Chapter 123

Adrian

My mind has wandered back to Stella in the past couple of days and I honestly could not be any happier with the change that has come between us. The change is positive and it is a step in the right direction for the two of us. I know it is.

I take what my mother told me to heart. After Stella and I agreed to be friends at her apartment, I have followed her lead and had her be the one to reach out first instead of me being the one to reach out. I do not wish to push the boundary that she has set up between us, not wanting to ruin something before it has already begun.

To try and keep my mind off and away from Stella and all of the possibilities that come from our new friendship, I have decided to take my mother out to lunch on one of her good weekends, a weekend where her health is in tiptop shape and she does not need to be on bedrest. We ended up at one of her favorite restaurants before she slipped into a coma, one that is near the country club, but is far enough to where it is secluded and we are sure to not run into anybody at the restaurant.

We sit at the table and smile and laugh, sharing stories for my childhood as well as my mother, opening up about my father and telling me stories from their relationship that I have never heard before. I find myself smiling more than I usually do, my body in mind feeling good instead of being in a perpetual state of torment.

Just as our dessert comes out, my mother desperately wishing to have a bite of their famous lemon meringue pie, I noticed a familiar head of blonde hair enter through the doors. She is not alone, accompanied with one other person who is around her age, and they glide through the room as if they own it.

Dread begins to flood my body as soon as my eyes meet hers. Clara’s lips twist up into a smile, and my heart runs cold. My mother is oblivious to this, simply eating away at the citrus dessert that has been set before her, my fork completely clean while hers is dirtied.

Clara cuts through the dining room, weaving through the mass of tables and chairs, a few people glancing up at her before moving back to their meal. I lean back in my seat, my hands bracing the arm rests, knuckles turning white from the pressure. I can hear her chuckle from afar, not wanting this encounter to happen.

I know it is bound to happen. There is no stopping the storm that is known as Clara and her sheer audacity to make things worse for everyone else.

My mother looks up from her plate as soon as Clara plops down in the seat next to me. Her eyes flicker to mine and I shake my head, staring at Clara as she makes herself at home at my mother and I’s lunch table.

“Clara,” I speak, my voice sharp and blunt, “why are you here?”

“I wanted to swing by and say hi to my favorite people,” Clara’s voice is like honey but I do not bite into the sweetness that she pretends to have.

“What do you need?” I groan and pinch the bridge of my nose, shaking my head. “What do you want from us?”

“Ouch,” Clara winces, shaking her head with a small smile. Her blue eyes turn to my mother, who simply looks uncomfortable with the situation that begins to unfold. “How are you, Lilian?”

“I’m okay, thank you for asking,” my mother quietly responds.

“Don’t speak to her,” I speak through grid teeth. I narrow my eyes at Clara, her attention finally turning back to me. “Speak to me.”

“why am I not allowed to see how my mother in law is doing?” Clara asked, feigning complete obliviousness, and ignorance to her true intentions. “Oh, right, the woman who was going to be my mother in law.”

“Do you know that it is rude to show up unannounced when somebody is having a meal?” my mother speaks up. I suck in a breath, unsure how Clara will react.

“Do you know that it is rude to continually ignore my calls in text messages?” Clara is quick to counter, staring at my mother before turning her attention, right back onto to me. She folds her hands in front of herself on top of the table. “I can't believe that I have had to move to more drastic measures just to speak to you, Adrian. You do know that I exist, right?”

I roll my eyes at her comment. Of course, Clara is taking the route of the victim, pretending to be the one person in the world who has suffered the most in our relationship with one another.

I just wish that she can get it through her head that there is no relationship between us. That Clara and I are no longer together. That Clara is now a footnote in my story, one that is continuing without her in it.

“You would really enjoy it if I just disappeared,” Clara says, a shakiness to her voice. “you would just really love it if I were to die and leave your life forever. I can leave, if you want me to. I can leave forever and make that a reality for you as long as it makes you happy, Adrian.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask with a scarf, completely baffled by the dramatics in her words and tone.

I watch as Clara grabs the napkin from my lap, pulling it to her face and dabbing the tears that slowly roll out of her eyes. She tosses the nap, came back to me and stands up, looking down at me with a frown on her face.

“It is okay. I can truly disappear if you want me to,” Clara says with a tear rolling down her cheek.

Before my mother, or I can respond, the golden haired woman walks away from the table, finding her place at her friends side instead of being a nuisance at our table. I turned to look at my mother, raising an eyebrow.

It would be a lie to say that I am not unsettled by Clara's words, by the subtle and silent ultimatum that she has just issued to me. Is this a threat of suicide? Is she truly going to move towards drastic measures just to get my attention?

Does Clara truly love me? Or is this just a sudden infatuation that she has on me now that I have made it clear that I do not wish to have her in any aspect of my life? Is she slowly working through the rejection that I have given to her?

I know that Clara has an ulterior motive to her words and actions. I know that there is a plan that she is not telling anybody, nor will she reveal until the time comes. It is unsettling knowing that she may hurt herself just to get my attention or if she is doing it just to spite me.

Whatever it is that she has planned, I want no part of it.