I still can't believe Brian has a sister.
After the call with Alex, I called Claire and asked her to come over. I wonder if she knew about it. Also, I am missing Brian, I haven't seen him all week and I was hoping Claire was still in touch with him.
I took a quick shower and ordered in, Claire and I will have dinner here in my place.
An hour passed, I heard my doorbell ringing.
Claire was holding the food bag, showing it to me as I opened the door.
"I saw the delivery guy downstairs." She said.
I hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"How are you?" I closed the door and followed Claire to my kitchen.
"Oh, you know, busy at work, met a guy and we're going on a second date next week." She said nonchalantly.
"You met a guy?" I said in a high-pitched voice.
"Ow! Yes, I did." Claire overreacted with her index fingers covering her ears.
"Where did you meet him?" I started fixing the table for us as she pulled out the food from the bag.
"On Tinder."
My mouth hung open, looking at her in disbelief.
"No, you didn't!"
"Oh yes, I did. I know what I said about dating apps, how it is so tacky and people use them to just basically hook up but apparently, I was wrong."
I stared at her intently. She hates dating apps and would grimace if one of our friends were using them, but look at her now.
"Don't give me that look, Cara. Not all of us are blessed with effortless beauty and a body to die for."
I raised my eyebrows at her.
"Okay, it came out wrong. What I mean is, that some people need a little push to find their Mr. Right or Ms. Right. And... Maybe I got bored one night and just out of curiosity, downloaded the app." She said not looking at me.
"Just so you know, I'm not judging." I told her.
"I know."
"Okay, so tell me about this guy." I said clearing the air.
"Well, his name is Andrew, he's an investment banker... I know," She rolled her eyes. "He has a boring job but surprisingly, he was fun and a really funny guy."
Claire went on and on about this guy and I could tell she was into him. I can see how her face brightens just with her telling me about him.
Our food finished with her still not done talking about Andrew.
"So, on Tuesday, we're going out again."
Finally!
Not that I'm not interested and happy that my friend is dating, but it's just too much information for just one date, I mean, how much information can you learn about a person on the first date? What more are they gonna talk about on Tuesday?
"That's... great, Claire. I mean, I always thought and hoped that maybe, I don't know, you and Brian would end up together."
Her face turned sour.
"That guy has all his love just for you, babe." Claire starts cleaning the table, throwing out the food containers back into the bag.
"Did you like him?" My curiosity kicks in. The way she said that sentence, there was a bit of bitterness, an innocent and harmless one, I'm sure.
"I mean, who didn't? All the girls and gays in college liked him."
"But you never said anything."
"Cara, I didn't like him like I resent you because he liked you instead. Not like that. Anyway, why are we talking about that now?"
After she threw the bag into the trash bin, Claire proceeded to my coffee maker and made us both coffee.
"I umm, I haven't seen him all week, Claire. Are you in touch with him?" I leaned my back against the island counter as I watched Claire make our coffee.
"The last time I heard from him was when he was in Japan for a business trip. Wait, you mean after your company outing, you haven't seen him?" She handed me my cup and wondering was written on her face.
I shook my head.
Claire nodded her head. She walked toward my living room and I followed. We both sat on my couch.
"He never mentioned anything about you, but I assumed, everything was already, you know, okay between you two."
I sipped on my coffee before shaking my head again.
"He never showed in the office the full week. I even thought he was avoiding me and Alex and I never spoke about him."
"Hmm... Anyway, he'll be in your office on Monday for sure. He's arriving today from Japan."
I nodded at her and remembered to ask her about Audrey.
"By the way, did you know Brian has a sister?"
"He has what??"
I told her everything Alex told me earlier, what happened at the pub last night and how she came here to my apartment just hours ago.
The whole time I was telling her about Audrey, her face was in shock mode. Her eyes were opened wide, I don't think her mouth closed the entire time I was talking.
"Oh my god! And you have the whole family locked in your charm, Car." She blurted out.
"What?"
"I mean, I hope they don't have any more relatives because I'm sure, he or she will be pining for you too."
"Claire!" I was being serious and here she goes, messing around.
"Okay, I'm shocked, alright." Her palms lifted in the air. "But it's true though." She mumbled.
I heard that last sentence she said but chose to ignore it.
"Isn't weird that he never spoke of her? As in ever?" I asked her.
"Well, if what Alex said was true, then that must be his reasons."
"But it's his sister!" I exclaimed.
"Cara, we don't know the whole story. We just heard Alex's side which is really not a side because she was just a cousin, you know what I mean?" Claire defended.
I didn't say anything though deep inside, I was self-debating.
"Anyway, how are you and Alex?" She said after a while.
"She's in London, she flew there last night and will be back on Monday."
"Oh."
"For her chemo."
"Ohhh..."
"Yeah..."
We both fell silent. It's not awkward though. Claire probably thinking of words she could tell me to ease my worries.
I was quiet, well, because I was worried. And I don't think there will be words to ease that unless I see Alex myself.
"She'll be... great, Car." She tried to console me.
I gave her a small smile letting her know I appreciated it.
We talked the whole night about other things while I waited for Alex's text or call.
Oh, how I wish I could ask her Mom while she was resting. It was really difficult to just wait around, not knowing what was happening over there.
It's getting late so we decided for Claire to spend the night here. I guess it feels nice to have a friend on my side while I wait.
"Still nothing?" Claire asked as soon as she came out of the bathroom and saw me staring at my phone.
Even when we were talking, my eyes were fixated on my phone, waiting and praying for a text or call from Alex. But it's already late and still have nothing.
My worries grew a hundred times as time passed by.
Her time in London is a few hours ahead of me and I don't know, I'm starting to get this itchy feeling in my gut like I felt something has happened or maybe it was just I was worrying too much, and I'm hoping for the latter.
"It's more than 8 hours, Claire, that I haven't heard from her. I called her a couple of times already but she's not answering." My voice cracked and she heard it.
"Oh, Cara." She sat beside me and put her arm around my shoulder. "You know, chemo is really hard-core, the medicine injected into her body would really make her sleep all day. She's probably weak at the moment but you'll see, after she absorbs all that, she'll gain her energy back and she will call you, I know it."
I tried not to but a sob escaped from my mouth. I was about to wipe my tears when my phone rang and Alex's name was registered.
Immediately, I answered it.
"Alex!"
The other line was silent for a few seconds before I repeated calling her name.
"This is... This is her Mom."
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