Claire was pleased Mrs Allen hadn't paid a visit since she arrived home. It had been very early Wednesday morning when the cab had dropped her off, and she had gone straight to bed, after sending Jon a text as he'd requested. It had been hard to leave him at the airport, and she'd seen it in his eyes as well. He wasn't comfortable leaving her, but he had a convention meet and greet he had to attend the following day. He'd repeated what he'd said to her at the park; that he was sorry, and he would fix this. It's not his problem to fix, Claire thought as the tears began to flow.
In the last twelve hours, while she had thought too much about the situation, none of it had been overly rational. She had cried, and screamed, jumped to conclusions and got angry. Now she was at home, with no one to distract her, she couldn't help but revisit everything over and over. As far as she could see, with her best unemotive rationale, there were two issues to address. The first was Zane and his view that she had been unprofessional. He had seemed to soften slightly as he said goodbye to her in the parking lot, but Claire was aware he was required to be her boss above showing compassion or empathy. She knew he had to think about precedents and showing the rest of the team that sleeping with the talent wasn't advisable. She was reasonable enough to understand that. She could only hope that, in return, he would be reasonable enough to listen to her and realise it wasn't just scratching an itch with Jon. And at no stage had her standards dropped. She was committed to her job, and Jon knew that, so she was prepared to fight back on that one. At least I've got a few days to assemble a compelling argument...
The other point she would need to tackle was Carl. She would never claim she and Carl were close friends, but she thought they'd turned a corner recently. She felt betrayed by his outburst in the meeting. Everything about it had been so cutting; his tone, his words and his timing. She'd have been upset with him even if he'd revealed her relationship to Zane privately, but in front of everyone was the worst scenario she could imagine. She wondered if that had been intentional. She wanted to believe he wouldn't be so calculating, but she had also wanted to believe he wouldn't say anything in the first place, so she didn't know what to think anymore. She was trying to think rationally, but she wasn't yet a stage to contemplate forgiving him. Even if everything returned to normal tomorrow, she didn't think she'd be able to accept what he'd done. He'd humiliated her in front of their colleagues, because they simply didn't understand what was happening between her and Jon. And he might've ruined my career, she thought.
Jon had told her he'd spoken to Carl before he left the venue. He didn't say much else than "We had a little chat", and Claire imagined how that would've played out. The only thing she asked was if he'd hit him. Jon had shook his head and told her that while he was furious at Carl, he hadn't wanted to make the situation any worse. Claire believed him, and was thankful he'd been so perceptive. Even though I'm close to wanting to watch him kick the crap out of Carl. Jon being violent or even aggressive wouldn't have helped things at all. She did hope, however, that whatever Jon had said had rattled Carl. She couldn't think of an equivalent action which would affect him like what he had done to her, so she wanted to believe Jon had done enough to let Carl know he better think twice before showing his face in front of Claire. I could always reveal to Zane what him and Lucy have been up to… As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she admonished herself. She wasn't that type of person, not by a long shot. It was none of her business what Lucy and Carl got up to, and it was certainly wasn't her place to reveal that to Zane. If only Carl had paid her the same respect.
Lucy. Claire felt bad that she'd not returned her calls or texts. In the heat of the moment on Tuesday night, she didn't want to talk to anyone other than Jon. She knew Lucy was worried about her, especially with the look she'd given her as she and Zane left the building. But Claire had known if she spoke to anyone about the situation, she'd break down. And the only person she wanted to do that in front of was Jon. She sat at her laptop and brought up a Facebook message to Lucy.
Hey Luce. Sorry for not getting back to you. Things are looking pretty shit at the moment. You'll be doing the rotation by yourself this weekend, if Zee hasn't told you already. I don't really want to go into it like this, but I'll keep in touch when I have more info, okay? Thanks for caring though. Appreciate it.
The message was quite vague and distant, even though she didn't intend it to be. She didn't want to go over things with her in a message, and she didn't know if she was meant to be talking to anyone else about it. Within a few minutes she had a reply from Lucy:
Hey. I've not heard anything from Zane – why are you not working this weekend?
