Chapter 22: Chapter 22

"Sisterly love, of all sentiments, the most abstract. Nature does not grant it any functions."

-Ugo Betti-

***

A week had passed since she avoided Raphael, although Raphael still tried to talk to her, she just had not forgiven him yet, it was one of her bad habit, she was not an all forgiving woman, especially if that person is someone who she trusted a lot, but considering what had happened to her recently, she found that she had every right to be upset. Many would say her behavior was rather childish, but when one looked at things from her perspective, it should be clear why she acted that way.

Raphael himself had been busy with work and did not come home as often as he should, perhaps he was still feeling guilty for his attitude that night. Other than that, because Clara kept on ignoring him, he decided that he would let her be for a moment until she would calm down on her own.

Life had been quiet, Clara pretty much only stayed at home painting, making prints, reading books, swimming at his pool, or sometimes she would head out for lunch around the neighborhood. She had not gotten any chance to explore Paris further because she still needed to unwrap her life through the transition.

Still, slowly, boredom started to get into her nerves. Back then in her home she had a lot to do, from helping her father out in the wine factory, sampling batches, painting, running around the yard, cooking food, making crafts, and dancing to silly country song in her bedroom. She could not even do that because there was chance someone would enter her room, which was mostly left unlocked unless she was going out, she was simply trying to save herself from embarrassment.

That day was one of her lazy day, she was laying on the couch in the living room, staring blankly at the ceiling as she contemplated on life, her whole muscle felt like they were glued to the cushion, she did not even want to lift a finger. She wondered what she was actually doing with her life, where she was heading, what did she actually want to do, because there was no way she would let her day pass by without doing anything meaningful.

She was an artist, and she was always searching for new inspiration, she was born to create, and she needed to decide for a direction. Her thoughts were getting deeper and deeper, she closed her eyes and started asking questions we always secretly ask ourselves, what is the meaning of life?  How does the universe work? Why do we exist?

When she thought she would spend the rest of the day feeling that way, someone knocked on the door. The housekeeper was taking a day off that day, so she had to open the door herself, she twisted the knob and found someone standing there. It was a woman with dark brown under shoulder length hair and striking blue eyes, her face had shown some similarity with Raphael, both of them shared the same smoldering look on the first glance, it did not take Clara long to figure out she must be somehow related to Raphael.

"Oh my gosh, are you the substitute housekeeper? You're so pretty!" It was Celine's initial reaction in seeing Clara who looked dumbfounded. Before she could deny it, Celine had walked in and placed her bag on the table.

"My brother must be outside right now, what a shame, he is always so busy at work you know, sometimes I wish he could just sit down and relax for a bit, such a workaholic"

She intended to visit her brother's house to escape her kids at home, the kids have been throwing some tantrums lately and she needed to get away for a moment from them otherwise she might lose her mind.

Her abundant amount of work was not helping either, and Raphael's home was the only place she could think of which does not require her pulling out her shopping card. She stepped into the place and looked around, she placed the food she bought for him on the living room and casually made herself comfortable. She was about to pull out her phone when something sparkly caught her eyes.

The ring on Clara's finger was beaming and she slowly grabbed her hand to take a good view the ring. It was definitely Cartier. Her brother was a bit of a stingy man, even toward his own sister, he had never even bought Celine anything, and most importantly, he was never fond of courtship, at least that was how she knew him, and judging by the fact the woman in front of her had a Cartier ring despite her average sense of fashion and the fact that she was in her brother's house, the woman must be...

"Are you my brother's new girlfriend? Wait, no, I take that back, my brother would never give a ring to a woman he is unsure about, don't tell me, you are his fiancee?" Clara was speechless, she had no idea how to response to that. She was technically his fiancee, but as far as her knowledge went, no one was supposed to know about it yet. She quietly nodded her head, and as soon as she did that, a huge grin appeared on Celine's face.

