My Handsome Uncle, Please Be Mine!

67.

Creak.

The door opened.

Joe’s and Gaston’s eyes met. Joe stared sharply at the man in front of him, observing Gaston from head to toe. He noticed three buttons of Gaston’s shirt undone, and his hair was disheveled. Joe’s eyes sharpened as he spotted traces of nude lipstick on Gaston’s lips.

“What’s up? Can’t you see I’m busy!” Gaston pretended to adjust his appearance. “Oh,” his face looked surprised, and he quickly straightened his shirt buttons.

“What are you going to talk about! Spit it out now! I need to sleep and rest!” Joe said, trying to appear indifferent.

Gaston nodded, turning back to glance at Clara briefly before closing the door.

“Let’s talk downstairs!” Joe ordered. He really wanted to talk to Gaston and get him out of his house.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Gaston followed, following Joe’s steps down the stairs. They both sat facing each other in the living room.

“Here’s the thing, Joe, when you were in a coma, Mr. Lim asked me to take care of Clara. Essentially, he preferred me to be Clara’s husband rather than you because you’re a widower. And your ex-wife was a model, you know that would expose Clara to the media, Mr. Lim didn’t want that!” Gaston revealed, intentionally provoking conflict with Joe.

“What?! So you’re the man appointed by Freedy Lim to take care of Clara, to marry her like that?” Joe asked, restraining himself to remain calm. Honestly, the question about what Gaston and Clara did in the room was still bothering him. Now, it was compounded by a new problem.

Silence.

Joe was okay with Clara choosing another man. But if that man was Gaston?? No! Joe had never thought about that and certainly didn’t want it to happen.

“Where did you learn to write such scenarios?” Joe accused. He hadn’t looked at Gaston with gentleness since earlier. He wanted to charge and land a punch on his private doctor’s cheek.

“This is not a fiction, open your eyes wide, Mr. Joe Sebastian. Clara likes you, loves you, and will do anything for you, but look at what you’re doing! You won’t even fight for her, claiming it’s not appropriate!” Gaston stopped his speech. “If you really don’t want Clara, let me fight for her!” the doctor urged. Irritated.

“Wait a minute!” Joe intervened. “What did you just do in the room? Hah! Tell me what you just did while you were alone in the room?!” he demanded.

Gaston grinned. He looked incredibly annoying.

“Tell me!” Joe couldn’t think straight, jealousy engulfed him. And before reaching the frustration stage, he needed to find answers immediately.

“What do you think two people of different genders, still young, and alone in a room, what do you think I and Clara did?!” Gaston deliberately emphasized each word. The angrier Joe got, the more satisfied he became. The more Joe burned with jealousy, the more successful he was.

Joe’s hands reached out, grabbing Gaston’s shirt collar. “Tell me you kissed her? Hah!! You hugged her?! You slept with her, tell me!” Joe demanded, already too angry. His breath became even more erratic, and his hands clenched, ready to land a punch on the doctor’s face.

“Stop! Are you really this angry with me, Joe, do you want to hit your own friend who stayed up with you every night when you were in a coma, fighting between life and death. Do you really want to hit me?” Gaston looked at Joe warmly. Like a parent’s gaze towards an angry child.

“What do you mean?!” Joe shouted. Slowly, he loosened Gaston’s shirt collar.

“I never touched Clara at all. This lipstick, I applied it myself. My messy hair, I tousled it myself, and I unbuttoned my shirt myself!” Gaston revealed, stopping Joe’s curiosity. “I think you still really like and love Clara, and so does Clara. You’re the only handsome man she wants, can you believe that you want to leave her? Are you sure?! Gaston laughed irritably.

“Talk to Clara, don’t be a coward, she will be very happy if it’s Joe Sebastian who fights for her! Lower your ego a bit, Clara with her sincere love deserves to be fought for, she really loves you, Joe!” he advised.

Joe sat back down. “Should I do all that?” Joe suddenly became naive and foolish.

“Yes, first you have to apologize, reassure Clara, and finally convince Mr. Lim that only you can make Clara happy!” Gaston’s message. “I have to go now, I need to rest! You should rest too!” Gaston ended his speech with a smug smile.

Joe nodded slowly. “Thank you!” he whispered, letting Dr. Gaston go home.

==❤==

The clock showed 9:03 PM. Joe, who had been in his room all this time, decided to see Clara to talk to her and explain all this misunderstanding.

Yes, the longing was growing, but his pride prevented him?! And at this moment, Joe had cast away his pride. What would he do, solely to mend his relationship with Clara.

Joe opened his bedroom door. He immediately walked to Clara’s room.

“Are you still awake?” Mrs. Linn asked. She had just returned home and felt very tired.

“Not yet, Mom,” Joe replied, deciding to sit in the living room. It wouldn’t be possible to go into Clara’s room with her mother around.

“Come here, keep mama company for a while!” Mrs. Linn patted the sofa next to her.

“What’s up, Mom?” Joe asked curiously.

“Did you scold Clara?” his mother asked.

“No, why do you ask?” Joe countered.

“Mom thought you were still being rough like this morning, are you really trying to let Clara go?” Mrs. Linn expressed her concern.

Joe didn’t answer.

“If you really want Clara to leave, it seems like your efforts are successful, Joe!” she remarked.

“Joe doesn’t know what Mom means, Joe’s going to bed now!” He walked towards his room. He hoped Mrs. Linn would go into her room soon so he could sneak into Clara’s room to apologize.

Joe’s footsteps moved slowly towards his room. He deliberately opened the door to check if his mother was still in the living room or had entered her room.

Joe stood at the door, occasionally looking at the living room. Unconsciously, he waited for fifteen minutes. This time Mrs. Linn was no longer in the living room.

Without further delay, Joe quickly rushed to Clara’s room.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Joe’s hand tapped on the door very softly.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

He knocked harder this time. His right hand fingers reached for the door handle, then pushed it.

Creak!

Clara wasn’t in her room.

“Clara! Where are you going!” Joe shouted in frustration.

He immediately moved to Kimmy’s room, but Clara wasn’t there either. His feet strode towards the kitchen, dining room, and downstairs bathroom. However, Clara wasn’t there either.

Joe hastened his steps to go back upstairs. Whether he liked it or not, he had to ask his mother. Setting aside all his embarrassment.

“Mom!” Joe whispered in front of the door without knocking.

“You’re not asleep yet!” his mother exclaimed in surprise, finding Joe in front of her room door.

“Mom, Clara isn’t in her room, do you know where she is?” Joe asked.

“When Mama came home earlier, Clara seemed lost and absent-minded, Mama thought it was because of you being too much with her, maybe she was picked up by her driver!” Mrs. Linn answered, closing the door because she was very sleepy.

For a long time, Joe stood in front of his parents’ room. His heart felt painful because of his own actions. Cut by the sword of his own anger. It hurt so much. His longing had to be suppressed again. His regret increased even more.

“Clara, I don’t want to lose you!” he whispered. Then, he reached for his phone in his pants pocket. Calling Clara’s number as he walked towards his room.

He faintly heard the ringing of the phone. Finally, Joe found out that the sound of the device was coming from the open library room.

Quickly, Joe walked to the library room.

Joe opened the door wide and found Clara inside the room, holding her phone.

Without much thought, Joe walked, then stopped one step in front of Clara. Joe’s hands reached out, pulling Clara into his embrace.

“I finally found you!” Joe whispered, tightening his hug.

“Did Uncle Joe look for me?” Clara asked.

Creak.

To be Continued.