Chapter 7: The First Appointment
Claire barely slept.
The alert that the unknown car was still outside her former building remained on her phone, though Eli had sent nothing beyond those four words. She could have asked for more. She could have demanded a description, a plate number, proof that someone had checked again.
Instead, she set the phone facedown on the small table beside her bed and reminded herself that she had asked Eli to report exactly what he knew—and nothing else.
The car’s presence was a fact. Its meaning wasn’t.
By morning, Claire had showered, dressed, and read the terms she’d written for staying in the apartment. She kept the brass key in her pocket. It mattered that she could leave.
In the living room, Gabriel stood beside the window, his phone in his hand. He looked as if he’d been awake for hours.
“Did you sleep?” she asked.
“Some.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“No,” he admitted. “I didn’t.”
Claire didn’t ask why. She had an appointment to get to, and she wasn’t going to let his sleeplessness turn into another thing she had to manage.
“My appointment is in an hour,” she said. “I’m going to the clinic.”
Gabriel’s attention sharpened. For a moment, his expression suggested he had several questions ready. Then he glanced at her face and put his phone away.
“Do you want Eli to drive you?”
The offer sounded carefully measured. No demand. No assumption that he would be coming too.
“Is that my only option?”
“No. You can take a cab, or use your own car if you’d rather.”
“I don’t have a car.”
“I know.”
She studied him. “You know because I told you, or because someone checked?”
“Because you told me.”
It was a small answer, but she listened for the trap behind it and found none.
“Eli can drive,” she said. “He takes me there and waits. He doesn’t come inside unless I ask. You don’t get the address or my appointment details from him.”
Gabriel nodded once.
“Understood.”
“And I’m not sharing my location.”
“I won’t ask you to.”
Claire pulled out her phone and checked that location sharing was off. Then she texted Eli herself, giving him the clinic entrance and the time to meet her. She didn’t send the information through Gabriel, and she didn’t let him look over her shoulder.
When she finished, she put the phone away.
“Thank you,” Gabriel said.
“For what?”
“For telling me what you need.”
“That’s not the same as trusting you.”
“I know.”
Eli waited downstairs. He didn’t ask why Claire had chosen him, and he didn’t mention the car. On the ride, he kept his eyes on the road and the conversation ordinary: traffic, construction, a delivery truck blocking half a lane. Claire was grateful for the effort.
At the clinic, he pulled to the curb.
“I’ll wait here,” he said.
“Thank you.”
Claire stepped out and went inside without looking back to see whether he was watching.
The appointment passed in the steady rhythm of questions and routine checks. Claire answered for herself. When someone asked whether she wanted anyone called with updates, she said no. When the clinician asked about the other parent, Claire said he was outside and that she would decide whether to invite him in.
No one challenged her.
The clinician reviewed the visit with her and explained the ordinary next steps, including a routine scan to check the baby’s development. Claire asked questions, wrote down the answers, and made the decisions about what happened next.
There was no immediate concern. The words didn’t erase the worry she’d carried through the night, but they gave it less room to grow.
Before the clinician left, Claire paused.
“Could I have the other parent come in for a few minutes?”
“Of course,” the clinician said. “You can change your mind at any time.”
“I know.”
Claire texted Eli, who passed the message along. Gabriel arrived a few minutes later and stopped at the open doorway.
“Is it okay if I come in?” he asked.
Claire looked at him, then at the clinician.
“Yes. For now.”
Gabriel entered without reaching for her or taking over the conversation. He stood near the wall while the clinician explained the next appointment and answered his one question about the scan. When she finished, he thanked her. He didn’t ask for copies of Claire’s records or try to arrange anything on her behalf.
Outside, the day had brightened, though the pavement was still wet. Eli waited by the car.
“Do you want him to drive us back?” Gabriel asked.
“You can ask Eli,” Claire said. “But I’m deciding where I go.”
“Of course.”
She gave Eli the direction herself. The ride back was quiet. Gabriel didn’t sit beside her in the car; he took the other vehicle with his security detail, leaving Claire space to watch the city pass through the window.
At the apartment, she stepped out and turned to face him before they went inside.
“You almost asked for the clinic details last night,” she said.
Gabriel didn’t pretend otherwise. “Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I knew you hadn’t offered them.”
“That’s the right answer.”
“I was angry at myself for not knowing you needed an appointment. Then I was angry that I’d found out so late. I wanted to fix something immediately.”
“You can’t fix everything by getting there first.”
“I’m learning that.”
Claire held his gaze. “Can you keep learning without turning every lesson into a command?”
“I can try.”
“I don’t need you to try in a grand, dramatic way. I need you to stop when I say stop. I need you to ask before you act on my behalf.”
“I understand.”
She didn’t tell him she believed him. Not yet.
Inside, Gabriel’s phone rang. He checked the screen, and the change in his expression was slight but unmistakable. The warmth from the clinic disappeared beneath something colder.
He stepped away to answer. Claire heard only fragments: a name she didn’t recognize, a pause, then Gabriel’s measured reply.
When he hung up, he didn’t move closer.
“That was about your meeting?” Claire asked.
“Yes.”
“The one from the warning?”
“It may be connected. I still don’t know who sent the message or whether it was telling the truth.”
“What do you know?”
May you like
Gabriel looked down at his phone, then back at her.
“The rival has requested a meeting.”
