HIS HUMAN MATE

CHAPTER FOUR

Clara's POV:

"Hey" Vivian greeted and Clara approached her the desk "You ready for lunch?"

"Oh yeah, I'm starving" Clara replied with a smile, placing her stuff on the table. She picked up her purse, which had placed on the table earlier on, and followed Vivian to the elevator.

She was quite excited about going to lunch with Vivian and considered this a big step into them becoming really good friends. God knows she needs one.

They arrived a quaint restaurant around the corner to the office that was said to have the best spaghetti bolognese ever. At least, that was what Vivian swore.

Vivian led then to a booth at the back of the restaurant, sporting a strange smile as they sat, waiting to be served.

"Order anything, on me" she offered.

"Oh no, that's very nice of you to offer but it's ok, really"

"Come on, Clar. I insist"

"Alright, thank you" What was the point of refusing a nice gesture? Especially since they seemed to be on a nickname basis.

They sat in a slightly awkward silence, waiting for the food to arrive. When it did, Clara noted that the restaurant, indeed, served the best spaghetti she had ever tasted.

"Oh that is so good" Clara moaned, drawing a chuckle from Vivian.

"See, I told you" "You did, you did"

"So... " Vivian drawled, after a few minutes of eating in silence "Where are you from, Clara?"

" I was born in Morntown and spent most of my life there" Clara answered "You?"

"Oh, I was born and raised right in this city." and with barely a pause, she continued "What was your childhood like? And your parents, are you close to them? Any siblings? Partner?".

Clara frowned. The questions being fired at her weren't abnormal especially when getting to know someone but it was the manner in which they were asked that was rather ...odd.

Vivian's intense stare also made her feel a bit uneasy but Clara dismissed it. Maybe Vivian was just an intense person.

"I would say I had a pretty normal childhood, I am an only child and I don't have a partner at the moment. As for my parents..." she hesitated. This was a rather touchy subject but it wasn't something she hid so she continued "Well, my mom left when I was 6 so I never really knew her and my dad was wonderful but he passed away almost a decade ago...he was killed".

"Oh my" Vivian's face dropped and her eyes showed sympathy "I am so sorry for your loss and a gruesome one at that".

"It's fine. It was incredibly hard at the time but I've had a lot of support from loved ones" she took a sip of water "but yeah, I've been able to work past that and I'm ok now, really. What about you and your family".

"Oh there's no story there" Vivian replied "We're all into the wine business and work for the company. Mr Hughes is actually my older brother " she chuckled at the shocked look on Clara's face "you should come over for dinner sometime and I can introduce you to the whole family".

"Oh no, that's a very nice offer but I don't want to intrude"

"Nonsense, it won't be an intrusion at all. Mom loves having people over and if it's Victor you're worried about, don't, you'll be there as my friend and not his secretary "

"Ok, ok" Clara smiled. Vivian may be odd but she was the absolute sweetest and it made Clara so happy, knowing she had made a friend that seemed genuine.

"Wonderful, how does this weekend sound". Vivian said, clapping her hands gleefully.

"This weekend? Isn't that too soon".

"No" Vivian said, drawing out the last syllable "I promise it's fine".

"Then sure!" she chuckled, gleefully.

They continued with their meal in silence for a few minutes, then Vivian broke the silence with a question.

"What do you like to do for fun?"

Clara smiled as she thought for a while "I love watching movies, hiking, camping, knitting, to list a few".

"Ooh hiking and camping, you sound like the outdoorsy type, that's cool. I'm also something of a nature gurl myself. It's so peaceful, you know".

"I totally agree".

"You know, sometimes I come across werewolves on my hike trails" Vivian

paused as if waiting for a reaction "What do you know about werewolves, Clara?".

Werewolves. She hated those beasts. She had never met one herself but her father had. "I know a thing or two" she said quietly, willing herself not to get upset. Something must have shown on her face anyways because Vivian frowned at her expression

"Is something wrong?" she asked Clara.

"No, not really. It's just, what I know about werewolf is that they are violent and destructive and did right by reducing their public appearances".

"Oh" Vivian seemed taken aback by her mini outburst. "You have...strong feelings about the topic, I see" she finished with a strangely crestfallen look on her face.

"Do you know any werewolves "

"Oh...not really. I mean, I just think they have been put out to be aggressive and violent but the majority are quite peaceful and nice" she said with a small voice.

"Yeah, they weren't so nice and peaceful, when they killed my dad" Clara interrupted.

"What?"

"Yeah, he was always obsessed with them. Wanted to learn more and thought they were painted out bad, kind of like how you do" she paused, looking down, her eyes dry but sad "A few years ago, a pack of werewolves were having a celebration and my dad wanted to drop by and meet some of them. I realize that going somewhere uninvited is not the right thing to do but they didn't even let him state his business and killed him as soon as they smelled his human scent." she finished, transitioning from sadness to anger.

"Were you there?" Vivian asked, careful not to upset or trigger her.

"No, but my dad's best friend was. He told me what happened".

"Clara, I'm so sorry"

"Enough about that, we need to get back before lunch is over" Clara said, smiling at Vivian with one that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Sure" Vivian replied as she called for the bill.

Back at the office, Clara had now separated from Vivian who went back to her office on the 4th floor.

Conversation still in mind, Clara sat at her desk and put her things away. Files stacked neatly on the corner of the table and her laptop put in front of her, she opened a section of the desk to place her purse inside and noticed a down turned picture frame. She picked it up, and realized it was the one she had seen earlier.

Vivian forgot to take it, she thought to herself as she studied the picture once more.

She grinned back at their smiling faces and placed it on the desk, making a mental reminder to take it down to Vivian when she's done with her work and plugged in her laptop but she still couldn't shake the feeling that she had met the third person in the picture.

He looked very familiar.