Chapter 9: Claire

I woke up to a very loud knock on the door. It kept going even though I tried to ignore it. My room was pitch black. I lost my orientation for a moment and let the knocker keep knocking on the door.

“Where am I?”

I sat up and tried to remember what I was doing before I fell asleep.

The blanket on my chest had fallen and bunched around my waist. I wasn't wearing anything underneath, but my skin was damp and smelled of the sweetest lavender. I think I’m starting to remember what happened to me before I fell asleep.

Raviel and I came back from the beach after two hours of very pleasant sunbathing. We talked about many things and got away from the intimate things that had been stressing me out. He told me about some of his businesses. He shared with me some tips and tricks on how to become a successful businessman. I was very sleepy as I listened to him talk so enthusiastically. Raviel then took me back to the resort. I happily agreed because I was really sleepy and needed a bed. But because my body was sticky and covered in dust, I went to take a shower first before falling without resistance on my very soft bed.

I found my towel on the floor as I got out of bed. It was already dry when I picked it up.

The knocking sound came again. I looked left and right to find my bathrobe, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around my naked body.

I walked hurriedly across the very spacious suite. My foot accidentally kicked the leg of the sofa and I groaned in pain while holding my throbbing toes.

“Ouch! Who put the sofa here? Where’s the light switch?”

I limped to find the light switch, while the knocker was still knocking loudly outside. The knocking sound started to sound irregular, and more brutal. He must have lost patience because I took too long to open the door.

“Wait a minute. I’m coming.”

Finally, I managed to find the light switch and my suite became brightly lit. The sofa that I had bumped into earlier sat still in the middle of the room. I was still annoyed with it because it made my big toe throb with pain.

“Claire, are you in there?”

I walked hurriedly to the door, then peeked through the peephole.

“Raviel!”

I jerked the door open quickly. Raviel stood stiffly in front of the door, staring at me from head to toe.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I hugged the blanket tightly to my chest.

How stupid of me to show up with just a blanket in front of my stepdad.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I fell asleep after coming back from the beach. What’s wrong?”

“Do you want to have dinner with me?”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I turned to the right, towards the tightly closed door of his suite. I just realized that my mother wasn’t with him. Raviel was literally standing alone in front of my suite door. He looked so stunning in his jeans and a plain white short-sleeved shirt with three buttons left open. His copper hair swayed gently, every time the beach breeze blew around us.

God! I couldn’t forget his topless body even though he was fully dressed. Everything that happened on the beach really messed up my mind. I couldn’t be objective anymore when I saw him. Especially when I saw his palms and his very strong fingers. My whole body shuddered, remembering every touch he had on my skin.

I cleared my throat softly to get rid of the dirty things that were nesting in my brain.

“Where’s mom? Is she still jet-lagged?”

“Yeah, she’s still very jet-lagged. She doesn’t want to go anywhere, and just wants to stay in our room. I’ve already booked a table for dinner in the lounge.”

“So?” I raised my eyebrows, pretending to be innocent.

I didn’t want to seem too excited about the possibility of him asking me out for dinner to replace my jet-lagged mother. He might get suspicious of my overreaction.

“Do you want to have dinner with me in the lounge?”

“Umm… But I…”

“It’s okay. I won’t force you if you already have plans tonight. I’ll cancel it and order room service.”

“That’s not what I meant. I don’t have any plans tonight,” I blurted out quickly before Raviel could cancel his reservation.

I was just trying to play hard to get. I realized that I had said yes too easily to my stepdad. And even this time, I couldn’t say no even though I had decided to keep my distance from him. But I was sure we would drift apart on our own once my mother recovered from her jet-lag.

“Do I need to see Mom?”

“I don’t think she’ll like it if you bother her right now.”

Raviel cleared his throat softly. He put his hands in his pockets, looking bored.

“So, will you have dinner with me?”

“Okay, I will have dinner with you. Do you mind waiting for a while? I’ll change quickly.”

“Okay. Wear something comfortable. No need to be too formal.”

I nodded and motioned for him to wait a moment.

This dinner was so sudden, and I didn’t prepare an outfit for it. All my clothes were still in my suitcase and only my bikini was on the top pile.

I took a deep breath and started unpacking my suitcase like a wild girl. I didn’t want to make Raviel wait any longer since he had already waited for me for so long before.

