Claire
I didn't sleep at all that night.
When I could dose off a little, I'll quickly be woken up by a nightmare. It was either Frank was trying to kill me, or my Mom was a zombie... I'd blame the horror movies I usually watch.
The week passed slowly; I never left the room. Uncle Mark's family took turns checking up on me. Uncle Mark tried to get me to talk to him but I wasn't up for it. Barely looking at him, you'd know he was still hurting and hasn't coped with his pain yet, so how did he want to help me?
Aunt Miriam avoided talking about my Mom entirely; she would rather talk about happy moments with her family. Could be her type of therapy. It worked a bit though; I didn't cry so much when she was around. I felt a different kind of calm with her close, but as quickly as she left, I'd go back to my depression.
Tyler didn't visit until after my second day there. He was just as I remembered; bright blond hair like his Mom, a friendly personality and an occasional goofy smile. He was only taller than me by a few inches.
He was just like his Mom; no comments about my mother. He filled me in on the four years we've spent apart. He now had a three-year old sister, Jane and an older adopted brother, Jason. Apparently, James and Jane hit it off and was always in each other's company.
Could be why I barely saw James. When he could come around, he'd just sit quietly without saying anything whatsoever. It was strange to me; I felt like he was mad at me for making a promise I couldn't keep, but his expression held no grudge.
My week of isolation dragged out and I still had no plans of leaving my safe place anytime soon. No one tried to persuade me to come out anymore, maybe they felt it was best to let me do it in my own time. It was.
The day that officially made it a week since I lost my Mom, I was cooped up in my room as usual, looking out the window at the peaceful environment. Someone tapped on my door and came in. It was my Aunt.
"Dear, we're heading to the mall. Do you want to join us and grab something? You haven't really shopped for clothes yet." The idea was appealing since I only wore the clothes I came in and a pyjama Tyler lent me. Yet, I wasn't ready.
"Thanks, but I'll pass." Her face fell slightly, but she quickly masked it with a smile.
"Alright. Everyone is going, except Jason. If you get bored and need to talk to someone, his room is down the hall, first one on the left."
"Thanks." That won't be necessary. I haven't even met him yet, just heard stories about him. And from what I heard, he's a private person.
She left.
I was left to my thoughts again, thinking about what would have been if my Dad hadn't left us; if I had been supportive and nicer to my Mom, maybe we would have had a better relationship and I wouldn't regret everything now.
Someone tapped on my door again and came in.
"Hey." The tall, lean boy with jet-black hair stood in my room. His greeting came out as nice, but his expression was neutral; I couldn't tell if he was happy, sad or annoyed, his face was blank.
"Who...?" I stopped myself. Aunt Miriam already said that Jason would be home. It wouldn't be nice to demand who he was.
"You should talk." He said simply. His expression suddenly changed to a disgusted one.
"What?"
"You should talk." He repeated. "About what's bothering you." I'm sorry, is this guy crazy? I lost my mother! Shouldn't I be bothered? I couldn't help but dislike him.
"Thanks, but I'm okay." I replied. It came out a little meaner than I wanted. He looked away from me for a moment, pressed his eyes closed, exhaled deeply, then turned to me again and smiled for the first time. Okay, with a smile like that, I can definitely like him again.
"I'm sorry, that came out wrong. It's just that, everyone here is worried about you. I know my Dad will feel better if you can talk to him about your loss, you can help each other. Your bro misses you, kinda. He doesn't stop talking about you and when we tell him to come see you, he gets nervous. You know he's just a kid and you aren't even trying to help him not miss his mother so much; did you forget she was his mother too?" He arched a brow at me, I swallowed.
"Tyler told me a lot about you..." He chuckled softly. "A lot for someone he only met twice. But what I could gather from him is that you were very cheerful then and fun to be around. Everyone wants you to be like that again, but you're not making it easy with this your new prison." He waved his hands around, gesturing to the room.
"You're lucky, Claire." My ears perked up. "You have a lot of people that love you and wants to help you anyhow they can." He looked away again. "I wasn't that lucky. I had no one else in my life until your Aunt came along." He suddenly stopped talking and frowned as if he had said too much. Well, he had! If what Tyler told me was true and Jason's a quiet person, how come he has been talking non-stop since he came in here? I didn't mind, he made sense. I've been so engrossed in my grief that I actually forgot that James needed me too, we needed each other. It wasn't like my Mom loved me, it always felt like she just tolerated me. Here, I have people going out of their way to help me, why throw it away?
