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Broken Woman
The Mother had her eyes fixed on the small baby in her arms, it’s tiny hands, the small little cry that came along with it, it was such a beautiful thing, such a beautiful image, so Clara thought to herself. If anything the Mother was more happy to be done with the labor process. Her friend Nicky, was who the Mother was. More than anything did Clara desire a baby, but out of many people in the world, her body just wouldn’t accept it.
Sometimes life happens to turn you around on corners, sometimes sharp corners, but life can’t be perfect can it?
Clara happened to be twenty, she was married, she had no lit fire between him and her, or the fact that she couldn’t have kids, but nor did her husband wish to have kids. So here she was being the supporter to this woman while she split like a watermelon. Clara wanted a baby so badly, but she just got with the wrong man.
…
The door made a loud squeak as she pushed it open. Not a single time has she come home with someone to at least be there for her, ask her how the day went, honestly it was rough. After her friend split, she walked home in the cold alone, to top that off on the entire evening, she got fired from her job before her friend’s melon decided to break.
She tied her long red hair back into a ponytail after setting a box down onto her bed. Honestly, her love life hasn’t been going well too much. Her husband hasn’t come back from a business trip, he was supposed to be gone for a month, turns out Vegas just keeps him, and the money just keeps sinking. For some time the woman thought that maybe he really was doing something important, changing people’s lives, until she got the bill for the strippers he’s been seeing.
Clara slowly sat down on the floor next the the edge of the bed, her box wasn’t far from her head either. She kept rubbing her face with her hands trying to relax herself from the long stressful day, first the job, then her friend, now she comes home to an empty house and a lost husband who doesn’t answer his calls. If anything she wished he was dead.
In 1999, she was born on a chilly day. December 1st. Her parents were an unknown resource, but besides that, she and her cheating husband had been married for three years after a mishap. Well the mishap considered to be a miscarriage, but as her husband acknowledges it, it was just something that should have never happened, it ruined his life some how. Then she recalls it in her mind, playing it over and over, how happy he was when it was his, alive.
Not all things were happy though, just because people have a smile doesn’t mean it carries happiness. She had considered herself lucky that he hadn't sent her the papers for a divorce, if the chance of happiness was available, if it was that baby she lost that could refill her life with her husband, laughter, something other than silence, then she’d do nothing more than to sweep the opportunity up. Except, here she was, alone and sorry for herself. More than anything, she just wanted to get pay back on the bastard for leaving her for some strippers in Vegas, but it’s not like she could prove it was him spending the money, although she had millions of receipts for his sudden..mishaps so he always calls it.
The red headed woman let this long frail groan out, she had not a single person to lean on, by the end of the day, she was just Clara, no Mrs. on it, or Clara Francis added to her last name. It had suddenly made her feel single. Being single after school really sucked, because all of her friends had gone off, got hitched, marrying boys who most likely liked the skinny jeans or boobs practically popping out of their chest, or some had just turned into melons harboring the next generation.
Life just goes on without you. She finally accepted that. More than anything she just wanted someone to reach for her, help her out of this dark space inside her mind, without her husband she had been trying to regain control of herself, find something within herself to take grip of. Rather it was reality, or pretend, she enjoyed both. Pretending that she was never pregnant was hard, but having a room still untouched, a room filled with nothing but baby things, it just all sat in there. Playing reality, she just had to accept that her husband was neither coming back, nor going to pay her back any of the money that he had taken from the joint account.
As her mind kept racing, as she kept sitting there dreading marrying that sorry excuse of a man, she realized that the time had certainly flown by. A long yawn followed along with a loud moan from her back being pressed against the end of the bed for quite some time, but not only that she had hit her head on the box above her head.
Clara slipped that oversized sweatshirt off, along with her pants, no point in pretending to be casual, it wasn’t like anyone else was there to interrupt her from this parting of her garments. Her mirror made her look like she had aged a little, but it was just the nightmares that she had to face every night alone. Sleep had been an issue for her.
A tiny growl came from her the more she kept looking at herself in the mirror. Those stretch marks, it was like an engraved milestone of her life. For a moment she wanted to just call him again, see if he’d get her message this time. He probably hasn’t even looked at his phone messages, or any calls he missed.
So once more she went to bed without anyone joining her for this nightly routine.
….
Clara quickly straightened her hair, unplugged the straightener, then quickly went onto the next stage. The makeup covered her beautiful laugh lines and freckles. The bags under her eyes were now hidden. She slipped her contacts out and put her game changer face on, taking on those big glasses. Now she looked like she was ready for a fight.
Today, she was going out, finding that lawyer, and she was going to divorce his ass. It didn’t matter where he was at the moment, she was going to find him, she was going to personally give him the envelope. One deep breath, and she was ready, but she was hesitating to take that breath. Her hands gripped the sinks faucet, she was going to try shaking herself from the reality part. It was finally happening, she thought. After spending so much time in bed, depressed, letting the thoughts carry her away, she has finally just made a choice.
There was no excuse for him, she finally made up her mind. The house was aching, aching for love, just like her empty heart, and she needed to move on to feel something other than that ache. The curtains would come down, the shades that have been beholding dust would also drift once more around the house, everything that was in the fridge, which was nothing but moldy foods.
