[Fanfiction] INTIMACY - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Clara entered Helena’s house.

- Mom! - Ivan ran to hug her. - Mom, what's happening? Both you and dad disappeared.

- I know, my son. I’m sorry. – She held him. – I’ll explain you everything now. Oh, but before we should finish that lunch there, right? – She sat with him at the table, eating a little. She was wondering where Cadu was, she had made it clear she wanted to talk to Ivan in his presence.

Ivan ate in a hurry, he was curious to know what his mom would say.

- Ready. I'm done.

Clara laughed. – Alright, then let’s go home. - She took his hand.

They entered the house.

- And, mom, I don’t wanna hear that it’s an adults thing,  no. I want to know everything.

- You’ll know everything, baby. And when did you become this little grown up, huh? – She tickled him and they laughed together. - Now come on. – She took him to the couch.

- Ivan, I’m about to tell you a very serious thing. - She held his hand.

- I know, you look sad, mother.

Clara stroked his face.

- Son, do you know why people get married?

- Because they love each other. – He shrugged.

- Yes, because they love each other and want to live together, to share everything. But besides love, you need the passion, companionship, complicity, happiness. A lot of things together. And sometimes, all that lasts forever. But sometimes, it doesn’t. And when this happens, the marriage ends. People break up. Ask for a divorce. - A tear rolled down her face.

- Mom, are you divorcing from my father?

- I am, kid. Your dad and I are getting a divorce.

Ivan started crying. - But why, Mom?

- Because as I said, - she swallowed - we didn’t have all that anymore.

- I know. – he was sad - You guys just fight now.

- Well, my love. And these fights hurt us a lot, including you. Then the time comes that it is best to divorce.

- You mean we won’t live together anymore?

- No, we won’t. Your father will leave the house, he’ll look for another place to live, and we’ll stay here.

Ivan stared at the floor with his eyes full of tears.

- But, son, you'll be able to see him whenever you want, every day. He will never stop being your dad. You guys will still be close. He just won’t be here all the time.

- He's never been here all the  time. But I will miss my dad.

- I know, my angel. - Clara wiped his tears. - But look at the bright side, you'll have two houses. Your dad will have to buy you new toys, clothes, - she gestured happily, trying to cheer him up – you’ll have everything in double.

Ivan grinned for a moment.

- But, mom, won’t you be sad alone? Lonely?

- I'm not alone, love. – She hugged him tight. - I got you! - "And Marina." She thought.

She kept holding him like that, as if he were still her little baby. Somehow he’d always be.

- You know I love you, right? That this divorce doesn’t change anything that I or your dad feel about you, right?

- I know. – He was sniffling. – I just wanted you two to be okay.

- We’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.

- Mom, don’t you love daddy anymore?

- No, son. I .. I still really like your father, he was always my friend, but I don’t love him anymore.

- How come? Do you love another person?

Clara was surprised.

- Would it be problem?

- I don’t know. It depends.

- No one will ever replace your dad, Ivan. You can be sure of that. - She stroked his hair. - Now how about we go to Marina’s house? I think we can swim in her pool. – She said softly as if telling him a secret.

- Yay. - Ivan smiled, but still kinda sad.

Cadu entered the house.

- Dad -. Ivan ran to him while Clara wiped away her tears. By their faces, he realized that he had missed their conversation. Clara looked at him with a disappointed look, because he hadn’t showed up early.

- Sorry that I didn’t arrive earlier to talk you, kid. - Ivan hugged him close, and Cadu looked looked at Clara, blaming her for their child's suffering.

- Mom said it would be okay. We'll even ...

- We'll take a walk. Ivan, go to your room to get ready.

- A walk?? – He said loudly. - You're not thinking of taking my son ...

- No scandal, no tantrum, Cadu. Where we’re going is none of your business. - Clara interrupted. - My conversation with Ivan was quite frank, he knows why we are getting a divorce, but he doesn’t know about Marina yet.. – She was interrupted.

- Ohh, then he doesn’t really know the reason. - He accused.

- And we’ll keep it like that. – She warned him. - Do not try to make his head against me or her. Do not try to do that. It’ll be worse for you.

- That we'll see.

- Don’t do that, Cadu. That’s not you.

- I wonder what happened to me, Clara! – He asked sarcastically.

She stopped for a second and took a deep breath. - Please. Think of our son. You don’t want to make Ivan go through a difficult divorce and end up growing up with two parents who can’t even talk to each other. It happened, Cadu. Our marriage is over. I'm in love with Marina. I understand you’re hurt, but that doesn’t give you the right to do stupid things around. I never meant to hurt you. But right now, if you hurt any of us, it’ll be your decision.

- Let’s go, son! – She yelled.

Ivan hugged his dad one last time.

- Love you, dad.

- I love you, kid.


***


Clara went out with her hand on Ivan’s shoulder.

- Mom, why couldn’t we tell dad we’re going to Marina’s?

- Because your father, son .. your father doesn’t like Marina.

- How come? Marina is so cool!

Clara smiled. – Another adult’s thing.

- Ugh, that story again.

Clara laughed and sent a text message to Marina.