She simply could not believe it, what Eduard said was true, Raphael did bring a woman back from his last trip, it was such a delight to see, because Celine had secretly found her own brother a bit odd since he had never had a girlfriend besides being in his late twenties, she started to speculate that he was not into women, but she had to admit her brother was quite something, the moment he laid his eyes on something he liked, he made the ultimate move.

Judging by her appearance, his taste was not bad either. She gently dragged Clara's hand and made her sit down beside her, with the smile still plastered on her face, she asked her a question.

"What is your name?"

"Clara, Clara Bellavance." Celine stirred her head to remember if she knew anyone with the surname, but it did not ring a bell, which was understandable because unlike her father, Celine was not much of a wine drinker. She took the cookies which she brought along with the food and handed it over to her.

"Here, eat this, don't be shy, we are going to be sisters anyway" Clara did not really feel like eating it but she took one just to be polite and bit it. It tasted like the Christmas cookies she would receive from her grandma when she was younger.

Celine observed her from head to toe, she did not seem to be the flashy type of woman, she looked so au naturel, like a classic French beauty, which she really appreciated. After talking for a while, Celine decided to break the ice and moved on to the real question.

"Okay, tell me, what is your secret?"

"What secret?" Clara asked back.

"Secret for stealing my brother's heart, he never cared about women, ever, I almost thought he was gay, but you, you manage to get him proposed to you. Did you use magic on him?" Clara shook her head. Yet there was no way she would tell Celine everything that had happened. Celine saw hesitation in her eyes, maybe it was something she was not supposed to know, but seeing Clara in person, she did not seem like a gold digger.

It was the opposite, Clara appeared like a genuinely nice person, but she seemed sad. There was a covet of sadness wrapped around her. Celine had no idea why, but she could tell the woman has been through some hardship lately.

"Anyway, if you need anyone to talk to here, about anything, you can call or text me, when I am not traveling or working I am usually free in the evening or during weekend." She wrote down her phone number on a piece of paper and handed it over to her.

Just then the front door opened and Raphael was standing there with a tired face. When he saw that his fiancee and his sister were talking in his living room, his eyes lit up.

Well, Celine had a habit of entering his house without notifying him first, but he could never get mad at her for it after all, she was pretty terrifying when she felt upset, meanwhile, Clara seemed to look better, she looked bored, but other than that, she looked completely fine.

"Oh you are back so early" Celine spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

"What are you doing here? He stepped in and was about to take a seat beside Clara when she suddenly stood up and tried to excuse herself. No, he had had enough of her trying to avoid him. He grabbed her by her wrist and looked at her with a begging gaze.

"Clara, sit down with me, please" Clara had a second to think about what she was about to do, after all, Celine was there watching them, but she eventually gave up and took a seat and this brought a smile on his face. Celine noticed that there was something wrong with them, Clara did not look comfortable around him. Celine decided to speak up on her behalf, but in a questioning manner.

"Raphael, she looks uncomfortable, what did you do to her?" Clara was still seated there and she could not believe Celine said that. Raphael looked like a busted thief. He was silent, because if he was to state his actions out loud, he would surely get a good talking from his sister.

Although both of them were adults, Raphael was a tiny bit scared of Celine because his sister was capable of doing the most unthinkable things when she felt like things were not in place. Watching how he reacted, Clara did something she never thought she would do. Defending him.

"He did nothing wrong, It’s just, I'm on my period and I'm getting all of these mood swings." It was a blatant lie, she was not on her period, but Raphael was smirking inside, he was happy because she made that excuse for him. Celine was a sharp woman and she knew it was a lie, but she decided to respect her decision to defend her brother, and let out a loud sigh.

"Fine, but little brother, I swear, if you do anything to her, I will crush your manhood." those words sent shiver down Raphael's spine and Clara herself was stunned by Celine's words, especially since she looked so serious when saying it, but it was soon replaced by a soft smile. Clara made a mental note to never mess with Celine. "Now, why don't all of us eat together?"