Perplexed
Judith made no effort to conceal the disdain she has for Clara, she felt so ashamed to even talk to her.
' seems it's finally time to lay down his last card,' Clara said inwardly with a small smile, she quietly walked towards the car, mentally preparing herself to welcome whatever it is that has been cooked up for her.
" Hump!, if it wasn't a direct order from the boss, I would never have come to pick up a woman like you. People like you are not worthy of anyone's time and effort " Judith fretted before starting the car .
Clara didn't even bat an eye, she sat motionlessly at the back seat looking outside the window like someone who's soul had left her body .
Being ignored has never gone well with Judith so Clara's reaction was like an insult to her, she was greatly infuriated this time, she looked through the rear view mirror ready to spout out a series of harsh words at the woman but what she saw left her dumbstruck.
The woman at the back seat was quietly sobbing, she could pass for a soulless mannequin, probably she herself wasn't aware of her action .
"Ugh!..." Judith became agitated seeing her acting all weak and valuable in front of her, she wanted so badly to taunt her but to her dismay even her own voice betrayed her. She was never an emotional person but somehow seeing Clara like these moved her stone heart.
" Geez.. could you please cut that off!, I can't bear to see you acting like a drenched rat " she quipped, throwing a roll of tissues at Clara.
' gosh!! This woman already made Tony a fugitive and a bonafide member of the jobless youth association. If Xavier should see her reddened eyes, he will probably think I bullied his little lamb. I so much hate this woman.' she cursed inwardly banging her head on the wheel.
When a tissue box was suddenly thrown at her Clara stared at Judith with teary eyes confused, she was totally unaware of what happened , Judith glared at her disdainfully before adding with a voice devoid of any form of warmth.
" Better drop that facade of yours, if you are thinking that you will succeed in using your tears to subdue me." She cautioned, it was as if she was rebuking a devil, " I will never fall for it , never " she squawked looking away.
As if in a trance Clara slowly directed her hand towards her face and was bewildered by the wetness on her cheek.
She cried, she actually cried without knowing, she hurriedly made use of the tissue to wipe every trace of tears on her face like a crazy woman , Judith reluctantly jerked it away from her, " what do you think you are doing? if Xavier see's you like this,
don't you know I will end up being punished." she hissed
Clara lowered her head in embarrassment while mumbling an apology to her , she allowed Judith help clean her face.
******
Instead of heading directly to the estate , Judith drove her to the most crowded street in country A, ignoring all her questions along the way, she dropped her in of a Cafe before driving off, "what's going on?, was this another prank?, how can she drive me here and leave without a hint of what's happening?" Series of unanswered questions kept popping up in her mind as she looked around her uncomfortably.
Still in her working attire Clara stood there watching the busy people as they hurriedly passed her too enclosed to their business to notice her .
All of a sudden a familiar cologne missed with a faint scent of cigarettes whuffle into her nose, ' why is he here?' she subconsciously became alarmed as she looked up trying to figure out where it was coming from but she need not look too far because he was standing right in front of her with his usual poker face but he was still very handsome and even more breathtaking in his well tailored black business suit , he was staring at her emotionlessly but his hands were firmly supporting her.
'What is he doing here?, shouldn't he be keeping his Flora company?,' this question reminds her of the event she witnessed today , bringing back the pain she thought she has pushed aside, fretted she jerked away from him with a scornful glare , but without saying a word he grabbed her hand dragged her along with him , Clara experience how it felt to walk in a crowd even though it was reluctantly done, he pulled her into a unisex boutique and ordered curtly
" Pick a set and put them on!. " Instead of doing as she was told she stood there staring at him amused and confused, flushed he called the attention of the sales personnel who was busy admiring the beautiful couple who just graced her shop with their presence, she gladly help her make a choice and lead her to the dressing room after sometime she came out dressed in a blue and white big t-shirt, a black jeans coupled with a white Snickers ,her long hair was styled into a ponytail , and a little touch of makeup, she looked like a different person while coming out, her eyes bulge when she saw the person standing in front of her.
Her husband was all dressed, just like her he was also looking younger than before , what the f**k they were actually wearing a couple dresses .
Xavier smiled at her on noticing her presence, his smile made the two women breathless
" You look beautiful , just the way I want it , let go. " He sounded so endearing that Clara became tense, trying to recall where she went wrong today because it's been a long time since he talked to her like this .
He was very happy as he opened his wallet and retrieved two thousand dollars and gave it to the shop owner " keep the change. '' Before the sales personnel could say a word of thank you he was already out with his woman .
That night he was like a stranger to her as they walked happily holding hands, walking on the street with a lot of envious eyes following them.
They watched movies in an expensive theater like young lovers he allow her pick her choice of entertainment, when she was tired of walking he bend over and scope her off the ground, all her pain and sorrow were forgotten as she subconsciously allowed herself enjoy whatever happiness tonight held out to her, when they had their full and ready to go home because of one sleepy head , he saw a small shop and walked towards it saying that he wants to know what the future holds for them , she tried talking him out of it but he insist , so she gave up and let him go in , why she stood outside.
