03 » Family Ties

"Family Ties" is Clarice Lispector's short story of family dynamics and the ties which simultaneously draw together and bind too tight.

Anastasiya grimaced as she fidgeted with her hands.

She was dreading the talk she was scheduled to have with her latest ex-girlfriend in just a few minutes. Anastasiya had—with good intentions—broken up with her last week, but Delaney had sent her a text in the middle of biology, claiming she wanted to talk to her.

So there she was.

She knew the topic of the conversation. Knew what she was here for. Anastasiya just really didn't want to talk to her. She said yes for the sake of being polite. That, and the fact that she still had a soft spot for the girl.

"An," Delaney approached her. Anastasiya glanced up at her from where she was leaning against her car and tilted her head.

She obviously hadn't been sleeping well and Anastasiya wondered why.

Delaney was a five foot seven cheerleader, and a really good one at that. She was known for her captain title and for being outspoken with a lot of strong opinions about most things. Like her dad—who happened to be good friends with Anastasiya's father.

"Delaney."

"I . . . Wow. I don't know what to say? There's a first for everything," she chuckled lamely. Anastasiya couldn't help but to let out a small laugh at that.

Yes, definitely still had a soft spot for this girl.

Delaney sobered up and looked at her.

"Want to sit in the car?" she suggested, nodding at Anastasiya's car. When she saw Anastasiya hesitating, she elaborated. "The heat out here is unbearable."

Anastasiya thought of it, and even though her mind was yelling at her to not do it, she still did. Opening the car, she pointed towards the passenger seat. She sat herself down in the driver's seat.

When they were both seated in the car, she put the air conditioner on and didn't speak after. She didn't really have anything she wanted to say. The mic was in Delaney's hands.

"What have you been up to?" Delaney finally asked, turning to look at her. Anastasiya tried to avoid her face.

Anastasiya moved her shoulder, a weak attempt at shrugging. "Not much, honestly," she went, looking down at the steering wheel. "My parents are getting a divorce."

She turned to Delaney who seemed shocked, almost. Anastasiya could only think of the thoughts going through Delaney's head. Was Anastasiya really sharing this with her? Was she opening up to her, finally? Could she still hope?

"Sorry to hear that. How are you doing now?" Delaney asked, her tone concerned.

Anastasiya shrugged in response and tried not to scoff at the girl sitting beside her. Delaney had never properly liked her parents even if their parents were friends. Delaney didn't say it, but she showed it through several facial expressions and the way her face turned sour whenever the girls talked about them from time to time. Not to mention her slight change of attitude when the two families exchanged visits. Why was she acting like she cared suddenly?

"What about you? What have you been doing?" she asked, trying to change the topic.

"Nothing really: practices and studying for the most part." She frowned. "And also, I've been thinking a lot about you," she confessed, taking a sharp intake of breath.

Anastasiya stared dumbfounded at her. Suddenly, she regretted not listening to her brain. She shouldn't have seated herself in the car with her. Then again, she was an idiot. She should have known better, but she had a soft spot for Delaney and maybe that was the problem.

"Del—"

"No, An, listen. I love you a lot, but we don't really have to talk about it, yeah? I don't want to force or guilt trip you here."

Anastasiya looked down, nodding. "Okay, thank you."

They kept silent for a while, and it gave Anastasiya room to think. "What did you ask me to come here for?"

Delaney shrugged. "Dunno."

Anastasiya raised an eyebrow and tilted her head towards her. "You don't know."

Delaney nodded. And Anastasiya (she didn't know if it was the chaotic mess of her parents' divorce or the man threatening to kill her or Delaney), all she could do was laugh hysterically. This was all just a joke. A literal comedic relief for her.

Delaney joined in too, and Anastasiya didn't know why, but suddenly they were laughing. Delaney had always had this really sweet laugh. She, herself, was just a really sweet person from head to toe.

When they both calmed down, Delaney cleared her throat. "Two months left of school."

"Yeah."

"Exciting, hm?"

Anastasiya let out a humorless laugh. "I'm happy. I'm going to study abroad. Britain's waiting, baby."

Delaney frowned slightly at that and sat up properly. "Huh? Wait. I thought you were staying here? We applied to the same university together."

Anastasiya sighed. Delaney would have found out about it sooner or later, and sooner was better in this case. Especially if it's from Anastasiya herself. It wasn't supposed to be revealed like this anyway. She felt bad for it, but she deserved to know.

"I applied a few months ago. It's not that hard to get a late admission. Had my dad make a few calls." She didn't meet Delaney's eyes, but knew she couldn't avoid her.

When she looked up, she saw Delaney looking at her as if she had been stabbed. Now Anastasiya felt really bad about her sudden change of heart. She should've told her earlier. "Hell, Anastasiya. We broke up a week ago. You made this choice months ago," she emphasized.

"Does it matter now? It's not like we're together."

