Chapter Six #2
“She had heard it can help a lot of people who are struggling with stuff, so I would sit for the longest time and watch her knit. It’s stupid, but I would watch her with those knitting needles clinking together, and she was always so fast.” Mia saw the smile on Clarissa’s face.
“That first night, I fell asleep and slept the whole way through.”
“Wow,” Mia said, and there was no hint of sarcasm.
“So, that summer, and in fact, for the rest of that year, my grandma taught me everything to be able to cope. If I felt stressed or anxious, she taught me to knit. If I didn’t feel like I could cope, they set up a sewing space in my room for me to just wake up and go to it.
It became my crutch. I was able to cope, and then my family was able to sleep, and I was able to just be me, and that was incredible. ”
Mia reached out and put a hand on Clarissa’s arm. She was aware that Clarissa’s wedding dress didn’t come from a designer boutique, or a fashion label. Clarissa’s parents and Lorenzo’s had allowed her to design it herself.
Clarissa’s family had been supportive every step of the way, whereas her own hadn’t been. They had only wanted to change her. She was never good enough for them.
“To know that ... Lorenzo finds my ... hobbies boring, it’s tough,” Clarissa said. “I don’t know if I should go to my sewing room, and I haven’t picked up my knitting.”
It was then that Mia noticed the dark circles beneath Clarissa’s eyes. “You’re not sleeping.”
“The nightmares keep coming back.”
“Then you’re going to have to do what you’ve always done. It’s part of who you are, and who cares if Lorenzo likes it or not?”
“You know, I was in the process of making him a three-piece suit. A pair of fitted pants, a waistcoat, and jacket,” Clarissa said. “I was making it for Christmas, but I never gave it to him.”
“Clarissa?”
Her friend turned toward her with tears in her eyes. “Why should I? I’m boring, and I just lay there. I sometimes wonder if he’s thinking about my sister.” She sighed. “I think I’m going crazy.”
“You’re not going crazy.”
Clarissa looked down into the glass of scotch. “It’s why I had to come over. I just couldn’t think anymore.”
Mia reached out and tucked some of her hair out of the way. “You’re going to be okay. Pick up your knitting and your sewing. Do what you need to do, because if you don’t sleep, you’re going to make yourself really ill.”
Clarissa nodded and then lifted the scotch and took a sip, and instantly recoiled. “That’s gross.”
Mia laughed and took a sip, wrinkling her nose. “Yeah, that is nasty.”
Of course, her friend finished her glass, then nearly coughed and spluttered at the same time. Mia chuckled and did the same, joining her friend, wondering why this scotch was considered the best scotch. “That is horrible.”
“It burns,” Clarissa said. “Do you think we could have another glass?”
“In case you didn’t notice, my husband is not here, and he’s not going to be able to tell me what to do.” Mia sauntered over to the drink table and poured them both another glass of scotch.
She collapsed back down onto the sofa.
“I think men are overrated,” Mia said.
Clarissa giggled. “I don’t know, I thought I liked Lorenzo, but I just lay there. Do you think he has figured out that I don’t have a clue what I’m doing? I don’t watch porn or those movies.”
“You don’t?” Mia asked.
“Hell, no. I knit or sew. I don’t know what I’m doing, and lying there, I thought that was what we were supposed to do.” Clarissa wrinkled her nose, and they were both coughing on the scotch. “I don’t think it helped that I used to read romance novels.”
“Honey, some romance novels tell you what to do,” Mia said, and then burst out laughing. This was starting to feel so good. Her limbs felt warm and she felt so happy.
“Sorry, I read historical ones.”
“What does that mean?” Mia asked.
“They lay down in bed and do absolutely nothing. They’re so still.” Clarissa laid back on the couch, tilted her head to the side, and even stuck her tongue out.
“You look dead,” Mia said.
Clarissa giggled. “Maybe Lorenzo has a point?”
“Nah, he doesn’t have a point. He’s a man, and men are losers.”
They both burst out giggling.
“I have no idea what I’m saying,” Mia said. “I wonder if this is some kind of truth serum?”
Mia lifted her glass, and it was empty. So was Clarissa’s glass, and she made her way toward the drink cabinet and refilled. She got a little tired of refilling her glass, so she brought the decanter to them, and they kept drinking the horrible scotch.
“Are you going to get in trouble?” Clarissa asked.
“I don’t know. He never told me to not drink his scotch. You would think if it was a rule, he would have told me about it,” Mia said.
She wrinkled her nose. “Besides, we’re doing him a favor, because this is horrible.”
“So horrible,” Clarissa said. “You know, I miss my sewing machine, and I was knitting a blanket, so when I have a baby, he or she will be warm.”
“Then you need to get back to knitting. You’re going to have the cutest babies.”
“And so are you,” Clarissa said.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Mia asked.
“Yeah.” Clarissa giggled. “Why are we whispering?”
“You don’t know who could hear us. I want to have Giovanni’s babies. I want to be a mother, and I love when we have sex.”
There, that part just slipped out, and Mia didn’t know where it had come from, and she laughed.
“I want to have sex with my husband.”