The next morning, Claire went on a private hunt to find out who was the one who had told Heath about her meeting with Aiden. Maybe she should’ve just dropped it since the small argument between them didn’t last long and it wasn’t even that serious. But Claire couldn’t let it go. Who was giving Heath information about her when he wasn’t around to hear about it himself?
Of course, the first group of people she asked were the ones who were at the front reception desk. They were there when Jane came in and they heard about how she wanted a private conversation with Claire.
Luckily, those who worked yesterday in the morning were the same ones today and Claire had the chance to ask them if they told Heath about what happened. They all denied doing such a thing, and even looked like they would’ve never even thought about such an idea.
“If it wasn’t you guys, then who told him?” she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
They were surprised before one said, “The boss found out? How?”
Claire raised an eyebrow. “Why do you think I asked you guys in the first place?”
“Why would we snitch you out to the boss when we’re more afraid of you than him?” one of the employees said and Claire found herself grinning from his words.
“Aren’t you funny?” She said in a dry, but humored, tone. “But if it wasn’t you guys, then how exactly could Heath have found out?”
They just looked amongst themselves as if there was a traitor in the group. Claire eyed the four receptionists, but none of them looked guilty. Eventually, she just sighed to herself, concluding that she reached a dead end and may probably never find out who it was that told Heath about Jane and Aiden.
“You know, it’s not like we’re the only ones who are suspicious.” One receptionist said. “After that woman came, other employees saw too and they spread the news like a wildfire. Practically all of the hotel knew about that information by the time you finished your conversation with the woman.”
“Yeah.” Another chimed in. “Even the temporary boss knows too. She was looking for you right after you left. But then again, maybe she doesn’t know since she wasn’t there the first t-”
Claire quickly interrupted her. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me Julia was looking for me and you guys told her where I was?”
“She went into your general direction after we told her where you and the woman walked off to.”
Could it have really possibly been Julia who told Heath? She probably listened on to their conversation before giving Heath a call. Claire thought they weren’t on good terms, so why would Julia call Heath and get him to even believe her words? Did people usually trust the words of someone they didn’t like?
And just what did Julia want to accomplish by telling Heath about Jane? Unless she wanted to purposely cause a riff in Claire and Heath’s relationship? Of course, information like that would cause misunderstandings, but luckily, Heath was understanding and trusted in Claire. But if he hadn’t, then there definitely would’ve been problems.
Was there something that Claire didn’t know? Such as Heath and Julia actually being on friendly terms? That would make sense. As soon as something happened to her, Julia immediately reported it to Heath and let him know.
If that was the case, then why did Heath act as if he absolutely despised her? Whenever Julia talked about Heath, she sounded happy and cheerful. Claire even remembered her saying how they were used to each other’s company. Could it be that they were past lovers?
So many scenarios were popping up into Claire’s mind, but she tried not to let a single one take over. Nothing was making sense. Just how did Heath and Julia know each other in the first place and what was their current relationship?
As Claire stood there in thought, someone greeted her from behind. She turned around and saw Wyatt enter through the doors with casual clothes on. There was a grin stretched from ear to ear on his face and he had one hand up in the air in a wave.
She gave him a look. “What are you doing here?” she said as he approached. He went and stood right in front of her, still grinning. “What?”
“Did you forget?” he asked. “Today’s my first day working here, remember?”
Claire just stared up at him. “What’s with your creepy smile?”
Wyatt wasn’t offended and just chuckled. “You hired me.”
“It wasn’t just my decision. All the managers agreed that you had the best qualifications for the job amongst the applicants.”
“Sure.” Wyatt continued to grin. “But I know it was ultimately your decision which got me here.” And he was right. “So let me just give you one big hug as thanks!”
He lifted his arms and Claire quickly brought one hand up and placed it on top his collarbone, very near to his throat. That surprised him and his arms stiffened before they rested on the reception desk behind her. “You’re in a professional place, Mr. Simpson. Refrain from touching me in such an intimate matter or else others will see it as sexual harassment.”
“But will you?” he asked with emphasis as humor colored his eyes.
