Bright Fire

"CLARA, Clara! Will you look at this article?"

Clara was trying to have a quiet breakfast in the kitchen when Aunt Carlota came rushing, still wearing her bathrobe.

She looked pumped up like she had won the lottery or something. She handed Clara her tablet and showed her a page of an online news site.

Clara's eyes widened when she saw photos of her and Josef on the header. The first photo was of Josef cupping her face, and the other was of Josef laughing. Adrenaline Magazine's latest cover boy, Josef del Mar is spotted dating, the title said.

Clara checked the date, and the article was written last night. She could not bear to read the whole article. There was no other person who could take these photos except for the suspicious man they saw yesterday. The one who casually walked out when he got caught.

"Clara, what's that face? You should be happy that it got on the news!" Aunt Carlota said.

"W-we were not yet dating, Auntie. He just stopped by for some coffee. That's all."

"Clara, dear, it does not matter!" Aunt Carlota waved her hand. "This is still publicity, and we want this kind of news." She stroked Clara's face and smiled sweetly. "I'm so proud of you. I'm sure Josef is going to call you about it. You should invite him to one of our branches. He'll like it."

Clara fell silent. What would Fuego think if he reads the article?

Does it still matter, Clara? It was over between the two of you, remember?

"Go put on some makeup I bought you, okay? You can't be seen looking pale. You should always be camera-ready."

"I'm not a celebrity, Auntie," Clara replied weakly and handed the tablet back.

"It does not matter. See you around, dear!"

Clara could only exchange glances with Rosa, who was listening quietly at the corner the whole time.

"What happened to the other guy?" she asked.

She shook her head with a sad smile.

"We have sort of like broken up. But I bet he did not have a hard time dealing with it." Clara stood up as she cleared her throat. "I got to go shower. See you later, Rosa." "Sure, Clara."

CLARA stood in front of her full-length mirror near the window when she saw a car parked outside the gate. A tall, bulky man leaned on the side of the car, looking like he was waiting for someone.

Out of curiosity, she moved to the window closer, hoping she'd recognized him. The guard at the gate did not seem to mind his presence. Clara saw them exchanged words before she saw Aunt Carlota walking out of the gate. That was weird, Clara thought. Her aunt was supposed to leave in her own car. Then she saw her approached the man.

Her eyes widened when the man suddenly grabbed Aunt Carlota's waist and kissed her. Clara blinked and found her aunt kissing him back as she grabbed the lapel of his shirt.

She was in disbelief. Was her aunt dating the guy who looked years younger?

After the kiss, the man opened the passenger seat, and her aunt got inside. Then, the car left.

CARLOTA retrieved her compact mirror from her purse and checked her lips. She was not surprised when her lipstick was smudged a little. Baron kissed her whenever he felt like it. She fished out a napkin and wiped the side of her mouth. "You look like you're in a great mood," Baron remarked as he gave her a side glance.

"Things are going as planned. I did not know bringing Clara and Josef together would be a piece of cake. I hired someone to write a humor about them dating. I think people would buy it," she said with a smile.

The corner of Baron's mouth curled into a crooked smile.

"And you are not happy about it," Carlota said, displeased.

"Why should I? Poor Clara."

"Whatever." Carlota rolled her eyeballs.

CLARA got a call from Josef as soon as she arrived at her office. She was already expecting it.

"Hi, Clara."

"Josef. Is this about the article spreading online?" she said.

"So, you read it, too." Josef sounded a little anxious.

"I can't be the last one to know about it. I'm sorry. I did not know such things would happen. I know it would deeply affect your personal life."

"Why are you apologizing? It would affect you, too. I should be the one saying sorry here. People looked at me as if I'm a celebrity or something."

"Well, that can't be helped."

"I could ask for the site to take the article down. But I don't think that would help since I kind of promoted your coffee shop in my social media account. I'm so sorry, Clara."

Clara could only imagine Josef's sheepish smile.

"Y-you did? That's... that's so nice of you. You did not have to."

"You're not mad?" Josef asked in surprise.

"Obviously, none of us wanted that malicious article online. I could only hope that people would get over it sooner."

"Of course, you're right. You would not mind hanging out with me again, would you?"

"I would not," Clara said quietly.

But that was a lie. Because the only man she wanted to be around with was Fuego.

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Thanks for taking the time to call me, Josef. I know you are a busy person, too. See you soon."

"Definitely. Good-bye, Clara."

"Bye, Josef."

After the call, Clara searched for Josef's social media account and found it at once. When she clicked his profile, the first thing that welcomed her was the familiar façade of Aroma del Cielo. He even tagged its location. Starting your day with a cup of coffee is never a bad idea, his caption said.

She was overwhelmed to see that it got a hundred thousands of likes!

Clara stared at the photo for a moment. Josef was indeed a nice guy, and she could only feel sorry about him that her aunt was trying to set them up. He did not deserve this.

Clara decided to get a cup of coffee. When she opened the door, she was shocked to see a long line of customers at the counter waiting to get served!

"I CAN'T remember the last time we had customers as many as that," Jennifer said while chewing her food.

