'How the mighty have fallen.' If she had listened to Jane and not pay off their mortgage at once, maybe she would still have some money with her, enough to start up a business of her own. She definitely wouldn't be so broke. That was really a poor financial decision from her end. She turned back to take her seat at the safety point, but was called back by a dark hair gorgeous girl.
"Hello, what happened to the swing over there. That's my favorite swing and I'm told that it's under maintenance, so I can't use it." Little Isabella said.
"Hello darling." Clara called squatting down to Isabella's height. "Oh I'm so sorry about that. Do you think you can use the one over there. It has the very same color as your favorite." Clara replied, pointing to a pink swing towards her right.
"No, I can't. I want my favorite swing." She pointed at the bad swing. "And I want it now." She hammered.
"Bella, that swing is bad. Come, let's use the other one." Bennet Lowen said, walking up to his daughter and Clara.
"No." Isabella replied.
Clara smiled, she was used to this sort of kids, spoilt and always want to have their way. "I'll tell you a story of what happened to me at one of my favorite parks when I was little."
"Will the story repair the swing? If not, kindly keep it to yourself, I'm not interested." Bella shot at her.
"Are you sure, the story will give you an insight of what to expect when you use the swing." Clara said, giving her the one last chance kinda look.
"I'm listening." She finally said after several seconds of silent contemplation.
"Well, one day, I went to my favorite park with my parents, all the swings were occupied, the only available one was faulty. Everyone told me not to use it, but I paid no attention to them. I went up the swing when my mother was not watching and at first, the swing was okay. But It got to a point, it started feeling stiff. I wanted to come down, but I couldn't. The swing hung in the air and I was still on it. It took the help of an expert to actually unscrew all parts of the swing before they could bring me down. It took forever, I was just up there in the sky crying my eyes out." Clara explained.
"Oh my God." Isabella shouted, touching Clara's right cheek. "Were you hurt? I'm so sorry...." She said in a tiny and calm voice.
"I sustained an injury on my pinky," she showed Isabella a healed scar on her finger. "But it's all gone now. So, that was why I wanted you to use the other swings. Can you do that?"
"Yes, I'll play with the other one." She pointed. "I'm Isabella, what is your name?"
"Oh, I'm Clara. It's nice meeting you Isabella."
"Same here, Miss. Clara." She replied, looking at Clara's fingers for a sign that she was married and saw none. "I'll be off now. Bye!" She shouted as she ran off to the playground.
"Nice story," Bennet said, moving closer to Clara. "Convincing kids seem so easy for you. I guess it comes with the job right?"
Clara smiled in reply.
"I'm Bennet, Miss Clara." He said mimicking Isabella, and they laughed it off.
"The story about the swing, did that really happen?"
"No, it did not."
"Oh wow, but you sounded so real and I thought it really happened. What about the healed scar on your hand?" He asked.
"I got that two years ago. Occupational hazard." She smiled.
Bennet looked at Clara closely. It was obvious she didn't know him. He wondered if she was living in the Capital at all? Who doesn't know him here. "How long have you worked here? If you don't mind me asking."
"It's been almost three months. I started out early this year." She replied.
"So, how come you are you so good with kids?" He asked, turning to get a clear view of his daughter. He stood beside Clara to allow him see his daughter properly.
"Well, I once worked in a hospital, a paediatric unit." She replied, careful not to dive into full details. Working in a hospital unit can be as a cleaner, or an attendant even.
Bennet's interest was caught. He turned to her and nodded. "That's some experience that can earn you a reasonable job in most homes here. Why don't you consider being a Nurse for a family here. You have worked closely with children and you are efficient with their anger management. You know what, you should work for me. My daughter is a handful and I'll really appreciate someone that can handle her with kindness. She's just a kid."
Clara turned to him, shocked. "Sir?"
"Are you interested?" He asked still looking at his daughter.
"I..... I.. yes. I'm interested sir. How do I go about it?" She found herself asking. She knew there were better questions to ask, safety related questions like 'what is his name' but Clara didn't really care at the moment. She hated working at the park. The continuous sweating that could cause body odor if one does not care for herself very well. The blazing sun that has succeeded in drawing her skin a few steps closer to charcoal. The fact that she rarely rest when the park becomes full and finally the annoying part was her ridiculous salary. If she doesn't get a free ride from Ignas to work everyday, she would have been left with peanuts at the end of each month. The job wasn't for her obviously, so she was determined to step away from it.
"Here is my card," he handed it to her. "Email your CV to the address right here. You'll be called up once your eligibility is established."
Clara took the card from him and thanked him before he left to meet his daughter. She looked at the card and was shocked. The name on the card read Bennet Lewin. Was he the same Lewin that lost his wife in a gruesome way at Cherim almost two years ago. She wondered.
The same Lewin or not, one thing was certain. She was on her way to being able to breath a little, financially, if luck is on her side, she'll definitely get the job and things will definitely feel a bit better. She slid the card into her jean and ran off towards Ethan whose crazy Nurse has left him to yell in the name I'd answering a call.