A phone call
The first day of school was a whole adventure for both the twins. Yet, they didn't say anything to Lara.
Nor to each other. They were busy thinking about their own feelings to share the experience. In the end, they forgot to update each other.
Scarlet was afraid Jaden would scold her for trusting Nate, so she didn't say anything about the repaired shirt.
Jaden was still trying to figure out if Samantha was a threat or a potential ally to say anything to Scarlet.
In the end, when Lara asked them how their day was, they replied with a single word: «good!».
She chuckled, remembering how she used to say the same to her parents. Yet, her kids would tell her later if there was some notable event. There was no point in insisting.
After all, how many things could happen in a single day?
She prepared their meal and checked their clothes. Scarlet's shirt was still clean, she noticed. She was expecting her to get all dirty with... well, anything in the surroundings.
She chuckled, wondering if her daughter was actually shy.
Since the caretaker didn't say anything, she probably didn't growl nor show her fangs to anyone. It was a piece of good news.
Jaden, on the other hand, was so silent that day! He seemed lost in his thoughts. As if he had found something interesting and couldn't move his mind away from it.
Maybe, Lara thought, it was a new friend or a cute little girl in school.
She finished her part of the work and sat to rest for a few minutes. Her cubs were calm, so she didn't have to entertain them the whole time. They would usually hug her and whine about missing her for half an hour every day. She didn't realise how much energy that drew away until they stopped being clingy.
She did miss it a little. Yet, she was sure they would be back missing her as soon as the new adventure became their habit.
When going to school wouldn't be a novelty anymore, they would go back to their usual.
She received a call on her old phone. She frowned, wondering who could have her number. She did fill in a form in the company, though.
Was it related to work? Most likely.
Her old workplaces and the LY Corp were the only places where she left her number, and only one had a motive to call her.
«Lara Clayton, speaking,» she said.
It was an old model, without an internet connection. Paying a monthly fee for the internet - and also charging the phone too often - was out of the question. She didn't need it so badly, after all.
She would check her emails in an internet cafe once or twice a month, so she didn't need all the costs of having a modern phone.
«Hello, Lara.» It was Nate.
She sighed, surprised to hear him. Even though filtered through the call, his voice was calm and somehow seducing. It always was the case with him. Yet, that day, she felt a thrill cross her spine.
How could someone have such a great voice? She would pay anything just to hear him whisper to her. It didn't even matter what he would say: his tone of voice was so sexy.
She could imagine his lips forming the words, and she sighed again. Even though his looks were charming, Nate's voice was his lethal weapon. Even when he was just trying to be polite.
«Lara?» he said, and she realised she hadn't replied yet.
«Oh, yes! Uhm... Oh... Hello...» she stuttered.
Her brain started working again, slow but working. How could he have her number?
Did LY Corp use to divulge the employees' data just like that? He even had her address before she could tell him!
«How... How do you know my number?» she inquired.
«I asked in the company.»
«Do they give it just like that?» If Nate could have it, then anyone as well!
Not that she expected some weirdo to use her number to play pranks or make trouble. Yet, she didn't like not knowing who had her info.
Nate was fine. She would have exchanged numbers soon, either way.
«Oh, it's because of the kids,» Nate said, sensing the slight tension in Lara's voice.
He couldn't guess whether she was displeased he called, or hers was just the natural reaction of a single woman seeing an unknown number.
Yet, he felt guilty. Whichever the case, he made her feel uneasy and anxious.
«They asked me for the kindergarten, so I gave your emergency contact. Not many more can see your number: this was an exception! Except for the people in the HR department and your direct superiors.»
«Oh, is that so?»
Lara calmed down.
«I'm relieved,» she said. «I was starting to panic for nothing...»
Her nervous giggle betrayed her thoughts. Nate cursed in his mind, displeased by his own damned idea.
«I just wanted to ask you to have lunch together. Maybe on Monday.»
«Yes, sure... The kids will be happy, I am sure.»
«Without the kids. I'd like to talk about them with you. We should reach an agreement about... About everything, to be sincere. I don't want to impose my presence on you, but I also prefer to be part of their life as a father. I think we should be alone when we discuss this.»
«Oh, right... But what do we do with the kids?»
«They can eat in the kindergarten.»
«I can't leave them for lunch, Nate! It's unfair... I work only until noon: I would feel like exploiting the company. And I don't want anyone to think that...»
«Lara,» Nate interrupted her, chuckling. «You do work till noon. But I work for the whole day. You can leave the kids longer if you want. Any day.»
«Oh, that's true,» she chuckled. She hadn't thought about him as their father until then.
Or, rather, she would continue to act as if she was alone. Yet, it wasn't the case. Not anymore.