They both professionally sat in the living room, the test came back, it was a match, but still at the moment Clara was adding up what she owed the woman before even getting her boats a float. She kept glancing up at the woman then back down at her big piggy bank, “there is over ten thousand inside this piggy bank, would you like me to break it?”
“You have all this money and you weren’t using it to feed yourself?”
“Well, shit happens, right now, I am paying you. Hopefully my husband doesn’t come back before getting that damn envelope though.”
“It’s going to be just fine, in the meantime, maybe we should have coffee some time.”
“That sounds..good, is there a specific place?”
“Don’t you worry about the place, or the price. Just let me help.”
Clara watched as she stood up, her coat not far from the ground now, “it was nice to meet you Clara. I hope that we can get to know each other in nicer terms.”
“I hope so too.”
It was getting too quiet for June, she looked around the house some more, “how about I take you out tonight? I heard your stomach was rumbling earlier. I’d hate for you to pass away overnight before getting to know you a lot better, then maybe I could help you find a job?”
Clara would have told her now, that they had stepped over the boundaries, but out of all people in the entire world, her Mother ended up being her lawyer. Honestly she was more than hyped about it, her Mother turned out to be a nice paid woman who has a husband. “I’d love that!” Her eyes lit up, it had been a while since she had gone out with someone, not a date or in a romantic way, she just needed out of the house.
So Clara went out with June, they sat at a table reading labels of food from the menu, Clara couldn’t help but beam into how much the food was. “No bother Clara, just let me get it.”
Clara tipped her glasses to her nose giving the lady a serious look, but her silly act ended shortly after noticing her best friend coming in with her husband and the baby. Her stomach turned into a big knot. “Oh my goodness! Clara!?”
It’s not like she gets out much, so seeing her out at a restaurant with someone was very surprising to the young couple. “Ohh..hey Nicky. Mike..”
She wasn’t going to look at the baby, her eyes fixed onto the menu once again. “So, being that you are my God parent of the baby, could you watch over him?”
“M-me? N-now?”
Now she got Clara’s full attention. “Well you see we were planning on having a date tonight.”
“I..”
“Sorry, but she is busy tonight,” June stood up, holding her hand out to the woman, “hi, I’m June, Clara’s Mother, at the moment I am feeding her because she hasn’t eaten in over a week, and her doctor said it isn’t healthy. At the moment Clara and I are getting to know each other.”
“This is your Mom?”
“Well, if I’m sure Clara wouldn’t mind babysitting her just for a couple hours,” Mike followed along after. “Plus he gots everything he needs, Clara.”
June kept giving a look to Clara, she couldn’t say no, if she did a whole lot of drama would start, but she couldn’t bear to look at this baby not now, not after what her three years have been like. “I’d love to-”
“Then it’s settled. Here he is, and we will be across the street at the movies.”
“N-no I mean-” She began to stutter as they walked right on off leaving the baby sitting next to her. They walked right out of the restaurant, it was like they knew she was there and so happened to just dump off their baby on her just to go out and watch a movie. Clara couldn’t think again, her mind jumbled. “Clara, are you okay with this?” June tried reaching out to her, getting her attention to come back. “I’m fine..”
The tiny thing started balling it’s eyes out, “well I sure would have loved to..stay but it seems I have babysitting to do. I’ll..just go home.”
“No, I don’t think you should drop what you're doing now just because they dumped their baby on you.”
“No, it’s fine..I am just going to go home and put him to bed.”
In the crib that her husband never built. She steadily got up, “thanks for this though, it was nice, but I think it should end here tonight, I’m sorry if your husband couldn’t make it in time to meet me but now I got something else to do with my time other than sit around, or bother people with my burdens,” Clara held in her sob, but she carried a smile. “He is your Father..and I will let him know of this sudden intrusion.”
Her eyes focused on the way Clara had looked, so tired, her eyes looked gray, but the green still reflected a little, but June was thinking it may have been her glasses making that effect. “I’m sorry though, really I am, maybe next week we could get together and have a coffee?”
“Right, yes..”
June couldn’t think that well either now, her daughter wasn’t in the best shape that she had hoped. The girl looked as if the world had crumbled, just she had no stains or dirt to report on herself. “Clara, maybe I could do a take out for you?”
“No, I’m okay, I uh, just need to get home.”
