AS LONG AS SHE IS HAPPY PART2 ( By C.M. Lanning) - Cindies Short Story

 
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“Well Barry?”
“Claire. . . I can't read this,” Barry said.
“You have to,” Claire said.
“I'm sorry, but this is something you'll have to read for yourself,” Barry said.
“Come again?”
“It's written in braille,” Barry said, handing the paper to her. He put it in her hands, and
her face looked a little flushed.
Spencer looked shocked..

“Well, that wasn't something I expected your father to do,” Spencer said.
Claire's hand was steady as she read the first half, then it got shaky as her hand moved
further down the paper.
When she had finished reading it, a tear fell down her right cheek.
A silence filled the office. Claire started to sniffle, and Spencer handed her a box of
tissues. She gave the sheet of paper to Barry and blew her nose a couple times.
“Barry, please take me to the restroom,” Claire said, quietly.
“Of course,” Barry said.
He took her hand and led her to the restroom. She closed the door behind her, and Barry
sat outside the door waiting.
“You can go back in the office,” came a muffled voice from behind the bathroom door.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes please,” she said.
“Just call for me when you're ready to come back into the office,” Barry said.
“I won't be long,” Claire said.
Before Barry left, he heard tones coming from a dial pad on a cell phone.
He thought to himself wondering, Who is she calling?
Following her request, he left her alone and went back into the office.
Spencer didn't say anything when Barry came in and sat down.
“How is she?”
“She'll be fine; she always is,” Barry said.
“That's because of you. You realize that, right? Claire wouldn't be the woman she is today
if it weren't for you,” Spencer said.
“She's a big girl. She would have developed fine with or without me,” Barry said.
Spencer frowned and looked at Barry with a serious expression.
“I hope you don't really believe that. You'd be an idiot if that's what you honestly thought.
You and your father. . . you're quite a pair. That deal that your father made with hers is so old
fashioned. . . I don't know any other rich family that has a similar deal in place. I mean, for you
two to trade service for only food and shelter is just almost unheard of these days. Hired help is
one thing, but you two were so much more than that,” Spencer said.
Barry said nothing. Doing what he did, it was all he knew how to do. She was his life,
and she had been since he was a child.
“Tell me about your hobbies,” Spencer said.
“My. . . hobbies?”
“You know, what you do with any free time you have,” Spencer said.
He already knew what Barry's answer was going to be; he was just trying to get Barry to
realize what he was to Claire without directly coming out and saying it.
“I don't really have much free time. I guess my only hobby by your definition would be
reading. Claire has a rather large library, and I usually have two or three books with me at all
times if I'm in the house,” Barry said.
“You see? A normal person would usually list four or five things for their hobby whether
it be watching sports, pottery, painting, singing, video games, etc. The fact that you only have
one shows your self sacrifice, and it's been that way your entire life. She would have been fine
without you? I doubt that. You are her blade, with which, she cuts her path through life. She's not
helpless by any means, but she does depend on you heavily,” Spencer said.
“I don't disagree with what you say,” Barry said.
“How long has it been since you two have been in separate rooms like this?”
“Probably years,” Barry said.
“How does it feel to be in a different room?”
Barry thought about it for a second. His palms were a little sweaty, he felt like his collar
was too tight, and he realized he kept listening for her call.
“It's awkward,” Barry said.
“You've essentially denied yourself a real life so she can have one. I know you care for
her wellbeing deeply, or you wouldn't have lasted this long. Don't ever deny the importance of
your sacrifice or think for a second that anyone else could do what you do. For all intents and
purposes, you are her human seeing-eye dog,” Spencer said.
“Good grief, allow me a tad bit of humility will you, Spencer?”
“Just remember what I said. Out of curiosity though, what would you be doing right now
without Claire's responsibility on your shoulders?”
Barry didn't have to think about this one. His answer was straight to the point, “I don't
have to worry about that. Claire is my responsibility, and I wouldn't trust another soul in the
world to care for her. Life without her? I can't even begin to grasp that concept, and frankly, I
don't want to.”
Spencer smiled as Claire called out, “Barry?”
He jumped up and started for the door.
“Barry?”
“Yeah Spencer?”
“You're one of a kind,” Spencer said.
“If you say so,” Barry said.
He went to the restroom where she stood. Her eyes were still a little puffy, but she looked
like she was back to normal for all he could tell.
“You okay?”
“Better than I would have been if I'd have read this five years ago,” Claire said.
“I hope this isn't too painful for you.”
“I'm fine.”
“Hey, no matter what happens, remember that I'm not going anywhere,” Barry said.
Claire heard him, and she looked like she was going to cry again. Barry wrapped her in
his arms and then led her back to Spencer's office. Now, he was starting to cross the line, but he
didn’t care. She needed him to at this point.
“I need a few seconds alone with Spencer please.”
“I'll be right outside with Sarah,” Barry said.
“Thanks Barry. I'll be out in a few minutes. . . then we're going to the bank,” Claire said.
Barry nodded then closed the door to the office behind him.
He went out to Sarah's desk and sat in one of the chairs.
