Casa Luna

CHAPTER 1 : “ THE WILL” It was a cold and silent morning in palawan, Philippine. The lake was grey ,the snow was fresh and my apartment was quiet. My phone rang, i rushed to see who it was only to figure out it was an unknown number. “ Hello miss Bennett” i heard. “This is Marco Rivera calling from Montreux in Switzerland. It's about your grandmother Isabella Reyes, she’s gone and she left a will behind that includes you in it ,but in order for the will to be read you must be present here in Montreux in the next 48 hours, your ticket have already been bought”. I didn't know i still had a grandmother i thought to my self, before i could respond he hung up, i had no other option but to prepare for the trip . It was a cold morning and i was already in the car. “kalibo Airport madam?” the driver asked, “ yes please” i responded. I preferred the car to train, in the train people stare but in the car you can watch the lake pass and pretend like you are not about to fly into a house you've never seen, left by a grandmother you barely knew,for a will that don't make sense. The snow was fresh on the mountains, Lake Geneva was grey and perfect, my phone had no new messages, just the flight confirmation Marco had sent me last night. My flight landed at Zurich Airport at 6:42AM. The runway was white, the sky was grey through the window of Terminal 1,Switzerland looked exactly like i remembered,clean, perfect and quite. I had been gone for 10 years. My phone rang as soon as i turn off the airplane mode. Unknown number,Montreux. “Miss Bennett” this is Marco Rivera, are you in Montreux yet?The Will reading is at 10AM don't be late, He said. I took a train from Zurich Airport to Montreux.One hour fifteen minutes. Platform 3,Second class,Window seat. The train left at 9:03, it was on time,of course ,Switzerland is always on time. Outside Geneva Lake,inside it was warm and quite no one talked. I held the silver key in my pocket the whole time I didn't take it out. Montreux Station is small,when i got off,the air smelled like lake water and cold stone. It was 10:21 already i was late for the meeting with Mr Marco Rivera. Marco Rivera's Office was 5 minutes away from the station. He was not what i was expecting, He was young maybe around his late 20’s or early 30’s,He wore a Black coat,had a black hair and wore glasses. He had two coffees on his desk. “You came” he said in English,but with a Spanish accent. “You said it was important”, i said. He slide one coffee towards me and an envelope,inside was not money, inside was the Polaroid of Casa luna, a single silver key,and one sentence handwritten in blue ink: Casa luna, Cadaqués. You have to live there for 90 days. June 1 to August 31. I looked up, “ what is this” i said. Marco opened his laptop and turned it to me. On the screen was a video file,PAUSE. The thumbnail was my grandmother, Isabella, in a garden,Older, Thinner but smiling. He pressed play, and for the first time in fifteen years i heard my grand mother's voice. “ Clara if you are watching this , i am gone and you have a choice to make”. Her voice was old, softer than i remember,but it was her. The garden behind her was Casa Luna, i could see the white wall, the blue shutters,the lemon tree. She was sitting on a white chair,the wind was in her hair. “ I know you think that I forgot you,” she said “ but i didn't, i thought about you every winter”. She looked down at her hands, they were shaking. “ I left you Casa Luna, but i did not leave it only to you”. She smiled a small tired smile. “ There's a boy, he is an adult now,his name is Julian Hayes, he came to me when he was seven,his parents worked for me. When they died he stayed. He is now a photographer. He lives in London, He is Like a son to me, like a grandson actually”. Marcos paused the video and looked at me “ This is the condition” he said quietly. He pressed play again. “ You both have to live there (Casa Luna)” my grandmother said. “ 1st June to 31st August Ninety days, together. If one of you leaves before 31st August the house will be sold,but if you both stay it will be both yours. This is my last wish, i want you to learn what a home feels like before i am gone. The video ended, Black screen. I didn’t say anything for a long time, the office was quite,outside I could hear the lake. “He should be here by now”, Marco said. “Who?” i asked , but got interrupted by the knock on the door. “That should be him” Marco said. Marco opened the door and just as said,it was Julian. He walked in. He was tall, wore a Black T-shirt, wet jacket,backpack on one shoulder, Hair messy from the rain. He looked like he had just come from the Airport, He smelled like cold air and coffee. He looked at me, then at Marco. “Sorry the train from Geneva was late”. He said with a British accent. “Clara Bennett this is Julian Hayes,Julian this is Clara.” Marco said. No one shook hands. Julian sat down to the chair next to mine. Marco pressed play