Chapter 38: Chapter 38

"Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt."

-George Sewell-

***

Giselle had been awfully silent during the diner. Everyone who had known her knew she was not the kind to remain sulky all day long, as someone who was somewhat of a gossip woman, she always had something to say. Yet that evening she appeared bothered. Resting her hand on the side of her cheek, she kept on pushing her fork into the meat with heavy pressure. It was already ripped by the time she picked up her knife to chop them. Marcel has cooked Coq au Vin for dinner, one of Giselle's favorite meal, but she barely had any appetite. Watching his lover's unusual attitude, Marcel was starting to get suspicious.

Marcel could easily tell that something was definitely wrong from the way she had been acting since she got home from work. Usually when she was back she head straight to the kitchen to grab a glass of water before running toward him to give him a kiss. Then they would take a shower together, afterward Marcel would cook dinner while she tidied up the house a bit. Instead, right after stepping inside the house, she headed straight to the bedroom, locking the door to prevent him from bothering her. She remained there for thirty minutes before taking a shower right after he did, then she went back to their room until he called her out for dinner.

Marcel assumed she was just having a bad work day, which was expected of her, knowing her temper. He had speculated she did not get along with one or two of her co-workers, maybe she was assigned a heavy duty on the beginning of her new career, or his worst assumption was she had a terrible employer.

Giselle was a chatty woman, Usually, whenever they had a fight or something was wrong with her, he would just let her be for a while, and she would be fine, therefore he thought he would just wait until she opened up herself. Which she would probably do after eating, because as we all know, hunger could turn even the sweetest angel into a vicious demon. He asked no question, offering her more food instead to lighten up her mood. Which seemed to be an okay move, as she was not rejecting him.

Fifteen minutes had passed by since both of them were seated. Twisting her fork in the air randomly, Giselle finally decided to talk. She put down her utensils and stared right through him.

"I'm going to tell you something but you have to promise not to give me any unsolicited advice on this. I just need you to listen, nothing more." she warned in advance. One of the thing she hated the most was people giving her unsolicited advice. She was a stubborn woman who did not handle unsolicited advice really well.

He nodded, ready to listen. Giselle looked as if she was going to have a second thought about it. Marcel had to hold her hand to encourage her to speak. She started with a heavy sigh. Her lips formed a pout before opening it up to speak. Marcel thought it was going to be another random rant about work, yet what she was about to say would make quite an impact on him.

"Clara is here." Marcel froze in place. He put down his utensils, nearly dropping them instead. He leaned in closer, his attention was fixed on her words. Marcel faced Giselle who was biting the tip of her tongue. Both of them were equally shook by it, but Giselle had had a few hours to process the information while Marcel was still trying to get a grasp of it.

What? Clara is here?

"She is in Paris. Earlier she came to my office, I confronted her, what I did not expect was she seemed to be friends with my employer, he defends her and I nearly got myself in trouble." Giselle was still upset about what happened earlier. She did not know what her relations was to her new boss but judging from the way he reacted, it seemed that the man treasured her. Which only increased her disappointment further

Giselle could potentially have anger issues but usually she had them pretty well under control. Years of living with a facade had trained her to maintain a flat face under most circumstance, but it was getting worse and worse each year and there were several things she just absolutely could not stand.

On the other hand, Marcel was handling a mental battle on his own.

Marcel felt like he just heard the story of someone resurrected from death. For a while he had forgotten everything about her. Yet by the simple mention of her name, everything came back to him He recalled what he did to her, all the shame and guilt he had tried to shove on the back of his head returned to the surface once more.

It was such a terrible coincidence. He had wanted to forget about the woman he betrayed, and that was why he moved so far away, what a bad luck he had to be in the same city with him, His mind was flowing in so many different directions. The man was spacing off, and it did not please the raven haired woman beside him. Giselle clenched her cheek and shook Marcel of his own thoughts.

"What are you thinking?" Giselle was mad for he was no longer listening to what she had to say. One of the worst thing someone could possibly do was to pretend to listen, but truly did not. After all who liked to be ignored like that?

"Nothing." He lied.

Giselle could tell that Marcel was lying. Guess he did not just stopped listening. He had also learned to lie to her. Did he have any idea how much it hurt her? Worse, she had an intuition that he was thinking about Clara. Apparently Marcel had not forgotten her completely. She had tried her best to make him forget all about her, she had previously thought the night they had spent together was enough to erase all of his feelings for Clara. But judging from the look on his face, it seemed he still had some thoughts for her. He had no idea how much pain she had been through. Though she was wicked, she still wished he was more honest with her, otherwise how could they spend a future together?

"You always blink your eyes twice rapidly when you are lying, Marcel." She confronted him. Marcel was speechless. Giselle squinted her eyes, looked like the cat's got his tongue. He was just horrible at covering it up which led her to feel even more pissed. He dared to lie to her. She thought they had made an agreement to never lie to each other. Marcel seemed to notice the fury that has started to grow in her eyes, he cleared his throat alongside his mind.

