Claire closed her book and turned to her right to switch the lamp off as she climbed down the bed and padded her way towards the kitchen where she finds Maria already preparing dinner "need some help?" She asked placing her palms on counter facing Maria with raised eyebrows and a slight smile lingering on her lips.

"Um not really but If you want you can prepare salad" Maria spoke while passing tomatoes to Claire. "Sure" Claire grabbed a knife from the knife stand before indulging herself in chopping with little conversation here and there.

"Maria, you have known Marcellus for like more than four years right?" Claire asked cutting tomatoes in thin slices "Yes for good five years" Maria wiped her hands on apron "Hmm, so how is he" Claire turned to Maria chewing inside of her lips as she saw Maria frowning, her facial expressions giving out confusion "I meant like nature vise how would you describe him" she can't let her think that she doesn't know anything about him because then it will raise questions, "Nature vise if you ask he is a really humble man-" Maria started "humble my foot" Claire snorted looking up at Maria who was looking at her perplexed "continue" Claire smiled gesturing Maria to continue "he is kind, he helped my family when we needed the help most, he loves his employees and those who work for him, he cares for them." Claire nodded "He behaves like human with everyone" She spoke to which Maria laughed a little shaking her head.

Why does he go all caveman with me then.

Claire huffed "Here done" She slides the tray towards Maria when she heard a doorbell Claire groaned internally as she dragged herself towards the door and swinged it open "Why on earth do you ring the door bell when you know the god damn passcode, just why!!" She hissed grabbing the door glaring at him "so tell me how many times have you moved your lazy ass off your bed today?" Marcellus asks striding in "I am doing you a favour at least you move your legs to walk to the door and open it and as far as I heard the last time walking is good for health" he stops In mid turning on his heels as he faced her smirking while she shoots daggers at his way "You don't have to look after my health" She spat.

Marcellus shrugged making his towards the kitchen to fitch himself a glass of water, Claire's eyes followed him until he got disappeared in the kitchen she scrunched up her nose frowning "walking is good for health" she mocked him "Crack head" she stomped her left foot dashing her way to kitchen, she walked straight to him as he took a water bottle out she banged the refrigerator's door with a thud leaving both Marcellus and Maria stunned.

Marcellus was the first one to recover he twisted the cap and gulped down water while Maria stopped doing what she was doing at kept staring at her, Claire smiled at Maria and faced Marcellus "Darling you are home early today" she smiled at him. Now this was one those times when he choked on water and she smirked looking at him "Oh my god what happened" Claire faked her concern towards him, Marcellus shakes his head when she keeps her hand on his shoulder.

Choke! choke and die.

"Are you alright" She subsided the laugh which was about to emerge from her throat by biting her lips hard, He nodded coughing removing her hands from his shoulder and walked to his room. Claire turned around with raised eyebrows and a smile "wow, nice you did a good job" she patted her shoulder moving to Maria "lets set the table" she spoke picking up the cutleries and walked out of the kitchen.

Table was set in fifteen minutes "I will leave now" Maria informed before departing "Goodnight" Claire replied as she takes her seat and started serving herself when Marcellus came out of his room. He sat on his chair adjacent to hers, silence consumes the room forks and spoons clashing with plates were the only sound before a thick masculine voice broke out "Have you packed your stuff" Marcellus spoke without looking at her chewing his food "Uh wait let me guess" Claire kept her forefinger under her chin looking up pretending to be deep in thoughts before looking down at him "No". He gazed at her frowning "And I will not pack anything unless you tell me what is it and why are we leaving" she shrugged "You think you can order me and I will obey to you, i am not going anywhere".

Marcellus stopped eating he puts his fork down on plate before giving her his attention "Princess I have little to no interest in taking you there with me but-" he holds his forefinger up "I can't trust you with this apartment, i don't want it to be burnt down by the time I return" he resumed eating. Claire was seething by now "burn apartment! What if I just burn you down instead" she snapped.

"And jail is just a room" He spoke casually "Oh trust me I would rather stay there" her grip on her fork tightened as she glared at him. Marcellus sighed "I have to go to deal with some business related issues, so I asked you to pack as well because as I said I can't trust" he gestured with his hands looking around the house.

"You know what I remember something" she gazed at her nails as she blew air on them referring to the conversation they had the few days after they signed those papers to which Marcellus raised his eyebrows.

At morning Claire got ready to leave for her work, she was about to step out when a voice from behind stopped her "Where are you going" he asked standing tall in the middle of the hall with his hands folded across his chest.

Claire turned around giving him a tight lipped smile "work? If you remember I used to work at a very unfortunate place where I met you" She replied "You aren't going anywhere" he stalked towards her and stopped Infront of her.

"And why do you think I will listen to you" She half laughed and half scowl before turning to leave "I said you are not going anywhere" this time his tone was demanding which sent chills down her spine "why" she asked looking up at him frowning "I don't want you to work there at least for six months after that you can go back to your work" he replied.