But damn! All my clothes were at the bottom of my suitcase. I had to take them out one by one before I found a red dress with floral patterns that looked simple, but cute. The dress was a graduation gift from my high school friend, Emma Starling. I had never worn the dress because I never found the chance to wear it. And I thought tonight was the perfect time to wear it.

I finished dressing and applying light makeup to my face in five minutes. I didn’t want to put anything on my face at first, but considering how neat and classy Raviel looked, even in simple clothes, I decided to put some makeup on my face. A little orange lipstick and blush would do the trick to brighten up my look tonight.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s ok. I used my time to reply to the emails that came in this afternoon.”

Raviel tucked his phone into his pants pocket. His gaze never left my body. I could tell that he was satisfied with what I was wearing. The boredom in his eyes had turned into a sparkle of enthusiasm. I wish I could always see him like that.

“I thought you wouldn’t be dealing with your work during the holidays.”

I made the first conversation after we got out of our suite area. The lounge we were headed to was near the resort’s main restaurant. We had to walk through a path lined with palm trees to an open area, past a playground, and a garden. Every VIP guest got a buggy to go to the restaurant, but Raviel just told me that he wanted to walk to the lounge instead of using the buggy.

“Those jobs are unavoidable. No matter how hard I try to get away from them, there are always things that make me have to go back to them. So yeah, this is how I enjoy life.”

“I thought being rich was fun.”

“There’s always a price to pay for all the privileges we have. By the way, how does it feel to be a psychology student who studies human behavior all the time? Do you ever get bored?”

“Bored? No. I like it. I like being around strangers and observing them. Humans are unique and interesting. I can hardly resist making simple observations of the people around me.”

“So you’ve been observing me all this time?”

“Well, I couldn’t pass up the chance to observe you when I’m this close to you, right?” I chuckled softly.

“Tell me how you rate me so far?”

“Hmm… You are a mysterious man full of surprises. I mean there are a lot of things that I didn’t see before, and it turns out you have them.”

“What are some examples?”

“You’re a humorous person. I thought you were very cold, mysterious, and never laughed.”

Raviel laughed at my ridiculous assessment of him. His laugh was so crisp and melodious. My stepdad really had a unique personality. It made me always want to be near him to reveal more of his personality that he hid from the people around him.

“I’m a normal human being, Claire. I have emotions, and, of course, I can laugh. I just don’t laugh every day. I only laugh when I have something to laugh about.”

“Still, you’re unique in my eyes. I wish I could have known you better in the past, but well…” I shrugged my shoulders slowly.

“But we’re too busy with our own things, aren’t we?”

Our short conversation stopped abruptly when we arrived at the lounge. The place was very beautiful with a very beautiful beach view and live music. Everyone who was having dinner at the lounge were couples in love. Maybe we were the only ones who weren’t a couple here. But Raviel booked the table to have dinner with my mom. I just replaced her because she wasn’t feeling well.

Don’t get a big head and think that Raviel prepared all this for you, Claire!

“Our table is over there.”

My focus immediately shifted to the food served on the table. Raviel had ordered food before we arrived at the lounge to save time, so we wouldn’t have to wait too long for our food to arrive. And I was very grateful for that because I was very hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything since I got off the plane. My saliva almost dripped as my eyes explored the food one by one. And guess what, I found one of my favorite foods among them. Great!

“How did you know I really like grilled salmon?”

“Just a random guess.”

Raviel pulled out a chair for me like a true gentleman. Again, it made me forget that he was my stepdad, and not my boyfriend.

“Thank you. I really like grilled salmon.”

“Eat it and don’t leave a single thing on your plate.”

“I won’t. Maybe I will embarrass you with my pig-like eating style. Mom said I’m fat like a pig.”

“I think your mother is exaggerating. You are not at all fat like a pig,” Raviel stroked my cheek gently.

“Your mother is just jealous of you because you are still young and fresh like a flower that has just bloomed in the garden.”

I chuckled at his words. “There’s no way my mother would be jealous of me. She has everything a woman in the world could want.”

Raviel stared at me intently before gracefully placing the napkin on his thigh. He seemed indifferent, but the words that came out of his mouth after that managed to make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Trust me, your mother has a thousand and one reasons to be jealous of you, Claire. You’re the lucky one.”

And he smirked at me.