THE VALENTINE'S DAY CONTRACT

The Silence Between us

The next day, Elara woke up with the pain of the burn from the night before. She took a bath with cold water, then left for school. She wasn’t sure why, but River was ignoring her, he was giving her a cold shoulder. The reason? She didn’t know.

River’s sit had been changed; he was now sitting beside Clara and he hated it. Clara talked too much, she was too buzzy. Unlike Elara who was calm and quiet, even he didn’t know why he was keeping a distance.

At lunch, Elara sat in the café, her food was untouched, the seat beside her was cold, and she was torn apart, she was boiling in anger, she didn’t know why, but something was getting her angry.

She was tugging at being logical while respecting her feeling, but it seemed like her heart and head were refusing to work together.

‘What do i do now?’ she asked herself. ‘You stay away Elara, that the most logical thing to do’ she advised herself. ‘But how can I stay away from someone who just paid my fees? ‘She asked herself.

she was tangled between two worlds, being logical or listening to her heart. ‘No!’ she screamed at herself. ‘I won’t let my heart fool me into making the same mistake I made 7 years ago. The mistake of caring for someone who never cared for me,’ she sighed with a frustrated look at the thought. ‘Besides, I didn’t do anything wrong, I should stop apologising for nothing.’ She concluded and smiled.

At the café, she walked past him after stylishly peeking at what he was doing. His face was screaming help me, then she looked to his side. ‘of course it was Clara,’ Elara approached their table calmly, but nervously. She took a deep breath before finally speaking.

“Excuse me,” she said, her voice a bit shaky. “River, Mrs Jonathan said you should put me through on geography,” the voice stabilized

“And didn’t Mrs Jonathan see another bombastic element to teach you?” one of Clara’s minions asked

“If I remember clearly, I was speaking to River, not anyone of you scrum bags,” Elara replied, but when she was about to repeat the message, he was already gone.

She turned around and headed back to her table, where he was sitting.

“Thanks,” he muttered,

“For what?” Elara asked

“Never mind,” he sighed and started reading

“Shall we begin?” she asked

“Begin what?” he asked backed

“The tutoring session,” she replied pulling out a notepad from her bag

“Why would a tutor need to be taught? Teach yourself. I’ve got violin lessons,” he stood up and left.

Elara just stared as he walked away and even when he was off sight, she continued staring. ‘Stop staring, he’s long gone’ she cautioned herself.

Meanwhile, Clara was just being a fool, she was just being cheap and classless and the fact that she thought, she had class was what made Elara wonder.

Any slightest opportunity Clara had, she’d intentionally brush her fingers over his, and since he wasn’t complaining, she continued.

‘What in the world of the Monalisa are you doing, Clara? she asked herself. ‘Come on Clara, don’t be too fluffy, it’ll be fine,’ she reassured herself. ‘But she’s my sister, not biological, but still,’ her heart throbbed. ‘So? She’s just a threat to where I’m heading to’ she scolded herself. ‘But what kind of plan would make me hate my own sister?’ she asked herself again. ‘don’t be stupid Clara, I must keep to the plan of impersonating Mr and Mrs Vienne’s real daughter. Once we get into the high-class family, we supply mamma and pappa all resources they need to glow and keep that dirt bag in the darkness she belongs. Everything that’s hers will be mine!’

Clara smiled to herself and went to meet River who was reading under a big shady tree.

“Hey River,” Clara greeted and sat next to him

He didn’t reply.

“Com’on River, I come in peace… I swear,” she urged with a smile

He didn’t look up from the book he was reading. “I never said you came in chaos”

“Okay? So, I thought you usually read with Elara, why are you here alone?” she asked, trying to start a conversation, but he kept dismissing her.

“That’s none of your business,” he replied, his eyes still on the book

“You seem, upset. Did Elara piss you off?” she asked looking at him, but he was doing the direct opposite.

“I’m studying and you’re distracting the flow,” he said finally looking up from the book

“Are you indirectly calling me a distraction?” she asked, wide eyed in shock.

“I was being extremely direct,” he took his water flask, the other books... he tucked them into his bag, and the one he as reading, he held it in his hands and left.

‘Playing hard to get a? Nah, it’s not gonna work… not with Elara out of the picture,’ she thought to herself as a smirk curled on her lips.

The next hours of school were annoying and boring to Elara; she had once again become invisible.

At home, after she took her bath and wore her pjs, she tip-toed down to the kitchen to fix something up for herself, since she was kicked out of the dinner table and also because her mom stayed in the kitchen the entire cooking journey. As she approached the door, she overheard her mom and Clara arguing about the valentine’s day gala. So, she decided to eaves drop on their conversation.

“Are you out of your mind Clara, you cannot back down now.” Her mom said

“Mummy, what if she finds that we are not her real family? Huh? Then what? What will you tell her?” Clara replied with an annoyed tone. “The valentine’s day gala is already planned out, stop discussing this with me every time, I haven’t forgotten the plan,” she finally said.

Elara tip toed back to her room, and sat at the edge of the bed.

‘They’re not my real parents? Clara’s not my sister? I knew something was off, they never cared about me,’ she thought as tears fell from her eyes, then her phone buzzed

New message… dog woman next door (online)

Come walk my dog, and trim the garden… how much?

Reply

800 for the dog, 200 for the garden

Dog woman next door

I’ll do a transfer, is that fine?

Reply

Yes please...

She got dressed for the job and left. Elara went to the house next to theirs for the job, she trimmed the entire garden in less than 10minutes, then took the dog out for a walk, gosh she hated that dog, he was so annoying and disgusting…

She dragged her feet down the street, hoodie up, face scrunched like she’d just sniffed expired milk. In one hand: a leash. On the other end: a rat-sized dog with the ego of a lion and the bladder of a broken faucet.

Sir Wiggles stopped every three steps to sniff a leaf like it held the secrets of the universe. Elara stood there, arms crossed, muttering, “You better be writing a thesis with all this research.”

Then he pooped. Right in front of a couple on a romantic walk. Elara locked eyes with them as she pulled out the poop bag like a warrior unsheathing her sword. “Don’t fall in love,” she said flatly. “This is where it ends.”

The dog barked. Elara barked back. The dog won.

She stood in front of the neighbour’s door, anger boiling in her, but she managed to keep a playful and respectful tone.

“That’s extra 200, for the dog” she forced a smile

“Why?” the woman asked, with a questioning look.

“Because, sir wiggles peed on my feet, pooped in front of a construction joint, and made me step in concrete. Shouldn’t he be charged for that?” Elara replied

“Well, that’s the job, duhh… get off my porch, you dirty thing,” the woman replied about to bang the door, when her husband came and stopped her.

“Come on wife, she was kind enough to walk the dog and accept all his disgusting behaviours, don’t you think she deserves the money?” he asked the woman then turned to Elara who was already leaving. “Wait, here” he pulled out 500 dollars from his pocket and gave her.

‘Did he just add a tip of 300 dollars.’ Elara thought to herself

“Thank you so much, sir, I really appreciate this,” she bowed.

“No probs, here. I packed up this food for you, since I knew the kind of parents you have, I’m sure you haven’t eaten this evening,” he smiled, and gave her takeouts.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this… I really appreciate your kindness,” she replied shaking her head in disagreement.

“I insist, come on,” he smiled, then she collected it.

“Thank you so much,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes. “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me without a hidden agenda. Thank you so much again,” she continued, her eyes glassy

“Come on, don’t cry, you deserve it. You earned it,” he smiled again, then she bowed and left.

She tucked the money into her waistband, ate the take outs and went to the city’s locker room to freshen up before leaving for her last job as a waitress.