LILY I couldn't tell why I was this nice to her. Not like I didn't like the new me, but it felt weirder than I thought. I mean, I wasn't one to play the nice girl to people I don't feel quite comfortable with. But somehow, I wish I knew, I was beginning to grow a bit comfortable around Clara.Maybe, the incident had really thought me a lot. Maybe, she wasn't my real enemy after all. She had risk her life to save mine, and I couldn't let our relationship deprive me from saving her when I ought to.Asking her to join me eat was another thing I needed to question myself about. Normal me wouldn't give a damn whether or not she ate, and I wouldn't even get myself stealing glances at her.The way she hummed and spoke nicely with Christopher somehow fascinated me. I wished I could have that part of her in my life, and even though she was doing her best to offer it fully, I couldn't get myself to show how much I appreciated it.As I stood before my mirror, I recalled her words to me; "You kn
CLARAI sat in the garden, staring at the flowers as the cool breeze brushed against my skin. My mind wandered back to how much my life had changed since the night my mother died. Those memories felt like a heavy weight, pressing down on my chest.Living with Aunt Maggie and Uncle Mark after that wasn’t exactly a dream come true, but it was better than having nowhere to go. Aunt Maggie tried her best, but Uncle Mark… he made life unbearable. Now that he was out of the picture, I couldn’t help but wonder how peaceful Aunt Maggie’s life must be without him constantly around to make her miserable. For the first time in a while, I felt a sliver of hope for her. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice someone approaching until Lily’s voice cut through the silence. “You’re up early,” she said, and I felt even more relieved at the sound of her voice.I looked up, surprised to see her standing there. Her arms were crossed, and she was watching me like she wasn’t sure what to make of
CLARAHe didn’t look my way, but everything about him screamed authority. He was the perfect image of a Mafia—calm, commanding, and dangerous in the quietest way. Honestly, he reminded me of Mateo, like he could be a second version of him. Or maybe brothers, who knows?No wonder Mateo had been so bent and ready to destroy those who had dared harm him. But it wasn’t just his presence that caught my attention. It was his eyes. They weren’t black, and they weren’t brown. They were a strange shade of grey with hints of brown, a mix that made them almost hypnotic. They reminded me of Aaron Pierre’s eyes from the movie; “Mufasa”. Honestly, if there was any way I could keep staring at them, then I’ll gladly do that a million times.However, Lily moved toward him, breaking my thoughts. She didn’t hesitate as she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. The kind that made me wonder if she last saw him ten years ago. “You’re okay,” she said softly, almost as if she needed to hear it for herse
CLARAI had just returned to the garden, trying to clear my head, when I heard hurried footsteps behind me. I turned and saw Lily marching toward me with a look that made my stomach drop. Her face screamed one thing—trouble. “Clara!” she called sharply, and I froze in place, completely thrown off. I didn’t expect her to follow me all the way out here. “Lily?” I said cautiously, my voice betraying my confusion. “Is something wrong?” She crossed her arms, throwing at me that looks that screamed danger. “What was that back in the house?” She blurted.I blinked, caught off guard. “What was what?” “You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she snapped. “The way you were staring at Dominic. What was that for?” I shook my head quickly, trying to make sense of her accusation. “I wasn’t staring,” I said, though I knew how unconvincing that sounded. Lily raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. “You weren’t staring? Clara, you looked like you’d seen a ghost—or a god, I can’t decide which
CLARALily didn’t say another word. She just turned and walked away, like standing for the next second would cost her so much. I stood there, frozen, trying to keep the tears from falling, but it was useless. My emotions bubbled up, and before I knew it, I was crying.I had told myself to endure her hatred. To spend the rest of the days patiently, hoping upon hope that one of these days, things would change for the good between the both of us. But today, she gave me a million reasons why I shouldn’t wait any longer. It was clear how much she hated me to the core, and no matter how hard I tried to understand her, I just couldn’t.Maybe we were never meant to understand each other. Maybe. Just maybe, it’s me overthinking that one day, she’ll get to understand me better than I thought.I clenched my fists, my voice shaking as I yelled, “I hate you! I hate you so much!” I didn’t care if Lily heard me or not—I just needed to let it out.By nighttime, my cheek still stung from her slap, but