She had already checked the fridge, to at least see if there was something she could munch on, but that’s when the woman finally came to her senses that maybe this life she kept living over and over wasn’t healthy. Her husband, Brendon, wasn’t coming back, so it was just time, no matter how many times she tried finding a reason to stay with him.
An Hour Later.
“Excuse me? Miss. Cherry?”
“Uh, it is Mrs..”
“Oh I am so sorry!”
“No, no-”
The woman had finally looked up from her file, her eyes scanning over her victim. “So you are Mrs. Francis?”
Quite the way to start things Clara beamed, but she wouldn’t dare say it out loud to her. Lilith casually sat down, admiring a bit of the taste this woman has for clothing, what else could she do? It was her first time filing a divorce. “Well, what exactly are you getting in for? I mean what are you looking to get?”
“I just..want to get a head start before he sends papers, well I don’t know if he ever will, but let's start with the house..”
“No kids-”
The smile that had been on her face since this morning was starting to falter quite fast, “excuse me..”
Before breaking into complete tears in the middle of a restaurant, she went to the bathroom to hide herself away until she was in a better mood again to talk to the woman. When she had returned, the woman was sitting reading the newspaper, her glasses stubbed up to her eyebrows and her lips pursed as she kept grimacing over the lines. Clara took her seat again though, trying at least to be silent. “I’m glad you came back, I was about to ask someone to fetch a rope for me Mrs. Francis.”
“I do apologize. I just had something come up.”
“Now, shall we continue this conversation? Or do you need to get another tissue?”
How did the woman know? She pondered. Even though she was reading the newspaper, it never occured to Clara that she may have spotted her crying as she left the table. “It is..okay to cry I mean, obviously it is a touchy subject. So there are no kids involved, this doesn’t make things too complicated, that just leaves the house. Tell me the reason you wish to divorce.”
“My husband..has been in Vegas..dwindling my account since he left, and there has been no pay checks from him going into the account.”
She opened her purse and pulled out some receipts. Finally the woman who looked about maybe fourty, on the edge, she smacked the newspaper down making the papers flap up and into the seat next to her. “Oh..I am sorry.”
Clara was used to this, she hiccuped just a tiny bit though because of how sudden the woman had made her jump, and her hands kept fumbling for those receipts. “Do you have any other family Mrs. Francis? This may be a hard time for you, it is best that you have-”
“No, I don’t, but I think I’m done here, maybe we could continue some time else. At this moment I think I should find myself a new job. This was just silly for me to come here and think I could just ask for help.”
The feeling of another mistake started to dwindle into her thoughts. “I promise, things will get easier for you Mrs. Francis, but right now you need to get yourself together.”
“I can’t, you may not know me, but I have been waiting three years to divorce him, after I lost the baby all he wishes to do is go on fake business trips just to get away from me. He doesn’t send me a lawyer, of course not, that would involve him getting a job. Hell, I don’t even think he has a job! He takes a supposed trip, a month, it’s been a month and he’s still gone? Does that make any sense? Yet I am the one who is supposed to stay in the house with not a single soul to help me out.”
Her hands smacked down onto the receipts, she put her big girl boss pants on today, “I’m looking to divorce my husband, and leave his sorry ass wherever he is..and maybe some part of me just wishes that he is somewhere deep underneath the ground, but as of right now my credit card is being declined every time I go to use it!”
“Well then, I think that settles things. I will get things arranged Mrs. francis. We will talk some more later.”
The lady looked like she was going to suggest marriage counseling as soon as this file had come up, but hearing this woman yearning for relief of her blood sucker, she just couldn’t look her in the face and say it. The name somehow had rang a bell, she couldn’t fit it into place, so that was also the reason she was going to help the poor woman out.
Now that those pig girl pants were used, she nervously gathered her things and quickly left the restaurant, now heading home to look online for a new job. Her heels clicked as she hurried to her car, when suddenly someone yanked her elbow. Now she was falling backwards and facing the woman she had just met inside the restaurant. “I don’t mean to seem like a loser Mrs. Francis, but do you mind giving me a ride?”
Did this woman take her as a bum? Was that why she was asking for a lift? “I promise it is only a block away, I just need to report back to work. Honestly I’d call for a cab but I don’t think my whistle is quite on the mark if you understand what I mean.”
Clara uttered a few words as she managed to swing herself around before slamming into a fire hydrant. This lady was kind of creeping her out now, she had spilled her whole life story, well that’s a bit of bullshit, but she had told the woman a sappy story, and how she wants her sad relationship to end, with a divorce. Now this lady is yanking her by the elbow hoping for a lift?
It came to mind that if she said no, that maybe this lawyer wouldn’t help her out, so she just smiled more, “I don’t see why not.”
“By the way, nice save, you almost hit the hydrant.”
Really? Clara almost snapped at her, this woman was now getting on her nerves, which was also something she didn’t want to add to the list of how shitty her life was turning out to be. “Look, please don’t judge me,” Clara began, while opening her passenger door. There were teddy bears sitting in the passenger seat. “As long as you keep it to yourself and don’t tell me you talk to them..I won’t judge.”
