*Hours later*
*Ms Tamara*
With the two Clarke sisters returning home from dinner with the Oxford household, the two women headed into the kitchen of their house. Upon their entrance, they both saw their mother, Annmarie, and Ms Hope sitting at the table. They were awaiting their return.
"Tamara, Eileen.". The two sisters heard their names called out. They knew what their mother wanted to hear and made sure she didn't have to wait.
"The dinner went really well," Eileen spoke out.
"Ms Oxford is lovely, mother," Tamara added to Eileen's words.
A smile of approval grew on their mother's face. "I am really glad to hear, girls.".
"Where are Agath and Ruth?" Tamara inquired.
"And did Gertrude send anything while we were away?" Eileen asked next.
To such questions, the smile on their mother's face slowly began to reduce. "I am afraid I'd have to say that your sisters are still with Gertrude and nothing was received from her.".
The joy that once began to fill the room slowly plateaued its movement before it began to recede.
And then, Eileen cleared her throat. "The Oxfords know the Bishops, mother. Both Diana and Ms Oxford told us so.".
The expression on their mother's face changed ever so slightly, she felt relief. "Do they?".
"Yes, Mama," responded Tamara. "Diana mentioned a few things about their friendship when they were children...".
With those words, further reassurance wrapped around Annemarie. Relief that her daughter was with someone who was a close acquaintance of someone she knew.
Later that evening, as the sun set and was close to it merging with the horizon, both Eileen and Tamara were in Tamara's room.
Both Ruth and Agath arrived back home not too long after Tamara and Eileen. But with the exhaustion of the trip, both Ruth and Agath headed straight to their rooms.
Tamara and Eileen were both in front of a page. They wanted to begin to rewrite their story, just like Mr Tippe had told Tamara.
"He said the story has a lot of potential... let's see where we can release some of this potential he is talking about," Tamara spoke out as she kept her eyes on the blank page.
"We'd have to reread the whole piece, see where we can improve..." Eileen responded. "Perhaps even change up some of the occurrences in the story...".
"Maybe there are some scenes that might be unnecessary...".
With that, silence descended between the two women. With them both huddling close to one another, each read the script for themselves.
But then, Eileen voiced out, "Would it be easier to comprehend if we were to read the pages aloud?".
"Let's try it out..." Tamara replied.
"With the setting of the sun and the rising of the moon, a young woman awaited something by a cliff..." Eileen began reading.
And from paragraph to paragraph, the two sisters took turns reading. Each made it a task of huge importance to outline what they could make each line be to bring out the emotion they were looking for.
And it didn't take long for them to begin underlining. The blank page beside them was used to scribe notes on what they'd be able to improve upon.
3 pages in and the two women lowered their scribed pages onto the table, their minds demanding at least a minute's worth of a break.
"Break time?".
And to Tamara's offer, Eileen affirmed, "Break time...".
Standing up and moving elsewhere, Eileen allowed for herself to sit down and lay back against the headrest of Tamara's bed. At the same time, Tamara turned her head around whilst sitting on her chair, her eyes meeting Eileen and staying on her.
Eileen closed her eyes for a mere few seconds. With a sharp inhale, her eyes opened back up. "You know..." she began, only further gaining Tamara's attention. "I don't feel as though you were being truthful to Diana...". Eileen marked the end of her sentence by pursing her lips.
Letting out a scoff of surprise, Tamara proceeded on clearing her throat. "Where did that thought come from?".
"Just thought of it now..." Eileen replied, sliding herself carefully off the bed, as to try and leave the least amount of disorientation upon Tamara's bed covers. Standing up onto her feet, she walked over to Tamara and the table before her before picking something, anything up in her hands to fidget with. "Something feels off when I think about him, Mr Theodore Baraville, and then when I think about you. You hate the man, don't you?".
"I don't hate him... hate is too much of a strong word. And I think I mentioned that to you before..." Tamara responded. A slight sensation of something she couldn't put her finger upon began to spread within her chest. "But I most certainly don't have an appeal for him either...".
"Why didn't you tell Diana that then? Your thoughts about Mr Theodore?...".
"I don't want to cause any tension between them both. I don't want to strain our relationship with either of them... I might tell her sometime down the line when Mr Baraville is married and has children and lives somewhere in Veursau..." Tamara responded. "Now can we please drop the subject? Otherwise, you can bid your farewell to these pages for the night...". Tamara tried her best to make her tone seem tough and rough. But, with her eyes on Eileen, the smile that evolved on her face made her fail miserable.