****
" Beautiful couple " the shaman beamed without even looking at him .
" You are made for each other, but will only have that peace and happiness after a long time,fate will separate you two but love will bring you back together "
" Even though he was confused by her statement and tried effortlessly to make her reveal more, the shaman remained adamant on sealing her lips, he reluctantly thanked her and paid for the service before joining her outside.
He should have listened to her in the first place , what separate ? Why will he be separated from her to begin with? .
That night was like a dream come true to her,so she never wished to be woken up from such a sweet dream but no one knows what tomorrow has in store for us .
*****
Two days after that beautiful public display of affection , something happened.
"Clara can we meet up? " Glory called that beautiful morning requesting to meet up, Clara wanted to decline but recalling the beautiful memories they once shared she decided to honor the invitation maybe for the last time .
She walked into her shop, the shop they created to commemorate their friendship ,she casually walked into their private corner and took a seat opposite her friend with a smile on her face .
Glory could clearly see how much her friend has changed. She was no longer that innocent ,sweet soul who wished to live silently in her own world .
" Have your tea first " she mentioned to Clara to help herself with the hot tea in front of her, while she sat nervously, watching her sip on her tea.
" Umm…Clara, I'm pregnant. " stated, straight to the point.
Clara could feel her hand trembling but she forced herself to remain calm; her uncle warned her never to expose herself in front of her rival .
Her calm demeanor came as a surprise to Glory but it was only for a short span of time before she continued
" I'm sorry but Xavier promised to take responsibility for us. " she felt so ashamed to say this and couldn't bare to look her friend in the eyes but
when she saw that Clara was still quiet she was tempted to ask.
" Clara, are you hearing me? " She was visibly shuddering, because she still couldn't forget what Clara said to her that fateful night .
"So? " raising a brow Clara quipped, dropping her cup with a snigger .
' Huh Clara appears to be calm ,does it mean that she doesn't give a darn about this marriage?, she still wants a divorce?,' with this thought in mind Glory started retrieving some files from her bag, she handed it to Clara.
She collected it and flipped through them. The files before her were already signed by her friend. What was remaining was for her to input her own signature .
" Clara, I'm handing all my shares to you, the restaurant is now yours, you can do whatever you want with it ." Glory concluded righteously.
Her words got Clara irritated, in an instant her eyes were filled with struggling,it was Changing from calmness to perplexed, her lips immediately curved up into a sly smile as she snorted.
" You want to exchange someone's husband with a shop, is he that cheap?" Glory became nervous,it was her the same voice, she can't be mistaken, once again she came face to face with the Clara who said those things to her .
Are they going to end like this ,they were once best of friends. How can their relationship end like this?
" No, it's not like that , I'm not buying him with this, I just want to rest and wait for labor I don't have the strength to run a business and I don't want the shop to go to a waste that's why I decided to transfer everything to you, but if you feel that I used you, you can give me my share of the money. Glory's voice was trembling as she explained herself because she was feeling guilty .
" No,go away. " Clara was busy trying to remain conscious,so that Nora wouldn't appear .
" What's the difference?, you are just too shameless, breaking someone's home and stealing her husband, yet you have the face to call me out, don't you know how irritating your round face looks?,it makes me want to pull your f**king head open to see the shit you have in there for a brain,you Chinese monkey!, oh you think there's some pressure derived from having the child of a married man?,Then I will be glad to fill you in,"
" look!!" Furiously snapping her fingers in front of Glory, " if I refuse a divorce for even a day before your child is born he will become illegitimate and you will end up a cheap mistress , who couldn't get a life for herself, shameless woman!, You call yourself a friend when your goal from the start was to have a taste of your friend's husband dick. "
" No, Clara this isn't you, you were never this aggressive and unreasonable before, what happened to you?. " Glory was scared but she was even more confused the more Clara talked to her.
" What?!, don't you think you are going too far with this?, you are the one trying to justify yourself for sleeping with someone's husband in a righteous way because of the baby in your stomach ." Nora was even more agitated by her choice of words, who was being unreasonable?She picked up her cup of tea and splashed it in Glory's face .
" Awesome , that nice " Xavier ( who has been eavesdropping opened the beep curtain and walked in .
And this was scene that welcomed him, he walked up to the ladies with his cold eyes fixed on Clara, without saying a word he grabbed the tea in front of Glory and splashed it on Clara just the same way she did to Glory, immediately Clara came back to her senses, she looked at her now messy self and Glory who seem to suffer the same fate ,then her eyes met the cold ones of her husband and his hand which was still holding the cup .
She was overwhelmed with guilt; she blamed herself for being too weak now she ended up hurting her friend, unknown to her Glory was aware of Xavier's presence from the start.
Clara hurriedly picked up her bag ready to leave but he stopped her and made her sign those papers before leaving but before she left she turned to them and said to Glory in a warning tone..
" Stay far away from me, and let us never cross paths again,if not it wouldn't end like this,he may not be there to save you next time. And before I forget thanks for the gift I Will be sure to remember it."