"Ivan and I are coming over. Is that okay? Cadu only showed up at the end. My puppy is kinda sad and since he’s crazy about a pool, I invited him, rsrs ... okay? "

- Soon you'll understand, my love.

Marina smiled. She asked an employee to do a quick cleaning on the pool and ran into the bedroom. The bruises were already appearing where Cadu held her and she didn’t want Clara to see them. She didn’t know whether to tell or not. Finally, she decided to put on a shirt that could hide them. Now, if they were really going to swim, she would have no choice. Pool or not, sooner or later Clara would see those bruises.


***


When they arrived, she received them happily, forgetting all about Cadu.

- Marina. - Ivan hugged her.

- Hey, big boy? – She hugged him back. – I missed you. How come you took so long to come see me?

- I know. Not my fault, I told mom I wanted to come long ago.

Marina looked at Clara pretending to be mad.

- What do we do about your mom? – She said to Ivan playfully. - Are you okay?

He got sad. - Dad won’t live with us anymore. – He stopped, and his eyes went wide. – Is it okay to tell her, mom?

Clara nodded.

- But, mom said we’ll be fine.

- Of course you will. - Marina comforted Ivan. It was a shame to see such a small child sad like that. - But hey, I heard you love my pool!

- Look at this big pool. - Ivan was already getting excited again. – Can I swim?

- Sure you can, honey. Come on. Come get ready, come. - Clara smiled seeing their interaction. Marina had no experience with children, but she always liked Ivan. After all, it was the package Clara. She wanted to learn everything she could, because she wanted both mother and son to be happy.

- You can leave your clothes here.

- I'm already in swimming trunks.

- But what about sunscreen lotion?  I bet you didn’t pass it.

- Okay here it is. - Clara took it off her purse.

- Can I pass it on him? – She asked Clara.

- Su-sure. I mean. Can she, Ivan?

- Sure.

- So come on, help me, I’ll get it on your back and arms, you get your legs.

- Don’t forget your face. - Clara said, smiling and folding Ivan’s clothes.

They went to the pool.

- Son, just wait here a little bit. Don’t get in without us nearby.  Be careful.

- I know, I know, mom. Aren’t you guys coming?

- We’re just gonna get ready - Clara replied.

The dog barked.

- Marina, can I play with your dog?

- Hmm, he’s a big one. Won’t you be scared?

- No, I always wanted one. But mom never let us have it.

- Ivan, and how would we have a dog that size in our tight apartment?

- He’s big, but he’s fine. Come here. - They walked hand in hand and Clara followed them.

Marina showed him to Ivan and soon he was fearless. He started running, playing in the grass with the dog. Clara and Marina watched laughing. Sometimes Marina made the dog chase Ivan jokingly, and they kept running around the house. Clara was astonished.

- Ivan, stay here and we’ll get ready for the pool. Don’t go in without us.

- Yeah, but don’t take long.

- Oh, you insolent. – She said kidding ..

When they entered the house, they were alone.

- You don’t exist, you know? - Clara said holding her face and stealing a kiss.

- How was the talk?

- Better than I imagined. My puppy is already growing up. – She grimaced.

Marina smiled.

- But  Cadu only showed up at the end, making it a huge thing that we were coming here. – She sighed. - Oh, Marina, I'm scared he’ll do something. Please God, forbid that. – She hugged Marina briefly. - But let's leave him behind, because we have the whole day to ourselves now. – She said excitedly. Clara pulled her by her arms to kiss her again, but she noticed the grimace the photographer did when she was touched.

- What?

- Nothing.

- Oh, don’t tell me .. – she lowered her voice, glancing around. – Don’t tell me it was one of those bruises I gave you, I didn’t see them here.

- Clara ..

- No, let me see it. Oh, Marina, I’m so sorry. – She said pulling her sleeves up.

When she saw the bruises, her eyes widened.

- What is this, Marina? This wasn’t here earlier today, no. What happened?

- Clara ..

- No, do not Clara me. Tell  me. - She looked at her arms concerned, running her fingers on them lightly.

Marina swallowed. - Hmm – she cleared her throat. -  Cadu ... was here.

- What??? - Clara said louder than intended. - He what? What did he do to you? My God, Marina, look at that! - She felt tears coming down her face. - Oh, but I will kill Carlos Eduardo, I don’t believe he did this. – She started  to walk around the house, angry, dialing on her phone.

- No, Clara, listen to me. Give me that phone.

- No, Marina. I’m gonna..

- Listen. – She held her face. - It wasn’t as bad as it looks, I told you I get these marks easily. We’ll take care of them later.

- It doesn’t matter. - Clara said softly crying.

- Oh, don’t cry. Ivan is here and he won’t like to see you this way. – They hugged. -  He came to argue with me just after you left. The discussion became agitated and he grabbed my arm screaming. But now it's okay, Clara. - She kissed her head.

- Okay? He hurt you. For God's sake, I'm so sorry. So sorry, I’m so sorry. Forgive me. – She said looking into her eyes.

- Forgive you? None of these is your fault. - She wiped her tears and kissed her lips lightly. – We’ll deal with him later.

Clara looked at the bruises.

- Now come on, you heard Ivan.  We aren’t supposed to take long.