Claire raised a brow as she smirked. “Do you want to end up like Charlie Carlson?” Immediately, he lifted his hands up in the air and took a step back, making Claire chuckle. “Now, run along kid. Elli’s probably in the daycare waiting to train you.”
“Fine. I’ll just express my thanks later when we aren’t in the positions of manager and employee.” He shrugged nonchalantly before he turned around.
“But I just want to warn you, Wyatt.” Claire brought up and he stopped before looking over his shoulder at her. “Don’t try anything with Elli.”
“Why so serious, boss?” he chuckled before continuing on his way to the daycare.
Claire sighed and shook her head. She was genuinely warning him, but the idiot was just brushing it off. Claire could tell that Elli wasn’t done yet with Chad, no matter how long he was taking. And from the sounds of it, Chad was still trying to get a hold of his girlfriend to officially break things off and start something serious with Elli.
If Wyatt kept on getting in between those two, he would just get hurt in the end.
>>>>><<<<<
Julia stared at the picture on her phone and then up to Claire, who was staring after Wyatt with weird eyes. She took another picture of that scene and then looked down at it. She slid to the first picture she took, which showed Claire trapped between Wyatt Simpson’s arms against the front reception desk. She had her hand on his chest with a smirk on her lips while Wyatt stared back with bright eyes.
Claire attracted bees like honey. Everywhere she went, there was always another guy with her. First at the restaurant with Kane, and now in the hotel with Wyatt. Did Heath realize what he got himself into when he decided that he wanted Claire for himself?
That was going to be hard considering how many men Claire had around her—and how intimate they acted around her too. Kane was watching over her, Wyatt was about to hug her…what else was going to happen between her and other guys?
The wheels were turning way too easily…it was worrying. Julia didn’t know what was going on between Heath and Claire, but she was sure she created a little chaos. And now the pictures would just cause more trouble.
Julia played the role of villain, but admittedly, it was kind of fun—regardless of what the end results would end up being. But then again, playing the villain wasn’t anything new to her. She was never the main character, just the bad guy who ruined lives by forcing herself into the picture.
“What am I doing?” she muttered to herself with a bitter smile on her lips. “Getting hurt by my own words. Am I stupid?”
Quickly, she shook away her emotions and stared at the two pictures she took of Claire again. “Only one thing left to do.” She said before she turned around and walked away to a more private place. Then she attached the images to a text and sent it to Heath.
Julia waited for a few minutes and just as she expected, she got a call from him.
“Hello?”
“I don’t know what it is that you’re planning, Julia, but I suggest you stop before something goes wrong.”
She chuckled as she leaned her back against the wall. “I assure you, if something does go bad, I won’t be the one effected by it.”
“What the hell are these pictures supposed to mean?” he growled.
“I don’t know.” She used a nonchalant voice. “You tell me. I’m just doing you a favor by letting you see what’s happening around the hotel while you’re not here.”
“I never asked for this favor.” Heath’s voice lowered more and more as he became angrier.
Julia smiled. “Which is why you should be even more grateful. You can’t deny that they’re very interesting images.” Heath didn’t reply and she took the silence positively. “I’m not asking anything in return. Just…come up with your own conclusions without my intake.”
“What do you want?” Heath suddenly asked. “Is this revenge for what my father did to you? Are you taking out your frustrations on me?”
His words made Julia raise a brow. “You and I both know Logan isn’t stupid enough to hire a threat and risk such a thing.”
“You’re not a threat to him, but you’re a threat to me. If your scheming hurts Claire in any way, I’ll personally take matters into my own hands and make you regret it for life.”
Then he hung up and Julia stared at the cellphone in her hands. “Too bad somebody’s already beat you to the punch, Bishop.” There wouldn’t be anything he could do to Julia that would turn her world upside down. Not anymore at least.
>>>>><<<<<
“Where’s Wyatt?” Claire asked as she entered the daycare. Only Elli was left, but then again, there was only one kid left in the room—who was Denora. It was past six in the evening and the rest of the kids had gone home. Six o’clock was also the usual time Elli left, but Nora hadn’t come to pick up Denora yet.
“It’d be unreasonable of me to keep a trainee for the whole day.” Elli replied flatly. She was sitting on the ground with her legs spread as Denora sat in between them. Her back was to Elli while she played with the various toys spread in front of her.