“Great. Well in that case I’ll move them, and you can sit there.”
It made June smile to see her client was kind of childish, when her driver had finally gotten into the driver’s seat, she had questioned her about the teddy bears. Even though it made her feel uncomfortable to talk about them, she began.
“Well you see, they belonged to a friend of mine, she had no use for them, I was pregnant in high school, and since I had no parents, I was mostly on my own. Things weren’t cheap, and preparing for the baby alone was hell. So my friend offered to help.”
“Where was your husband at that time?”
For a clear second, the woman looked tired, she didn’t want to talk about him so badly, of course she still loved him, but it was hurting her at this point. “He was at a university, trying to get into a basketball league, obviously you can see how things ended up. He is a man who loves nothing but naked women rubbing up against him, and I am at home all the time alone. That’s just..how things work out sometimes I suppose.”
“I don’t mean to bug you, into your life situation, I’m sorry if I made you irritated.”
“No, at this point my life needs a new start, so if I need to expose somewhat of my past then I think it should start with the beginning.”
That was a complete white lie she had just blurted out, Clara was far from okay. “You said you were looking for a job?”
“Yes, I uh, just job searching that’s all.”
“That sounds like fun.”
As this lawyer sits with fancy looking glasses, nice shoes, and a suit that Clara would die to have, “yeah..so much fun.”
Clara rolled up to the center where the lady wished to be let off to, but she shook her head, “wrong place.”
“Really? I thought you said it was just around the corner.”
“It was, just a little ways yet.”
The woman started regretting letting this woman hitch a ride. She yawned and began slightly drifting to sleep at the wheel, but the woman smacked her before she could go farther to the side of the street and smack into a car parked to the side. “It is only twenty five down this road Clara, I think maybe you should take a bus home or something. Get some sleep?”
“I’m fine. I slept all night, I should be fine now.”
She says this as she’s trying to rub her eyes open. Taking the ladies advice was the least she was worried about, the bus had never seemed like a very nice thing to get on board with. The germs, or even the people who eat and just leave things on the floor. Then she began thinking, what if she fell asleep and missed her stop!? She nervously laughed and glanced at the woman, “I’m fine, but thanks.”
“I once had a child, I had given it up for adoption before I could even tell what the sex of the baby was. If you feel terrible because you lost something, don’t, it’s better than regretting a decision. I think there is hope for you Mrs. Francis, even when it seems like there is none. You just need to find someone who will care.”
Clara smiled warmly, she would have found it offensive of what the woman had said, because she had been abandoned as a baby, but it made her feel happy to know that at least someone’s Mother regretted it. “Well thank you Miss. Cherry.”
“Once more, I will tell you, it is Mrs. Not Miss.”
“I’m sorry..”
“You are welcome though.”
“How old are you, may I ask?”
“Thirty nine.”
She parked the car after the woman appointed where she needed to go. Clara didn’t unlock the car, she just stared at the woman, “really? That is your age?”
“My..you young folks don’t understand. It is rude to ask of someone’s age. If you must really know I am not thirty nine. I am forty.”
She didn’t know which one was believable. “Now, may I ask your age, Clara?”
“Well, sure why not? I’m young afterall..” she could tell that the joke wasn’t funny, her smile faltered, “I’m twenty.”
“Twenty!?”
“Twenty, yes, I believe I just said that.”
“And you married young??”
“Yes, and almost had a baby when I was younger than I am now. I guess falling in love for the wrong person..just happens, soon, come and go like a memory.”
“When were you born?”
Clara knew what she was getting at, the possibility? No, no, she can’t just meet a stranger and assume that every person she meets will be someone important, she had her hopes of a very long time ago, and clearly this woman couldn’t be her Mother. So she just laughed before allowing herself to come to the terms of how serious this woman was. “Well if you must know, It was on the 1st of December. 1999.”
“just two years before the twin towers fell.”
Mrs. Cherry leaped with pride, she snapped her seat belt away and quickly took off with the files and laptop bag that was loosely swinging by her side. “What a silly woman,” Clara dreamily thought.
Instead of finding another job, she had fallen asleep at the wheel, still in that parking lot where she left the woman. Of course she didn’t think anything of it, being towed, but when she felt the car jerk, she quickly snapped herself awake, grabbed her keys, started the car up, and before the guy could latch her, she zoomed away.
Such regrets of dropping her off started piling into her head. She got home safe though, she got out, opened the backseat door of her jeep, then pulled out the stuffed bears. Of course, there had been only one spot for these two bears, and it certainly was not the floor of the backseat.
This interesting day had her singing around the house, opening the blinds, and watching the sunset with a can of beer in her left hand. No, she understood she wasn’t of age, but with all the shit she had been through, it had taken her a few bribes for one of her ex coworkers to buy her a drink after work one night, she saved this can just for the day that she’d start changing, start opening up.
