Throughout the entire ride back my mind kept reeling back towards the new transfer student. Everything happened so fast, hell, I didn't even know his name. I couldn't help thinking what would've happened if Dante had shown up a few moments later. I sighed and looked out the window at the passing trees and houses. From the corner of my eye I could see Dante taking continues glances in my direction. That put a smile on my face.
"Dante, I'm fine." I spoke gently smiling. Realizing he'd been caught he turns his full attention back to the road while a light blush colored his cheeks.
"That was literally the 10th time you've sighed." I furrow my brows.
He'd been counting?...
I shake my head. "I've been thinking...." I look straight ahead. " I was powerless against the attack. You told me you would teach me how to fight. Can you do it today?" Dante tenses.
"Not today. There's someone coming to meet me." I eye him curiously.
"Who?" His lips turn into a hard line.
"You'll see."
I turn back into seat. Dante convinced me to leave my car in the school parking lot. Since I was still shaken up, he wanted me to be as close to him as possible. He even agreed to take me school the next day. After turning the last corner we finally reached the office. I was going to get out before Dante's voice stopped me.
"Hey Laura?" I pulled back and turn towards him.
"Yeah?"
He looks at me sheepishly and smiles. He looked so adorable at the moment I just wanted to pinch his cheeks. " Can I ask a favor of you?" I nod.
"So today... the person who'll be coming to meet me. I don't want her to know anything about what were're doing. Nothing. Not you being the Silver Tear or especially about my brothers." I just nod at him one word sticking to me.
Her?
"So just for today we'll be putting the search aside and you'll be working as a secretary." I give him a thumbs up before stepping out of the car. I hear Dante coming up behind me. He puts one hand on my shoulder and I jump whilst pushing his hand away. He looks down to me in confusion.
"You okay?" I nod tight lipped and keep on walking leaving Dante standing behind me. He doesn't want to teach me to fight for some girl who's coming to meet him? Is my safety not worth much? I huffed silently and stood inside the elevator for Dante to catch up. He wasn't far away but the door was closing. Should I leave it? He did ditch me... Sighing I put my hand out to stop it from closing until Dante came in huffing.
"Thanks." I nod and look straight ahead. The elevator rumbles and goes up. I watch the numbers changing slowly, my eyes fixated on them. I was broken from the trance when Dante shakes me. I blink and shake my head then look back at Dante. He nods towards the open elevator.
"We're here." I nod and step out. I didn't miss the worry in his eyes but I'm not spacing out from what he thinks. I head straight towards the desk and open the page where I'll be signing in Dante's guest. I tie my hair in a tight bun and look up at Dante.
"When will the person be arriving?" I make sure to not say 'she' or he'll realize the motive for my strange behavior. He looks up at me then back to his hand watch.
"Any minute now." I nod and sit down in my comfy office chair. Dante goes back into his office and I occupy myself by playing with a bobby pin. My head snaps up at the sound of the elevator dinging. I had to stop my jaw from hitting the ground.
Out stepped a beautiful women. She looked a bit older than me. Her glossy brown hair flowed effortlessly behind her and her strides held a sound of confidence in them. It surprised me how she could walk like that in heels. She had a bag hung on her arm and a small cage in her other hand. My heart jumped at what I saw in the cage. A cat! My one weakness. My heart turned to mush as I saw how small it was. She walked towards me and stopped in front of my desk.
"Are you Laura?" I nodded smiling. Her voice was like a melody, gentle. She shoot me a million dollar smile. She put the cage on the ground and reached out before taking both of her hands in mine whilst shaking it. I, too shocked to respond just stared at her.
"Dante told me so much about you! I love what you've done with your hair." I looked at her in confusion. Dante talked to her about me? Well there's a first time for everything... She noticed the puzzled look on my face and smiled.
"Oh how rude of me. I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Clair. Clair Crystal, Dante's fiance. But you can call me CC." My heart plummeted to my stomach. Fiance?! She kept on smiling. I smiled tightly at her.
"Claire's fine." She nodded and continued.
"I heard from Dante you're a sucker for cats, soooo.." My eyes widened at what I thought she was suggesting. She picked the small cage up from the ground and put it on my desk. " I took the time to get one for you." When I saw the small kitten pawing on the cage happiness engulfed me. I stood up, walking away from the desk and up to Clair. Without thinking I hugged her, hard. She laughed at my actions and hugged me back just as tightly. I squealed and walked back towards the cage.
"Thank you, thank you!" I looked at Clair who smiled.
"No problem."
I reached the the lock and opened it. Opening the door I cautiously picked up the bundle of heaven. The kitten was so small it scared me. It almost fit into my palm alone. I brought it close to my chest and smiled down at it tenderly, as it curled up and layed down shutting it's eyes. I looked up at Clair who was smiling at me gently. If not for the kitten I would have jumped to see Dante staring at me just as tenderly. I smiled at him and nodded.
"Seriously though. Thanks Clair." I turned towards Dante raising an eyebrow. " And you.. how did you know I absolutely adored kittens?" He raised an amused brow and nodded towards the clutter of kitten magazines that I had brought to the office to pass time. I nodded sheepishly while walking slowly towards the cage before carefully putting the kitten back in it's cage. I turned towards the two of them.
"I'm sure you guys have a lot to catch up on. You guys can have a seat and I'll make tea." I looked towards Claire, "Is that okay with you?" She smiled.
"That sounds lovely. Thanks Laura" I nodded and headed towards the kitchen. Clair headed toward the office but what I didn't notice was Dante coming up behind me. He put his hands around me and whispered.