"Think about it." He said and made for the door.
"Jason...?" He stopped but didn't turn to me. "Thank you, that helped a lot." He grinned and left without replying.
There was no use drowning myself in futile thoughts, my mom was gone. And though I'll never stop missing her, I had to move on; at least for my brother's sake.
I smiled and headed for the bathroom. It's time to break out from my prison.
The next week was better. I didn't spend so much time in my room anymore. I had meals with the family and participated in family games. Jane was a sweet girl and usually bright. She clung to me immediately she met me, fighting for my attention with James. I quickly had my hands full with both of them. I didn't even notice when the week flew by. It's true what they say, time do fly by when you're happy.
I was alone by the pool one evening, watching how the lights danced in the water. Aunt Miriam was tucking James and Jane in while the boys were playing video games; they invited me though but I wasn't feeling up to it. Uncle Mark had received a call a few hours earlier and had left immediately, furious.
"Hello, Claire. Where's everyone?" I heard his voice behind me and turned around. His face was a mess! It was either he fought with an angry bull or he collided with a rock. He was putting ice on his sore eyes.
"What happened to you?" I jerked up from my sitting position by the pool and walked up to him, checking out the different bruises.
"It's nothing, really. I just met an old acquaintance."
"I can tell it's not a friendly meeting. Who would do such a thing to you?" He tried to smile, but winced in pain.
"I'm fine. We just had a score to settle, there was no other way. Trust me, I did a number on him too." This time he grinned broadly and I almost smiled.
"I guess I can never understand men." His face became serious.
"There is something you should know about this particular acquaintance of mine." I shrugged.
"What?"
"It's Matthew Wagner." When I didn't register who that was, he shifted uneasily on his feet. "He's your father. He's back and he wants his kids." He turned towards the pool entrance. My eyes followed his and I noticed for the first time that someone stood there. Even with the equally messed up face, I needed no one to introduce him to me. He was my Dad... He was back.
My heart jolted.
Matt Nicholas had arranged for Mark and I to meet at a friend's club, VIP lounge. The place was deserted since it was booked for just the both of us. But for some reason, Mark cancelled. Nicholas may have omitted my name because I was dead sure that if Mark knew I was the one he was meeting, he'd be there before me. I requested for his cell number and called him directly. "Mark Willis speaking..." He answered at the second beep. "It's Matthew Wagner. I..." "Where?" He cut me off with a tight voice. No mistake, he was furious. "Bubbling Red Club." He hung up. I relaxed more on the comfortable sofa as I waited. It's a good thing no one's around to interfere; 'Mark Willis and Matthew Wagner, two successful business tycoons fighting in the popular Bubbling Red club', would make a really disturbing headline. Especially since I'm the unmarried one and Mark's wife was drop-dead gorgeous. I couldn't afford to have my name linked
Claire As I carried James inside, he didn't say anything and he didn't try to get away from my grasp. That was until we got to his room's door, then he jumped out of my arms and went in, shutting the door to my face. I was a little hurt though, but I knew how he must be feeling; finally meeting his Dad and his sister separated them again. But it doesn't work like that, he can't just come back after four long years and think he can easily whisk us off to his side. I don't want to know whatever made him leave, the fact is that he left without a goodbye, without a note and he didn't even try to call. I walked off to my room and buried my face in my pillow. I didn't want to think about him at all. My only regret was that James saw him and now he doesn't want to look at me. I wasn't that lucky though; I couldn't stop thinking about him, about the past and about how much better it'd be if we're together again. A
Claire I only had one word to describe my Dad's house: "Whoa!" Of course I didn't say it out loud, I couldn't let him know I'm impressed, but God! I was deeply impressed. I mean, it was somewhere between a mansion and heaven. The good news is, it's so big, I won't even have to see my Dad's face at all! Talk about a win-win, huh? There were rows of people in uniforms, men and women who stood to welcome James and I. It felt like a castle where the Royals are being welcomed from a trip. Dad introduced us to everyone but I was barely listening, I couldn't wait to find out what my room looked like. There was one person I did get her name though; she was an older woman, probably in her early fifties and Dad introduced her as our Nanny. "You know I'm fourteen right? Not ten. I don't need a Nanny." I objected, trying not to sound offensive to the Nanny. "I know, but..." "No buts, I don't need