on the video and we both watched together. My grandmother face,Her voice: “you both have to live there , June 1st to August 31st, Ninety days together.” The video ended,the room was silent. Marco looked at both of us. “That is the condition,if one of you leaves before 31st, the house will be sold,if you both stay the house will be both yours, do you accept to the condition?” Marco said. “Yes” Julian said without hesitation,not even looking at me, just like that. “Yes?” Marco asked. “Yes” Julian said,”If that was what Isabella wanted then Yes.” Marco turned to me and said “ Clara?” In my hand was the silver key,i held it so tight. “I….I need to think” I said “ I don't know him, I don't know the house, I can't just live with a stranger for a whole Ninety days.” Julian stared at me , “ I'm not a stranger to her, I was there for Ten good years when You weren't” He said. There was a sudden silence and the room went cold. I broke the silence. My hands were shaking but i didn't cry. “ Don't you ever talk to me like that” i said to Him “ Don't!” I said with anger and sadness through my voice. Julian stared at me, His jaw was tight. “ You don't know anything, You don't know what happened,You don't know why i wasn't there.” I said. “ Then tell me” He said quietly. “ because she waited every Birthday,every Christmas, She would put your plate on the table.” That hit me so hard,i lost my stance. “ She told me to go!” I shouted ,the words just came out . “ She told me to leave and never come back! Okay? Is that what you want to hear?” Silence again I stood up,my hands were shaking, Marco looked up at me. “ I was sixteen” I said in a more gentle and softer tone. “ She and my Mother had a fight, A big fight about my father, about money and about Me. And she looked at me and said ‘If You leave with her don't ever come back to Casa Luna'”. I paused for a while. “ So i didn't,For Ten Years,I didn't call because she told me not to. And now you are sitting down right here and acting like you are her grandson and i am the stranger?” My eyes were full of tear,i was about crying,but i didn't want to. Julian on the other side went silent ,staring at me,the anger on his face were gone. He said very quietly “She never mentioned that to me”. He looked down at his hand, He had a silver ring,Old. “ She told me you forgot her,she said were busy in Palawan, with your new Family” Julian said. “ I don't have a new family”, I said in a very low tone. No one spoke,Julian was looking at the floor and I was staring at the lake through the Window. Marco stood up, went towards the window and close the blinds,the room became quieter and warmer. “ Okay, enough of all this ” He said calmly, In a different tone,not sounding like a lawyer but like a friend. He stared at Julian and I. “ Isabella told me this was gonna happen, She said ‘Marco,the first day they meet they'll fight,Clara will cry,Julian will be angry but let them” He said. I stared at him, Same as Julian, we both looked at Marco. “She knew?” I asked. Marco nodded, “She knew you everything, She knew you thought she kicked you out,Clara, And she knew you thought Clara forgot her,Julian.” He sat down and rest his hands on the desk. “ She didn't kick you out Clara,She was angry at your mum not You, and she regretted it every day that passes for ten years. He turned and looked at Julian “ And Clara didn't forget her, She was hurting,she thought Isabella didn't want her.” Marco said. There was silence,but a different one. Marco took out two identical silver keys from his drawer. He kept one right in front of me,and the other to Julian. “ What do you want to do,You both have two choices. You can keep fighting here in my office in Montreux or you can go and see Casa Luna together from Switzerland, and take the train to Cadaqués,it's 10 hours from here,you can be there by tomorrow morning. He looked at me and Julian. “ She left you a house, not a fight” He said to us. Julian looked at me and i looked at him. And for the first time He didn't look like a stranger to me anymore. But still my answer was NO. “ I can't do this,I can't live with someone i barely know for 90 solid days” I said. Marco sighed,was about speaking but Julian interrupted,bringing out his phone to show me something. I thought it was a photo but to my knowing it was his bank app. “ Look at this” He said quietly and embarrassed through his voice. On the screen it showed £42.17,overdraft. Three unpaid bills,London rent. “ I need this” Julian said, “I'm not going to lie i need Casa luna so bad, i have nowhere else,My parent died in that house,Isabella was the only Family i had,if Casa luna is being sold out,i get nothing,i have nothing.” He locked his phone and Kept it back, from his look you could tell he was ashamed. “ I don't need your Money,I just need a roof for 90 days,afterwards you can have it,sell it, i don't care.” Julian said. I looked at him,Really he wasn't the rich British boy i thought he was.