Chapter 45 Chapter 44:
Clara:
“What if I grabbed some ice-cream on the way to your house? We could drink wine, watch that favourite series of yours, and scroll through Insta, we could then giggle and cry. Trust me; it would be the perfect girls night!” Chloe’s voice blasts from my phone speaker, which is placed on the other leather seat.
My hands are tightly fixated on the steering wheel as I take the turn that leads towards my house. “As tempting as that sounds, I am going to pass on that one.” My gaze is up ahead; thank goodness my house is just a few blocks more. Work as always is stressful.
Chloe sighs, “Charlotte and I are just worried about you, that’s all. You still haven’t told us why you ran out of the party, it’s been days and you didn’t even call or text an apology to him.”
Immense guilt washes over me, yes I am a horrible person, leaving him hanging. That day’s memories come rushing again, me, running away, my face stained with tears, mascara running down. I looked like an impossible sight.
I sigh briefly, feeling as though my eyes are starting to water with tears. “I need you both to stop treating me like glass, okay?” My lower lips are trembling as I grip the steering wheel hard, “I won’t shatter, I am going to be okay.” I say it as though I am trying to reassure myself.
“We aren’t treating you like you’d break, we love you and we care about you. You do know it’s okay to be the fragile one, right? You don’t have to hide who you are, Clara. It’s okay to cry, let those tears fall down.”
A tear slips down and I wipe it angrily with the back of my sleeve, my house comes into view. “I will call you back, I love you.” When she says those words back, I hang up the call. The sun is already setting; I am a bit thankful that Chloe didn’t ask me what I was going to eat for dinner.
Maybe I could heat up the lasagna that Charlotte made for me the other day, or I could microwave the store bought ramen noodles, as I contemplate dinner options, I see someone seating on my porch steps.
I freeze when this someone turns out to be Axel. He’s holding a bunch of flowers and a little box, his face brightens when he sees me and he walks towards me. I am too shocked to move.
“What are you doing here?” My mouth is dry as I ask.
“Hell, I thought I was going to remain there forever, it’s freezing here. Won’t you invite me in first?” He raises a brow, directing a lazy smile my way. “Go on, open the door.” He tightens his coat against his body.
“Right, right. Sorry.” I fumble for the keys in my jeans pocket and jog up the front steps, igniting the keys into the hole; I push the door open leading to my solitude home.
“Welcome to my...uh, home.” I say lamely.
“Not exactly what I had in mind, but okay.” Axel says, taking in the boring decor of my room. Chloe and Charlotte have been bugging me to do a redecoration but I have no interest in that. Aside from the gray couch and a few throw pillows, with the shelves filled with novels, my living room is practically empty.
“Why are you here?” I bite my lips, watching as he drops the box of chocolate on my kitchen counters, he drops the daisies inside my empty vase and comes back to me in the living room.
“Because I want to know why my date ran away while I was kissing her,” he gives me a lopsided grin, coming closer. I realize something; he’s unusually free with me, even when I ran away from him.
I take a deep breath, Chloe already told me to be free about everything and that’s what I am going to do. “I am sorry I ran, I just felt unworthy to be with you. I really don’t deserve you,” I am shaking my head, my eyes turning watery. “I am really sorry, and besides you like Wanda.”
“What?” He asks, blinking. “No, I don’t like Wanda and believe me; she doesn’t like me like that.” He grips my shoulders softly, leading me to the couch and letting me sit down.
His fingers brush away the tears on my cheeks. “You know, people say you never really forget your first love, I don’t think they were wrong.”
I look up at him.
He leans on the chair, staring up at the ceiling. “You know, seventeen year old me never really forgot his first love, he would say up all night wondering if the girl of his dreams ever noticed him. Of course no one noticed the nerdy, quirky kid but for a second, he believed that she noticed him.”
“Axel....” My breath catches in my throat.
“The point I am trying to make is that even though years will pass, we never will forget each other, it’s there and no matter how you try to hide it, it will always resurface.”
“I am sorry for what happened in high school,” breathing in, I say, I know that I have said this countless times, but I really want him to know. “Maybe if things were different, maybe if I was different, we would be together.”
He gives me a look that tells me to stop talking. “I don’t care about that.” He stands up. “Okay, so I am going to go, but I won’t give up on this, on us.” He leans in, and kisses me in the mouth. The kiss is unexpected yet I savour it, clinging onto him.
