HER

Chapter 44

"Thank you." Dana and Catherine said after the waitress placed their drinks on the table that separated the two women. The waitress gave them both a smile before she left.

Dana sipped on her cold coffee.
"Hmm, this is really good."

"Better than Marco's?" Catherine asked.

Dana peeked up slowly at Catherine who was waiting for her to answer.
"I plead the fifth."

Catherine bursted out laughing.
"Good answer."

Dana smiled and for the first time the night, she felt slightly at ease. She remembered Catherine from when Kaylie had introduced them in Marco's and she also remembered the look Kaylie gave them both when Catherine came to their table. She knew why now.

"So, are you going to tell me what it is you've been wanting to tell me?"

Dana's smile fell as she sat up.
"Hmm, ok." Dana cleared her throat. "Here goes nothing." She murmured to herself. "I'm your sister."

Catherine stared at her, her expression the same.

"You're my sister." Dana said. "We're...sisters."

Catherine raised a brow.
"I don't understand. How's that possible?"

Dana let out a breath.
"I found out only a few days ago and I just had to meet you and let you know."

Dana watched Catherine who was watching her, silent.

"How...how did you find out?" Catherine asked, her heart speeding up.

"My dad, he came clean a few day ago."

Catherine's eyes went wide.
"That's not possible, my mum told me my dad's dead."

Dana blinked, opened her mouth and shut it at the same time.
"I walked in on my dad having a conversation with your mum, that's how I found out."

"My mum doesn't speak to my father because he's dead. You probably heard wrong." Catherine said, more to herself than to Dana.

"Your mum is Gina, right?"

Catherine blinked at Dana and nodded.

"Then I heard perfectly well." Dana said.

Catherine felt her throat begin to clog up.
"So, she...she lied to me?"

"She was probably trying to protect you. Our father is..."

"Still doesn't justify her lying to her. She could have tried explaining the situation to me, I'm a grown woman, I can handle the truth."

"I think you should have that conversation with Gina. She might have a reasonable explanation for this."

"What could she probably say that would make me feel any better? She lied to me."

Dana didn't say anything because she knew this was a lot for her to take in in one night. Catherine needed to accept the fact that her dad was alive before Dana said anything more.
"How about I take you home. This is a lot for one night."

Catherine who was trying to understand why her mum lied to her looked up at Dana and nodded.
"Yes please."

Dana drove Catherine home, neither of them saying anything to the other as the music filled the suffocating silence in the car.

"Pull up after the red building." Catherine spoke up minutes later.

Dana passed the red building and pulled up in front of the next white one. She kept the engine running as she looked at Catherine.
"I know we barely know each other but if you ever want to talk, I'm only a phone call away."