Being a lightweight of course though, had turned her a tad bit goofy. Fridge still had nothing in it, and she was so hungry, the only thing that she could eat inside the fridge was probably butter from last year. Butter didn’t seem like a healthy meal at the time before this little happy hour moment, but Clara couldn’t stand being hungry and drunk. Her hands gripped the fridge doors, and she pulled them both open, casting her eyes to the prey, what she was seeing was completely different to what a sober person would be seeing. Her right hand snatched the goofy looking butter, she let this small giggle out before unwrapping it…then-
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Before she could eat her friend the butter, she was interrupted. The woman didn’t bother putting anything on but a robe, she couldn’t remember when she had gotten undressed, but it happened. So she went to the door of course with her robe on.
The door appeared to be cracked with Clara peeking out to see who this stranger was beeping at her door. “Hello?” Clara whispered. “Uh..Clara..I have come to ask you some questions.”
She opened the door more, seeing who exactly this voice was coming from, Mrs. Cherry. She had a bright smile. If Clara wasn’t drunk, then everything this woman was about to say would make more sense, but all Clara heard was that she needed a blood sample. Haha, being the idiot that she was at the moment, the stick of butter in one hand, her grumbling stomach, the robe that was starting to drift off her shoulders and slide off her completely, well, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, pricked her finger.
June was waiting in the living room, feeling more than anxious, not realizing that the girl was completely drunk, not until she came back with the blood, lots of blood sliding down her hand, “is this good enough? I thought I would just prick my finger, but then it kinda..fell..”
Nervously June laughed, “maybe we should get you to the hospital..that..was more of my idea.”
Clara didn’t know how this woman knew where she lived, but maybe it was the connections she had? She must have been really good friends with a police officer or something. Or maybe she was looking into finding her daughter before Clara had mentioned it the same day they met. June helped Clara to her car, and she was now realizing how calm the girl was. “Uh, why aren’t you freaking out?”
As dumb as the moment was, Clara lifted her feet up, making her robe slip down finally, “I got something on my feet!”
There was nothing wrong with her feet, June thought, then she went to look back at her face but of course, the girl’s boobs, they weren’t big to say HELLO!! But they were big enough to make June wince and say GOODBYE! She hesitated before grabbing her robe and double knotting it shut, “why are you naked!?”
“Because I’m alone in my house!” She whined back. “Well..” June began, but she stopped after seeing her hand which was bleeding immensely. Hospital, or go make her change? She weighed the options.
Clara was letting out lots of huffs now, then finally June made an important decision. “Go get dressed. Come back quickly, and I will drive you to the hospital.”
Being in the state she was in, June couldn’t tell if she was really in pain, or if she may have been in pain, why wasn’t she in pain? It dawned on her fast that the girl was obviously drinking. June followed her inside again, seeing how many cans were off to the side. It looked like only three, but did she take them all in one day?
Clara came back downstairs looking a lot better now, and the pain was officially starting to get to her, including a horrible hangover. She could now recall that she had been up all night drinking, that her lawyer showed up because she had given her the street address in the file work. “Number one rule Mrs. Francis, never drink alone.”
It didn’t seem like she had a choice, but June was sure that the girl had some friends she could always turn to. “Right..shit, I’m sorry, just um,” she rummaged through her pockets. “No, you keep your money Clara, I’m sure it will get into my bank account somehow, but for now you must get something clean..or something edible inside your fridge.”
Clara noticed that she had dumped a lot of things out into the trash, “I am so sorry, you didn’t need to clean my fridge out-”
“Not now Mrs. Francis, let’s just go get you to the hospital.”
“Right..my keys-”
“No, don’t you worry about driving, I will take that role, you just sit back and relax.”
Hearing that from another person was starting to make her sound lazy, she did too much of that already. Clara groaned while pulling herself to the car again. This time she at least sobered up, somewhat. “Why did you show up so early, Mrs. Cherries?”
“Well that’s the time I set for the next meeting Clara, if you would have read your phone messages.”
“I’m sorry,” she blubbered out, before glancing down at her finger. “Right, you said something about a blood test or..something?”
“Actually a DNA test, no worries though I think they will have enough blood to work with.”
She says this only to help Clara, obviously the girl has no brain, who cuts themselves with a knife after just asking for a tiny blood sample? Ask and you shall receive June thought. Clara gathered her things around while holding her hand still to her left side. “So you are driving then? May I ask you to be very careful? The Jeep is kind of touchy.”
“I’m sure it will be fine.”
They got into the jeep, Clara holding the teddy bear, a couple times she got a look from June, but she didn’t mind the look, she was just waiting for the woman to turn the car on. It took a few moments for her to get it started as Clara bled all over her lap. “Okay, it’s started..”
“It’s about time, June.”
“Well your car, it’s different from mine.”
“You have a car but you didn’t use it?”
“I never use it, my husband always has the car. He drops me off at work, then the rest of the ways I take the bus. Saves me from buying another car Clara.”
“I suppose that works..”
The woman drove Clara to the hospital, where they both took a blood test, and Clara got stitches, more than anything the poor girl wished her husband would pick up his phone, she stared at her wrapped injured thumb while holding her phone sideways. “This has been a day Clara, now I think we should split off, the test results should be in soon anyways.”
June just wanted to check, she looked a lot like her after all, Clara though looked miserable, so she couldn’t tell a fly to an ant at the moment. Her phone just kept beeping waiting for her to return back to reality. Finally she tipped her head up to acknowledge June, “uh yeah, what?”
