Chapter Fourteen
With Daisy being in the house, it sort of felt like I was home again. Though I was mostly preoccupied with work at the company, I spared time to catch up with her, and she, on the other hand, seized every opportunity to remind me of Clara.
“You said you invited her to the celebrations, right?” She munched on an apple.
“Yeah, but I do not know whether she will come or not.”
“She will, I will also tell her about it,” she said.
“Alright,” I looked on.
“Is there something on your mind?” She queried.
“No, why?”
“Is it about Clara?”
Oh boy!
“Give me a break, Daisy, I just said no.”
“But I know you are lying, dude.” She frowned.
“When did you start reading minds?”
She was unbelievable.
“I am gifted.” She winked.
“Stop it.”
“From what I can see, you both are doing pretty good for exes.” She commented.
“Hmm.”
“But I know you want more.”
“I want her to trust me.” I corrected her.
I would not be in my right mind to think of stirring up some romantic feelings in her. I knew that would ruin the entire thing, for now, I was delighted with her trusting me. Maybe not like she used to, but I could do with something close.
“She is trusting you, I mean, you really show that you care for her. Trust me, it’s a gradual process, and I know it is well past the beginning stage.” She crunched.
“If you say so.”
Inwardly, I knew what I wanted from Clara Lisbon. I wanted her to say she’d forgiven me and I wanted to hear it for myself.
It had been a week after her discharge from the hospital, and I could say I had not seen much of her, though I badly wanted to. Work was also a terrible obstacle. Besides that, there were the preparations for the anniversary celebrations, and the entire situation was sapping all of my energy.
The doorbell rang.
Daisy glanced at me.
“Are you expecting someone?”
“No,” I wondered who it might be for a moment. It was almost ten pm.
“Will you get the door?” We instantly chorused. Daisy groaned, dramatically slumping on the sofa.
“Please get the door,” she cried, munching the remainder of her apple. “It’s your house.” She added.
“You are impossible,” I grimaced before reaching for the door.
I unexpectedly opened the door to Clara’s vibrant face.
“Hi,” her soft voice came, but I was too entranced by her beauty to respond to her.
“Clara?” Daisy dashed over.
“I wanted to talk to you, but you weren’t answering my calls.” She said.
“Oh!” Daisy lamented, rushing inside.
“Please, come in.” I ushered her in after regaining my senses.
“Thank you,” she twitched a small smile and walked in.
“Turns out I enabled the Do Not Disturb mode earlier today and forgot about it. I’m sorry.” Daisy said.
“Sure,” Clara said.
“Make yourself comfortable,” I urged, sitting opposite her. I couldn’t recollect her ever coming to my house since she arrived in Sunnyvale. What would she have come to do anyway?
“Thank you.” She said, gently.
“Ah, how was work at the coffee shop today?” I wanted to chat with her before Daisy reappeared.
“Pretty good, I made good sales.”
“Great, that’s great!”
“Hm. I’ve been receiving your packages,” she said.
“Yeah,” I murmured.
“Thank you,” she added.
“What are you guys talking about?” Daisy cut in, joining Clara on the sofa.
“It’s nothing serious. Did you see my text?” Clara changed the topic.
“Yeah.”
“Do you think we could get a replica, something very similar?” Clara asked.
I looked from woman to woman, hoping to grasp something out of what was being said.
“I’m not so sure, but I could tell Nathan about it, he might be able to help us out,” Daisy responded.
“That’s a good idea,” Clara smiled.
“So I will do that tomorrow morning. Is that fine?”
“Sure.”
Then, at once, they both turned to me like I’d been caught in a bad act.
“Did I hear what I wasn’t supposed to hear?”
“No,” Clara immediately disagreed.
“Okay.”
“Yeah, so Clara, I know Jacob invited you to the anniversary celebrations,” Daisy started to say.
“Yeah?” She looked puzzled.
“Good. You’re coming, right?”
“Well,” she paused.
Subconsciously, I awaited her response anxiously. It appeared like a life and death situation, and I could hear my own heart beat like it was about to burst.
“Yes!” She finished.
Thank God! I heaved a sigh of relief.
“Great! Do you have a dress picked out or need help?” Daisy seemed to be more interested in that than in any other thing.
“I’d appreciate your help.”
Daisy giggled.
“So you know, I was thinking about that black dress and..”
“I’ll be in the study room.” I thought it proper to excuse myself from their feminine discussion.
“Okay.”
Clara and I glanced at each other before I left the living room.
All other things being equal, she was going to come to the function, and I was at the top of the moon. I skipped the remaining distance up the stairs, very well minding the concealment of my happiness from the woman downstairs by stifling it all in.