Bequeathed

Chapter Seventeen: The Will Part II

Claire gets ready to go to the reading of Aunt Bev’s will. It was all a dream. She’s out of the shower and at her closest, trying to select an outfit, paying no real attention. She takes out a black dress, a-line, hem just above the knee. She shrieks, drops it. Rob comes rushing from the bathroom, water flowing down his body and pooling in puddles at his feet.

“Are you okay?” he studies Claire.

Claire takes up the dress, stuffs it in the closet. “Just a little deja-vu.”

Rob raises his brow in a questioning manner.

“You should finish getting dressed.” Claire takes a white maxi dress with black polka dots from the closet. “We’re going to be late.”

“It was just a dream,” Claire mutters to herself after Rob has returned to the bathroom. Claire tries hard to convince herself that it must have been a dream. She pinches herself, puts her perfume bottle to her nose, and inhales deeply. “It had to be a dream.” As much as she tries to convince herself of this truth - she is awake, alive, all that transpired was simply a nightmare - her truth can’t take roots. Each time she plants it, it is uprooted by doubt, by the knowledge that the Mr. Simms of this morning’s phone call sounded exactly like the Mr. Simms of her nightmare. If it had not been a dream, it must have been a premonition.

***

Claire grips Rob’s hand tightly as she walks into the firm. Every detail of the place is known to her. She arrives at the secretary's desk, again forgetting the name of the lawyer.

“I’m here to see Mr….Mr…”

“Simms?” the secretary offers.

“I had it,” Claire says. “I didn’t need you to tell me. I know.” Claire convinces herself that if this is indeed a premonition, she can undo what is to come by doing things differently than she had seen them. This time she had known Mr. Simms’ name. Fright had stolen it for a moment, still, she knew it; she wanted to say it.

“He will be with you shortly.” The secretary maintains an even tone. “You may have a seat if you’d like.”

Rob leads Claire to seats. Claire chooses a seat for herself and invites Rob to sit next to her.

“Are you okay, Claire?”

Claire grips the leg that she’s shaking. She uses a hand to steady it, then another hand. Both hands, pressing her shaky leg towards the floor. Claire needs to be calm. The last time she was anxious and a little jittery. She’s afraid now. Fear is different from eagerness and worry, but what she needs to be, is calm. Calm is safer. Claire melts into her seat, shedding her fright. She reabsorbs every ounce of it when she sees the tall, slender, and dark Mr. Simms.

Rob stays. Mr. Simms ushers Claire into his conference room. Claire sees the classic table and six black swivel chairs before she enters the room. She selects the chair at the opposing end of the table. Do it differently. Claire predicts her inheritance. Every clause, every term of the will is as it was in her nightmare-premonition.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” says Mr. Simms when Claire is unresponsive. “I’ll give you a few days to think about all of this. There is no need for you to make a decision right away.”

She embraces Rob when Mr. Simms sees her out of the conference room.

“She left me everything,” she says to him. “I can’t get it until I marry William James.”

“Who is William James?”

“A very bad man.” Claire squeezes Rob tighter. “Whatever happens, promise you won’t leave.”

***

Rob tries to probe for information during their ride home. Who is this William James? How does Claire know him? Why would Aun Bev put such a condition in the will? Surely the woman must know of Claire’s aversion to marriage. He’s driving; Claire grips his leg tighter each time he asks a question, but she doesn’t utter another word until they are back at her apartment. She needs the comfort of her home, the safety of her walls.

When they get home, Rob leads her to the sofa and sits her down. He takes the seat next to her, propping himself on the edge, turning to face her, his hands cradling her trembling hand.

“You’re scaring me,” Rob says. “You’ve been shaking since you left that room. Help me make sense of this. Who is William?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“You said he was a bad man. How do you know this? From the news? Did you meet him when you were younger? Did he do something to you?”

Claire shakes her head in response to every question. “Okay?” Rob is trying but he can’t hide his confusion, it’s starting to reap frustration.

“Promise me you won’t leave,” begs Claire.

“What? What does that…”

“Just promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Okay.” Claire breathes a sigh of relief. “I’ll tell you everything. No matter how crazy it sounds, I need you to believe me.”

Rob nods.

Claire tells Rob about her nightmare, how it had felt real when she woke up in bed. It had felt so real that she had to touch her body to ensure that she was still whole, still breathing. She tells him how she died, how it felt when the bullets pierced her body. Rob looks at her, devouring every word Claire utters. His face changes as he consumes. His brows are drawn with confusion, worry, then a look suggesting that he might be concerned for Claire.

“I don’t understand…” Rob’s mouth moves as if he’s searching for more words; he finds none. Claire isn’t used to Rob being stunned silent. He always has questions or something to say. Sometimes too many things to say and often during times when Claire doesn’t want to hear them. But Claire’s lack of communication drove him away last time. This time she will tell him everything, even if it makes her look a little crazy. She has to do things differently. She’s determined to cheat whatever this is.

“I don’t understand either,” says Claire. “All I knew is that I knew Mr. Simms before I met him. I knew his voice, what he looks like…”

“But at the secretary’s desk...”

“I was overwhelmed by everything, but I knew him. I’m pretty sure I could have produced an accurate sketch of him before we even met. And I knew the details of the will. Every…single…detail.”

