The kiss refused to leave Claire's lips for so many hours since yesterday evening. Her cheeks flushed at the mere remembrance of Ryan's mouth taking charge of hers, easily destroying her private vow to keep herself sexually uninvolved as she'd been doing for the past four years until she was absolutely sure of the guy.

This is madness! Claire scolded herself while pushing her unbidden desire back to wherever they came from.

"Don't fall for his charms, Claire Levy. You and him... it's not gonna work," she thought out loud, oblivious that she was in the café although alone at an empty table at the corner.

"What's not going to work?" A charming voice snapped her from her trance.

She nearly jumped from her seat before yelling, "Bruno!" in a frantic voice.

"The one and only." He was here, staring at her with a grin rich with mischief. "You were talking to yourself loud enough. Having problems?" he quizzed, a slight concern on his face as he pulled a chair away from the table.

A problem? No. It was more of a situation and she had to immediately snap out of it. Claire smiled a bit illusively, her eyes trailing his movement until he took a seat across from her.

"It's nothing, and you're late," she said casually, changing the subject.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, beautiful. The traffic was bad but I still couldn't miss the chance of seeing you. Did you wait long?" Bruno asked.

"Not really. How are you?" Claire sipped her abandoned juice once again, nearly downing the glass as the weather had warmed up today and it was very bright outside.

A normal peaceful day.

"Great." Bruno smiled sweetly while rolling up the sleeves of his casual, button-up shirt, and then he propped his elbows on the table. Sighing, he urgently said, "I also have to meet Ryan in a few minutes so... how about we go together if you don't have other plans? I mean, we can just have lunch and talk and I'll be more than pleased." He grinned, hopeful.

Ryan? Hell no!

"No, I can't," Claire replied promptly.

"Oh, come on!" Bruno cried, binding his big palms together pleadingly. "Just one hour and we'll be done. No, just thirty minutes! I just want to..." Rearing back, he ran a hand through his ruffled curls, suddenly perplexed. "Well, I just want us all together as it's been two years since I had such moments with him and everyone else around here."

Claire scowled at that, unable to fully understand him, in general, the more they got closer each new day. If she thought Ryan was a package of mystery, then Bruno was slowly turning the tables.

"Bruno, are you scared of your brother?" she uttered her exact thoughts, staring at him inquisitively. He was tapping his fingers restlessly on the table. "This is exactly what happened the last time you took me to your house. You needed a sidekick; I wasn't dense not to notice, and it's what you're doing now. What's going on with you? Why are you afraid of them while they're your family?"

Bruno breathed uncomfortably and the tap of his fingers stopped. He sat upright, drawing his hands onto his lap, a spectrum of emotions bathed in his eyes.

"I'm the reason why our mother died, Claire," he said without enough confidence to look her in the eyes.

"What?" Her gaze froze affixed on him.

Bruno took a nervous sigh, shutting his eyes at the painful memory that seemed to be haunting him still even after all those years. When he flashed them open, they were glowing with distant tears, and Claire's heart ached for him.

"I had a fight with my mother the day she died," Bruno started, his gaze on his fingers that were now interlaced on the table until he shifted onto Claire's face. "I was just a foolish college kid who thought I had it all together back then. I wanted to live as I pleased and she was constantly on my back asking me to be as responsible as Ryan, and maybe help my brother with the company and stuff while that was never my dream, to begin with."

Claire couldn't say a thing, but her heart was beating faster. She couldn't put herself in his place even when she tried to.

"So... we had an argument that evening over the same thing," he went on. "But it was different this time because for once she gave in to me. She told me to pursue anything I wanted and forget about the company unless I choose to in the future." He smiled bittersweetly, running the back of his hand swiftly over his eyes, and glanced away for a brief moment.

Claire smiled along, but she still couldn't say a word. She only waited for him to go on, to let it all out as it seemed as painful as her demonic memories.

Glancing back at her, Bruno continued, "I was so happy that we somehow spoke the same language for once, and so was she. It's not that we had a bad relationship, Claire. No, she was the best mom a boy could ask for. We just... had frequent on-and-off. What I didn't know was that it was going to be the last conversation I was ever going to have with her." Pain weighed on him now, so he let the teardrop fall.

"How did she die, Bruno?" Claire inquired softly, sadness engulfing her being, and in a way, all she could imagine was her mom's dead body under the rain.

