meeting this afternoon." My eyes flew to Marcus who was now looking at me with furrowed brows. Thank God he’s meters away from me.

"This is really important, Miss Madrigal."

"Can you tell this over the phone? I wouldn't mind. I'm sorry."

I heard her deep sigh from the other end of the line. "I misdiagnosed you, Miss Madrigal. You don't have cancer."

My free hand automatically flew to my mouth. “W-What did you say?”

“You don’t have cancer, Miss Madrigal.”

I didn’t realize Marcus was already in front of me. “Claire, What’s wrong?”

“Alright. I’ll swing by your office to discuss things with you.” I told the doctor on the other line before I put down the phone. I looked at my cousin. Then I smiled. “Nothing. Come on, are you busy right now? I’ll treat you to breakfast downstairs.”

Marcus looked at me quizzically. “Now you’re being weird, Claire.”