"Why can't I go now?" Claire asked confused "If I can go after six months then why not today?". He sighed "because after six months you wouldn't be my wife and I don't want people to make gossips about us so just for six months don't go" he stopped for few seconds before speaking again "How about you take these six months as a vacation?" He offered to which she thought for a while before narrowing her eyes at him "more like six months in prison where I can't do anything of my choice" she spat and dashed towards her room closing it with a loud thud to let him know she was pissed at him.

"A vacation you said, remember" she dazzled a smile towards his way "since you don't want to take me there on your own will, what's the best time other than this to go with you" a smirk formed on her lips "heard its a nice place".

Marcellus glared down at her knowing fully well her intentions, Claire got up from her chair collecting all her plates and forks "At what time do we have to leave" she asked picking up the spoon, Marcellus leaned back on his seat chewing the inside of his cheeks "We have to reach by 7, we will leave at around 4" he spoke. Claire stopped as the spoon fell from her grip "7 as in p.m right" She half laughed "right?" She asked again looking at him hopefully once she didn't receive the answer.

Marcellus runs his tongue across the inside of his lips before a chuckle ripped through his throat "A.m, 7a.m and we will leave around 4 a.m" he emphasis on the world 'a.m', she stared at him for few seconds then flipped her hair back making her way to kitchen "I can't wake up this early on my own, so you will wake me up" Marcellus sat straight looking at her way "I am not your servant, if you can't wake up then don't go" he retorts picking up his plates.

"I am just going to pretend I didn't hear that" she spoke switching off the lights in kitchen as soon as he entered "Are you blind" he spoke entering the kitchen and switched on the lights but received no answer.

~~●●~~

Marcellus walked to her room and stood there deliberating whether to knock or not, he stood there at the door for five minutes before he decided to knock.

He knocked thrice and received no response from the other side of the door, he glared at the door as if its going to burn down on its own to give him entrance, waiting for few more minutes he held the knob.

Marcellus licked his lower lip before pulling it in between his teeth, he twisted the knob. The door slightly opened giving him the view of the room , he opened the door ajar and entered in. The room was filled with dim orange light coming from the lamp beside her bed. Claire's face glowed under the light, her hair were sprawled all over the pillow, blanket tugged under her chin.

She jolted and sat back "Jesus! Mother mary! Christ!" She haphazardly looked around the room as water drenched down her face to her clothes. Her eyes stopped at a figure standing in the room holding a jug "What the hell" she whisper yelled still in trauma. Marcellus stood there "You asked me to wake you up" he shrugged.

"Monster!" Her eyes wide, if looks could kill he would have been 6 ft underground by now. "It's 3 a.m get ready we will leave in a while" he walked out of the door and Claire prepared herself to lay back down "and don't fall back to sleep again, if you don't want me to wake you up again" he spoke and walked out, Claire immediately straightened herself and jumped out of bed. Her hair sticking to her face as water dribbled down, she grabbed her clothes from closet and rushed towards bathroom to get ready.

She was out in thirty minutes all ready in blue jeans and a white crop top, her brown locks tied neatly in a ponytail. She put on her sneakers and gave herself a final look on mirror before turning to pick her bags and exited the room.

She closed the door of room when she heard footsteps approaching her, rotating her head to right she met Marcellus in the hallway dressed in his black three piece suit fitting his body strolling bag behind him. "If he wants he could be a run way model" she gaped at him when he stopped just few feet away from her looking down at her bags.

"If I didn't make it clear before, we are only going there for hardly 2 or 3 days" he spoke staring at her 2 bags "take only the one which has your necessities in it and keep the other one back in the room" He gestured towards her room.

"I know but i will take these both bags" she retorts folding her hands looking the other way "fine" he nodded "No one is going to help you with your bags, you will carry them on your own" he replied moving past her. "You think I am weak?" She scowled keeping hands on her hips frowning "ofcourse I can carry my bags I don't NEED anyone's help, especially yours".

They both paved their way towards the elevator where two men were already standing waiting for them dressed in suit and wearing glasses with Bluetooth in their ears. These were the same men who helped her the first day in bringing in her luggage to the apartment.

One man took Marcellus' bag and the other one was about to take hers when Marcellus gestured him with his hand to stop so the man stepped back. All three of them looked at Claire struggling with the bags, she dragged her bags but they didn't move an inch from their place. Claire bent down a little and pulled at them with a great force when her eyes met his looking directly at her futile attempts.

She quickly straightened herself and flipped her hair back smiling at the other two men, she held her chin up and walked straight towards the elevator where he stood. "See it was that easy, they were so light in weight" she breathed out laughing awkwardly. Marculles turned his face towards the elevator wall to subside the smile which was threatened to form on his lips by bitting the inside of lips.

Claire bent herself forward to get a view of his face "You are smiling" she exclaimed to which Marcellus looked at her "No I am not" his emotionless mask was back on his face. "Whatever" she rolled her eyes as the elevator door closed.