Her eyes glanced at the phone, “Clara, are you serious about this divorce?”
“No, I am not June, but I am just ready. Now let’s just go.”
….
© All Rights Reserved
Sometimes life happens to turn you around on corners, sometimes sharp corners, but life can’t be perfect can it?
Clara happened to be twenty, she was married, she had no lit fire between him and her, or the fact that she couldn’t have kids, but nor did her husband wish to have kids. So here she was being the supporter to this woman while she split like a watermelon. Clara wanted a baby so badly, but she just got with the wrong man.
…
The door made a loud squeak as she pushed it open. Not a single time has she come home with someone to at least be there for her, ask her how the day went, honestly it was rough. After her friend split, she walked home in the cold alone, to top that off on the entire evening, she got fired from her job before her friend’s melon decided to break.
She tied her long red hair back into a ponytail after setting a box down onto her bed. Honestly, her love life hasn’t been going well too much. Her husband hasn’t come back from a business trip, he was supposed to be gone for a month, turns out Vegas just keeps him, and the money just keeps sinking. For some time the woman thought that maybe he really was doing something important, changing people’s lives, until she got the bill for the strippers he’s been seeing.
Clara slowly sat down on the floor next the the edge of the bed, her box wasn’t far from her head either. She kept rubbing her face with her hands trying to relax herself from the long stressful day, first the job, then her friend, now she comes home to an empty house and a lost husband who doesn’t answer his calls. If anything she wished he was dead.
In 1999, she was born on a chilly day. December 1st. Her parents were an unknown resource, but besides that, she and her cheating husband had been married for three years after a mishap. Well the mishap considered to be a miscarriage, but as her husband acknowledges it, it was just something that should have never happened, it ruined his life some how. Then she recalls it in her mind, playing it over and over, how happy he was when it was his, alive.
Not all things were happy though, just because people have a smile doesn’t mean it carries happiness. She had considered herself lucky that he hadn't sent her the papers for a divorce, if the chance of happiness was available, if it was that baby she lost that could refill her life with her husband, laughter, something other than silence, then she’d do nothing more than to sweep the opportunity up. Except, here she was, alone and sorry for herself. More than anything, she just wanted to get pay back on the bastard for leaving her for some strippers in Vegas, but it’s not like she could prove it was him spending the money, although she had millions of receipts for his sudden..mishaps so he always calls it.
The red headed woman let this long frail groan out, she had not a single person to lean on, by the end of the day, she was just Clara, no Mrs. on it, or Clara Francis added to her last name. It had suddenly made her feel single. Being single after school really sucked, because all of her friends had gone off, got hitched, marrying boys who most likely liked the skinny jeans or boobs practically popping out of their chest, or some had just turned into melons harboring the next generation.
Life just goes on without you. She finally accepted that. More than anything she just wanted someone to reach for her, help her out of this dark space inside her mind, without her husband she had been trying to regain control of herself, find something within herself to take grip of. Rather it was reality, or pretend, she enjoyed both. Pretending that she was never pregnant was hard, but having a room still untouched, a room filled with nothing but baby things, it just all sat in there. Playing reality, she just had to accept that her husband was neither coming back, nor going to pay her back any of the money that he had taken from the joint account.
As her mind kept racing, as she kept sitting there dreading marrying that sorry excuse of a man, she realized that the time had certainly flown by. A long yawn followed along with a loud moan from her back being pressed against the end of the bed for quite some time, but not only that she had hit her head on the box above her head.
Clara slipped that oversized sweatshirt off, along with her pants, no point in pretending to be casual, it wasn’t like anyone else was there to interrupt her from this parting of her garments. Her mirror made her look like she had aged a little, but it was just the nightmares that she had to face every night alone. Sleep had been an issue for her.
A tiny growl came from her the more she kept looking at herself in the mirror. Those stretch marks, it was like an engraved milestone of her life. For a moment she wanted to just call him again, see if he’d get her message this time. He probably hasn’t even looked at his phone messages, or any calls he missed.
So once more she went to bed without anyone joining her for this nightly routine.
….
Clara quickly straightened her hair, unplugged the straightener, then quickly went onto the next stage. The makeup covered her beautiful laugh lines and freckles. The bags under her eyes were now hidden. She slipped her contacts out and put her game changer face on, taking on those big glasses. Now she looked like she was ready for a fight.
Today, she was going out, finding that lawyer, and she was going to divorce his ass. It didn’t matter where he was at the moment, she was going to find him, she was going to personally give him the envelope. One deep breath, and she was ready, but she was hesitating to take that breath. Her hands gripped the sinks faucet, she was going to try shaking herself from the reality part. It was finally happening, she thought. After spending so much time in bed, depressed, letting the thoughts carry her away, she has finally just made a choice.
There was no excuse for him, she finally made up her mind. The house was aching, aching for love, just like her empty heart, and she needed to move on to feel something other than that ache. The curtains would come down, the shades that have been beholding dust would also drift once more around the house, everything that was in the fridge, which was nothing but moldy foods.