"Hurry!" James was whining as I made cookies for him. He had woken me up just to bake cookies for him and he was so impatient. Who knew he missed my cookies so much? It took us some time to find the kitchen as Emma and Reggie were nowhere to be found. "Almost ready." "Quickly!" He whined again. "What are you? A pregnant lady? Why are you suddenly craving cookies." I asked as I placed my creation on the oven tray. "I don't know, I just love your cookies." "They are the best, right?" "Uh-huh!" Reggie and Emma came into the kitchen then. "There you are! What are you doing?" Reggie asked. "Making cookies. Where were you guys?" I asked. "Around. Mrs Wagner arrives today, so all hands were needed in preparing the house for her arrival." "Do you have any idea when she will be here?" "Claire?!" James fussed. "Sorry." I hurriedly put the cookies in the oven and set the timer. "Just give it sometim
ClaireEmma came in almost immediately, followed closely by a few other staff as they carried shopping bags."What are those?" I asked as I sat up."Starter clothes and accessories for you. Mrs Hart will be here later today to help you shop for your preferred clothes.""I don't understand." The other staff put down the bags by my huge closet and left without a word."Someone is coming here to help me shop? Is there a mall inside here?" That cracked her up; it took her two long minutes to compose herself."No, you'll select on her magazine and tablet, then she'll deliver them to you. If you choose something that isn't in her boutique, she'll order them. The point is, you don't have to go anywhere, whatever you want will be handed over to you."I didn't like how that sounded; it made me feel like plastic... Ugh, it's hard to explain. What's harder is being a rich man's kid."I'll get you your breakfast, do you want
The bath was oddly less embarrassing, probably because Emma had her eyes closed to make me more comfortable. I was almost done, just to wash my hair was left when Jacey came back but stood at the other side of the bathroom door."Hurry up! They'll be here soon.""In a minute." Emma answered. She quickly washed my hair, rinsed it up and gave me a towel before she finally opened her eyes."Better?" She asked with a smirk."Yes, thank you.""Any century now!" Jacey said from the other side of the door.A few minutes later, I was in my denim shorts as Emma helped me dry my hair."Remind me to add hairdryer and body lotion to your shopping list." I nodded to Emma; she had to borrow a hairdryer from one of the staff that lived in the mansion."They're here!" Jacey suddenly sprung up from her position on my bed."How can you tell? Do you hear voices?" She rolled her eyes at my questions."Will you just come already?" She
MattI couldn't tell what my Mom was thinking; trying to call Doris names in front of the kids. Sometimes, she can be really hard to understand, it's no wonder James stayed away from her. Just when Claire's beginning to warm up to me, she wants to ruin it and take me back to square one again.I wasn't even one to vent my anger, I always leave the arguments and the harsh words to Luciana."Could you be any less impossible, Mom? What was that back there?" Luciana began as soon as we got into the green house. Abigail and I sat down at the tea table and watched Mom and Luciana yell at each other; it was getting old."Can't you at least buy a heart? It's barely two weeks since those kids lost their mother and now they are turning to their Dad's family for support, you want them to find out that you hate their mother? How terrible is that?""Luciana please be quiet, I'm not going to argue with you right now." That was new! Mom never misses
"How's that possible? He's so little.""Well, that's what the doctor said." Claire snapped at Abigail. I could see that it was a hard topic for her, hell; it was hard for me too."It just started one day; he had a fever so I went down to the pharmacy to get him some drugs, when I got back, Frank and Mom were fighting, right in front of him. When I took him away to his room, I noticed that he wasn't moving at all, it was as if he paused in time." She stopped and looked at me. "That was two years ago. The doctor said it's really rare for kids, yet here we are."Damn! Why does everything have to be so wrong? Schizophrenia? Isn't that just too much?"He's coming back." Claire muttered under her breath so that only we heard her. James blinked twice, then stretched."Claire!" He sounded cheerful. "There are so many pictures of you here and none of me.""Sorry, Buddy. It's just that Dad doesn't have any of your pictures.""What about t