“Claire…”

Claire waits for Rob to say more.

“Claire…” he says again.

Claire waits.

“We should go to bed,” adds Rob.

Claire looks to the clock on the wall across from the sofa. It has a silver frame and a blue background which matches the sofa set. “It’s 1:15,” Claire says.

“We can take a nap.” Rob traps his jittery leg with his hand. Since he’s holding Claire’s hand, she also traps his nervous leg. “Or we can go out to eat.” Rob stands up, pulling Claire up with him. “We should definitely get something to eat."

“I know where they make the best burgers,” says Claire.

“Burgers?” Rob shakes his head. “This is getting stranger by the minute.”

***

“How did you find this place?” asks Rob as they enter the Best Burgers.

“The name is a little obvious, but they can back up their claim.” Claire enters while Rob holds the door open.

“That’s not what I mean.” Rob steps in, allowing the door to swing close. “Other than the office parties that I dragged you to, I can’t recall you coming to this side of town.”

“I’ll tell you once we're seated.” Claire finds a booth by the window. Everything is as it was in her dream. The apricot tiles, with napkin and straw wrapper litter. Though the floors look cleaner than they did towards the end her memory/premonition. She slides into the mint green booth by the glass window. The afternoon sun filters in, warming her face and arms.

A waitress walks over with two menus. “Welcome to Best Burgers. I’ll give you some time to study the menu, then I’ll be back for your order.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Claire says with a smile. “We’ll have two Best Burgers with bacon. Two milkshakes and two servings of fries.”

Rob’s face is twisted with bewilderment.

“Okay,” the waitress says while making a note. “And the milkshakes.

“Chocolate for me.” Claire contorts her lips, reading Rob’s face. "And vanilla...?"

Rob nods.

“And vanilla for him,” Claire confirms.

Rob surveys the room while they wait on the order. Claire reads his expressions, waiting for the opportunity to tell him more. Their eyes meet. “I have been here before,” Claire says. “Everything is just as it was before. It wasn’t a dream, Rob. It either happened or it’s a premonition, a foreshadowing of things to come.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Do you believe me now?” Claire leans forward, her torso pressing into the booth.

“I don’t know what to believe, but I trust your fear. Something has got you spooked and if you say this William guy isn’t to be trusted, I believe you.”

Claire sighs. “Thank you. You’re the only certainty in my life, Rob. I don’t tell you enough that I appreciate you, that I love you.”

Rob reaches for her hand, leans forward to kiss it. “I love you too.”

“Can you believe that I actually thought it was you harassing me?” Claire chuckles, it’s shallow and insincere, revealing nervousness rather than joy.

“Why would I harass you?”

“We had broken up and I thought you were getting back at me.” Claire had skirted around the other consequences of the terms of the will. She told Rob about the harassment, everything leading up to her death. What she didn’t disclose was the argument between her and Rob, about how their relationship had ended. Now it was time to tell her the rest. “You were mad about the will,” Claire says. Not the whole truth, but close enough to it.

Rob releases her hand. “I didn’t realize you’d chosen the money.” He sits back, creating room for the waitress to place their order. When she leaves, he adds, “I guess I was too preoccupied with the part where you died.”

“It’s a lot of money, Rob. If I didn’t accept it, if I don’t accept it, my family’s legacy dies with Aunt Bev.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re still considering it. Even after your weird psychic dream, you’re still considering it.”

“I’ve lost a lot of my memories of my parents,” Claire says, “but some things I do remember. I remember my mother and me eating dinner alone almost every night because my dad was working. There were holidays that we didn’t get to spend together and vacations that got canceled last minute, not because we couldn’t afford them, but because my dad was too busy with work. My dad worked his ass off for our family business. That’s why I was always so mad at Aunt Bev. My day gave so much to ensure that our family’s legacy was maintained and she cut me off. I had earned, whatever he had been entitled to. I should have been taken care of.”

“Now you’ll definitely be taken care of.”

“I thought this time you would understand.”

Rob opens his mouth to speak. He takes a huge chunk of his burger and suffocates his words.

“I thought if I told you everything this time would be different.”

Rob chews slowly, swallows, sips milkshakes, all while eyeing Claire. “You’re considering marrying a murderer for money. Not just any murderer. The man who murders you. I can’t understand that, Claire.”

Claire folds her arms and sits back.

“If what you’re saying is true, and your father was influential in securing the wealth of the family business, why don’t you try suing your Aunt’s estate for his fair share, your fair share. At the very least, you must have a trust fund somewhere.”

“Aunt Bev was my legal guardian, she would have had access to any trust fund information. That truth dies with her.”

“Subpoena her lawyer.”

Claire scoffs. “With what money? I’m up to my eyeballs in credit card debt.”

Rob takes another huge bite of his burger. In two bites he’s consumed half of it.

“What sense does it make to spend money that I don’t have for a share that I may not get when I can have all of it?”

“You don’t need all of it.”

Claire unfolds her arms, leans forward. “You promised you wouldn’t leave.”

“I can’t be okay with you marrying someone you think is a danger to you.”

“He won’t be able to hurt me because I’ll see him coming.” Claire reaches for Rob’s hand; he pulls it away. “The marriage will be on paper only. Just so I can get what that witch denied me.”

“That witch, raised you.”

“You swore you wouldn’t leave.”