CLARAAfter the men left the house to celebrate Dominic’s return, I felt a strange sense of relief. The house felt quieter, though not exactly peaceful. I stayed in my room, locking the door behind me. I didn’t want to risk running into Lily again, not after everything that had happened. From my room, I could still hear her voice echoing faintly from downstairs. She was on a phone call, and by the sound of it, she seemed annoyed or in a hurry. I tried not to care, but it was hard to block out her voice completely. A few minutes later, I heard the sound of a car engine starting. Curious, I peeked through the curtains and saw Lily driving out of the estate. For some reason, my stomach churned. Where could she be going? And why did I even care? I sighed, annoyed at myself for being so nosy, but curiosity got the better of me. I left my room and went to find Christopher. I found him in the kitchen, wiping down the counter. He looked up when he saw me. “Miss Clara,” he greeted politely
CLARAI continued stitching her wound, trying to focus on getting it perfectly done, but my thoughts drifted back to what had happened in the garden earlier. The memory of her slap and her hurtful words replayed in my mind like an annoying echo. Without meaning to—or maybe just a little intentionally—I pierced the needle into the wrong spot. “Ow!” Lily screamed, jerking her arm. “Be careful!” I looked up at her, acting like I didn’t notice what I did. “If you’d stayed home, none of this would’ve happened.” Her face twisted into a frown, and she glared at me. “So, it’s a crime now to hang out with friends?” she snapped. “Yes,” I said, keeping my tone calm, but I knew she could hear the hint of anger in my voice. “When it’s this late, it’s a crime.” She huffed and looked away. “How was I supposed to know something bad was going to happen? Don’t blame me for that.” I looked at Lily for a moment, trying so much to hold back the urge to yell at her. “I’m not blaming you,” I said, sti
CLARAI couldn’t tell Lily, or she’d imagine I’ve been thinking too much. Or probably wanted the worst for her. I sat up on the bed, and just as usual, Mateo wasn’t on bed which has somehow become a normal thing to me. Not like I expected more than that, don’t get me wrong.Just then, the door opened and he walked in.Speaking of the devil.“You’re awake,” he said casually, not sparing me a glance. “Do you remember anything from last night?”I kept a face that told how confused I was even though I knew what he was talking about. Telling him about the dream was absolutely the least thing I ever wanted.What would he think of me? What would he say?He’d assume my uneven relationship with Lily had warranted me to have such scary dreams like that. No.I shook my head. “I don’t remember anything.”He paused, staring at me for a second. “Really?” He asked like he had some doubts about my reply.I nodded, still keeping the serious face that told how much I wasn’t lying even though I was.“We
CLARA“You better not be messing with me,” Lucaa warned.“I promise I’m not,” I responded.We were at our favorite bistro and had placed an order for some burgers and fries. Since we were waiting for our food, I told her about what had been going on between Mateo and me.“Swear that you’re telling the truth,” she demanded.“Come on, Lucaa. You’ve known me for most of my life. Do you think I would lie to you about something like this?”She thought about it for a moment before she said, “No, you won’t.”Then, her face transformed into a bright smile. "It's about time! Gosh, this is amazing news!" she exclaimed excitedly.“Wait, you’re not mad I didn’t tell you earlier?”She looked at me like I was crazy. “Should I be?”“I guess not.”“I’m definitely not mad. In fact, I appreciate you waiting to tell me in person, and this isn’t about me, remember? This is about you finally fighting for the happiness you deserve,” she said.“Thank you so much, Lucaa. I honestly wouldn’t have had the cour
CLARAI had always thought that people who claimed to be blissfully happy were always so full of it.Oh, I was so wrong.They were absolutely right. Don't get me wrong. Nothing came close to how happy I was when I held Ale in my arms for the first time, but this was a close second.Ever since the veil had been lifted on our feelings, Mateo and I have been in such a happy bubble. These past few days have felt like a dream.He has made it a point of duty to get home earlier than he usually did so we could all have dinner together and this had not gone unnoticed by Lily and his mom who were unsurprisingly curious about what had changed.I told them that we were trying to rekindle the spark in our relationship and thankfully, his mom believed me. Lily, on the other hand, took me to the side and said it was about time we both got our heads out of our asses.Needless to say, that was her way of telling me that she approved of my new relationship with, Mateo.The only person who was still in
CLARA“Was that so hard for you to admit?” I asked.He looked at me like I had grown two heads and replied. “No, that was surprisingly easy.”“Good, because I didn’t have any plans to leave either,” I said. “I don’t know when or how it started but what I feel for you is nowhere near superficial and I’ve just been waiting for you to catch up.”He groaned like he was in physical pain before he said, “It’s taking everything in me not to kiss you right now.”“Then don’t fight it. Kiss me, Mateo,” I demanded.I had barely gotten the words out before his lips crashed onto mine. We both groaned heavily into each other and honestly, for the first few seconds, I didn’t move.I couldn’t move because I was too afraid that this was all a dream and any movement would kill the bubble we were in but Mateo sensed that and slowly eased me into the kiss, making me melt into him.I kissed him back like he was oxygen and I was air deprived. Like he was the air I didn’t even realize I needed in my life.
