Chapter 21: Chapter 21

"Our greatest joy and our greatest pain come in relationship with others."

-Stephen R. Covey-

***

Clara had been avoiding Raphael's gaze the next day, she still felt hurt from what had happened the previous day and he was fully aware of it too. She would not come out for breakfast although the housekeeper had tried knocking on her door several times on Raphael's order.

Sometimes when she was out of her room and he was also home, he would try making conversations with her but she always tried to find excuse for something else. Most of the time she would just lock herself in the art room, her cold attitude drove him insane. He felt hurt and rejected at the same time and it was not even entirely his fault. He thought he was starting to lose his mind.

Raphael knew he messed up, he should not have let his rush of emotion controlled him. He needed to talk to her again. The silence could not go on for too long. He had to find a way of making things up to her.

During work, he could not focus, his advisor Gilbert had been talking about the proposal and their plan to expand the company's branch in China for the past thirty minutes as there was an increasing demand for their product in the Chinese market and the revenue generated from it could pass 300 million euros annually.

His tone was enthusiastic and professional. He would expect an equally enthusiastic response from Raphael. However, instead of a positive response, Raphael was acting sulky, constantly staring off the distance with an irritated gaze. Gilbert noticed there was something off with him. At that point whatever he said was pointless.

He closed the papers, and faced his friend. He asked him what was wrong but of course, Raphael was avoiding it as he tried to divert the conversation back to the work. He shrugged it off and pretended to be focused on the project again. But Gilbert was not buying it.

It was the third time that day Raphael had shrugged him off, Raphael was a born businessman, he always remained focus and aligned with work, and the last time Gilbert saw him like this was when Raphael's grandmother passed away. But this time no one passed away in his family. He assumed there had to be something bothering his mind.

He closed the presentation and kindly asked everyone else to leave. When it was finally just the two of them. Gilbert sat beside Raphael, he started shooting out questions which he had to answer and this time he would make Raphael stay inside the room until he told him what was wrong out of concern as a friend.

Eventually after trying to persuade him for nearly ten minutes. Raphael started to speak about his problems in detail. He could not lie to him. Gilbert had that power over Raphael to make him tell the truth, although his position in the company was right under Raphael, but he was Raphael's right arm, Raphael trusted him.

"It's about a woman, okay." Upon the confession, Gilbert was holding back his laughter in his head, as he maintained his poker face. An hour passed and Raphael ended up telling him everything. Gilbert could not relate to his friend's problem, after all, his own love life was far less complicated than what his friend was through.

He was married with a son, his wife was busy taking care of their son and he was busy with work, there was no time to argue or fight over little things for them. But he tried to remain as neutral as possible and gave Raphael a simple advice.

"You, my friend, is a fool at love." Ouch.

One thing he liked about Gilbert was although he was smooth when it came down to business, he was always direct and honest with Raphael. Doesn't mean it did not hurt. Raphael's Pride was a bit wounded by his statement but at the same time, what he said was the plain truth, he was inexperienced with love, and Clara was his first, he had no idea how to properly behave around her.

What he knew was that every time he looked at her, he wanted her, he had an urge of possessiveness, he wanted to touch her, to love her, and he wanted her to love him back. It was as simple as that. However, in practice, it was far more difficult than what he had imagined in his head.

"What do you think I should do?" He bit his finger. Gilbert thought about it for a second, he was observing Raphael's facial expression and found hints of anxiety in him. An emotion he rarely ever found in the man. It appeared to be more serious than he initially thought. He sighed and stood up.

"I would like to defend you, but this time, you are at fault. I suggest you apologize to her."  He left it at that. He patted Raphael's shoulder and left him to ponder it by himself.

What an useful advice.

Still, he had some truth in it, yes, perhaps he had been lying a bit to Clara about the women around him. It was not as if Raphael had no idea that Jovanna was smitten with him. He should have known there would be some times when she would come and hang around them, both for personal and business reason.

Had he mentioned it to Clara in advance then perhaps she would not react the way she did. He could tell there was a brief signs of jealousy in her eyes and it was rightfully so considering the state of their relationship. Raphael knew no women liked it when another woman tried to hang around him and get too close, it's the nature of women.

He too, was a possessive man, he would never want anyone to hang around Clara like that. He would hate it if someone was to come and get too comfy with her. That was why he should have never let Jovanna near him to begin with.

Gilbert stood up from where he was standing and gave his friend a tap on the shoulder. He leaned in and gave one last piece of advice to him.

"I suggest you also gift her something. Women love gifts. It never fails to impress." That was something Raphael already knew subconsciously, but he was glad someone reminded that. Gilbert eventually left the room and Raphael was the only person left there.

He brainstormed to plan his apology, yes, he needed to do it. He was afraid if he didn't, he would lose her favor forever or taint his image in her eyes and that thought truly scared him.

After a while, he cursed underneath his breath, still with headache on, he stood up from his seat and left the room.