Rage

After making sure Emma was ok, John led Claire into the dining room and set the table for her to eat.

"You don't have to go out of your way to do this. I can get food for myself. I'm sure it would be better for you to take care of Emma right now, instead of me." Claire said, feeling awkward with John's doting behavior.

"No, its fine." he said, making a quick glance at Emma, affection filling his eyes, and then returning his attention to Claire. "I want you to feel comfortable. So please allow me to make sure you eat well. Also, it looks like Emma has fallen back asleep anyway."

Claire also peeked at Emma and saw that she had fallen back to sleep on the couch. "Well, thank you so much John. I really appreciate it." Claire said with a small smile.

"It's my pleasure." John replied while setting down as plate of food in front of Claire. "Please eat while it's still warm." John grinned. He then went back into the kitchen and returned with a plate of his own.

Watching John take his seat, Claire then dug into her meal. She took her first bite, relishing the juiciness of the chicken and the crispiness of it's skin. A wave of warmth washed over her as she felt comfort rise deep inside her. Each bite satiated something more than hunger for her.

After finishing the first piece of chicken, Claire focused her attention on the sides that came with it. She first ate some of the perfectly seasoned greens. Each bite was earthy and full of flavor. Next, she ate some of the mashed potatoes. They were fluffy and creamy. A soft smile rose on her face as she started on the third side, her favorite mac n cheese. Strings of delicious, melted cheese rose with her fork as she took her first bite of the mac. She could feel happiness rising in her soul.

Claire continued her meal alternating happily between the chicken and the sides.

"Roger's was such a good idea. Thank you for picking this up, John. It's making my day more than I expected." Claire said as she was nearing the end of her meal.

"No problem. Emma thought you would be happy to eat this; so really, you should be thanking her" John replied with a chuckle.

"Well thank you to the both of you." Claire followed giggling.

After they were done eating, John checked to see if Emma was still sleeping and then led Claire upstairs to the guest room. The room was small but comfortable in size. There was a full-sized bed in the center of the room with small night stands on either side. Claire's bags had been neatly placed next to the closet door across from the bed in the corner. There was a window on the exterior wall, and it let in a decent amount of light.

"Alright, here's your room. Please make yourself feel at home. The bathroom is the room in the center of the hall and our bedroom is at the end of the hall. I'm going to be out back in the garden, so just yell for me out the back door if you need anything." John said while gesturing into the room. "Oh, and before I forget, our Wi-Fi password is on the back of the picture frame on the nightstand."

"Thanks John." Claire said while stepping into the room.

"You're welcome." John said and then he left to go out to his garden.

Claire walked over her bags and started unpacking. She put her clothes away in the closet, her toiletries in the drawer in one nightstand and her laptop and its accessories on top of the other nightstand.

Melancholy settled in as she stood alone in the room. Feeling her negative emotions start to rise, Claire shut the door to the room and sat on the bed.

'Maybe journaling this feeling will help it pass.' Claire thought as she felt emptiness fill her. As Claire reached for her laptop her hands froze at the lock screen. The password she had set was Derek's birthday.

'I was really blinded by my feelings for him.' Claire grimaced and continued to login. 'Well, that's something I'm definitely going to have to change. How many other things of my own do I have still connected to him?' Claire sighed.

Opening her favorite word processor, she let her thoughts and feelings pour out.

  Today was supposed to be our 5th anniversary. Does he even remember that? Does he even care? How could he do something like this? For an investment....Has this been who he is this whole time? Have I just been a blind idiot? I know Selena never liked him much, but I thought that maybe she was just biased. Where did the sweet and caring version of Derek that I knew go? How long has he been this callous? How long has he been seeing that other woman? Geez. What do I do now?...

Question after question coursed through Claire like a tidal wave. She hadn't felt this lost since her family passed away. The rims of Claire's eyes reddened, stingingly slightly, with tears threatening to come out again.

  Where will I go from here? I can't stay with Emma and John forever. Shit. How will I work? Derek told me to stop working years ago. We used the money that I inherited from my family to survive.

'Wait. The money!' Claire thought abruptly. She quickly switched to a browser and started logging into her accounts.

What she saw shook her to her core. Each account that she checked was nearly drained completely. Even accounts that she didn't think she had shared were nearly empty. If she added up everything from all of the accounts together, there was maybe enough living expenses for two or three months.

A cocktail of emotions ran through her. First shock, then fear, followed by sadness, and then finally rage.

"That SON OF A BITCH. He took EVERYTHING from me!" Claire screamed.