Her phone buzzed, more than anything she wanted to pick it up, except she couldn’t reach it, not with the baby being held in its little carrier. So she made the choice to set the baby back down. She didn’t want to seem eager, but her right hand snatched the phone and looked at her voice mail inbox, a voice mail from her soon to be ex. A couple times she eyed June, “will you watch him for a moment?”
The lady watched her go without having a say in whether or not she was going to watch the baby, but it proceeded to cry and more people kept looking. Clara came back to the table quicker though, pissed off actually. “He won’t sign the damn papers.”
With that, she picked up the baby and left the restaurant. She didn’t think, the streets at night were busy, and in the emotional state of being, she was a mess. He wasn’t going to sign the papers, leaving her with the house still, and a cheating bastard of a husband who won’t leave her because she has money. Clara owned her own business, though she had to quit because things were getting off hand, like her employees not doing their jobs, but besides that, she had an empire, now it’s all crumbling. The taxes for the property would be due soon, not to mention the payment of the house, so far she’s broke.
Not once did she think of coddling, or trying to soothe the baby, she just sat it in the backseat behind her passenger seat, then she hopped into the front driver seat. There the two really cried, until a police officer came over knocking on her window making her jump for the lock button, but after looking up to see his face, she calmed down very fast. Clara started the car and opened the window, her glasses were fogged up by the heat of her face. “Uh ma’am, I just wanted you to..know, your parking meter is flagged, so..”
The more this man looked at her, he could tell it certainly wasn’t her night and the baby wouldn’t stop crying in the backseat, “is there anything I can help you with?”
Literally this man was handsome, almost ready to start flirting because he didn’t see a ring, but being on duty was a chance he wasn’t going to take just to get fired, but she stared up at him, questioning him somehow, almost daring him to help her in some way. “N-no, officer, this baby just so happens to be my friend’s,” her voice came out wavy. “Have you tried holding him?”
Clara leaned more into the headrest, “honestly, no, I haven’t. I haven’t because I can’t do it.”
“You can’t do what? Where are its parents tonight?”
There was no way he was about to ask if she was drinking because of her sobbing, or the fact her face was all bright and flustered. Clara tipped her glasses up, “I’m sorry,” she began saying before grabbing out a few quarters from her cup holder. “Will this be enough?”
Really it was a dollar, she had fifty cents, he could tell she obviously didn’t have money to pay for it, “don’t worry about it ma’am, tonight, just drop that baby off, and go home. Rest maybe?”
Everyone said the same thing, but Clara understood herself, if she were to rest, she wouldn’t want to wake up, she’d close her eyes and forget about her nightmares. “You're right, but the couple I’m babysitting for actually is in the theater, so I’m really just waiting I guess for them to come out.”
The cop took his flashlight, lifting it up to her window, peering more into the car, “what’s your name?”
“Clara..I um..I-”
“Well Clara, with the condition you are in right now, the law states that you have to at least be able to drive without feeling drowsy, or drunk. I guess what I am asking you tonight, are you drunk, or drowsy? Have you been drinking?”
“N-no!! No!” She scrambled for her license, then she showed him her age, “I-I can’t drink yet..I mean maybe a few times I have just one beer, but this is it officer, my license.”
“You wouldn’t mind if I take that really quick, do you?”
“I guess not?” Was she flirting back with him? Clara shocked herself far more than the man looked surprised of her age. Did she think she was old? She shook her head trying to erase the thought of people thinking she was older than twenty, but if so, she really needed to up her game. The guy came back with her tiny plastic card. “Well, Clara, I appreciate your time. Also the quarters,” he pointed to her right hand, “keep them.”
He was more concerned about her other hand, which didn’t look like she could use the thumb clearly at the moment. Maybe that’s what her melt down was about? Or the baby problem that got dumped on her? Even though it was creepy to just want to know more, he shrugged this off his shoulders and left her sitting once more alone.
Because of this encouragement from the officer, she got out of her car, slammed that door, went to the other side, got the baby out and walked herself right on over to the theater. Of course she was pissed off, well more likely she decided that’s how she was going to be tonight, very angry with her friend. The baby continued to cry, but Clara had no intentions on babysitting for Nicky. When the lights turned on because of her interruption, she caught the eyes of the two in the top left corner making out. “Take your fucking baby Nicky, I am not playing babysitter just because you want to go out and have fun. I got a life, now get yours straightened out!”
Nicky began saying something but Clara’s stomping of her feet made her shut her mouth, “you don’t use friends like this. Tonight I was supposed to be dining with my parents, and I think instead of babysitting your baby, I will go and join them once more!”