Claire didn't want to answer that right now. Surely Zane would have to tell her before the weekend anyway. Another reply popped up in the chat window.
And don't worry, I f**king laid into Carl. He's an asshole and I told him he's a worthless piece of shit. I won't be going near him again. What he did was messed up. I can't believe he had the balls to do that. I hope Zane hauls him over the coals for it. It was totally uncalled for. Remember, Team Claire all the way. Here if you want to talk.
Claire didn't know what to say, so she just thanked Lucy and put a smiley emoji on the end, trying to convey a sense of calm she certainly wasn't feeling. She sighed, put her laptop away and decided to head out for a run in an attempt to clear her head.
/
Later that evening, there was a knock on her door. She was expecting Mrs Allen to appear at some stage, so wasn't surprised to see her standing on the other side. What did surprise her was the enormous bunch of yellow roses she was holding, almost bigger than she was. "Hello dear, these came for you earlier," she said, handing them over to Claire and making her way inside. Claire adjusted the flowers in her arms in order to close the door, watching Mrs Allen drop her mail on the table, along with freshly baked bread. Claire placed the flowers on her counter and opened the card.
To brighten your day and bring that smile back. Jonny.
Claire did smile, and Mrs Allen didn't miss it. "I think he likes you" she said with a knowing grin. "And I think you like him." Claire nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right," she replied. A moment passed before Claire added "I don't have a vase big enough for these!" They both laughed. Claire left the roses in the sink momentarily and sat down beside Mrs Allen. "He seemed like a nice young man," she started. "Tell me. Is he good to you?" Claire blinked slowly. He'd been nothing but good to her. The aloofness and near-permanent snarl he'd had when they first met had burnt away to reveal a caring man with a true heart and, whilst often unconventional, a sense of romance that left her with no doubt about the depth of his intentions. "He really is. He's different than other guys, but he's very good to me." Mrs Allen nodded. "Different is not bad, dear. Maybe he's got the difference that was missing before. The difference that will work." Claire thought about that. There was nothing about him that was similar to guys she'd dated before; everything from his job to level of education to his colourings. She was typically the tall, dark and handsome type. He'd made her break all her rules, not just the ones about not dating anyone she worked with. Mrs Allen's voice pierced her thoughts. "How is it working with him?" Claire screwed her face up slightly. Do I tell her the truth? "It's good. We don't do exactly the same thing so we're not working closely together all day. Our paths cross sometimes, but mostly it's meeting up after work." There. None of that was a lie. Mrs Allen nodded. "That's nice. A little bit of space will be healthy. When Bill and I owned the shoe shop we squabbled something terrible. We were always bringing work home with us. We never got time to just be together; there was always work or the children to worry about. It was a very tough few years, until I decided I needed to do something else. Then things went back to normal. I saw him as my husband again." There was a sweet, nostalgic smile on her face, and Claire was smiling too. She hoped one day she would be able to regale a younger generation with stories of the man she spent her life with. The thought gave her a warm feeling inside, which was a nice change from the past 24 hours. Claire told Mrs Allen she had a week's leave, without defining which type of leave. "That's good to hear, honey. You've been working too hard. Put your feet up and enjoy. I'll stay out of your way, but you know where to come if you want fresh baking or conversation."
/
Claire had just hung up from talking to Jon when she saw a Facebook notification appear on her phone. Another message from Lucy. Claire settled into bed, turning the light off and plugging in her phone, before opening the message.
So, what does this mean for you and Ambrose though? Is it like him or the job? Because that would suck.
Claire felt a pressure build behind her eyes, and soon enough they had filled with tears. Lucy, direct as always, had forced her to think about the question she had deliberately pushed away from conscious thought. That would suck, she agreed as she put her phone on the bedside table. She turned onto her side and pulled the pillow Jon had slept on last week close to her. It smelled faintly of him, and she heard a tear fall from her face into the crisp cotton. What would I do if Zane gave me an ultimatum - stay with Jon, lose my job?She shook the thought from her mind, but worried it was something she may need to address in the coming days.