Anastasiya noticed the pained look Delaney was currently sporting. She admitted it was harsh of her, but she didn't know how to be kinder. Maybe that was her curse all along. When she got no answer, Anastasiya sighed and turned to look into her ex's eyes, hoping it would help.

"Delaney. Staying here in Toronto has always been your plan and dream. I don't even know what mine is," she tried making her understand.

If this was six months ago, she would've had no problem staying, but she'd had several reality checks since then. Why would she stick to the same place she was sick and tired of? The only reason she debated on staying was because of Delaney, and now there was no reason for it anymore. She didn't have feelings for Delaney. And she didn't want to make a commitment like this either. It would mean they'd be set in stone and Anastasiya didn't know how much she liked that. She wanted to try something different. England was different, but it was also far away.

Exactly what she needed.

Since her parents were going to divorce, now sounded like the best time to take a break from everything Raven had to offer. She wanted a fresh start. And that fresh start happened to be on the other side of the Atlantic. Perfect.

"Do you still like me?"

Anastasiya leaned back against the seat and looked at Delaney closely, trying to find the right words to say.

"Of course I like you. You made me happy, hello?" Delaney let out a laugh at this. Anastasiya looked away. "I just don't have feelings for you. I'm sorry," she tried, not wanting eye contact. Her gaze was set on her dashboard.

She felt like a bitch, truthfully.

Delaney took her by surprise when she took her hand and removed a hair strand from Anastasiya's face with her other available hand. "You deserve to always be happy."

Anastasiya didn't know what to say, staring at their hands. She chewed on the inside of her mouth as she contemplated on what to say next. The silence in the car was a bit too much.

There had been a time where Anastasiya hadn't worried about what to say next when it came to Delaney. It hadn't been awkward like this and they'd gotten along really well. This was weird. She wasn't used to this with Delaney of all people.

They'd been best friends before. Their parents were best friends since high school, so it just became natural to grow close to each other. It was easy to catch feelings for someone like Delaney Moore.

Anastasiya smiled sadly and felt a lump in her throat as she spoke, "I guess."

Delaney returned her smile in the same way, but broke out of it quickly and scoffed. "Not an 'I guess', you fool. I need to hear an actual agreement."

Anastasiya rolled her eyes and smiled reluctantly and she tried bumping Delaney's shoulder. "Yes, okay. I will be happy."

"Good."

Anastasiya tried to smile genuinely this time. She was surprised at how easy it came. "Thanks, Del. I needed that."

Delaney didn't reply, but sent her a brief smile back, before leaving the car and her. She thought about the kind of person she had become. She had pretty much distanced herself from anyone in her life that tried to understand her and pushed them away. Her parents, Delaney, Denise. Pretty much all her friends.

She didn't like it.

Talking to Delaney might have given her some sense of comfort, though, and she hadn't known how much she needed something like that until now.

Anastasiya's dad came back home from Washington on a Friday, and to say things were uncomfortable would be the understatement of the year.

All three members of the Novikov household were seated around the dinner table, eating Martha's heavenly steak. The woman had made sure to cook a really nice meal today now that Anastasiya's dad had come back home. The food was good, but the circumstances were awkward so no one really said anything.

The silence was the loudest noise they could hear, almost deafening. The only other sound was the cutlery scraping against the surface of the plates.

Aleksey was the one to break the silence. "Ana, how was your day?" His smile was kind. "Did you learn anything?"

Anastasiya stared at him, not knowing quite how to respond to such a trivial question. "It was fine, and yeah, I did."

Aleksey nodded and continued eating his food, leaving them back to the silence.

"How was Washington?" Carla asked. She picked around her food and didn't look up, keeping her eyes firm on the plate in front of her.

It was obvious this conversation wasn't going to end well.

Aleksey looked up at her, surprised by her question, but quickly changed his facial expression into a nonchalant one. "Fine."

"Anything important happening?"

"No."

"Then what was the hurry to leave?"

Anastasiya furrowed her eyebrows at that. Her dad had left for a business trip, hadn't he? It felt like her mom was insinuating something else here. She didn't know what to quite believe, but it's obvious it wasn't exactly a business trip that had summoned him to America.

Aleksey put his fork down. Not with force, but it still caused everyone at the table to look up at him.

"It was important."

Carla raised an eyebrow, challenging him. "You just said it wasn't."

"For God's sake, Carla. Can't you-"

Anastasiya couldn't help herself. She usually didn't interrupt when they started, but she was tired. Delaney's words had brought some sense into her, somehow.

"Can you not, please? We're eating," she interrupted, not looking at either of them.

She did notice their surprised glances from her peripheral vision. Then they both looked at each other, and Anastasiya saw them nodding at each other. It was some sort of silent agreement to take the argument later.

Anastasiya silently scoffed. As if that was any better.

Later that evening, Anastasiya went up to her room to sleep earlier than the rest of her family. Before walking into the bathroom to remove her makeup, she sat herself in front of her makeup table to admire the work she had done to her face this morning.