They had their lunch late because the customers kept on coming. As much as Clara wanted to help, she was avoiding the camera. She knew the very reason why the shop was swamped. All of them were Josef's followers. They wanted to see for themselves who she was more than they wanted the drinks they offer.

To make it up to her staff, she bought them lunch. Clara even posted the 'Close' sign to stop people from entering after the last customer left.

"Are you sure we are closing the shop this early, Ma'am?" Agnes asked.

"I don't want to overwork you, guys. The week has just started to be exhausted. Thank you for your hard work today," Clara said.

"You are not dating Josef del Mar, are you?" Jennifer asked.

"I'm not. The article was a hoax. I have no idea why would some news site do that."

"Does Josef know you used to date his uncle?" Agnes asked.

Clara shook her head slowly.

"I don't want him to know. It will only make things complicated. Josef and I are better off as friends."

"Josef is a nice guy, though," Jennifer whined. "I am so jealous of you, Ma'am Clara. You are surrounded by gorgeous guys."

Clara smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.

"What are you talking about? I don't see things that way."

WE HAD to close the shop early. It was the first time we were flooded with customers. It was all because of you. Thank you, Josef.

Clara sent that message to Josef before she left the shop.

Though she was sincerely grateful, she could not go on using her friendship with Josef to please Aunt Carlota. Josef's intentions were as pure as his heart. He would only be miserable if he ended up with her. She did not want to complicate things by sleeping with Fuego. She just wanted to escape for a while. But it turned out that she only put herself in a more complicated situation.

Her phone rang, and Josef's name popped up. Clara slowed the car down and took the call.

"Aren't you busy?" she asked.

"Where are you?"

"On my way home."

"Oh, I see. I guess it would take some time before I could drop by at the coffee shop again. We will only raise more speculations. I'm sorry, Clara. I did not know things would turn out this way."

"Josef, I am not blaming you, okay?" Clara said with a smile. "The rumors will die down on their own soon. We'll get used to it. But I admit it did something good for my business, so I'll just take advantage of it while it lasts. I hope you don't mind." Josef chuckled.

"Well, business is business. But don't ever think it was free. One of these days, I'll ask you to return the favor."

"As long as I can do it."

"All right!" Joseph said, a little cheerful now. "See you soon, Clara. Take care."

"You too, Josef."

CARLOTA could only sigh in frustration as she folded her arms across her chest. She had to clear the rest of her schedule for the day and called Baron to pick her up from the office. Her mood was totally ruined. She was frowning like a spoiled brat the whole time.

She told Baron what happened. The board was asking if she ever planned to sell some of her shares in the company when she already decided to step down from her position any time.

She would only do that if Clara ends up marrying Josef. Their impatience was starting to get on her nerves.

Though Baron barely made remarks, she knew he was listening. Well, he did not have a choice, did he?

Just what would she do without him?

Carlota changed into Baron's shirt when they got home. She went into the kitchen and found him retrieving food stocks from and fridge and put them on the kitchen counter. "What do you want to eat?"

"Anything," she said with a shrug. "I can eat later. I'm not hungry, anyway."

She leaned on the counter and grabbed his shirt. She tiptoed to kiss him, but Baron pulled away with a grin.

"If you're not hungry, I am. We can have sex later, anyway."

Carlota was left dumbfounded when Baron turned his back at her. Like, what was that?

CLARA stared at the egg pie on her plate. She was craving for it and decided to order from a popular dessert shop around the area. She eventually regretted it after the first bite. Though it tasted good, it was nothing compared to what she had from Tierra Felicia.

It's been weeks since she had last seen Fuego. As her customers increased in number, so was the space that his absence left in her heart. She missed him, but she could not do something about it. She should not do anything about it. Clara wiped the uninvited tears from her eyes. Crying won't help. It would not help bring Fuego back. It would not help put the things back the way they used to be.

Clara jumped when her phone rang. It was Josef again.

She sniffed and took a deep breath before answering her phone.

"H-hey, Josef. What's up?"

"Clara. Did I disturb you?"

"Sure, you did."

Josef chuckled.

"My apologies. Are you free this weekend? Can I ask you out for dinner?"

"Is this the time when I repay you for the favor you've done for me?" she asked jokingly.

Josef laughed.

"You got me there. Well, actually, it's a family dinner. I'm inviting you as a friend. I want to introduce you to my grandparents if you don't mind."

Fuego's parents, she thought.

Clara fell silent for a moment.

"I miss hanging out with them. I think it would be more fun to have you around. It'll be just us and my grandparents."

So, Fuego would not be around.

"I-I..." She cleared her throat. "I don't see anything wrong with that. What should I wear?"

"Anything that makes you comfortable, pretty. I'm going to pick them up first; then I'll fetch you after that."

"No, that would be exhausting, Josef, and also time-consuming. How about you give me the address, and I'll go meet you there?"

"Are you sure about that, Clara?"

"Of course."

"Well, you surprise me. Honestly, I do really appreciate that. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. I owe you, remember? See you this weekend."

"Yup. See you!"