Ghost Soldiers || Bucky Barnes

Chapter 12: The Truth

Dinner with the Vanderbilts didn't end up being so bad, as Clementine had expected. Her parents had not mentioned the subject of the company again, and Thomas hadn't talked about their evolving relationship either.

The next day, Clementine spent the morning reading "The Count of Monte Cristo", her favourite novel. Even though she already knew how it ended, she had always loved reading things over and over again, since nothing was unexpected. She wished life could be like that sometimes, where she could know what outcomes would her choices have. Besides, she had never quite understood why did people crave revenge, like Edmond Dantes did in the novel. She felt that revenge would accomplish nothing, and you would just waste valuable time doing things that didn't matter in the end. She felt that the best revenge was no revenge; just living your life happily and moving on.

By 12 pm, she got ready to go to the Vanderbilt mansion. She was supposed to have lunch with Thomas in L'aignon, her favourite French restaurant in the city. He worked all morning, but he had promised Clementine he would be free for her that evening. She hoped he would keep his promise, since he always did the same thing, which was being late to every date with her because of work.

Half an hour later, she got into the car with Arthur and they drove to the mansion. It was a beautiful hot and sunny day, and Clementine already missed a little bit the cold breeze of winter. Even though she loved the heat of summer, it was always nice to crawl in bed with a huge blanket and hot chocolate during the winter, which she could not do in the summer.

She thanked Arthur for driving her there and she knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Eleanor opened it with a big smirk on her face.

"Good, you're here! I haven't spoken to anyone in the house in the entire day." Said a Eleanor, closing the door behind Clementine.

"I know how that feels like." Said Clementine, linking her arm with her friend as they headed towards the big pool by the garden.

"At least you have Sophie. I used to have Thomas and everything was great and fun, but now he's always working and we barely do anything together." Said Eleanor, disappointed.

"True... is Tom here yet?" Asked Clementine, looking at her friend.

"I'm afraid he's late... again." Said Eleanor.

Clementine sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not surprised at all. He'd promised he would be here on time... I honestly don't even know why I believe it anymore."

"Well, he's about to be like our parents. Always working and always absent for anything not related to work." Said Eleanor.

Clementine didn't say anything to her friend. She felt so disappointed and sad, since she knew how things would be from now on. She wasn't hungry anymore, and she just wanted to scream, and she wished men could be different.

Eleanor noticed Clementine was extremely quiet, so she put her arm around her friend as they sat in one of the large chairs by the pool.

"I'm sorry he disappointed you again. I think what we both need right now is a large glass of sangria and French fries." Said Eleanor.

That suggestion made Clementine smile. She loved how Eleanor always managed to cheer her up, and for a second she was glad Thomas was not there, so she could just spend time with her best friend.

"Actually, that sounds like a really good idea. Not a healthy lunch, but who cares." Said Clementine, taking her sunglasses out of her purse.

Eleanor smiled and sat on the chair next to Clementine's. They could feel the sun rays right on top of them, so they laid down and enjoyed the day. A few minutes later, they ordered some sangrias and French fries, which they enjoyed tremendously. They were gossiping about their old classmates from boarding school, and mocking each one of them. They kept ordering more sangrias, and about an hour later, they were both tipsy and laughing like little kids.