Chapter 005
801 Words
MATEO’S POINT OF VIEW
The second Clara entered my office, the air seemed too constrictive. It felt as though the walls were closing in on you. I had often recreated this scene in my mind, but nothing had equipped me for her stepping in like she hadn't vanished five years ago with no warning, no letter, and no farewell. And suddenly, a small child who resembles me too much?
With palms closed tightly, I leaned on the edge of my desk. With her arms folded, she stood close to the glass, as if she were there to deliver a memo instead of completely disrupting my life.
"Are you really going to continue acting as if none of this matters?" I asked in a quiet voice, "Does she not look like me?"
"I told Mateo," said Let it slide.
"I can't."
"Practice."
"Is she mine?" I asked again, slower this time.
Though her jaw trembled, she did not flinch. Never blinked. Provided nothing for me. That by itself made me want to pound the blasted wall.
"Just respond to the question, Clara."
"You do not get to demand responses right now..
I moved in front of them. "I take action when it involves a child who could potentially be mine."
"You feel that showing up now gives you some rights?"
"I had no idea. You took care to ensure I did not.
She turned away, fixed on the skyline, as if Madrid would whisper a means of escape. In my chest, thumping was my heart. She was quiet much too long.
The anger ignited beneath my skin, rising up my spine. Stepping past her and obscuring the view, I remarked, "You disappeared." "No call from the phone." No note. And here you are back, behaving as though nothing happened.
She exhaled, harsh and hostile. "You yearn for the truth?
"I have been hankering after it.
"She's yours," Clara replied, her voice cracking just enough to almost miss it. The daughter of yours is Emilia.
The words punched the air out of my lungs.
Like she would have done, I staggered back.
There is no numerical value. There are no numbers at all.
"She's mine??" I said a whisper.
She nodded just once.
The silence.
not the soft kind. It's the kind that leaves a lasting impression.
Trying to inhale completely, I paced, but my chest would not let me.
You kept her away from me? My voice started to rise.
"You suppose I wanted it??" Clara snipped. "You are ignorant of what we went through—what I went through!
I whirled. Explain it to me as well. Allow me to understand!
Though her lips parted, nothing came out.
I persisted. Was I easy to leave behind? Did I mean that small amount to you?
You were everything, Mateo said softly.
I stopped. Did it happen all at once?
Then, why?
"That's because you weren't prepared for our situation. And some were observing as well. Those who would have harmed her were merely trying to reach you.
"What are you discussing??"
"I can't—," she bit her lip. She wasn't ready yet.
I went onward. I stayed close enough to feel her breath. Even though I was enraged, my body responded like it always did around her—hot, hungry, drawn in—when my hand stroked her arm.
She backed off.
I stepped forward one more time.
"Clara...."
Her name sounded on my tongue like a prayer.
We stared at each other for too long and too close. Her chest surged and dropped, as if she were about to break.
I hushedly said, "I missed you."
She gave her head a shake. "Don't act like that."
"You did as well. One can see it.
She lowered her head.
I extended my fingers, curling them beneath her chin, and watched her. "I know you did not overlook it.
Closed her eyes.
Our lips moved apart like separate breaths. One more inch and I would taste her once again.
However, her phone buzzed.
She sprang into action, grabbed the object, and read something that caused her face to lose all color.
"What is it?"
She slid the phone down into her pocket. "I have to depart."
"Wait—Clara!"
She was already pulling the door open, though.
You cannot drop that bomb and then walk away!
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she turned back to face me. "There is more. Undoubtedly, there is much more to come. But he will hurt her if I do not go now.
"Who?" asked
She omitted a response.
Behind her, the door closed firmly.
And I stood there, panting hard, with only a thousand fresh questions whirling through my head.
Which was she shielding Emilia from?
And what the devil had she become involved in?
- Writer