We break apart, both trying to catch our breaths, “I will be back tomorrow, and maybe we can watch a movie? Eat the chocolates, it’s your favourite.” He walks towards the door.
“Thank you,” I voice out before he leaves, he gives me a grin before unlocking the door and walking out.
Maybe somehow, I can get my happy ever after, but with Anna’s secret weighing on me, I doubt it’s going to be possible.
\--
Anna:
Arya is on a vacation with her dear Devon in Paris, which means all our plans are ruined. We obviously have to wait for her to return and that could take forever. I stare at my phone screen, looking at them posing in front of the Eiffel Tower, how are paparazzi everywhere?
Anger fills me, she doesn’t deserve to be happy, I deserve to be happy. Fuck this! I throw the phone to the wall, the smashing sound making me calm down a bit. I am in Theo’s penthouse, wearing a robe with my laptop in front of me.
Today, I plan on researching Theo’s mother. Something just keeps bugging me, maybe it’s the plan to play hero and reunite him and his family together. Will he even want that? The last time, he seemed pretty annoyed when I suggested he get back with his family.
My burner phone pings with a message and I look around, sure that Theo isn’t in sight, the water is still running in the shower and I am in the bedroom, hurriedly I dig through my bag and bring out the burner phone, cursing under my breath.
Alisha: Arya’s in Paris! Having the best time of her life, what do we do now?
I roll my eyes, spoilt brats want the solution to every problem, well that’s not how it works in this life.
Hurriedly, I press the buttons, the shower stops running and my heart jumps.
Me: We do what any normal human being will do, we wait.
I shove it back into the bag and switch off my laptop the moment that Theo walks into the room, a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair is wet from the shower, and he’s humming a song under his breath.
I smile up at him, trying not to appear suspicious. He stares at me with his dark eyes; I can’t tell if he’s trying to read me.
“So any plans for Thanksgiving?” He pads to the walk in closet and goes in.
“Umm. No!” I say, resting on the bed. “My mom and dad moved to Canada years ago, and since I am an only child, I have no siblings to celebrate it with.”
He comes out from the walk-in closet, dressed properly in a suit, he adjusts his Rolex watch and says, “Well that’s a bummer, I would have loved to meet the parents who created such a beautiful masterpiece.” His eyes twinkle and I crawl towards him from the bed.
“We can spend it together, just me and you. Thanksgiving is about being grateful, we can be grateful together.” I look him in the eye and he smirks, pulling me closer. We kiss briefly, our foreheads touching. “We can have turkey and I can even make my mother’s favourite Thanksgiving recipe.”
“I look forward to it, babe.” He laughs, “I am going to head off to work now, bye.” He squeezes my palm as he walks out of the room, smiling to himself.
Calming myself down, I throw myself back on the bed; my cracked phone screen brightens up with a new message from Clara. Hopping out of the bed, I pick the phone up and read her text.
Clara: I don’t think I can do this anymore, you have to hand yourself over to the police, or I will do it, you said it was self-defence, right? We can even hire Nicole as your lawyer, please, the secret is gnawing at me.
“Fuck!” I yell, throwing the phone back to the wall. This time, I don’t care if it smashes and gets destroyed. This can’t be possible, she can’t be having the urge to report my crime, suddenly I regret calling her that night.
She’s nothing but trouble; I could end up behind bars because of her.
“Take a deep breath, Anna. We are going to get over this.” I say to myself. My first thought is to call Theo, but he’s already on his way to the office. I can do this on my own, I don’t need Theo’s help.
It’s easy, sooner or later, I am going to frame both Alisha and Clara, they will both end up in jail. The plan will come through easily, I am Anna fucking Lere, scratch that, my maiden name is Calloway.
I walk to the kitchen, where I pour myself a cup of freshly brewed coffee; I close my eyes, devouring the taste. Now, I just have to find a way to make the plan come in much sooner, however with both Arya and Devon in Paris, it’s going to prove much harder.
No one must know about Kevin’s death, he’s in rehab for a year, that’s what everyone must believe, whatever happens, I am not going to jail.
There are some sides of ourselves that we don’t show to other people, our friends and even families. I have tons of secrets that I have kept from Clara, even though we’ve been friends for so long.
Theo doesn’t quite know me like he thinks he does, he thinks he can play me like a little puppet, order me around, he thinks he can be in control of my life, but I am far more dangerous than he thinks.
We are all capable of darkness; it’s just a matter of how far we’re willing to go, if pushed to the edge.
The real reason why I am not spending Thanksgiving with my parents is because I killed them.