She had already checked the fridge, to at least see if there was something she could munch on, but that’s when the woman finally came to her senses that maybe this life she kept living over and over wasn’t healthy. Her husband, Brendon, wasn’t coming back, so it was just time, no matter how many times she tried finding a reason to stay with him.
An Hour Later.
“Excuse me? Miss. Cherry?”
“Uh, it is Mrs..”
“Oh I am so sorry!”
“No, no-”
The woman had finally looked up from her file, her eyes scanning over her victim. “So you are Mrs. Francis?”
Quite the way to start things Clara beamed, but she wouldn’t dare say it out loud to her. Lilith casually sat down, admiring a bit of the taste this woman has for clothing, what else could she do? It was her first time filing a divorce. “Well, what exactly are you getting in for? I mean what are you looking to get?”
“I just..want to get a head start before he sends papers, well I don’t know if he ever will, but let's start with the house..”
“No kids-”
The smile that had been on her face since this morning was starting to falter quite fast, “excuse me..”
Before breaking into complete tears in the middle of a restaurant, she went to the bathroom to hide herself away until she was in a better mood again to talk to the woman. When she had returned, the woman was sitting reading the newspaper, her glasses stubbed up to her eyebrows and her lips pursed as she kept grimacing over the lines. Clara took her seat again though, trying at least to be silent. “I’m glad you came back, I was about to ask someone to fetch a rope for me Mrs. Francis.”
“I do apologize. I just had something come up.”
“Now, shall we continue this conversation? Or do you need to get another tissue?”
How did the woman know? She pondered. Even though she was reading the newspaper, it never occured to Clara that she may have spotted her crying as she left the table. “It is..okay to cry I mean, obviously it is a touchy subject. So there are no kids involved, this doesn’t make things too complicated, that just leaves the house. Tell me the reason you wish to divorce.”
“My husband..has been in Vegas..dwindling my account since he left, and there has been no pay checks from him going into the account.”
She opened her purse and pulled out some receipts. Finally the woman who looked about maybe fourty, on the edge, she smacked the newspaper down making the papers flap up and into the seat next to her. “Oh..I am sorry.”
Clara was used to this, she hiccuped just a tiny bit though because of how sudden the woman had made her jump, and her hands kept fumbling for those receipts. “Do you have any other family Mrs. Francis? This may be a hard time for you, it is best that you have-”
“No, I don’t, but I think I’m done here, maybe we could continue some time else. At this moment I think I should find myself a new job. This was just silly for me to come here and think I could just ask for help.”
The feeling of another mistake started to dwindle into her thoughts. “I promise, things will get easier for you Mrs. Francis, but right now you need to get yourself together.”
“I can’t, you may not know me, but I have been waiting three years to divorce him, after I lost the baby all he wishes to do is go on fake business trips just to get away from me. He doesn’t send me a lawyer, of course not, that would involve him getting a job. Hell, I don’t even think he has a job! He takes a supposed trip, a month, it’s been a month and he’s still gone? Does that make any sense? Yet I am the one who is supposed to stay in the house with not a single soul to help me out.”
Her hands smacked down onto the receipts, she put her big girl boss pants on today, “I’m looking to divorce my husband, and leave his sorry ass wherever he is..and maybe some part of me just wishes that he is somewhere deep underneath the ground, but as of right now my credit card is being declined every time I go to use it!”
“Well then, I think that settles things. I will get things arranged Mrs. francis. We will talk some more later.”
The lady looked like she was going to suggest marriage counseling as soon as this file had come up, but hearing this woman yearning for relief of her blood sucker, she just couldn’t look her in the face and say it. The name somehow had rang a bell, she couldn’t fit it into place, so that was also the reason she was going to help the poor woman out.
Now that those pig girl pants were used, she nervously gathered her things and quickly left the restaurant, now heading home to look online for a new job. Her heels clicked as she hurried to her car, when suddenly someone yanked her elbow. Now she was falling backwards and facing the woman she had just met inside the restaurant. “I don’t mean to seem like a loser Mrs. Francis, but do you mind giving me a ride?”
Did this woman take her as a bum? Was that why she was asking for a lift? “I promise it is only a block away, I just need to report back to work. Honestly I’d call for a cab but I don’t think my whistle is quite on the mark if you understand what I mean.”
Clara uttered a few words as she managed to swing herself around before slamming into a fire hydrant. This lady was kind of creeping her out now, she had spilled her whole life story, well that’s a bit of bullshit, but she had told the woman a sappy story, and how she wants her sad relationship to end, with a divorce. Now this lady is yanking her by the elbow hoping for a lift?
It came to mind that if she said no, that maybe this lawyer wouldn’t help her out, so she just smiled more, “I don’t see why not.”
“By the way, nice save, you almost hit the hydrant.”
Really? Clara almost snapped at her, this woman was now getting on her nerves, which was also something she didn’t want to add to the list of how shitty her life was turning out to be. “Look, please don’t judge me,” Clara began, while opening her passenger door. There were teddy bears sitting in the passenger seat. “As long as you keep it to yourself and don’t tell me you talk to them..I won’t judge.”
“Great. Well in that case I’ll move them, and you can sit there.”
It made June smile to see her client was kind of childish, when her driver had finally gotten into the driver’s seat, she had questioned her about the teddy bears. Even though it made her feel uncomfortable to talk about them, she began.
