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Chapter 7

Clara kept tossing and turning around in the strange bed and every time she fell asleep, she experienced the weirdest of dreams and she regretted her decision to stay very soon. She couldn't tell if it was because of her fight with Alex, or because of the scent of John's aftershave that clung to the pillow and she kept breathing it in while trying to sleep, but Clara mainly dreamed about John. And herself. And in her dream she acted out what she had been reasonable enough not to do during the evening. She also dreamed of Alex, who didn't play much of a role, but was a lingering presence, tormenting her with guilt. Soon Clara could feel the hangover creeping up on her and she was relieved when the sun came up, blinding her through the window. She threw the duvet aside and tottered sleepily in the direction of the living room.

John was still asleep on the sofa, so Clara decided to sneak out as quietly as possible, where the freezing temperature hit her like a sledgehammer and only seemed to increase her headache. A glance at her watch told Clara it was already 8 am and she stopped at her letter box to retrieve the morning newspaper.

"Morning!" a disgustingly cheerful voice almost made her jump and Clara looked up to see Amy jog down the street, coming towards her.

"You're up early," Amy said happily as she came to a halt next to Clara, who only grunted in reply, "Uhhh, you look like you've used Alex' absence to throw a wild self-party."

"No talking," she grumbled and turned around to walk towards the house.

"Alright. See you later!" her friend said and continued her morning run.

Clara kicked off her shoes by the door and threw the newspaper on the floor next to them before she made her way upstairs. She needed a shower and she needed sleep, real, relaxing, dreamless sleep.

Her head felt slightly better under the running warm water and Clara finally had a chance to think clearly. Yesterday had gone anything but well. She regretted the fight with Alex, although she was still unable to say who had been right and who had been wrong. She also felt slightly guilty over her thoughts about John, although she really had the alcohol to blame for that. Clara always got like that when she was drinking, but usually her thoughts circled around her boyfriend, not the new, significantly older neighbour. She didn't fancy him, not really, although she had to admit that for his age he was indeed good looking. It probably had just been due to her fight with Alex and meant nothing at all.

Clara stepped out of the shower, dried herself off and wrapped herself in the bathrobe before heading to her bedroom. She could do with a few more hours of sleep, at least until the worst of the headache had passed and now that she was back in her own sheets, she found it much easier to drift off.

Suddenly the ringing of the phone tore her from her half sleep. For a long moment Clara considered not answering it at all but when the ringing didn't cease, she reached for the device and answered.

"Yeah?" she croaked into the phone before even checking who it was.

"I'm sorry, Clara. I know it's early for you but I just wanted to apologize."

"Alex?" she asked sleepily.

"Is there another idiot who owes you an apology?"

Clara groaned. This wasn't helping her headache in the slightest. She wasn't even remotely in a state where she could pick up yesterday's fight.

"Are you feeling alright, Clara? You sound either still mad or sick."

"Hangover. Don't ask. I was mad."

"Are you still mad?" Alex wanted to know.

It was a very good question, one she had no answer to if she was completely honest. Guilty, yes, angry – she didn't know.

"I don't know. Don't think so," she replied after a moment, "I'm sorry for what I said. You did something nice. It wasn't fair. And I'm looking forward to stepping on your feet."

She heard Alex chuckle. "And I'm sorry, too. I really meant well, but you're right. I should have checked with you first, it's a long commitment after all. From now on I will only surprise you with boring things. Flowers, your favourite meal, a nice book, a massage, you get the idea."

"A massage sounds really good right now. Come back here and take care of your hungover girlfriend," she ordered him dreamily.

"So we're good?" Alex asked.

Clara took a deep breath. "Yes, we're good."

She heard him sigh in relief. "Can I sleep now?" Clara asked.

"Yes, I'll let you sleep. Call my tonight?"

"I will. Love you," she said sleepily.

"Love you, too."

OOO

John was glad to have bought the aspirin a while ago, because today it would definitely come in handy. His first thought, after acknowledging the hammering pain in his temples, was Clara and he checked the bedroom to find it empty. He hadn't noticed when she had left, but he would place a pretty high bet on it that she was feeling just as miserable as he was.

After downing the aspirin with a glass of water he went back to the sofa and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to go away. He really wasn't used to Scotch anymore, not after not drinking for 25 years, but at least he still had the memories of last night. It had been odd, really. He usually felt so uncomfortable touching people, but last night John hadn't really minded it that much, not with Clara at least. He would have loved to dance with her, if only to see if he still knew the steps, if he had been able to. He had promised to show her and now he was praying she wouldn't take him up on that offer.

The plan to befriend his son was going into a completely wrong direction and instead he was on the best way to befriend his girlfriend instead, who came to him with her relationship problems. It was wrong, really, really wrong.

But Clara was a lovely woman and John found it so hard to say no to her. When she had shown up with the Scotch and her big puppy dog eyes to talk about her problems with Alex, John had known that it would be wiser to turn her down, that she wouldn't have come to him at all if she knew he was Alex' father, that the kind of friendship she had in mind was not possible between the two of them, but Clara had looked at him and his wisdom had gone out of the window. He just really, really liked her and John was hoping that whatever the problem between the two of them, Clara and Alex would be able to fix it, because of Alex lost Clara, so would he.