chapter 3

A few weeks passed with nothing out of the ordinary happening, clair wasn't allowed to leave the house because of what happened, her mom thought she was the one at fault ,emma thought it wasn't fair towards clair she couldn't believe some parents , she sat at her favourite spot in the park with a book in her hand ,she watched as children ran around she really liked this sight ,she hoped she had kids one day ,she had to meet the right person first,was that ever going to happen ,her mind drifted back to what clair told her "maybe clair was just teasing me like always " she murmured to herself . It was almost the time she dreaded the most ,she saw two little girls playing and it reminded her of the past,she thought about when she was little when she met clair at this same park for the first time

(flashback) little emma sat under a slide crying she missed her mom so much her aunt said she was in heaven she wanted to see her for the last time ,"hi" , little emma raised her head up her eyes full of tears she saw a pretty girl about her age looking at her with what looked like concern "hi I'm clair ,what's your name " the girl smiled at her , the girl stretched her hand and Emma took it smiling, they ended up playing together and ever since then they have been best friend closer than ever.

It seemed like yesteday to emma when they were still kids ,they were all grown up now, she called to check up on clair to her surprise she answered the call "hi claire are you ungrounded "

"yes emma,my mom finally realised that I'm no longer a kid,where are you I need to get away from here ",emma knew clair was upset "I am at the park "

"ok I will be there in half an hour".

Thirty minutes later Clair walked into the park looking grumpy "what's that look on you face miss grumpy" emma said smiling "my mom is so annoying she wants to set me up on another date I don't understand her sometimes",emma couldn't believe what she was hearing

"did he agree to it,"no he didn't that idiot ,I knew he wouldn't, my mom thinks I'm at fault all the time ,she never hears me out",

emma looked at clair "maybe you should tell her you have someone you like "

clair laughed at what emma said "like my mom would care about that ,she would still want me to get married to who she wants,let's just go get icecream I really need it " emma rolled her eyes typical clair

Later that day clair decided to sleep over at emma's she was avoiding her mom ."look news is spreading about me and mr arrongant " Clair showed emma a news article on her phone "that's harsh ,they even said you got regretted news travels fast " ,"thanks to mr arrogant my reputation is ruined " clair looked happy about this "and why do you have that stupid grin on you face ",My mom wont be able to find a suitor for me likes she always talks about nobody wants someone who was rejected by the high and might mr miller " oh clair ,your mom must be really mad "yes she saw the news article and was red ,serves her right ",Emma threw a pillow at clair they both laughed and had a pillow fight .

The next day they decided to go to the beach it was a sunday,they would have some fun and brighten clair's grumpy mood ,when they got there,clair immediately came down from the car and ran towards the water "clair wait " emma giggled this was fun .

After running around for while they sat on the sand exhausted ,they both looked at each other and giggled "thanks for being my friend emma you are the best " ,emma looked at her and smiled, she was sure she wouldn't be friends with anyone if Clair didn't approach her ,she knew clair knew about her mom's death anniversary she was trying to make her happy without mentioning it "clair you can ask its okay",clair looked at emma with concern "how are you emma ?" emma didn't want to cry somewhere deep inside she felt a void ,tears pricked in her eyes "oh emma " clair gave her a hug and all the unshed tears came pouring out ,she cried till she couldn't anymore ,she felt a little relieved " I'm fine now clair " .emma tried to smile at her ,Clair looked at her with concern,"do you want me to go with you" ,no clair I can do this myself ,thanks for asking."anytime emma I just want you to be okay",I know clair ,I will.

clair had to make a call so emma decided to take a walk ,she was deep in thoughts when she saw an old woman staring at the ocean ,she looked sad and she wondered what made her look so sad,she wasn't the only one who felt sad at least emma thought, the old woman turned and their eyes met ,she immediately turned away, the old woman smiled slightly at her "the sunset is so beautiful don't you think so" emma turned and looked at her a little hesitant but she answered "yes it is really lovely" the woman smiled she tried to walk and staggered a little emma rushed to help her "oh thank you dear " she took the old woman to a helped the old woman sit down "would you mind sitting with this lonely old woman for a while" emma couldn't couldn't say no,emma agreed and sat beside the old woman ",the old woman stared at her "your eyes looks swollen dear ,were you crying" emma was surprised by what the woman said maybe she cried too much ,she smiled slightly "sorry ,this old woman doesn't know how to mind her business " she laughed "whats your name dear",she was hesitant but later told the woman her name "emma"

,"oh what a lovely name ,I come here sometimes when I miss the ones have lost, we once came here a long time ago ,it was a pleasant time ,sometimes I wish I could go back to that time where we had little worries"

,emma looked at the old woman ,she lost someone like her too

"I lost someone too ,and I wish she was here " she didn't know why she told her that, she felt the old woman understood her

,tears were threatening to pour out of Emma's eyes

" oh dear do you need a hug"

emma nodded the woman hugged emma and she cried her eyes out ,she didn't know why she felt comfortable around this stranger ,maybe its because she knows how it feels to lose someone , after a while emma got a call from Clair she was looking for her "I have to go ma'am" she smiled at the old woman "sorry for keeping you dear i wish you happiness and the strength to overcome your sadness" emma bid old woman farewell and left , the old woman sat there staring at the ocean thinking about her son and all the good times .

George knocked on noah's door "come in" noah was going through some files in his study "sir john just called they don't know where the chairwoman is ",noah looked up at george "what do you mean",' they have looked everywhere for her " ,noah sighed he knew exactly where is grandmother is "get the car" ,George went quickly ,when noah was ready to go he asked george for the keys he went alone .

He arrived at the beach,old memories coming back to him,its still felt like yesterday when he came here as a child with his parents ,he walked around looking for his grandmother, she always came here when she wanted to be alone but he couldn't help but worry ,age was not on her side.he saw his grandma back view she sat on a bench and surprisingly she was with someone ,she looked really familiar ,and he was about to go towards where they were ,the girl got up and walked away ,he walked to his grandma "grandma why are you here by yourself,its cold here and who was that "he took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders "how do you know I was here dear ,come sit with me " he pulled noah's hand to where she was seating ,noah sat beside his grandma "she was just someone I came across ,what a lovely girl ", grandma we should go back now it's getting late ", okay noah he helped her up " he looked towards the way the girl went ,she looked really familiar to him where had he seen her before .