“Well you see, they belonged to a friend of mine, she had no use for them, I was pregnant in high school, and since I had no parents, I was mostly on my own. Things weren’t cheap, and preparing for the baby alone was hell. So my friend offered to help.”
“Where was your husband at that time?”
For a clear second, the woman looked tired, she didn’t want to talk about him so badly, of course she still loved him, but it was hurting her at this point. “He was at a university, trying to get into a basketball league, obviously you can see how things ended up. He is a man who loves nothing but naked women rubbing up against him, and I am at home all the time alone. That’s just..how things work out sometimes I suppose.”
“I don’t mean to bug you, into your life situation, I’m sorry if I made you irritated.”
“No, at this point my life needs a new start, so if I need to expose somewhat of my past then I think it should start with the beginning.”
That was a complete white lie she had just blurted out, Clara was far from okay. “You said you were looking for a job?”
“Yes, I uh, just job searching that’s all.”
“That sounds like fun.”
As this lawyer sits with fancy looking glasses, nice shoes, and a suit that Clara would die to have, “yeah..so much fun.”
Clara rolled up to the center where the lady wished to be let off to, but she shook her head, “wrong place.”
“Really? I thought you said it was just around the corner.”
“It was, just a little ways yet.”
The woman started regretting letting this woman hitch a ride. She yawned and began slightly drifting to sleep at the wheel, but the woman smacked her before she could go farther to the side of the street and smack into a car parked to the side. “It is only twenty five down this road Clara, I think maybe you should take a bus home or something. Get some sleep?”
“I’m fine. I slept all night, I should be fine now.”
She says this as she’s trying to rub her eyes open. Taking the ladies advice was the least she was worried about, the bus had never seemed like a very nice thing to get on board with. The germs, or even the people who eat and just leave things on the floor. Then she began thinking, what if she fell asleep and missed her stop!? She nervously laughed and glanced at the woman, “I’m fine, but thanks.”
“I once had a child, I had given it up for adoption before I could even tell what the sex of the baby was. If you feel terrible because you lost something, don’t, it’s better than regretting a decision. I think there is hope for you Mrs. Francis, even when it seems like there is none. You just need to find someone who will care.”
Clara smiled warmly, she would have found it offensive of what the woman had said, because she had been abandoned as a baby, but it made her feel happy to know that at least someone’s Mother regretted it. “Well thank you Miss. Cherry.”
“Once more, I will tell you, it is Mrs. Not Miss.”
“I’m sorry..”
“You are welcome though.”
“How old are you, may I ask?”
“Thirty nine.”
She parked the car after the woman appointed where she needed to go. Clara didn’t unlock the car, she just stared at the woman, “really? That is your age?”
“My..you young folks don’t understand. It is rude to ask of someone’s age. If you must really know I am not thirty nine. I am forty.”
She didn’t know which one was believable. “Now, may I ask your age, Clara?”
“Well, sure why not? I’m young afterall..” she could tell that the joke wasn’t funny, her smile faltered, “I’m twenty.”
“Twenty!?”
“Twenty, yes, I believe I just said that.”
“And you married young??”
“Yes, and almost had a baby when I was younger than I am now. I guess falling in love for the wrong person..just happens, soon, come and go like a memory.”
“When were you born?”
Clara knew what she was getting at, the possibility? No, no, she can’t just meet a stranger and assume that every person she meets will be someone important, she had her hopes of a very long time ago, and clearly this woman couldn’t be her Mother. So she just laughed before allowing herself to come to the terms of how serious this woman was. “Well if you must know, It was on the 1st of December. 1999.”
“just two years before the twin towers fell.”
Mrs. Cherry leaped with pride, she snapped her seat belt away and quickly took off with the files and laptop bag that was loosely swinging by her side. “What a silly woman,” Clara dreamily thought.
Instead of finding another job, she had fallen asleep at the wheel, still in that parking lot where she left the woman. Of course she didn’t think anything of it, being towed, but when she felt the car jerk, she quickly snapped herself awake, grabbed her keys, started the car up, and before the guy could latch her, she zoomed away.
Such regrets of dropping her off started piling into her head. She got home safe though, she got out, opened the backseat door of her jeep, then pulled out the stuffed bears. Of course, there had been only one spot for these two bears, and it certainly was not the floor of the backseat.
This interesting day had her singing around the house, opening the blinds, and watching the sunset with a can of beer in her left hand. No, she understood she wasn’t of age, but with all the shit she had been through, it had taken her a few bribes for one of her ex coworkers to buy her a drink after work one night, she saved this can just for the day that she’d start changing, start opening up.
Being a lightweight of course though, had turned her a tad bit goofy. Fridge still had nothing in it, and she was so hungry, the only thing that she could eat inside the fridge was probably butter from last year. Butter didn’t seem like a healthy meal at the time before this little happy hour moment, but Clara couldn’t stand being hungry and drunk. Her hands gripped the fridge doors, and she pulled them both open, casting her eyes to the prey, what she was seeing was completely different to what a sober person would be seeing. Her right hand snatched the goofy looking butter, she let this small giggle out before unwrapping it…then-
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Before she could eat her friend the butter, she was interrupted. The woman didn’t bother putting anything on but a robe, she couldn’t remember when she had gotten undressed, but it happened. So she went to the door of course with her robe on.