"Don't worry Giselle, now I only have my eyes on you. No one else." He assured. He took her hand, gently caressing it. The gesture was not enough to ease her wrath but it did prevent her from pushing the matter further. They ended up spending dinner in a rather uncomfortable atmosphere. The air was clouded with mixed emotions between the two. He had betrayed Clara for Giselle, and it was not a momentary decision, he risked a lot to be together with her, his pride, dignity, even his own conscience. Marcel was sure he was over Clara, his mind wanted to believe it.

Yet Clara kept on appearing on his mind that night as he was laying on his bed. The guilt he had tried to remove returned. On the other side of the bed, Giselle had been fast asleep, she laid beside him with other of her arms squeezing his left arm. Even when she was asleep, she was still as possessive toward him. What could he expect, he was her prized possession. But did he really wanted to be that to her? Marcel tried to close his eyes without imagining anything yet he failed miserably.

Giselle has made the wrong move. God how he wished she had not told him about it. She should had kept it for herself. Marcel kept on thinking about it. He started to wonder what was Clara like after months. Had she grown her hair out or cut it short, did she alter her appearance, had her refined manner changed? So many questions were floating on his mind. Preventing him from falling asleep.

He lifted up one of his arm, laying it behind his head. Clara's gentle face appeared on his mind, in his own thoughts, she was embracing him, wrapping his neck with her arms. Her sweet floral scent lingered around him. She had her lips parted as she sat on top of him. His imagination was getting wilder the more he tried to resist it.

He was sure he would need a cup of strong black coffee the next morning.

***

Renee poured a cup of tea for her brother. Lemon infused Peach tea with a touch of honey. It was sweet and slightly sour, just like how she liked it. It was a rare sight. Rainier was often locked in his room with no windows. That day he looked unusually well-groomed as well per her request, she had asked the maid to groom him, but they reported back that he would not allow anyone to touch him, nearly injuring some maids who were just trying to wash his back. Though he looked more alive, his facial expression remained cold like usual.

The sun was shining brightly from the sky, the light radiated gently touching every exposed part of his ice pale skin. Giving warmth and color to his complexion. Renee was humming a song their mother used to sing to them before they were going to bed. It was called "Little Red Dove" a lullaby she composed herself for the children. It told the story of a mother dove who had a red feathered baby dove. One of her favorite song.

After stirring the tea, she placed the cup in front of him and one cup on her side of the table. She took a seat and took a small sip. The flavor spread on her mouth, it was delightful. Rainier on the other side, sat still like a mannequin, staring at the cup with no emotion.

"Try it. It's delicious." She suggested. Rainier stared at her. His stare was sharp and cold. Although they were twins, Renee felt like she was staring at some stranger's eyes.

"Not to your liking?" He remained silent.

"Oh, I forgot, you are allergic to peaches." She finished her cup and switched it with his. Because she did not want to waste the delicious liquid. She truly loved the tea. It was a personal blend which was created by a tea master from London for her. One thing only few knew about Renee was she had a tea addiction. The woman could drink up to six to seven cups a day without thinking twice about it. Among those, her favorite was peach tea.

"We are twins, but somehow only you have the peach allergy, it's funny how genetic works." She spun the cup gently with her finger and wiped away the lip mark on the edge. Picking up a napkin, she placed it in between her lips to get rid of any excess moisture.

Rainier stared at her coldly, he wanted to leave, but she would not allow him. Placing down her napkin back on the table, she gave him a small smile.

"You know, Rainier. It has been a while since we have a talk like this. I miss spending time with you." She tried to touch his hand but he pulled it away in a defensive manner. The smile disappeared from Renee's face and it was replaced by a disappointed stare.

"You are a brilliant kid. You have always been. If only you would help me out with the company. We could build an empire out of it. Remember when we were young, you always dreamed of being a king, and I was the one who told you it was impossible, because we weren't royals, but you insisted on building your own kingdom. Gosh, I miss those times." Rainier remained expressionless.

There was a bit of the tea left in the cup, and she poured them to the bush nearby, and butterflies started flying around the bush, attracted by the sweet scent derived from it. Renee shot Rainier a loving glance. He was her only companion since she was little. Although he was cold and a bit unstable ever since their parents passed away, Renee still loved her brother dearly. She had no idea why he changed, maybe the pressure of losing their beloved parents were too much for him, and it broke his mentality. Renee had to admit she was a bit disappointed in him, since she expected him to be stronger than that.

"I want to go back now." He finally admitted, his voice was hoarse, since he had not spoken much. He stood up and was about to leave when Renee spoke one more sentence.

"What do you think about my friend Clara?" Rainier froze in place and turned around. Renee flashed him a smile. It was true, her brother reacted to her name.

"I like her you know. I think she is quite lovely. She is beautiful, intelligent and exceptionally charming. Don't you agree?" Renee continued. Rainier remained silent as he shot his sister a sinister gaze. Renee on the other hand, remained unfazed as her smile brightened.

"What you did to her that day was horrible. She was scared of you. Next time she comes here you better apologize to her." Rainier turned his back on her and headed back to his room with a dark face. Who was Renee to tell him what to do? There was no way he would let her order him around like that and somehow he had a feeling those days would be over soon.