Love Like a Man

Chapter 15 - No Girls Allowed

Claire had been hoping to catch a glimpse of Gabe all morning - Rather than scratching her proverbial itch, sleeping with Gabe was like stepping into a fire ant hill; it had only made her attraction for him stronger.

It wasn't until Claire had finally succeeded in focusing on her work that she finally had the opportunity to set eyes on him. Unfortunately, it was for only an instant as he stormed by her desk in a huff. None the less, she managed to sneak a peak at his well formed ass in his worn work jeans.

Still trying to keep her involvement with Gabe from her co-workers, Claire ignored her urge to follow him out of the office to see what was wrong. She settled on sending a text instead.

Claire - Everything OK?

Gabe - I had 2 leave b4 I rearranged Ken Doll's face.

Claire - Ken Doll?

Gabe - That jack off u work with.

Claire - Ohhhh Brent. Ken Doll... Hah! Good one! What did he do?

Gabe - We'll talk later. I've got 2 calm down and get back 2 work.

Claire didn't know what to say back to Gabe so she decided to let it go even though she was dying to know what Brent could have done to make him react this way.

Claire scanned the room until her eyes reached Brent; he was deep in conversation with their manager, Marv. The men were speaking animatedly making Claire wonder if she was missing something important. The work she had finished on the weekend had a significant impact on the deal they were trying to close. She hoped there wasn't another big change that would require her to pull an all-nighter.

It wasn't until Brent swung an imaginary golf club that Claire realized the men weren't discussing anything work related.

Claire felt a pang of resentment watching Brent's effortless camaraderie with their boss. No matter how many times she'd tried to make small talk with Marv, she couldn't get more than short, disinterested responses from him. Claire wouldn't have cared if Brent, and even Gavin to some extent, weren't able to relate to Marv on a personal level so easily. Being the only one of the three without that kind of rapport with their boss definitely put her at a disadvantage. Claire constantly tried to make up for it by outperforming the two guys, but Marv considered her efforts to be "just doing her job" rather than kicking corporate ass.

Sighing to herself, Claire texted Iris and Miriam to see if they'd be up for Monday Martini Madness at Duke's - It always made her feel better to vent to the two of them.

***

Claire was heading out through NovaBank's lobby when she heard "Babe." coming from behind her.

She turned around and saw Gabe speeding up to reach her side.

"Do you have a few minutes?" Gabe asked.

Claire looked around before answering; it made her uncomfortable speaking to Gabe out in the open like - She didn't like risking one of her co-workers discovering their relationship.

"I'm on my way to meet the girls at Duke's. Why don't you walk me there? I don't want to be late." Claire said wanting to get out of NovaBank's tower ASAP.

"Sure." Gabe replied with a nod, obviously too distracted with what he had to tell her to care about the venue he did it in.

"So what's going on? Is this still about Brent?" Claire asked as they began walking towards the restobar.

"Yes. It's about him..." Gabe started, his voice filled with hesitation. "I don't know how to tell you this babe."

"Tell me what? Spit it out already." Claire insisted, still confused as to how anything Brent did could impact what went on between her and Gabe.

"Brent took advantage of you. I heard him talking to the other dweeb in the kitchen when I was grabbing my coffee." Gabe said in a rush of words.

"What?"

"He was saying how he called you back this weekend to help him with work and put most of it on you - And that he'd be taking most of the credit."

"And..." Claire was waiting for him to get to the part that she didn't know about.

"And? And nothing. Aren't you pissed? We were having such an amazing weekend and he made us cut it short so you could do his work for him. I almost pounded his face in when I heard him bragging to the other douche." Gabe said incredulously.

Claire was immediately annoyed. Obviously she was aware she had done most of the work. "Gabe what option did I have?"

"You could tell your boss it's your work for one."

"And then he'd congratulate me on doing what's expected of me."

"You could at least confront Ken Doll."

"Sure, and then he'll tell everyone in the office I'm a crazy bitch... Look Gabe, this is just how it is. I'm not part of the boys club so if I kick up a stink then the blame is going to be put on me - I'll be accused of being emotional or hard to get along with. I know it sucks, but what I need is your support. I don't need you pointing out to me how crap it is."

"That's fucking bullshit and you know it." Gabe said, still furious.

"Gabe, this just isn't something you're going to be able to identify with, but I need you to accept it." Claire said, while mentally reprimanding herself for getting involved with a construction worker - He'd simply never get it.

"Even construction workers know right from wrong." Gabe said, as if he read her mind.

"That's not what I meant. I meant that you're a manly man, doing a manly job. I'm a woman doing a job that mostly men do. " Claire said trying to cover up that that was exactly what she'd meant. "I'm dealing with stuff you don't have to and conversations like this just add another level of stress... Now I'm going to go drink with my girls."

Claire walked into Duke's without saying a proper good bye to Gabe, upset that he'd have the nerve to question how she ran her career.