The door appeared to be cracked with Clara peeking out to see who this stranger was beeping at her door. “Hello?” Clara whispered. “Uh..Clara..I have come to ask you some questions.”
She opened the door more, seeing who exactly this voice was coming from, Mrs. Cherry. She had a bright smile. If Clara wasn’t drunk, then everything this woman was about to say would make more sense, but all Clara heard was that she needed a blood sample. Haha, being the idiot that she was at the moment, the stick of butter in one hand, her grumbling stomach, the robe that was starting to drift off her shoulders and slide off her completely, well, she went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, pricked her finger.
June was waiting in the living room, feeling more than anxious, not realizing that the girl was completely drunk, not until she came back with the blood, lots of blood sliding down her hand, “is this good enough? I thought I would just prick my finger, but then it kinda..fell..”
Nervously June laughed, “maybe we should get you to the hospital..that..was more of my idea.”
Clara didn’t know how this woman knew where she lived, but maybe it was the connections she had? She must have been really good friends with a police officer or something. Or maybe she was looking into finding her daughter before Clara had mentioned it the same day they met. June helped Clara to her car, and she was now realizing how calm the girl was. “Uh, why aren’t you freaking out?”
As dumb as the moment was, Clara lifted her feet up, making her robe slip down finally, “I got something on my feet!”
There was nothing wrong with her feet, June thought, then she went to look back at her face but of course, the girl’s boobs, they weren’t big to say HELLO!! But they were big enough to make June wince and say GOODBYE! She hesitated before grabbing her robe and double knotting it shut, “why are you naked!?”
“Because I’m alone in my house!” She whined back. “Well..” June began, but she stopped after seeing her hand which was bleeding immensely. Hospital, or go make her change? She weighed the options.
Clara was letting out lots of huffs now, then finally June made an important decision. “Go get dressed. Come back quickly, and I will drive you to the hospital.”
Being in the state she was in, June couldn’t tell if she was really in pain, or if she may have been in pain, why wasn’t she in pain? It dawned on her fast that the girl was obviously drinking. June followed her inside again, seeing how many cans were off to the side. It looked like only three, but did she take them all in one day?
Clara came back downstairs looking a lot better now, and the pain was officially starting to get to her, including a horrible hangover. She could now recall that she had been up all night drinking, that her lawyer showed up because she had given her the street address in the file work. “Number one rule Mrs. Francis, never drink alone.”
It didn’t seem like she had a choice, but June was sure that the girl had some friends she could always turn to. “Right..shit, I’m sorry, just um,” she rummaged through her pockets. “No, you keep your money Clara, I’m sure it will get into my bank account somehow, but for now you must get something clean..or something edible inside your fridge.”
Clara noticed that she had dumped a lot of things out into the trash, “I am so sorry, you didn’t need to clean my fridge out-”
“Not now Mrs. Francis, let’s just go get you to the hospital.”
“Right..my keys-”
“No, don’t you worry about driving, I will take that role, you just sit back and relax.”
Hearing that from another person was starting to make her sound lazy, she did too much of that already. Clara groaned while pulling herself to the car again. This time she at least sobered up, somewhat. “Why did you show up so early, Mrs. Cherries?”
“Well that’s the time I set for the next meeting Clara, if you would have read your phone messages.”
“I’m sorry,” she blubbered out, before glancing down at her finger. “Right, you said something about a blood test or..something?”
“Actually a DNA test, no worries though I think they will have enough blood to work with.”
She says this only to help Clara, obviously the girl has no brain, who cuts themselves with a knife after just asking for a tiny blood sample? Ask and you shall receive June thought. Clara gathered her things around while holding her hand still to her left side. “So you are driving then? May I ask you to be very careful? The Jeep is kind of touchy.”
“I’m sure it will be fine.”
They got into the jeep, Clara holding the teddy bear, a couple times she got a look from June, but she didn’t mind the look, she was just waiting for the woman to turn the car on. It took a few moments for her to get it started as Clara bled all over her lap. “Okay, it’s started..”
“It’s about time, June.”
“Well your car, it’s different from mine.”
“You have a car but you didn’t use it?”
“I never use it, my husband always has the car. He drops me off at work, then the rest of the ways I take the bus. Saves me from buying another car Clara.”
“I suppose that works..”
The woman drove Clara to the hospital, where they both took a blood test, and Clara got stitches, more than anything the poor girl wished her husband would pick up his phone, she stared at her wrapped injured thumb while holding her phone sideways. “This has been a day Clara, now I think we should split off, the test results should be in soon anyways.”
June just wanted to check, she looked a lot like her after all, Clara though looked miserable, so she couldn’t tell a fly to an ant at the moment. Her phone just kept beeping waiting for her to return back to reality. Finally she tipped her head up to acknowledge June, “uh yeah, what?”
Her eyes glanced at the phone, “Clara, are you serious about this divorce?”
“No, I am not June, but I am just ready. Now let’s just go.”
….
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