“Is she alright?”
“Yeah, she'll be fine. I don't know what's in the will, though. I thought I would feel better
not knowing what was in it since she intended to have me read it to her, but it turned out to be
written in braille. Only she knows what’s on that paper, and now, I almost feel a little guilty for
not knowing,” Barry said.
“Braille huh, that's a curve ball I didn't expect from her father. Like I said earlier though,
he was a spontaneous guy. I'm sure he had a good reason for making it in braille,” Sarah said.
The two continued to talk about Claire and how she was doing until Spencer brought her
to Barry and Sarah.
Claire looked normal again. If Barry hadn't known better, he'd never have guessed she'd
been crying. He was a little curious about what they said, but ultimately, he decided that she'd tell
him if he needed to know.
“I'm ready to go to the bank, Barry. Spencer has already called, confirmed the will, and
made the proper paperwork. We're going to move all the money from daddy's account and close
it once and for all,” Claire said.
“I understand,” Barry said.
Sarah gave Claire a hug, and Spencer didn't just kiss her hand, he pulled her close and
kissed her on the forehead.
Then, he whispered something to her. He looked sad, and Claire did too.
She looks pretty sad for somebody who just inherited millions of dollars. . .. I guess
memories of her father are just overloading her, Barry thought.
Barry took her by the hand, and they went back to the car, saying their goodbyes to Sarah
and Spencer.
He opened the door for her, and she got in, not speaking a word. Barry started the car, and
they drove further into town to the bank. It wasn't a normal bank; it was more like a bank for rich
people to put their money in. The last time Barry had been here was after Claire's father had died.
He had set up provisions for his daughter after his death until the will could be read.
When they found a spot to park, Barry got out and came over, opening the door for
Claire.
She had started whimpering again. She'd been crying so quietly, Barry didn't notice when
he drove.
“Hey, what's the matter? Do you want me to take you home? We can do this some other
time you know,” Barry said.
“Barry. . . do you regret being my eyes for all these years?”
“Of course not. If I wasn't your eyes, I don't know what I'd have done with myself. I
would have been a poor boy growing up on the street with no future. Thanks to your father, I
have a future, and if it's helping you through life. I'm more than glad to do that for you,” Barry
said.
“You've lost a lot of years though. Most kids have their own childhood. You had to share
mine,” Claire said.
“Hey, that's not true. I've had a great life, and we're both still young. We've got our whole
lives ahead of us. Besides, we've had tons of fun memories together like. . .,” Barry’s voice faded
as he struggled to pull up a memory on the spot.
“Remember in Jr. High? When they had separate P.E. classes for the boys and the girls,
and I had to be in the girl's class so I could be your eyes? I spent an entire semester in a girl's P.E.
class! That was hilarious. Remember that one day you couldn't participate in basketball, so, we
sat in the bleachers, and I fell asleep?”
Claire's faded eyes lit up for a second, and she started to giggle, “And Tina Softon
brought out her makeup and we prettied you up while you slept? Then, you had to wear it the rest
of the day because you had to stay with me, and I didn't want to go into the boy's bathroom so
you could wash it off!”
Her giggling had turned into full-blown laughter now to the point that her eyes were
watering, and some of the others in the parking lot were looking at her.
“There's the Claire I know. Now do you really want to go in there, or do you want to go
shopping? Come on, I'll even go into that one store I hate going into,” Barry said.
“No, we can shop any day, but there are instructions in that will I need to follow,” Claire
said.
“Why? Why do you have to get his money today? I mean, you still have plenty that he
left you. I assume there was more to the will than money, but that was the main part, right?”
“You're right, Barry. The main topic of the will was money. . . and estate. . . and worldly
possessions of my father. However, I'm not here to take any of it,” Claire said.
“You had Spencer make another copy of the will, right? One that wasn't in braille?”
“Yes. It's for the bank. I read him word for word what was in the original will. I have both
copies with me in my purse,” she said.
“Can I read the regular one since you wanted me to read it to you in the first place?”
“You're better off not reading it right now. Just trust me on that, Barry. Daddy wanted me
to wait five years before reading the will, but if it had been intended for you, he'd have wanted
you to wait twice that long,” Claire said, somehow avoiding his stare.
Sighing, Barry took her hand and said, “Okay, let's do this.”
“Thank you, Barry,” Claire said.
They walked inside. Claire's heels clicked on the marble floor as they walked up to one of
the tellers.
“My name is Claire Seles, and I'm here following instructions from my father's will,” she
said.
“Right Ms. Seles, your lawyer called and informed us that you'd be coming. We prepared
the necessary paperwork. Now, if I could just see some identification and your father's will,” the
lady behind the counter said.
Barry didn't like the feeling of this place. It was just too big and open for his tastes. . . not
that he liked close and tight spaces, but the building just didn't strike him the right way.
He read the lady's name tag. Her name was Karen.
Karen took the wills and Claire's ID. She examined them, then handed Claire the
paperwork. When Claire didn't take the papers, she looked puzzled.
Barry reached over and took the papers. Then, he set them down on the counter in front
of Claire. He gave Claire a pen and put her hand where she had to sign.