"She bought me a new camera and wanted to give it to me," Bruno said, his voice laced with thick melancholy despite his broad smile. "After our long chat that evening, I left her bedroom and suddenly heard her calling. I was downstairs so she was barreling with sheer excitement, holding that camera box toward me. I don't know what happened... It was too fast... But she tripped and fell on her back and hit her head at the edge of... one of the steps or something." He was in tears and he no longer cares to hide it now.

"Oh, Bruno," Claire whispered, pulling her handkerchief from her purse and handing it to him.

He laughed a bit, mainly from the gesture.

"So she died right on the spot, Claire. She couldn't even say a word." He used the handkerchief but his tears wouldn't stop.

Claire reached for his left hand on the table and squeezed it tightly.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry but it's not your fault, Bruno. It was an accident and I'm sure your grandfather... your brother, too... they all think so. They love you. I can tell from the way they received you that day. They don't blame you at all so stop feeling as if they do."

"I took something precious from them, Claire. How can they not hate me? I can't even look them in the eyes without feeling so... so guilty!" Bruno confessed.

"No, you got to forgive yourself, Bruno. That's the only way to get over this," Clare told him, using her both hands to hold him this time, giving him her full affection and understanding as a true friend would. "Is that the reason why you left? You told me you've been around Europe for two years, roaming from place to place."

"Yeah. I needed to find the courage."

"Well then, the fact that you came back here means you did find that courage," Claire said placidly. "Use it. Forgive yourself because they don't hold anything against you and I'm sure you can feel it. I don't have a real family of my own but I believe that's what they do. They forgive each other. And if you want me to go with you to see your brother, I can do it one last time." She grinned.

Bruno chuckled, somehow back to his normal equilibrium.

"Well, as long as you're buying the food," Claire added.

"No, we'll make my brother buy the food. He's the rich one," Bruno muttered and they both laughed for a change.

Moments later they were in the lobby of Ryan's office building, a silver skyscraper with a bold SK Group sign at the entrance. Claire held her breath so tightly as Ryan appeared from the elevator in the company of a woman. She was familiar, Claire's mind was photographic enough to notice.

The mall. She was the woman from the mall, Claire reckoned while studying her closer the more she approached.

Tall and feminine, the brunette woman was dressed in a black office dress, coated with a pale-pink blazer. Around her long neck was a pearl necklace that blended perfectly with her high-heeled pumps of a similar cream color. Her hair, shiny and raven, had fallen neatly down to her shoulders.

She had a big smile on her nude lips, and she was beautiful indeed.

As for Ryan, he was in a black suit which defined his CEO position flawlessly. They were, without a doubt, a perfect match in everyone's eyes even though their relationship was a mystery to Claire. And when she recalled that foolish kiss last night, her insides revolved from self-loathe.

It was so pathetic of her!

"Claire?" Ryan regarded her in such style, his eyes a bit narrowed in a confusing design. "I see you're together." He was facing Bruno now, nothing explicable projected in his baritone voice.

"She was my date today." Bruno snaked a hand around Claire's shoulder, grinning boyishly.

"Wait. Claire?" Ryan's gorgeous companion cocked her head to one side, her eyes bright and slightly thoughtful. "Claire. Oh, it's her, right?" She faced Ryan stoutly. "The girl you saved?" she added, smiling broadly as though it was something pleasant to say out loud.

Claire firmed her eyes at both Ryan and his woman without a word. So he broadcast about saving her and even went on branding her as a girl while she was a grown-ass woman? She was begrudging about it, and Ryan's eyes couldn't leave hers even when he nodded his head in response to the question.

"Hi, Claire. I heard a lot about you from Ryan," the other woman said, smiling at her amiably. "I'm Doris. You can call me" — she trained her eyes at Ryan in a very playful manner — "Ryan's girlfriend."

A pang of reality hit Claire hard on the chest. Girlfriend?

"Here we go..." Bruno muttered under his breath.

Doris continued: "And to this punk... I'm a big sister who's about to punch his face so hard until he tells me where he's been all this damn time!" She lurched toward Bruno, who jerked away swiftly while laughing so loud and jollily. "Come here! Come here, you jerk!" She ran after him.

"Stop it, Doris!" Bruno begged, both loitering adorably around Ryan like kids.

Claire was hardly paying attention to those two. Her cold focus was on Ryan.

"Okay, okay. You can kill me later but not in front of everyone," she heard Bruno say, but there was too much going on in her head to entertain him and his sister-in-law.

Ryan played her for a fool. Bastard! Her fists clenched to her sides, and it irked her that he dared to stare back at her so arrogantly as though he wasn't the same man who took her to dinner last night and returned the kiss she foolishly instigated.