She looked good, but the eye area had smudged, making her big green eyes look way more tired than she was. Her dark brown hair was a tangled mess, so she grabbed her hair brush and began combing through it. Once done, she sighed and closed her eyes.

She imagined herself in college. How would that be? Peaceful, hopefully?

She opened her eyes again and widened her eyes quickly, frightened. The cat she had tried to ignore for the past two days (it was hard, because the creature was literally everywhere she turned) was now on her bed, staring at her through her mirror.

"How the hell did you get in?" She panicked and spun her chair quickly around to face the cat. "What do you want from me?"

The cat shrugged, having no idea of how morbid it looked. "None of your concern, Anastasiya," it emphasised on her name thoughtfully. "You go by so many nicknames, though? Ever told anyone to cut it out?"

She didn't reply, too shocked by the fact that a cat was speaking to her, and interacting like a normal human being.

This couldn't be real.

"Oh, it's pretty real."

She widened her eyes. It could hear her thoughts? Hadn't it previously told her that it couldn't do that? She didn't have the stomach to run out, simply too terrified of being murdered, like he–it has previously threatened her with.

"I can't read your mind, Anastasiya. Your face is just so obvious to me," it laughed, though it showed no sign of humor.

As if it hadn't previously been laughing at her, it suddenly became a bit too serious. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you. Help. Should I spell it out for you? H. E. L–"

Anastasiya shook her head quickly with furrowed eyebrows as she interrupted him mid-speech. "Help me?" she spluttered. "With what?"

The cat rolled its eyes, sighing at the interruption. "Nice room." When Anastasiya didn't say anything, it spoke again, "With whatever you want, sweetie. I happen to know what it is; you do too. I'm your savior here."

"Which is . . ." she trailed off, still scared even after the assurance of not killing her.

God, she was speaking to a cat, of course she was dead scared. What could this thing help with, anyway? Anastasiya didn't even know what she needed help with. Or at least she thought she didn't?

It met her eyes. "Your parents."

Anastasiya narrowed her eyes, thinking she had heard wrong. "What?"

The cat raised its paw and began licking it slowly. "I can make your parents love each other again." Its tone changed into a conniving one, and Anastasiya didn't know what to make of it. "You want that, don't you?"

She was intrigued, but wondered how much of it was the truth. She didn't know if this was part of her imagination or if it was real.

"How?"

The cat raised its paw again, turning it over to stare at its claws. Its smile was sly, and it didn't look up as it spoke. "I can make your parents love each other in many ways. Except for one. I can't make them magically fall in love using my powers. I might be a faery, but there are limits. Faeries can't touch love."

"A faery? You mean wings and pixie dust?"

This was too good to be true.

Anastasiya sensed she had said something wrong when it growled and sent her a glare. "I'm not a fairy, you moron. Tinkerbell doesn't exist. I know in fairytales we're creatures depicted as kind and loving who can apparently only be seen by humans who have the Sight and that there's a rule that says fairies can only be women."

She didn't reply, scared that if she spoke again, she'd anger the creature further than it already seemed to be. She had already gotten him annoyed, she didn't want its wrath too—if the thing was real, that is. She wondered if she was hallucinating. That could also be a valid explanation for this.

Anastasiya gasped when the cat turned into the same tall man she had seen two nights ago. The transition from cat to human was a rather disturbing sight, and she felt like she had to look away for a few seconds. He had green eyes—much brighter than her own—and curly hair that reached his shoulders. He was extremely handsome, and by the looks of it—amused.

"Do I look like a woman to you, Anastasiya?"

She quickly shook her head, too terrified to speak. Five seconds ago, it was a cat. Now it was a giant human. What was happening?

"Thought so. And for fuck's sake, make your neighbor's butler stop harassing me, okay?"

Anastasiya nodded quickly, not sure how to interpret that demand. "Yes."

"Such a polite human," he noted. "You can only see me because I want you to," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Anyway, back to what's important. According to my thorough research, your parents only hate each other because of the way they met. Any ideas popping into your small head?"

Anastasiya scratched her arm and looked down with a frown. "I mean, I know everything about their love story, but how they met is still, like, a blur. They told me; I just forgot the story."

The faery glanced up at the ceiling as if he couldn't quite believe his ears. "You don't remember how your parents met." He looked down at her again, tilting his head mockingly. "We can't continue this if you don't really know. I suggest you ask."

Anastasiya scowled at the man, arms crossed. "Why can't you tell me yourself? You did your thorough research, didn't you?"

The man shrugged. "Nah. It's not really entertaining if I tell you."

Anastasiya didn't want to do this. She didn't want to ask her parents anything. Especially not after the fiasco of a dinner just earlier.

She still found herself asking, "Then after that?"

The faery only smiled. "Then we'll simply find a solution to our problem."

Anastasiya scoffed. This guy already knew the solution, she was sure of it. She didn't understand why he was beating around the bush like this.

"I'll keep in touch, Anastasiya."

She watched as he suddenly disappeared into thin air.