18

Claudia wiped her tears away with the handkerchief that Mrs flicher had offered her... "Thank you," She said and shook her head. The two women with Joyce Flicher exchanged looks with her, and one of them nodded. "We can take you to her place if you want. she doesn't live far from here." Doris, the second of the trio, said, hoping to get more information about what had happened a few hours ago from Claudia. They had waited for the small crowd to dissipate before they finally approached her when she wouldn't leave, and Claudia was more than ready to pull out her victim card here. "No, i shouldn't go there. she must be mad at me because I lost my temper earlier. I didn't mean to hit her. She was just so rude, and it made me so sad. She used to be such a sweet girl." Claudia started and pretended to cry again... she buried her face in her palm, and Joyce patted her shoulders. "I always had a bad feeling about her," She muttered and scoffed. she always knew juliet was a problem, and Claudia was proofing her right. now that her mother was gone, she couldn't hide her nasty behaviour anymore... "I just wanted to see if she was doing fine because I missed the funeral. My daughter has been sick the whole time and I couldn't come to see my sister. I know I'm at fault, but I really hope she could hear me out and not speak to me that way. " "I'm sure if you go over to her house, she will have no choice but to hear you out. Here is her address." Doris brought out a pen and paper and wrote Juliet's address on it, and a smile almost appeared on Claudia's face. she didn't have to wander around the area to find where exactly juliet was anymore. These women were nosy, and she was thankful for that... "If you don't want to go on your own. we could come with you and help you speak to her" Joyce, who couldn't stop being nosy offered... Claudia looked up at the three women and smiled at them... "I will try to speak to her myself. You have been so helpful already. I don't want to trouble you anymore, " She lied. She didn't want them to hear about the insurance money. it could make the tables turn on her and derail her goal... She really needed that money to bail her son out of jail again... and she was ready to do anything to get it. if she had known her sister would die so quickly, she would have taken out an insurance policy on her... "This is our number. if you need any help, don't hesitate to call any of use" Claudia collected the women numbers and watched as they walked away. " Do the people who reside here have nothing better to do than to be this nosy..." She muttered under her breath, wondering why her sister, who so much loved to keep to herself, moved to such a neighbourhood.... Her phone started to ring in her hand, and Claudia sighed deeply when she saw that it was her daughter. "What do you want now. I told you I'm working on it already, I just found out where she lives, so be f*cking patient!" She almost snapped at her daughter... Claudia ended the call and stood up from where she had been sitting. She checked her purse and saw that she didn't have a lot of cash left for her to keep paying for the motel she was in. She ran her hand through her hair and tugged on it a little. nothing seemed to be going well in her life, her jerk of an husband had left again for the nth time and her son was in jail for stealing... She was sick and tired of her pathetic life and needed a way out urgently... ________________ ________________ Juliet jogged past the park for the second time that evening. her eyes scanning for someone... this time, not thinking he was stalking her. she was anticipating to see him, and felt a little sad when she jogged past the bench they mostly sat on, but he wasn't there. She was also on the lookout for someone. A day had passed since her aunt publicly embarrassed her, and thankfully, she had not shown up at her house yet. But she had to be careful so she would... Juliet sighed deeply and decided to take a short break from jogging when she was about to pass by the park and he wasn't there. She sat on the bench and tried to catch her. Would this be her normal routine now because of him... He had asked for them to have lunch together, but she wanted to see him at lunch, but he didn't call or show up, so maybe dinner? A bottle of water came into her view, and she immediately looked up to see a stunning man handing it to her... she bit her lips to hold back a smile that was threatening to form. He really came... "Hi," Alex said, not being able to hold back his own smile... she collected the bottle of water from him and looked away so she could smile without him seeing that she was glad he came... "Have you had lunch yet" Alex asked as he took a seat beside her. "Not yet," Juliet lied even though she had made herself some lunch before coming out on an evening jug. "Don't you have to be somewhere. it's a Tuesday evening She blurted out, not being able to keep her curiosity to herself. Where did he work? "That's a good question that I can answer over dinner," Alex said, hoping she wouldn't give him an excuse not to have dinner together. He had been looking forward to seeing her again the whole night. he was so occupied with work the whole day and barely made it out of the office and had missed having lunch with her. He wasn't missing dinner when she was finally opening up to him little by little.. Maybe he could buy a building close by, that way he could see her more often... he thought. He glanced behind Juliet and saw the body guard that Patrick had assigned to watch her standing at a distance and blending in so she wouldn't suspect that someone was watching her. Thankfully, he had not received a report that would anger him. "I know a great place nearby... it's just..." Juliet trailed off when Alex phone interrupted the both of them "I'm sorry," he said, and she nodded. Alex stood up and walked a few feet away from her before answering the phone call...