Page 12 of Fragile Kiss (Fragile 2)
The rain made everything slow down, much to her dismay. She didn’t want to be stuck in the car with only her negative thoughts. She wanted, for the first time, to get to Claire’s as soon as possible. There was nothing more she needed now than a distraction.
Distractions never help in the long run, silly. Amelia always said that. She had been a firm believer in dealing with emotions head-on and refusing to admit defeat. “Humans are extremely capable of dealing with any emotion thrown at them,” she loved to tell anyone in a crisis, especially a love crisis. “I’m serious, it’s true. Humans are so resilient. Especially women, and especially emotional women like you, Lillian. You are so resilient, and you don’t even know it yet. Just wait.
You’ll amaze yourself.”
Back then, Lillian had thought Amelia was crazy. Every time she swore she wouldn’t make it out alive, she would just melt into the ground, she’d never try again...and every time, Amelia pulled her up out of that deep, dark hole of misery.
I wish you were here now, Amelia, she wished with all her heart as she parked the car in front of Claire’s house. Why did you have to leave?
Getting her umbrella ready to open as soon as she opened the car door, she listened to the sound of the rain plowing down on the windshield. The way it streamed down after each drop slammed onto the glass looked like the tears of a grieving person. Probably something like what her tears looked like last night.
A movement caught her eye and she squinted to see past the heavy rain. Claire was, as always, standing on her front porch looking at Lillian’s car. Somehow, she saw Lillian look in her direction and began to wave madly.
“Hi, Lillian! Hello!” she shouted in her shrill voice, practically bouncing up and down. Her voice barely made it through the storm, but no storm could overpower Claire’s excitement over the smallest things in life.
“Here goes nothing,” Lillian muttered, and braved the rain.
THE THUNDERSTORM ONLY got worse over the course of the morning. Ionically, Lillian had never been more grateful to have several appointments that day. After Claire, she had about an hour before her phone appointment with a woman who was soon moving from one side of town to the other, and refused to let Lillian see how messy their moving process was.
And even though Claire always made snacks for them while they looked through the hundreds of photos in her “inspiration binder,” Lillian was just about ready to catapult out the door to the nearest café.
Claire had been having a monologue for at least ten minutes. Lillian couldn’t help the fact that her mind was wandering, and reining it back was becoming increasingly difficult.
“Do you see how this room is all white and the furniture’s light gray? That’d be great for accent colors, especially with the new shelves we’re going to put up for my books.” Finally, she took a breath. Lillian wondered how she had gone so long without breathing.
“Claire,” Lillian said, smiling sweetly, trying to keep a light expression on her face despite the oncoming headache. “You know I’m not a real interior designer.”
“I know, silly!” The woman giggled like a child. “But you just have such great taste. I simply have to show you these ideas I have. What do you think?”
“Well, if you’re really asking my opinion, I think the white would help brighten the room since the windows are so small. And I think your new pinewood wall unit would be great.” Leaning forward as if she were letting the woman in on some great secret, she lowered her voice. “I personally am a sucker for accent walls.”
Claire’s eyes lit up like light bulbs. “Oh! Oh, Lillian, that’s an excellent idea!” She was suddenly on her feet, gripping the binder tightly. “You’ve just given me so many things to think about.”
“But I only told you one thing.” Lillian was confused.
“Ah, you think you only told me one thing.” Claire winked. “I know you need to go, so before I keep you any longer you go ahead. Can you take these crackers with you?”
“It’s all right, you keep them. Save them for next week.” She could feel her eyes drooping from the pain of her pounding skull.
“That reminds me, do you think you’re free Friday? I may be away on Monday and I don’t want to keep you on your toes waiting.”
“I might be. I’ll check my schedule over lunch and let you know.”
With a grin dangerously close to being literally ear to ear, Claire took Lillian’s elbow and led her to the front door. It was a normal-sized door, and the top of her head was only half of its height. Lillian always forgot how small she was when they were sitting down “brainstorming.”
“You take care and let me know about Friday, okay?”
“Definitely. Thank you, Claire.” She bent to pick up her umbrella and walked toward the car.
“Thank you, Lillian! See you soon!”
Today of all days, Lillian wished Claire didn’t stand at the front door watching until she drove away. She wished she could just sit there and nap for a few minutes. Last night’s turmoil had really taken a toll on her energy level, and having what little was left drained by Claire—sweet as she was—wasn’t going to help her get through the next three appointments this afternoon.
Coffee. I need coffee. Quickly she closed the umbrella and managed to yank it inside the car before she got soaked. Something about the silence there in the small space of her four-door, the rainfall plunking onto the metal, was more soothing than anything else could have been at this moment. She almost fell asleep in the middle of cranking the engine on.
Trying to be discreet, she peered out the passenger window and saw the tiny shape of Claire, still standing there. Not fidgeting, not shifting her weight to the other foot, just standing there like a highly-interested statue. Some people are truly characters, she thought. Claire is the type of distinct person who makes the world extra interesting.
Before she drove off, she checked her phone to make sure she wasn’t missing anything important. At the top of her notifications was a text from Cayden, sent half an hour ago.