Karen didn't understand until it finally dawned on her that Claire was blind.
She looked embarrassed for not noticing that, but since she didn't think Claire had
noticed, she definitely wasn't going to apologize and risk looking like a fool.
When Claire had signed the papers, Karen took them and the wills and the ID.
“I'll have to have the president examine these and approve the changes. I'll run these back
to him.
“That's fine,” Claire said.
Karen took a few minutes to get that approval, but when she came back, she returned the
wills and Claire's ID.
“The changes to your father's account have been made as specified in your will. I'm sorry
for your loss, Ms. Seles,” Karen said.
Her tone wasn't really sincere; Barry could tell she was just saying it for the sake of
customer relations in hopes that Claire didn't move the money to a different bank.
“Thanks for your kind words and your help today,” Claire said.
She took the wills and put them in her purse along with her I.D.
“If you need anything else, just come back and see us,” Karen said.
“We will,” Claire said.
“Where to now?”
“Let's just go home; I'm tired,” Claire said.
“No shopping?”
“I'm just beat. This will and paperwork have just. . . they’ve drained me. Please just take
me home,” Claire said.
“Right away. Let's get out of here,” Barry said, grabbing her hand.
Before they could take two steps away from the counter, they saw two men in dark
clothing and black masks run into the lobby. One had an uzi and shouted, “Everybody on the
ground!”
Claire screamed, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion from there.
The man with the gun started firing. He wasn't aiming at anything in particular; it was
just a general spray of bullets to get everyone's attention. In the movies, bank robbers usually
hold their guns into the air and fire. These robbers didn't do that. They were firing at the people.
Barry threw his body over Claire and pulled her to the ground, but not before she took a
stray bullet. One shot was all it took. It caught her in the forehead.
Closing his eyes and protecting her body as best he could, he heard the screams of the
other customers. The robbers ran up to the counter, had the tellers dump all the available money
into some bags, then, just as quickly as they had arrived, they left.
They weren't stupid enough to try to get what was in the vault, because by the time they
got it open, the cops would have arrived.
So, they took their cash and ran.
When they'd left, Barry whispered, “Claire? Are you hurt?”
He got no response, so he got up and looked down at her. That was when he noticed the
bullet hole in her skull. Other customers screamed for help, but he didn't hear them.
Karen yelled something to him, but he didn't hear her either. All he could hear was
laughter, the laughter of students when they saw the makeup on his face as he walked with
Claire.
“Please let me go to the bathroom and wash this off, it's embarrassing!”
“No, I'm not going in a boy's bathroom!”
“Hey, look at Claire's sister, isn't she pretty!”
“Hey Barry, you've been using the wrong bathroom!”
“Oh my, Claire, she's even prettier than you are!”
“Why don't you come into the girl's bathroom and wash it off?”
“I'm not going into the girl's bathroom to wash it off; I'll get picked on more. How long
was I asleep that she was able to put all this crap on me?”
“Well, they had a whole hour to do it, and you know Tina. Her mother owns a salon in
town, so she carries plenty of makeup with her. I just wish I could see it,” Claire said, laughing
as they walked.
“What am I going to do?”
“I guess you'll just have to wear it all day until you change your mind and you wanna
come with me to the girl’s bathroom and wash it off,” Claire said.
“I can't stay looking like this all day, it's only 10 am! Can't I just go into the boy's
restroom, myself?”
“Nope, daddy said you're supposed to stay with me at all times,” Claire said, laughing.
She was always putting him in uncomfortable situations just to tease him. He never cared,
because she was happy that way.
Barry sat there next to her, and a tear rolled down his cheek and onto Claire's dress. The
police arrived and some paramedics too. They came over to Claire and saw what had happened.
They put her on a stretcher and covered her with a white sheet, taking her away.
A cop came over to take Barry's statement, but he just shook his head to say, “I can't
talk.”
Understanding, the cop left him alone. He was still sitting on the floor when he noticed
her purse. In the confusion of him forcing her to the ground, some of the stuff had spilled out of
her purse.
Among some of those things was the will from Claire's father.
Slowly, Barry reached over and opened it.
Barry got angry and thought to himself, What could have been so important that we had
to take care of this today? If we had just gone home or gone shopping, Claire would still be
alive!
He read the will slowly, absorbing every word. When he finished, his arms fell limp at his
side.
This time more than one tear fell. He was already on his knees, so he couldn't fall any
further, but he desperately wanted to collapse beyond the floor, if that was even possible.
In the will, Claire's father hadn't left her a single penny. Instead, he instructed her to
transfer everything into Barry's name, his logic being that Barry would stay by her side for the
rest of her life, and he would handle the money better, having come from a family that had none.
Spencer had asked Barry where he thought he'd be without Claire. . . now he had his
answer. He'd be empty without her, and all the millions of dollars that he'd just inherited meant
nothing without her there to share it.
Barry could forget worrying about crossing the line with the one woman he’d ever love.
Now, there was no woman, and there was no line, just millions of dollars he never asked for and
an empty mansion for him to be alone in.

The End......