"You really love cats don't you?" Even though my heart was fluttering and my body was on fire I pushed him away. I turned and looked up at him. He was staring at me confusingly and a little bit of hurt showed up on his face. I shook my head and pointed towards the office.
"Claire's your fiance." He raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know that?" I snorted.
"She told me herself. She amazing and really nice. So this.." I pointed towards the two of us, "has got to stop." He sighed and nodded. Hesitantly he headed back towards the office. My heart hurt but I knew this was the right thing to do. I wasn't going to be that person who comes in between someone else's love life, especially Claire's. She doesn't deserve it. I wiped the traitorous tear that escaped my eye.
After I was done making the tea I put the cups in a tray and headed towards the office. My heart squeezed as I saw Clair and Dante laughing. I had never seen Dante so alive and Claire was the one who made him that way. I put a smile on and headed closer to them. Both of their heads turned towards me as I put the tray on the table.
"What's so funny?" I asked teasingly. Clair was about to respond but Dante butt in.
"Nothing much." Clair raised an eyebrow at this. I squeezed my hands together and smiled tightly. I was getting ready to head out when Claire called.
"Laura come sit with us." I hesitantly walked and took a seat beside Claire, purposely avoiding the one next to Dante. He noticed this and scowled. After that awkward exchange, things went pretty well. We laughed at Dante's childhood memories and I had to bend on over and clutch onto Claire to stop myself from toppling towards the ground from laughing so hard. After they were done with the tea I stood up to clean and Claire did the same.
"I'll help." She said and I knew she wasn't asking. I nodded and we both headed towards the kitchen. We were silently washing the cups when Claire spoke.
"I love him you know..." I gulped. Did she hear us talking in the kitchen?.. I nodded.
She sighed and smiled sadly. "But.. never have I seen Dante talk about someone and have a smile on his face at the same time." That's what they were talking about when I came in? I felt bad because when I heard that, it was like something had been lifted off my chest. She took my hands and squeezed.
"I know we're engaged but please don't let that hold you back. I don't want to marry a man that doesn't look at me the same way." He eyes saddened and I pulled her in for a hug. It seems that, that was my specialty when it came to comforting someone. I held her and whispered.
"I'm sorry.." She pulled away and looked at me shaking her head.
"It's not your fault." I sighed. It might as well be. She looked around and pulled out her phone. Her eyes bulged as she looked at the time.
"Gosh, I'm late. I have to get going...," She was gathering her stuff and heading towards the elevator when she turned back.
"This engagement will be called off soon." My mouth hanged open.
"No don't do that. Give it some time, he might turn around." I held her arm pleadingly. She shakes her head.
"You don't see the way he looks at you Laura. He's never looked like that. Trust me." Tears sprang in my eyes.
"I really am sorry Claire." She put her hand on mine, and looked at me straight in the eye.
"It's okay" I don't know how but I know she meant it. I nod and waved at her as the elevator door closed. I sigh and walk back into the closed office. Dante was sitting in his desk looking through papers. I decided to break his concentration. I walked over to the couch and sprawled against it.
"Clair just left. She said she was late to something." Dante got up and chuckled as he walked over to me.
"That's Claire for you." I chuckled along with him. He sat on the couch opposite of mine.
"About Claire..." I turned my body towards him with a raised brow.
"She's calling off the engagement." I sighed and nodded.
"That's it?" He asked.
"She already told me." He nodded. I got up and sat while looking at him.
"It's my fault isn't it?" Dante got up and sat beside me.
"No, it isn't. I'm the one who asked her and she happily obliged." I looked at him shocked.
"Why in god's name would you do that?" He looked up at the ceiling.
"I never felt like I wanted to marry her. It was my dad's idea in the first place. I think along the way she started to feel the same. That's why she came over today."
"Why did your dad want you to marry her?" I asked intrigued.
"Claire's family...." He looked depressed. "They were all murdered by one of my brothers. Only she and her dad survived. So to fix the hatred between the two biggest demon families my dad assigned us this marriage." I too shocked by his words sat still.
Claire's a demon? Family murdered by one of Dante's brothers...
"That's heavy..." Dante nodded. "And her dad agreed?" I look at Dante surprised.
He nods."Yeah, they both thought keeping the ties between the two families were important." I shake my head disgusted. Suddenly Dante turned himself towards me.
"I've told you a lot about my family... Now, I want to know about yours." I looked at him understanding where he's coming from. I sighed and started.
"Well, there isn't much.. I live with my mom, and my dad, like yours," I look towards Dante. "Passed away just half a year ago." He nodded.
"My little brother Noah who's just starting school is obsessed with following around my little sister Diana. She's got a habit of terrorizing me wherever she gets a chance." I smile as I say this. Dante chuckled along. Suddenly my head starts hurting and I close my eyes in pain.
There standing in my field of vision was another girl. She looked like me and walked like me, but... that wasn't me. Then the girl looked up smiled, she tried to walk towards me but crumbled to the ground just before turning into ash.
My mind snaps back to reality and I whisper something before I knew what I was saying. "A twin..."
"You have a twin?" Dante asks. "I would have never thought of that.."
I look up at him confused. "That's because I don't.."
Dante furrows his brows. "But you just said..." I look at him. My heads starts hurting yet again, this time subtly.
"I don't have a twin." I looked at the ground before turning to look back at him. "Right?"
Yet, the face of the girl similar to mine wouldn't leave my mind...