Coincidence

CLARE

"So is it just a coincidence or am I missing something here?" Juana asked from beside me.

"What do you mean?" I asked looking over the other lane then back in front.

"Don't play dumb Clare," She said looking out of the window than continued starring at me " I've known you my whole life I know when you are hiding something"

No, you don't, I've hidden stuff from you my whole life, you could never figure it out.

"I am not hiding anything," I said plainly without the hint of my non-existent emotions.

"Of course" She huffed then glaring she continued

"Carl, the youngest son of Mr. Rodgers becomes the excuse we needed to get the Maxson's off our back, Mason and Carlson, his brothers café being the replacing Maxson's café, Carl staying at your house, which I might add I haven't ever seen or known the location of and I'm supposed to be the one person you can trust.

I'm supposed to be your best friend and you can't even share the address of your house with people who stuck by your side for years but you can trust easily when it comes to..... strangers" She huffed in anger, still glaring, still growling.

"Coincidence," I said ignoring her, continuing to drive.

Our destination was close.

"What?" She asked confused.

"You asked if it as a coincidence or you were missing something and my answer is it's a coincidence," I said my voice as cold and robotic as always.

"You don't want to tell me, fine say so. Don't beat around the bush" She said rolling her eyes, gritting her teeth.

Rubbing my forehead for the tenth time in fifteen minutes driving, I asked frowning after parking my car right out of masons house.

"Why do you care?"

I could feel her stiffen, twisting my body I looked at her, she was uneasy, inconfident.

Looking for an answer or...excuse.

"I uhm...I don't want you to use those innocent people," She said looking at everything but me flustered, then a second later huffing again she blurted.

"I want my best friend back okay! I just want you to be your old self again. I don't want you to act so cold towards me, I....I miss you, please" She stuttered tearing up.

It was my turn to look everywhere but her except I wasn't flustered like her.

I glared at the steering wheel, my lap, ogled the house around us, the trees, the house we were about to walk in, the empty road. But never her.

"I am sorry....I can't, not anymore" I said like a dead girl, no sarcasm there, I was the dead girl after all.

"I uhm....I am sorry for your loss" I said looking straight into her eyes. Then climbed out of the door and stalked my way towards the house.

In a gap of five seconds, she climbed out of the car, looking back at her one last time I knocked.

The house was eerily quiet, something felt off.

The brown wood house with white windows had sunflowers in the garden. Occupying the boundary of the house.

I looked straight through the net door.

Waiting for someone to let us in.

Juana stood behind me, her hands joined eyes looking around the neighborhood.

Her yellow dress fit her perfectly with the combination of her brown hair, she looked like a sunflower, just like the one covering the garden.

The happy-yellow color always suited her.

The moment I felt her eyes on me, I thought of everything but her. The freshly cut grass to the chirpy birds, everything but her.

Did she really miss Alaaiya?

Did she really want a dead girl back?

She is the one person who stood by me since the very start.

Should I trust her?

My brother also stood by me my whole life.

I couldn't trust him.

MASON

They were here.

I looked at Carlson, then at Carl and then back to Carlson.

Mom was still fuming, Dad was angry too.

We had called Carl and told him to not bring his girlfriend today. We were going to do the same with Clare and Juana but mom was hell bend on seeing Clare.

They had fought today like never before. It was scary to see them fight like this for the first time.

They always had a teasing banter going on, always bickering about something or the other, but this wasn't the usual thing. It was serious.

Mom had her doubts for six years, which she never got a proof of and today it was all coming out.

Dad used to visit the city every now and then, at least three to four times a year, and never had a good enough reason.

With a vague statement that he had work and would be back by night, he would take a trip here in the city from the town where mom-dad live.

Mom started having doubts but due to no solid proof, she never said anything but when yesterday the topic of Clare visiting arise.

The weird excitement dad was showing snapped a tweak in mom's head.

Apparently, dad has been talking non-stop about her last night. But giving no information about her either and he is smiling a lot.

So mom thought Clare is either his illegitimate daughter or mistress and after a fight of one hour, we still haven't reached any conclusion.

She thinks Clare is dad's sugar daughter.

I mean he did receive a lot of cash which had no purpose with him but no one really thought much about it.

Dad had been investing for a very long time and it looked like the cash might have been the return or bonus but it's still more than possible and he never really tagged where the cash came from.

So I couldn't deny the fact that something was suspicious.

Plus the fact that Clare owed dad something.

It was as if these all were hints, puzzle pieces of a mystery and unsolved mysteries never fit right with me.

Add the fact that I liked Clare.

It was all going to be bad.

Really really bad.

My mom –dad were fighting over a girl their youngest son's age.

My mom was angry, hurt, and felt betrayed.

My dad was angry, hurt, betrayed, and mute on his clarification.

My mom thought my dad had an affair with that girl for 6 years now and was about to introduce her to the family.

My dad thinks that mom doesn't trust him even after so many years of marriage and is not clarifying himself instead he is just getting more and more offended.

My brother likes that girl's assistant.

My younger brother was helped by the same girl.

My dad has been receiving cash he can't explain about for the exact same 6 years.

I like that girl.

That girl is our partner, pretty much our boss actually.

And right now she is standing outside our house waiting for us to let her in.

Well, Fuck!