18+| Warning: Explicit sexual contents and mature language.
All that Claire needs is an adventure of a lifetime. Being a Rapunzel in the castle, surrounded with all lavish one could possibly need, she was still deprived of something very essential;...
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Two weeks went by since Claire's trip to Montesby. It was Saturday morning; her stepmother and her son, Jorge, were all at home. Claire and Jorge were not as close as how a brother and sister should be, but she had no problem with him either.
They simply coexisted.
It was sixteen years ago when a shy boy in round glasses walked into the doors of Claire's house holding his mom's hand as though his life depended on it. He looked frail and afraid, and Claire wasn't any different ad it took years for her to adjust to the idea of losing a mother in a way not even her memories could withstand.
A part of her wished Jorge would be her brother. Her friend too. They'd always stare at each other wordless, and whenever Claire tried to talk to him, or get close to him, her stepmom would scold her and lock her back into her room where food would be sent there until the next day or two, depending on whether Claire's dad was at home or not.
Slowly she accepted the drift.
They were two worlds apart, Claire believed. He had a mom who didn't scold him incessantly, and she had no one. Not even the ever-present dad she once knew. In a blink of an eye, the happy little girl was a stranger in her own house. If it weren't for Denis, her family friend, and her first love, life would've been completely colorless.
Denis. No, she didn't want to think of him. In the end, he also left her.
"Hey, morning." Jorge smiled at Claire as she took a seat, ready for that family meeting they had been informed of since last night.
"Morning," Claire returned. "I barely see you lately; how are you?"
Jorge beamed, his average-size back reclined on the sofa. "Fine, I'm just a bit occupied with new projects and stuff."
"I see." Claire didn't have much to say to him.
Jorge was a man of a few words in a manner that a simple conversation was a chore beyond him—unless there was more to him than he let on.
"Why don't you come and work in the company?" Jorge suggested out of nowhere, trying his best to make a meaningful exchange as it so appeared.
This was new.
"Um." Claire shifted in her seat, propping her elbow onto the armrest while sitting cross-legged. Her right cheek rested on her fist as she said, "No, I'm starting at Starlight next week. But thanks for the offer."
It was the truth. She had her internship ready and she didn't want anything to do with her dad's architectural company in which Jorge was now the CEO.
"Okay, enough of this chit-chat." Selma, Claire's stepmom, finally appeared with such a dark cloud that spoiled everyone's mood altogether.
Her strong perfume lingered persistently in the air, and Claire hated it simply because it reminded her of this woman and no one else.
"Good morning to you too, Mom." it was Jorge, and in a fleeting moment, Claire wanted to laugh.
