(
Present day morning
She just sat there ,head bent, fidgeting with her fingers. I coughed to get her attention ,to which her violet eyes responded with the flick of eyelashes . A tear rolled down her cheek before she turned away from me. Guilt spread across my face as I watched her , too scared to move a muscle.
My phone rang. Our heads shot towards it. It was there on the bedside table along with my shades and wallet. They were supposed to be in my pocket. I shot her a questioning look ,but she still had her face turned away from me. My feet felt warm and comfortable despite the cold and chilly morning. I looked down and saw that I had been stepping on a bath towel . I bent down to pick it up before wrapping myself with it. I leaned over to where the phone was and saw that the call was from Nat.
“Hello?”
“Hey Josh. Good morning! Is Clarine up yet?” her tone was reeking of anger that she had tried to hide. Clarine looked at me wide eyed. Was she in trouble?
“Yes she is. You wanna talk to her?
“Yes!”
I put the phone between us and slowly pushed it towards her. She hesitantly picked it up and held it against her ear.
“Hey Nat”
“Miss Clarine Sapphire! How irresponsible of you young lady! I wait for you all morning for the address and what do you do? “ She winced at the harshness of her tone. I could still hear Natalie yelling at the top of her voice. What address was she talking about anyway? I heard Clarine utter something before I heard the calming of the storm on the other side of the phone. She hung up and I found myself with her , drowning in the death like silence . She put the phone next to her on the bed and sighed. We sat in this like this for about an hour until we heard a knock at the door. “It’s me! Natalie! ”
“Come in!” I said, straining my voice.
She entered with bags hanging around her, her hair was all messed up and she had bags under her eyes. She eyed me up and down ” Josh! What on Earth happened to you?“ She was referring to the marks all over my body .
“I know just as much as you do. Nothing”. She sighed in disbelief before she took a look at Clarine and asked “What’s wrong with her?” I just shrugged. She threw the bags on the bed and walked over to her little sister. “Clar?” No response.”Hey! Missy couldn’t take a scolding?” she asked, trying to make her laugh. Still no response. “Did Joshy boy do something naughty last night?”
She nodded ‘No’ and blushed. Her eyes were red and teary. “It’s nothing Nat..Just tired” Now we both knew better than to just believe that .
“Well, we haven’t got much time to waste! Josh, here! This is yours” she handed me one of the bags “I stopped by at Yours last night .Uncle Solomon picked these from your wardrobe“ Oh my God.
”and this one’s yours” she gave one to Clarine, who gladly accepted it. “Let’s see..hmm” She looked around before her eyes fell on the two doors that seemed to lead into individual bathrooms.
“Josh. In you go!” she gestured her hand towards one of the doors. I picked up the bag and ran into it with the towel still wrapped around me. I locked the door from inside and wore the clothes that were in there. My clothes. Did I tell you that Grandma was home? Wait till you meet her.
I came out of the bathroom and found Clarine all dressed up, still avoiding all eye contact. “Well, out we go!” Natalie commanded, clapping her hands.
We picked up our valuables and left the room, following Nat of course. Oddly enough, I could not recognise the hallway, the stairway, the reception, nothing. Clarine seemed to be looking out for someone or something and I could see how puzzled she looked. The fresh scent of dew bathed earth and the cold air hit me like a mint bomb. Must’ve rained last night. The sun hit my face and I had to momentarily shield my face against it’s garish display of power. I looked to my right and saw two cars , an expensive sleek looking hybrid next to an old car who’s wind shield was shattered. The story of the prince and the pauper came to my mind. Then I froze. I rubbed my eyes and blinked in disbelief . That was my car!
The one that Clarine had gifted me!
“Hail storm” a voice said...I turned around.
“what?”
“The wind shield..The Hail storm” That was all she spoke before going silent again.
Natalie just grabbed both of our arms and shoved us into the car. I sat next to the driver’s seat with night while Clarine plopped into the back seat. As we pulled over, I gave the horrid looking building ,one last look when my eyes captured something. An Old woman with a lamp in her left hand was waving at me through the windows. Grinning maniacally . That was the same room we just came out of. My eyes were latched onto her before she was out of sight. I just prayed I would never come back here again . I looked at the reflection in the mirror and saw that Clarine had been acting weird this whole time. She was usually the talkative one. I was worried for my best friend. Nat turned to me and gave me sympathetic look. I just looked at the road ahead of us as it made it’s way to my place. I will have a heck of a story to tell my Grandma, that’s for sure.
Photo credit: Pexels.com
