His Beautiful Addiction

Tiana held her breath as she waited for Claire's reply but Claire did not say anything; she just kept mute as though Tiana was not talking to her;

Tiana swallowed; ''I'm sorry for not telling you and causing you to hurt, it was never my intention… ''

Her words cut short when the elevators pulled open, her throat tightened as she watched Claire walk out of the elevator without glancing back.

Tiana's head fell low as she glanced at her feet, sadder than she had been before she said a word, the door of the elevators were about to close but Tiana did not feel like stopping it, but just when the doors were about to fully shut, someone' hand stop it;

''Are you going to continue standing in there or are you coming out? '' Tiana's eyes widened when she heard the very sweet and familiar voice;

Claire stood in front of her, one hand, stretched blocking the door from shutting, Tiana could not believe her eyes, she stared blankly for ten seconds before her gaze fluttered and she jumped out of the elevator.

Claire turned as though nothing had happened and walked forward to Leo's office.

Tiana walked into the office right after Claire and she watched her walk to Leo's table with a toothy smile and take a bar of chocolate from him;

''Tiana, you're here, come on in, do you want some? ''

Leo asked when he noticed Tiana, ''No, thank you. I had breakfast before coming. '' she rejected politely;

She was quite amazed at Claire though, she eats chocolates every morning she stopped by Leo's office but she never had any significant body increase.

Tiana's thoughts went back to the elevator episode; she had come back to talk to her, does it mean she was no longer angry with her?

Tiana asked herself, maybe she was no longer angry, but she would not be too pushy with being friends again, maybe Claire didn't want that anymore. Forgiving her was more than okay, she shouldn't test her luck.

 Her eyes peered at the duo chatting in front of her and after a moment, she frowned, why was she feeling that the look in Leo's eyes when he stared at Claire was more tender than normal? She wanted to ignore it but his stare was too distinct like she had seen it in someone else before…

Nicklaus… Nicklaus had that gaze when he stared at her.

Tiana's eyes widened as realization dawned on her; Leo… Leo was in love with Claire.

Her heart raced as she connected the dots, the first time she came in here, Claire's magazines were littered on his table, and on his wall were her wallpapers.

Was it that Claire wasn't seeing it or she was pretending not to see?

Just at that moment, Leo leaned in and wiped a stain of chocolate from her mouth with his hankie, pushing her hair away from her face lovingly; they continued the discussion as though nothing had happened;

Tiana tilted her head to the side, by chance, was Leo still single because he was waiting for Claire?

…

After practice, Tiana went into the restroom to ease herself, when she came out, she saw Claire by the sink, washing her hands; Tiana hesitated for a second before she walked to her;

''Do you wanna have lunch? '' Her eyes locked in Claire's in the mirror, after some time, she pulled her gaze away;

Tiana's lips thinned when she saw she won't speak; then she turned to leave.

''I don't like the meals prepared here, we can go out if you want; '' Claire added before Tiana could take a few steps. Tiana's legs stopped immediately and she couldn't help the smile that forced it way to her lips; with a flash, she closed the gap between them and hugged her;

''Oh, I've missed you and I'm so sorry for not telling you, at that time, I didn't think we could ever come back together, so I didn't want to ruin your relationship, I'm really sorry it turned out this way. '' 

Tiana apologized, not letting her go. Even though she knew it was not her fault, she didn't want the bad blood between them to continue.

Claire, who was stunned by her sudden action, patted her back;

''It is okay, I'm no longer mad at you. '' Tiana raised her face to look at her; ''really? ''

"' Yeah'' she replied; ''I was just mad because I was having hopes that something could work out between us but it had to end so soon, and I couldn't have imagined that it would be you, so yeah, I was a little hurt. But I'm fine now; I wasn't so deeply into him though. ''

Claire smiled and Tiana heaved a sigh; ''Gush, I'm so relieved; I couldn't even bear to see your face. ''

''Haha, you didn't expect our friendship to end because of a man, do you? Baby girl, I don't fight over men, I'm too stunning for that. '' they both laughed as they walked out of the restroom. Claire sent a message to Leo quickly, telling him she was going out with Tiana for lunch.

…

''Wow, is that an engagement ring? '' Claire's eyes widened when her eyes fell on Tiana's fingers over lunch; she was just seeing the ring now, and hell, she knew which ring it was;

Tiana's eyes peeked at her hand and she smiled; ''yeah, he asked me to marry him, ''

Claire's eyes brightened, ''Oh my god, he gave you the rare blue diamond as an engagement ring? Wow, Nicklaus must really love you.''

Tiana's brows creased in confusion, ''rare blue diamond? ''

''You don't know what ring it is? '' Claire asked when she saw the confused look on Tiana's face. Tiana shook her head;

''Oh wow, that ring cost over 10 million US dollars baby girl, so just know you're $10 million dollars richer. '' Claire said with a beautiful laugh. Tiana was beyond shocked;

She knew it was not cheap but 10 million! She had not expected it at all! Her eyes fell on the ring on her hand.

…