The more they listened to Claudia, the sadder they felt for her.
"Girls, I have money, looks, and I'm a CEO. Why doesn't he like me?"
Flora: He likes men
Seraphina: He definitely likes men
Claudia: "..."
If he likes men, this great aunt will stop at nothing to seduce him, she declared loudly.
They all laughed it out to reduce the tension. The room fell silent before someone's voice disrupted it.
"Let's think about this seriously," Seraphina said.
"Just answer whatever I ask you."
Flora looked at both of them curiously. She knew once Seraphina stepped in, there would be a bit of a breakthrough.
"You guys got along well before?" She asked.
"Very well," Claudia said as she nodded seriously.
"When did it change?"
"We had lunch one time, he left in between because of work, he returned 3 weeks later and became a stranger."
Seraphina remained silent. Claudia kept her eyes on her, patiently waiting for her to make a comment.
"Something must have happened at work then," she stated. "The way I see it, someone close to him must have experienced something which in turn affected Justin emotionally. Considering the fact that he's a military man, it is expected. Something must have happened within that 3 weeks for him to withdraw from you."
Claudia suddenly realized that she had never thought of it that way. She had completely focused on herself. She always thought she did something wrong. She never approached it from his perspective. The girls didn't interfere with her thought. They knew she needed time to absorb and analyze.
Over on Kevin's side, he was racking his brain on how to make his brother spill it. He suddenly remembered his brother's frozen face expressions, and he couldn't control himself from laughing foolishly. Justin walked in on this scene with a complicated look on his face.
"Kev!" He called out a little harshly.
"Oh, you're here." Kevin responded with no emotion.
"What's up with you and Winnie?"
He had noticed how closer they had gotten and honestly, that made him very uncomfortable. What was his brother trying to do?
"We are getting to know each other better while helping each other along the way," he answered nonchalantly.
"Do you like her?" Justin was starting to lose his patience.
"What is it to you whether I like her or not?" He still didn't take him seriously.
"What is it to me?" He enunciated every word so Kevin could know how angry he was.
"You moved on. Don't be confused just because she's hanging on to you. One of these days, she'll change and be out of your life."
He needed to let his rock-headed brother see the light. If he kept this up, Claudia would leave and never look back.
He wanted to say more but before he could gather his next thought, Justin dashed out of the house.