"Okay, you idiot! I missed you." Doris pulled Bruno into a hug. "I'm glad you're back." She sounded happy and relieved.

Claire pulled in a deep breath and shifted her gaze toward Bruno and the gorgeous brunette. As she predicted, they all cared about him, and she was glad to prove him wrong about his unwarranted fear of them hating him.

Ignoring the sentiments resembling a scene from the movie, Ryan finally uttered, "How about we go for that lunch, now that you've all hugged enough?" His voice was monotonous, and he was no longer paying attention to Claire as he'd been doing for the past few minutes.

"Great! Shall we?" Bruno offered his hand to Claire, a grateful and excited smile plastered all over his features.

But Claire didn't accept it. She wasn't going to spend another minute with the guy who kissed her terrifically knowing he had a girlfriend waiting for him.

What a jerk! Her breath turned erratic each time her eyes met the smoldering pair of golden irises that reminded her of nothing but fire.

"I'm sorry, Bruno, I'm afraid I have to go," she said softly, urgently. "I forgot something important and I think you're in safe hands now so kindly free this sidekick of yours, uh?" Her smile was rueful.

Bruno frowned. "What? But—"

"I'll call you," Claire interrupted him while shouldering her bag steadily.

Although reluctantly and with so many questions in his eyes, Bruno gave in. "Alright," he said.

"She's leaving? Why?" Doris remarked with disappointment in her dark, mascaraed eyes. "I was honestly anticipating having lunch together, Claire... that way Bruno can tell us about his intention toward you."

"Take a chill pill, Doris!" Bruno hissed, and it was so evident that the two seemed to love bickering even on little things.

However, Ryan's disposition wasn't as sassy as theirs upon Doris' insinuation. His lips twitched and his jaw tightened almost visibly, but he said nothing.

"Seriously, can't you stay, Claire?" Doris insisted with pouty lips, enclosing her hands together to her front.

"Maybe some other time." Claire smiled tightly.

Doris persisted. "Really? But it won't—"

"She said she has things to do!" Ryan snapped. "Are we going to spend the rest of our lives discussing this? I only have thirty minutes left before my next meeting so I don't have time for this." He cast an impatient glance on his watch, and it was enough to fuel the flames of anger that seared through Claire like the burn of strong acid.

Asshole! She cursed him inwardly.

"He's right," she then uttered, glaring at him gravely. "Enjoy your meal, and it was a pleasure meeting you, Doris."

"Mine as well," Doris remarked.

Claire muttered, "Jerk," as she walked past Ryan, and he heard it clearly.

It was pouring heavily later at night. Unable to get a wink of sleep, Claire walked out of bed and dropped on the comfy couch near the window from which she could see the water drizzling against the glass shield. The rain didn't terrify her today for two reasons: first, she was safe inside her bedroom, and lastly, her mind could only think of Ryan the more it rained outside.

Sighing, her memory ran back to the afternoon when Doris introduced herself as Ryan's girlfriend. She couldn't let it go. She couldn't stand it either.

"Cut it out, Claire! It's not like you love him or something," she breathed, wondering why she was getting invested in that jerk more than she cared to admit.

Was it his fluctuating personality that made her on the fence, unsure whether to stay or go? He was sometimes warm, and sometimes very cold with stark indifference. For confusing her, Clare hated Ryan Stevens.

He has a girlfriend, she made a stern mental reminder that only drove her crazier. Why the fuck did she have to kiss him that night? It all started with that stupid dinner! If she didn't go with him, none of it would have happened.

Thinking of him, she stretched her hand and unplugged her cell phone from the charger. She stared at it thoughtfully for a while, the name RYAN THE JERK bright on her recent contacts list.

No, Claire. You'll only get hurt. She could hear her inner voice telling her, but her body had a mind of its own. She sent Ryan a text.

To: Ryan the jerk
You owe me an apology, you bastard!
(Sent: 21: 30 P.M)

She wasn't expecting a reply, but she was surprised to hear her phone chirping a few minutes later. She opened the text immediately and read:

Do I?
(Received: 21: 33 P.M)

"Bastard," Claire murmured, sitting upright, and she was ready to respond with so many profanities her foul mouth had ever known.

What the hell was she looking for, though? Trouble? She paused, thinking, pondering hard, and suddenly there was an incoming call... from him.

_____________

A/N: Anyone else feeling cheated by Ryan? How dare he fool us? Hahaa, thank you for reading. Merry X-mass to you darlings.