“Well, how was he?” Claire asked as she got on her knees in front of Denora. Claire was just going to push the toys closer to her, but unexpectedly, Denora bounced on her bottom and reached towards Claire with small, chubby fingers.
How could she resist?
Claire took Denora into her arms and stood up as the baby stared at Claire’s face with recognition. Claire couldn’t help it but smile at Denora, glad that she was used to her.
“He’s a fast learner.” Elli answered. “I’m sure he’ll be ready in about a week or so.”
“Has he tried anything?”
“What do you mean?”
Claire gave her friend a look. “You know exactly what I mean.”
Elli’s mouth tilted to one side in thought. “He throws in a few words here and there, but he’s a professional. He knows when to draw the line. But when he was about to leave, he used that to his advantage and tried to ask me out on a date.” Then she answered Claire’s silent question. “I ignored him.”
That made her burst out laughing. “That’s just like you.” Denora stared at Claire as she laughed. Claire smiled at her, but the baby made no move to copy her laughter or even smile back. She was a serious baby.
Eventually, Claire asked, “And what about Chad?”
“What about him?”
“C’mon, Elli. Give the guy some slack.” She looked at her friend whose face was expressionless. “Maybe we’ve been too harsh on him. I mean, I can’t help but think that he was doing the right thing by trying to break things off with his old girlfriend first before staring anything else.”
“And yet he hasn’t gotten any contact from her yet. It’s been weeks.”
Claire tried not to smirk as she asked, “Is it just me, or does it seem like you’re also waiting?”
Immediately, Elli narrowed her eyes at Claire. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Just as she was about to answer, someone walked into the daycare. The two of them turned to see that it was Nora, and she looked the same as the first time Claire met her.
Nora’s dark brown hair was tied back into a tight, perfect bun. She also wore large, thick glasses, which to Claire, looked more like a hassle than an assistance. Today, her scrubs were blue with pink and white polka dots.
In the end, Claire found out that Nora was actually a nurse at a nearby hospital, not a businesswoman. The first time they met, Nora had to publish a book in order to get her doctorate degree as a veterinarian and was busy during that period of time contacting sources to help with her book—thus the professional suit. Now, she was published and had her doctorate. But she was currently having some family issues and couldn’t start right away as a vet.
“Hi, Claire! What are you doing in here?” Nora greeted with a smile on her face.
Claire easily smiled right back. “Just talking with Elli.”
She met Nora halfway and immediately, Denora reached out and grasped onto her mother’s shoulders. Claire watched as she snuggled against her mom while gripping with her small hands.
“I missed you too.” Nora whispered to her baby as she kissed Denora’s head. “Let’s get you ready to go home.”
Elli brought over the car seat and Nora tucked her daughter inside. Claire volunteered to help Nora bring Denora into her car and she gratefully thanked her for the offer. Nora was a small woman who was much shorter than Claire. She couldn’t help but find the need to help her since the baby carrier with Denora in it must’ve been heavy.
So many questions were on the tip of Claire’s tongue, but she didn’t dare to ask them. First off, she and Nora weren’t even on close terms yet for her to ask such questions. And considering the fact that Denora’s father wasn’t technically in their lives, Claire didn’t want to be the first to bring him up. At least not yet.
“Thank you so much, Claire.” Nora said again. “Now that I think about it, maybe I should be apologizing.”
“For what?” she said in surprise.
“For the first time we met.” Nora smiled sheepishly. “I still remember it clearly. I completely ruined the mood between you and Heath. But from what I’ve heard, you two are hitting it off very finely.”
Claire narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “And where did you hear that from?”
Nora raised an eyebrow with a sly smile on her lips. “People.” She didn’t bother to elaborate more and thanked Claire one last time before Claire let her go home. She watched Nora drive off first before she went back into the hotel. Soon, it would be time for her to go home as well.
Tonight was also the night that Heath would call her—or at least that’s what he said he would do. He must be curious about what happened between her and Aiden and Jane. But Claire couldn’t deny that she was indeed anticipating the call from him. Though he had questions to ask, she had some of her own. Most specifically about a certain woman named Julia Walsh.