Chapter 35: Chapter 35

"The best defense is a good offense."

-Jack Dempsey-

***

"What do you want?" Clara's ears were turning a bright red shade from fury, if she had no manner she would literally slammed Giselle on the floor. Giselle let out a victorious grin, she tried to take control over Clara's subconscious mind, making her feel small like she did back them, by giving Clara assertive gestures.

She had no idea Clara had changed from the pain, she was no longer the most patient women in existence and facing the devil herself was a tough challenge to her restraint.

"Why do you have to come here, Clara? Can't you just let me and Marcel live in peace? Could it be you are following us here? You have no dignity, do you? Stop embarrassing yourself, he chose me already!" She made sure to emphasize the last phrase. That was the last straw.  Clara raised her hand and slapped Giselle once again, this time even harder than the last time.

Giselle touched her burning cheek once again, back then she remained silence when Clara slapped her because Clara had many backups in the house, she could not lift a finger, but this time they were both at a public workplace, no one was watching, it was just the two of them. Or so she thought.

She raised her hand to slap Clara back, but her hand was stopped in the middle of the air. She turned to see Corentin standing behind her. There were signs of displeasure on his face. In fact, it was more than just displeasure. He looked mad. After thirty seconds or so, Corentin released his grip on her, promptly headed to Clara side. He examined Clara to see if she was hurt anywhere, but there were no visible signs of injury on her.

With invisible fury, Corentin faced Giselle and asked her what she thought she was doing.  Giselle was dumbfounded. Melanie who was watching the entire thing this whole time decided to step back and mind her own business.

Giselle had not expected she would be an acquaintance of her boss. It was clear that despite the red mark on her cheek, Corentin was taking Clara's side. Giselle knew if she was to say anything reckless she could risk losing her job, as it seemed Corentin had a personal interest in Clara.

Biting her tongue, she took a step back, retreating herself from a fight which could make her lose her job within days of working. She averted her eyes from them, looking down at her shoes. It would be useless to do anything, she was powerless before him.

"What do you think you are doing?" His voice was low and eerily calm, but she could easily tell he was pissed. Of course being caught red handed like that, she could not come up with a good excuse. Corentin himself also felt like he was wasting his time since Giselle was not answering. He had given her a brief warning bringing Clara away from her. He brought her to his room, slowly helping her to sit down on the couch. She looked upset, her eyes were red covered in glassy layer tears, but not a single drop could fall.

He was silent for a second, then went up to grab a glass of water, handing it over to her. Clara thanked him and gulped down the water in one shot. After it was empty he gently took it from her hand and put it down on the table. Afterward he tapped her shoulder, asking her if she wanted to talk to him. Driven by her current stream of emotions, she started to open her mouth.

She had no idea why, but she felt like she could trust him with anything. It was a strange feeling on her part, Corentin was a laid back and chill person, it made her feel comfortable around him. He truly acted like a great friend for her. When she thought back, she found that he had done plenty for her. Clara did not even think twice before telling everything to him. Corentin listened intently. He could see tears began to form on her eyes when she started speaking about the man named Marcel.

He knelt in front of her and wiped away her tears with his thumb. He hated seeing Clara cry like that. It crushed his soul, unleashing the inner demon which wished to punish those who had hurt her. He never thought Giselle and the other guy would be so cruel. Worse, when Clara told him Giselle was already like a sister to her, it made Corentin sympathized with her even more. He found the two to be highly ungrateful. The way she expressed her story was not helping their side either.

Something surfaced inside Corentin's mind. Clara's hatred was creeping up inside him. He held Clara's hand and gently caressed them. With a gentle tone, he told her

"Don't worry, I will take care of everything" Clara did not understand what he meant by that, her mind was in so many places at once, but reality hit her once more and she realized her position was already different. She stood up and pulled a piece of tissue to gently wipe her face, careful not to ruin her makeup.

"Right, you said you are taking me out right? Let's go." Corentin could see Clara was trying to hide her pain by forcing a smile. He did not want to push the matter further now, it would ruin his day with her. The two did not have much time to begin with.

Corentin had had a few plans in mind, but looking at Clara then, he scraped off his previous plans and snatched her hand.

"Where are we going?" Clara asked him as he placed her in his car.

Corentin did not answer and just gave her a winky smile. Clara was curious but she decided to just let him drive wherever he wanted to. She could not understand why men like Raphael and Corentin never wanted to tell her where they were going every time they went out. Those two were so different in so many ways, but they had their similarities.

About Raphael, after spending the night with him that day, Clara could easily declare she was starting to fall for him. He always respected her and treated her like a queen, no man had ever treated her that way, not even Marcel. Raphael was intelligent and highly charismatic, but he was a bit off sometimes, especially when working, no one could disturb him. But gosh, he was amazing in bed.

Corentin was more lively and bubbly, for Clara, he could easily fits in as a best friend figure, she did not grow up having that many best friends as she was shy and timid when she was younger, especially toward strangers, but she was known as a little troublemaker at home, in a positive way.

Having two great male figures in her current life made her feel so grateful. Men like Marcel had carved a deep hole in her heart, but Raphael patched the hole and Corentin was the one who gave it a blanket. She felt grateful despite everything. The only thing bugging her mind was the fact that Giselle and Marcel was there in Paris as well.

Why couldn't they just let her be, she could take revenge on them if she wanted to, she had the power and resources, but she did not, all she asked for was for them to just leave her alone. Paris was a crowded and busy city, there was so little chance she would meet the two of them, yet it seemed the goddess of fate loved to fool around with people, Giselle was working for Corentin, a bloody coincidence.

She turned to look at Corentin who was driving. His attention was completely focused on the road. He would not possibly fire Giselle for her, so she buried the thought deep inside her mind.