Elevator ride was silent as none of them spoke a word, Marcellus was first one to walk out when the Elevator door opened and those two same men whose name were David the tall one with bulky body, short black hair and second one was joseph slightly short by an inch from David with brown hair and blue eyes. They both carried their bags and put them in the white SUV parked near the entrance while Marcellus and Claire went for the Porsche Cayenne.

Marcellus sat on the driving seat and Claire occupied the passenger seat. David and joseph nodded towards him before sitting inside the SUV. Marcellus ignited the engine and drove of to the main road followed by the SUV, it was still a dawn as the little beam of sun rays started to emerge, a yawn escaped from Claire's mouth "wake me up when reach" she tilted herself towards the door and pressed her head against the window closing her eyes.

They drove for thirty minutes before getting stuck in heavy traffic for fifteen minutes, Marcellus' eyes stared to become droopy. He jolted back up when he heard a loud honk which was caused by his head as it dropped on the honk making Claire to wake up suddenly "Have we reached" she looked around shocked then back at him who was rubbing his face with his palm "No" he replied in hoarsed voice putting his shades back on "stuck in traffic" Just as he said this traffic started moving.

Claire started out of the window as the fences got replaced by huge trees which went by in a blur "How long will it take to reach" she mumbled, her eyes glued to the sight outside "two hours" he replied frowning concentrating on the road to which she humed "would you like to play a game?" She asked after sometime. Marcellus gave her a fleeting glance before looking back at the road "what game".

"Ever heard of twenty questions" she turned to him smiling "I thought if we are staying for six months then why not at least know a little about each other" she spoke slowly gauging his reaction. Marcellus formed his lips in a thin line "never played that game before" he replied having a firm grip on the staring wheel.

"I will ask you few questions and you have to answer them, then vise versa" she clapped her hands grinning, Marcellus nodded. "So I will ask first" Claire chewed her bottom lip thinking hard before humming "What's your favorite color".

"I don't have any" he shrugged.

"Favorite singer" she asked.

"None" he replied.

"Um, favorite cuisine"

"Nothing in particular, I eat what i like"

"Fine" she huffed "game is over" Claire folded her arms looking out of the window again. "They were only three questions" he frowned looking at her way "Yeah because I know the answer of the rest-" she held her fingers up and started counting, substracting three from twenty "seventeen questions, which are 'I don't know, I don't have any, none' so the game is over". Everything went silent after that none of them spoke for a while "what is your favorite color" Marcellus was the first one to speak, Claire eyed him from the corner before facing him "red" she replied.

"Favorite place" he asked shifting the gear, "Paris!" Claire beamed "When I was a kid, I visited Paris with my parents and per sey fell in love with that place, I loved everything about it" she paused before continuing as if reminiscing the memory "I loved those lights which brightened up the streets, the food and everything" Marcellus nodded.

"Favorite singer" he asked looking ahead .

"I like one direction songs and taylor swift" she replied grinning to which he raised his eyebrows "one direction songs, I know someone who you would like because he listens to those teenage boys as well" he nodded "Teenage?" She exclaimed "What is your age?" she asked him "twenty seven" Marcellus looked at her confused "So are they, now do you consider yourself a teenager?" she raised her eyebrows, he rolled his eyes at her in response "By the way who is that person" Claire questioned frowning "Finlay" he replied.

"Really! Ugh I wished I were forced to marry him he is so nice" she gushed bringing her hands together smiling. Marcellus ignored her comment "We are about to reach" he replied, Claire glanced outside as the trees passed by and water body emerged on both the sides when they crossed the causeway "beautiful" she whispered. They reached the island and Marcellus drove straight to the hotel, he parked his car and soon after a SUV reached parking beside his car.

Marcellus unbuckled his seat belt with a click, Claire did the same and stepped out soft wind blew past her as the fresh smell of nature hit her nostrils. She was mesmerised by the beauty of the hotel's infrastructure it was beautiful but inside was more exquisite with three chandelier hung above, one in the middle was bigger than two on its either side and peach coloured wallpapers with gold carvings, floor so clean that she could see the reflection of her face on it. They both walked to the reception where receptionist immediately recognized Marcellus and passed him the key to the suite "Have a nice stay" the receptionist smiled to which he nodded and stalked towards the elevator followed by Claire.

"It's designed really beautifully whosoever the architectect or interior designer were they did a great job" she appreciated looking at him "thank you" he replied "why are you saying thank you" she asked "because I was the interior designer of this hotel" he smirked gauging her shocked expression "Now that I think of, if the wallpaper were of little darker shade it would have enhanced the golden carving and chandelier seems to be too big" she retorts "sure" was all his reply as the elevator door closed.

_________________________________________

SURPRISE!!!

I got to be kidding myself, I updated two chapters in a week lol.

Well i know, I know since last chapter took way long to be uploaded so I decided to give you all a treat and uploaded this chapter soon.

I know i am sweet ;)

Okay jokes apart this was the longest chapter I have ever written and henceforth all the upcoming chapters will be long *giggles* more of Marcellus and Claire will be there so yep! Enjoy.

Until the next update.

Stay safe,
Stay happy,
Eat healthy.

Love A❤