"Oh, come on, Tamara! I am your sister! I, at the least, have the right to know what is going on...".
"And you shall when something actually happens, Eileen," Tamara replied. "Are we going to continue with the script, or are we going to call it for the night?".
Eileen ticked her tongue before a slight smile appeared on her lips. "Fine... let's get back to work.".
---
*The next day*
*Ms Tamara*
With the incoming of the new day, what Agath and Ruth didn't have the chance to say last night was discussed over breakfast when the whole household woke up.
It wasn't long before Tamara looked out her window and up into the sky. It was a nice, clear, Autumn day. Warmth wasn't on the cards for the day, but with the impending arrival of Winter, such was to be expected.
Her putting on her coat, Tamara peered her head into the living room. There she saw her mother and Eileen, knitting together. "Mother?".
Looking up at her child, a smile told Tamara that her mother was listening to what she had to say. "I am going for a short walk. I'll be back very soon.".
"With a book?" Ann-Marie asked.
"I might stop by a large trunk and read for a bit," responded Tamara.
"Don't get sick like the last time..." Eileen spoke out, her tone weary.
"The time before that," Tamara corrected her sister.
With that, Tamara reversed and walked toward the door. Opening it, she walked out before closing it behind her.
Just like she said to her mother and sister, Tamara managed to find a trunk that she leaned against. It was a mere few minutes from her house.
When she felt her legs demanding for her to walk again, she propped her finger into the book before she continued walking on the muddied trail.
Minutes passed of her walking on the familiar trail before she reached the spot where she'd usually hang around, where she stayed the last time she took her book with her for a walk. Deciding to make a short stop there, it wasn't long before she was on her feet again.
Walking through the forest, it wasn't long before she reached a clearance, a field. Spending a few more minutes strolling through it, her eyes landed upon a stoned wall. There, she took her place before pulling out and reading her book once more.
The breeze from the chilly afternoon caused the small, loose hairs to spread across Tamara's forehead. Sweeping them away, she let go of her book only to allow the breeze to tamper with the pages of the book. With the slight wind turning over a few pages, Tamara let out a tut of frustration before she went on to try and look through her book for the page where she stopped reading.
Behind her, on the path parallel to the stone wall, a gentleman walked, the path leading him toward Tamara. It wasn't until he got that bit closer that he stopped in his tracks. He recognised her, even though her back faced him.
"Ms Tamara?...".
Freezing, Tamara turned toward the familiar voice. There, her eyes widened ever so slightly.
Standing up from the wall, she approached him, her book in her hand. "Mr Pavel...".
He too was just as surprised as she was to see him. But then, he broke into laughter.
Following his lead, Tamara couldn't help but break into giggles of laughter as well.
"We have got to stop meeting like this," Pavel spoke up, the smile on his lips telling Tamara that he meant such a statement with no seriousness to his words.
But, playing along with his words, she nodded. "Yes. I do agree.". Then, she paused. "It seems as though you have a perfect plan as to whenever I am out so that you can meet me...".
"Believe me that, thus far, our meetings were just acts of coincidence.". And then, the smile on his face slowly began to recede. "Or perhaps even fate.".
To such words, the smile on Tamara's face also receded.
From there, silence for a mere moment was shared between them both.
Pavel was the one to break it. "A lovely day we are having, eh?".
Unexpectedly, Tamara let out a chuckle. "Rather cold if you ask me.".
A small smile returned to Pavel's lips as he nodded to her words. But it wasn't long before the smile, once more, began to vanish. With that, he cleared his throat.
"Now that we are here..." he began. "If you would like to, I'd like to show you something.".
Tamara was about to retort, but she stopped herself in her tracks. Remembering her last interaction with Pavel, she knew that she owed him her permission to show her what it was he wanted her to see. So, with her smile growing that bit bigger, she nodded. "I'd love to...".
Seeming surprised for a mere moment, the smile returned on Pavel's face. "Great, follow me.".
Going back into the woods, followed Pavel, and it wasn't long before the sound of the rushing of water was heard. The sound of the flowing of the water only seemed to grow louder until...
A broad lake came into view.
"We are here..." Pavel's voice trailed off.
The sound of the birds tweeting above caught Tamara's attention for a moment before her gaze returned to the water.
Beside her, Pavel took a seat on a rock.