CLARATalking with Lucaa was exactly what I needed. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right, I couldn’t keep living on ifs and maybes. I needed certainty in my life. So I had to have that conversation with Mateo whenever I got the chance. It was late at night and Ale had been fed, burped and changed. When I finally put him to sleep in crib, I released a sigh of relief.Now that I had put him down, he should be knocked out for at least a couple of hours. Long enough for me to take a quick shower and get some sleep.I grabbed the baby monitor on my way to the bathroom. Although it was unlikely, I wanted to be able to hear my child in case he woke up.I stripped out of my clothes and stepped into the shower, the warm water cascaded through my body, soothing my skin.I debated it for a while before I decided to wash my hair. I haven’t gotten around to doing it for days and I figured now was just as good a time as any. So I grabbed my shampoo and conditioner and proceeded to wash
MATEOIt’s been about a week now and I still haven’t heard a word from, Bruno.I hated to admit it, but the truth was I was really getting worried. I didn’t know what business he had to get done in Puerto Rico and the last time I checked with him, he had moved on to Mexico.There were a number of possible reasons why he hadn’t been able to reach out and none of them were good.I even told Dominic about it and he was also getting worried, that was after he made fun of my ass for acting like a fucking mother hen.I concluded that if I didn’t hear from him by close of business today, I was going to hit up my contacts in Mexico, maybe one of them might know what’s going on.But as fate would have it, just when I had come to a conclusion, my phone rang and I saw Bruno’s name on display.Accepting the call, I put the phone to my ear. “Where the fuck have you been? I haven’t been able to reach you for days now,” I yelled into the phone but I was met with the sound of laughter.“Do I sound li
CLARAAt this point, I was so convinced that Mateo was avoiding me. Apart from the schedule we’ve silently created for Ale’s night feeds, moments when we were both tired and barely able to make conversation, I hardly saw him.He was the one who promised me we were going to have a conversation, but lately, he had been leaving for work earlier than usual and returning late.I couldn’t talk to his mother or Lily about it, they were his family and it was hard for them to be objective so I decided to unload the burdens to my best friend.We agreed to meet at our usual cafe and I was more than happy to leave, Ale in Mrs. Antonia’s care while I took a few hours for myself. I haven’t been out of that house since I got back from the hospital and I was beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic.I ordered a latte and muffin and it got served just as Lucaa came rushing in.“I’m so sorry for being late. I got held up at work and traffic was crazy,” she said sounding out of breath.“It’s okay. I have
MATEOThe house was quiet by the time I got back.I’m guessing that was because they decided to turn in early, especially since it was a given that the baby was going to be up crying in the middle of the night.I headed towards the master bedroom but decided at the last minute to take a detour towards the guest rooms.I knocked on the door, hoping that she was still awake and the door was opened a few moments later.“It’s late,” she said.“I know, Mom but I really want to talk to you and I figured now is as good a time as any,” I replied.Mom glared at me before moving sideways so I could come inside. She closed the door and moved to sit on the bed while I remained standing.“Now say what it is you want to say,” she said.“I know you’re mad at me and you have every right to be,” I started and she scoffed.“Mad? That doesn’t even begin to cover the range of emotions that I’m currently feeling,” she replied.I nodded in agreement. “I know and I also know that there’s nothing that I can
CLARAI stared at Lily, unsure of what to say, but I couldn’t keep quiet any longer, so I went with the first thing that popped into my head.“I don’t think you need to thank me. I haven’t done anything except take up space in here,” I said.Lily shook her head in disagreement. “That’s not true and you know it. Stop selling yourself short, Clara, and just take the credit you’re due,” she said.But that was the thing. I wasn’t due any credit. That will just make me more of a fraud.“Listen, Lily. I don’t know what makes you think I’ve done anything to make Mateo a different man since I moved in here but I can assure you that I haven’t done anything,” I told her.“The fact that you don’t see it speaks a lot about the magnitude of what you’ve done,” Lily said.“Hmmm… I really think you’re mistaken. If there’s anyone that has gained anything then it’s me. Although our situation isn’t quite conventional, Matoe gave me access to a community of people that have accepted me and my son as thei
CLARAAfter Alina left, one of the housekeepers came over to clean up the mess she had made, and Christopher was gracious enough to fix me another plate.I tried to apologize to him for Alina’s behavior towards him but he looked at me as if I was the most ridiculous being on the planet for even doing that and told me I had nothing to apologize for.The atmosphere in the house changed and became lighter. Everyone, especially the staff had been walking on eggshells since yesterday and trying their best to avoid it, Alina and I didn’t blame them one bit because I was kind of guilty of the same.However, I was grateful that I didn’t have to deal with her again. The last thing I wanted was fight a woman over a man. A man whom I wasn’t sure how he really felt about me. It would be like pouring water in a basket and expecting it to get full, a wasted effort.Now that I had my son, the last thing I wanted to do was waste my time on things that aren’t worth it. Did I have feelings for, Mateo?