My Million Dollar Boyfriend

Chapter 44

"Look who decided to show up," Angela said as Claude entered the cafe he once worked at. "What an honor to be in your presence."

Claude clicked his tongue at the sight of her bowing as the corners of his mouth twitched. "When is your next break?" he asked as Angela looked at her watch.

"In two hours..." she trailed off and scanned the almost empty cafe. "But there are hardly any people here and I don't think that I'll get in trouble for hanging out with you." Angela clasped her hand and grinned at him. "What can I get you to drink today? Do you want the usual?"

After Angela finished off their drinks, they sat down at one of the tables close to the register. "So what brings you here after abandoning me for months?" Angela said. "I thought that you'd already forgotten about me after you started dating a celebrity. But weren't you together with that one girl? What's her name? Dana? Diona?"

"Diana," Claude corrected, thinking back to when they were together. "Things were a little... complicated. I broke up with her before I got together with Florence. I didn't want to cause any drama for him but that kinda failed."

"With that one guy he usually has a photoshoot with, right? The one with the pretty black hair and baby blue eyes?" Angela asked as Claude grimaced at her description of Noah. "Didn't he have a relationship with Florence? Or was that a rumor?"

"It is a rumor," Claude stated as he frowned out of frustration. "Noah was the one who started the drama though. I didn't do anything but defend Flory."

Angela raised her eyebrow with a look of suspicion in her eyes. "Are you sure you didn't use your "flattery" to provoke him?" she asked, the corner of her mouth pulling up when she saw Claude smiling innocently.

"What? Me?" he asked as he shook his head and brushed some hair behind his ear. "I would never say something to make someone mad. I only told him to have a little more confidence because he's such a pussy ass bitch," Claude replied while shrugging. "And besides, Noah doesn't even have half the amount of influential power Florence has, let alone his family. So even if Noah starts accusing me of something I didn't do, there's a big chance that they'll defend me."

"Even his family likes you? They're not overly protective of him?" she asked bewildered.

"They do. Only his brother is still close to killing me but he won't do it cause he knows that it would upset Flory," he explained. "Even if they did, it wouldn't stop me-" Claude was interrupted by a customer walking in. He stood up with his still full iced coffee and grinned at Angela. "I'll get going then. It was nice seeing you again."

"Same here," Angela smiled and waved Claude goodbye.

Claude left the cafe and called Raoul to see if he was up to anything. "Hey, what's-"

"Bro where ya at?!" Raoul shouted panicked as Claude put the volume a little down. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Claude looked up at the street number. "I'm a few streets from your house, why?" he asked, which made Raoul feel a little relieved.

"COME DOWN ASAP! I'LL TREAT YOU TO ANYTHING LATER BUT I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!" Raoul yelled and hung up the phone.

He looked confused at his phone screen which had a photo of Florence he took when he was sleeping and put his music back on. "He sounds stressed. Maybe it's better to go quickly to see what's happening," he thought and started speedwalking while taking quick sips of his drink.

When he arrived at Raoul's apartment complex, he saw Raoul put a cage in the backseat of his car. Claude watched him with a worried expression when he saw that he hardly put some thought into what to wear. "Raoul!" he called.

Raoul whipped his head to Claude and gestured for him to get in the car. "C'mon, man! We don't have any time to lose!" he shouted.

Raoul sped out of his larking spot and followed the directions on his phone as Claude looked at Haru lying down. "So... what happened to Haru?"

"I don't know! She was fine yesterday but today I picked her up and she hardly moved her body and she was only breathing deeply," he replied. "I already called the vet and they said to come as fast as possible."

They passed a few streets and a handful of venues and parked across the street from the vet. "Hurry up Claude!" Raoul said as he slammed the back door shut. As Raoul ran across the street trying to move Haru's cage as little as possible to get her checked out, Claude waited and crossed the street when it turned green. He went inside the vet and sat next to Raoul who looked down dejected.

"Everything alright with her?" Claude asked as Raoul shrugged.

"They're giving her a check-up right now," he replied as he looked at his hands, his expression not changing.

Claude looked at the small TV which was playing some random reality show and glanced at his coffee. "Want some?" he asked as he offered his half-full iced latte.

Raoul's face scrunched up and shook his head. "You know that I only drink black coffee," he sighed.

"As dark as you-" Claude raised his hands when he saw Raoul only raising his eyebrow. "Just trying to light up the mood a little."

"Just watch that damn TV bro," Raoul sneered and Claude mumbled about how he couldn't treat his friend like that.

The vet came in after a while of attending Haru with a polite smile on his face. "There does not appear to be anything critically wrong with your pet, she merely has a common cold. In case you're still worried, you can pick up these medicines," he smiled as Raoul looked much more relieved.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Raoul grinned as the vet returned Haru with a list of prescribed medication. He turned to Claude who was just watching them talk. "I'm gonna pick this up real quick. Look after her for me," he said, gesturing to the pharmacy next to them and putting the cage on the ground.

"Alright," Claude said as the vet looked at him curiously.

"May I ask something?" he asked as Claude nodded. "Do you happen to be the man who's dating Florence?" he asked.

"Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?

"Oh, I was just curious. I happen to be an old friend of his from high school." The vet looked surprised and put his reading glasses in his coat. "Where are my manners? I'm Raymond," he smiled and shook Claude's hand. "I haven't heard from Florence in a few years. How is he doing?"

While waiting for Raoul, Claude and Raymond made some small talk about the only thing that they had in common; Florence.

Raoul went back and looked confused at their friendly atmosphere. "Claude," he called. "We have to get going."

"Yeah, yeah," Claude said and grabbed Haru's cage. "It was nice meeting you, Raymond."

"Same to you. But next time we meet, let's hope it'll be outside of work hours. Until then, take care," Raymond smiled and watched them walk out. When they weren't in sight anymore, He covered his mouth with his hand and let out a chuckle. "Seems like we'll be able to reunite sooner than I had anticipated~."

A/N WAIT I ACTUALLY HIT 18K ON HERE??? AND 45K ON TAPAS?????? Holy shit I got so excited that I started drawing a temporary cover, so sorry that I'm a day late. With my pacing right now, I think that it'll be finished this week. Don't expect some beautiful and detailed drawing though, I can only draw to an extent. But thank you all for sticking with me, it really gave me a confidence boost. Wish me luck of drawing the cover and venti/ayato gacha tomorrow and don't kill mice

-Rey