Her stomach let a very loud grumble out, except there was no time to think of food, well actually there was, but right at the moment she was telling her friend off. Glad the movie so happened to be over though, she would have felt like shit.
Nicky got up from her seat and took her baby into her arms, “your right Clara..I am sorry.”
She had noticed Clara’s red eyes from the melt down she had in the car, she was seeing her friend without makeup on to cover how exhausted she was. The woman had worked her life away after high school, first the baby, then college, but she got out of college to marry Brendon, and now here she was, devastated. “I’m happy you found your parents though Clara..”
“Stop talking to me, we are ending this in a fight tonight, understand?? We don’t just make up after this, you will draw a line, find a real babysitter.”
Feeling more relieved, Clara really did just leave it at that, she tipped her head up, holding her stance, soaking in all the relief of just yelling at a person for once to get her shit together. It was like she had given her own advice at the same time. Even though her eyes were stained red, she went back into the restaurant.
June was not sitting alone, Nolan was sitting with her. It seemed like they were having a serious conversation, so she didn’t feel like intruding, but she had already caught their eyes. “Clara? I thought you went home.”
“I couldn’t take down the offer,” she sighed while making her way over to them. “The baby?”
“Um, well, I happened to give it back to his parents.”
They could tell she had been crying for some time, her face still flustered. “So, are you okay now? I mean, you're good?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”
Clara took her seat then held her hand out to the man, he genuinely took her hand. “So you are our daughter.”
“I guess I am.”
“Well, how old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“Wow, what an age. How are you? I mean, has your life been good?”
She was starting to feel like they had both just given her off on purpose without a feeling, the moment started catching ahold of herself. “Clara?” He waved his hand. “Uh, right, I’m sorry. What?”
“He was asking if you..had a good childhood.”
He must talk differently, she thought to herself again. Clara held her left hand to her chest, “my childhood?”
“Yes, your childhood,” Nolan repeated. “It was..great.”
Another lie subsided, there was no point in telling the truth, her life had been so miserable that she couldn’t bear to just split like a banana and slide along the truth. “Yeah?”
June knew that the girl had been lying, she didn’t go to school to become a lawyer for nothing, she’s seen this look many times. “Did you at least get a good home?”
“On second thought I think I should get home, um, there are a couple things I need to sort out with my husband.”
“I thought he was still in Vegas, Clara?”
“He is, I just need to call him, and tell him that he is going to sign the papers, or I will murder him.”
“Right, I don’t think you should move on to the next part, but start with asking him to sign, I’m sure he will think about it, meanwhile, sit down. Order something.”
Hesitating just for a second, she plopped her butt back down into the chair. Nolan frowned at the girl, “you look like shit..no offense.”
“Thanks..”
Clara didn’t like the way the man spoke to her, she hated him already, she didn’t say much the rest of the night. The parents talked a lot, and soon she just became a person sitting there, eating in silence. Until finally she got up, pulled out her wallet and put down her share of the bill, then turned to leave. “Clara I said I would pay for it, where are you going anyways?”
“I’m going for a walk.”
June kept shaking her head to her back, “it’s not safe to go outside and walk alone in the dark.”
“There’s a police officer across the street, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Maybe she was just thinking about going and seeing him? Either way, she needed some fresh air. “Well I’m sure you will too but we don’t really think it’s best.”
“Best?” Clara turned on her heel, those glasses tipped to the edge of her nose and her eyebrows knitted, “look, if I happen to die while going on a walk, I’m sure my problems would just die along with me. No more husband, no more appointments, no more anything.”
Those last final words just made her relax with a simple smile. “Now, I need to go for a walk, get some air, before driving home.”
It sounded like a good idea, at the time. When she got outside, that police officer was off duty, and was standing next to her car, putting quarters into the meter machine. “Why are you..”
“Well, I figured I would help you.”
He helped her alright, in more ways than one, inside her car, twice. There was no point in waiting on her husband to come around, especially because he was cheating on her, there was no way Brendon was going to sign the papers, it just wasn’t going to happen, so she would just need to move on, starting with an accidental sleepover in her Jeep.
She never got his name, he woke up late for work, grabbed his clothes and left. Clara didn’t see a ring, but knowing what she had done made her feel sick. It wasn’t like she completely did a bad thing, she just couldn’t accept how low she sunk.
….

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