With her looking his way, Pavel tapped the free space beside him for her to sit. She did as such.
"Wow...". Tamara looked around, trying to take in the beauty around her.
"I didn't know that this lake existed until recently... And ever since then, I'd walk down here and sit here for a bit..." Pavel replied. "It really shows the beauty of nature...".
Tamara replied with nodding of her head, agreeing with him.
Looking down, his gaze moved to Tamara's hands. "You like to read?".
Startled ever so slightly by the sudden question, Tamara replied with another nod. "Yes... yes I do.".
A pause broke through their interaction. His gaze rose back to the broad lake and the few birds and swans that landed on its surface.
"What about you? Do you like to read too?".
At first, such a question evoked a slight chuckle from Pavel. "I don't have such a big appeal for it... let's just put it that way.".
"Oh?".
"Yeah... I-I was ruined for it..." Pavel began to elaborate. "Was forced to read, study... and I've lost interest in wanting to read for fun.".
To his words, Tamara replied with a nod of her head, before her eyes dropped down to the book in her hands.
"However, I do highly envy you for finding reading an appealing hobby to you. It is quite a well-renowned thing to do in today's times. But I just can't seem to get onto the wagon with the rest," Pavel further spoke.
"There are a lot of other hobbies one can do aside from reading.". Tamara paused for a moment, thinking of other hobbies she saw the ones close to her doing. And then, it hit her. "You'd ride horses, Pavel. That is a hobby of yours, or so, I'd consider it as such.".
He let out a chuckle. "Other women wouldn't let me off with that...".
"I'm sorry, but I don't remember mentioning it as such...". A slight smile evolved on Tamara's lips.
"So you're not letting me off with it either then, are you?".
"I'd have to think about it..." she responded before breaking into a smile.
With that, another brief period of muteness spread among them both. Looking down at the ground, by his hand, Pavel picked up a stone. Fitting comfortably in his hand, he readjusted the rock to grip it with his index, thumb and middle fingers. Then, standing up, he allowed his legs to bend down ever so slightly.
Tamara was looking at him, wondering what he was about to do.
Swinging his arm back, he propelled the rock before letting go of it toward the lake.
One... Two... Three... Plop.
The rock hopped three times off the lake's surface before sinking into the water. With each impact, ripples were left to account for the event's occurrence.
With a smile on his lips, Pavel turned toward Tamara. "Three jumps...".
"I bet I can get at least four..." she replied.
Rising his brows with such a challenge, he bent over before grabbing another stone. Straightening himself back up, he handed her to stone. "Let's see that now, shall we?".
With a smug smirk that grew on her lips, Pavel allowed her to stand where he stood only moments ago.
Imitating Pavel's motion, she returned her hand behind her before launching it forward. It was at some point that her hand propelled the rock toward the water.
Plop...
The rock sunk just as it hit the surface of the lake.
Tamara's face turned poker as the smile on Pavel's lips only grew bigger.
"You were saying?" he began, reaching down for another rock.
"It was just a bad throw..." she retorted. Lowering her gaze, she noticed another rock in his hand.
"Have another shot then.". With his words, he offered her the stone.
Taking it, she proceeded with the same approach as her last throw. Twisting her body with the movement of her hand, she catapulted the stone outward.
1... plop.
The stone managed to skip once on the lake before sinking.
"Not bad..." he commended her attempt.
"But also not all that good," she criticised herself.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Pavel's voice lightened.
His gaze remained on Tamara as hers was elsewhere.
A breeze of cold wind blew past them. Rustling was heard as the rush of wind tumbled some of the dead leaves, that were scattered on the ground, onto the surface of the lake.
Averting his gaze to the sky, his eyes were met with the restless atmosphere. Clouds, as though they were balls of cotton, sailed across the later afternoon sky.
"We can have a few more throws before we can get going, what do you say?".
With her attention being caught by his voice, she looked up at him. And then, with a smile, she nodded her head. "Sure, I'd like that.".
With a smile growing on his lips also, Pavel bent down once more before collecting a few rocks in his hands. Giving roughly half of what he collected to Tamara, they began this little contest of theirs.
Though the winner between the two of them was obvious, Pavel still wanted to play, trying to not allow his competitiveness to get the best of him. He tried not to allow his throws to be as good as they usually are.
He hoped for her to win, without his assistance being noticed.
Not long passed before they both decided to begin making their way back.