Hear Me

Truths

Still Wednesday

Clara enters the apartment, throwing her things onto the kitchen counter. All the lights are on. She turns them off and drops her coat onto the floor before pulling off her shoes. It had been another long day where they found nothing new. The victims haven't been identified yet and there was nothing they could do.

"Clara?" Matt says, coming out of the bathroom.

"What are you still doing here?" She asks.

He sighs, "I know you wanted me to leave but I figured we could talk when you got home."

Clara shakes her head, covering her face with her hands, "listen, Matt, I've only gotten a total of five hours of sleep these past few days and would really like to go to bed, if that's alright with you." She says it as if he has an option, which he doesn't.

Matt hears the exhaustion in her voice, "yeah, okay."

"You can see yourself out," she says, taking down her hair.

Guilt washes over Matt has he listens to her walk towards her bedroom. He picks up her dropped belongings and puts them away for her. What was he thinking? He shouldn't have stayed. He should've left hours ago, after he had woken up here.

As he hangs up her purse, her phone begins ringing. A curse comes from her bedroom and she comes to retrieve it, shrugging on her coat, expecting to go out again. Matt takes her phone out and hands it to her. She answers, "Marinetta."

Despite desperately wanting to, he doesn't listen in to the conversation.

"Oh thank God," she says, hanging up her phone, "it was about my 'cars extended warranty'," her shoulders sag in relief and she retreats back to her room, not acknowledging his presence. As soon as her head hits the pillow, she closes her eyes and falls asleep. Matt silently leaves through the front door, locking it behind him.

--

The next morning, she was awoken by an alarm. It wasn't her work alarm, this one was set for two hours early. It was an alarm to get up and see Father Lantom. She hadn't listened to the alarms in a long time but she had some questions for him. Begrudgingly, Clara drags herself out of bed to get ready in record time and leave.

Walking into the church always made her breath catch in her throat despite the amount of times she's been in it. It was a beautiful church, though it was a smaller one. The ceiling was ornate and behind the lectern was a large, stained glass window depicting the holy trinity. The pews were made of cherry wood with rust-red cushions. On one side, the confessions booth stood out. It was a large, dark oak wood box with doors to hide the confessor and priest.

Clara sits down in the booth, adjusting her shirt. She clears her throat, "Father Lantom.., I'm here to confess and seek an answer."

"Clara, you know that confession isn't for questions you have..."

She nods, "I understand that. I'm seeking advice, then."

He sighs and nods, "go ahead."

She looks down at her hands, "I have a friend... well he's more than a friend. I love him or I thought I did until I found out this huge secret he has. It's made me think about the aspects surrounding my life recently and it's made me realize that this secret has changed my life in many ways, some of them in horrible ways. I don't know what to do about it."