“Looks like the connection between that woman and Cindy might be something more,” Edison said, giving Claire a knowing look.
"Edison, you seriously don't know? Cindy grew up in the countryside. If she was close to an older woman like that, none of you ever heard?” Claire asked, genuinely curious.
Edison shook his head. "No clue. I've never seen her before." He meant it. The woman next to Cindy seemed around middle age, but she took care of herself.
"She seems pretty important to Cindy," Claire mused, tapping her chin. "The way Cindy was with her, you'd think that was her mom or something."
"Maybe some kind of godmother?" Claire offered. But if that was true, why keep it a secret from her own family? It just didn't add up.
"If that's the case, maybe Pandora knows more. You should ask her," Edison said.
With a quick move, Claire snapped a photo of Fallon's profile with her phone. "I'll show Pandora next time I see her."
"Good call," Edison agreed, then glanced at the others. "Looks like we're set. Let's head to the James place."
When they arrived, the James family's maid answered and, spotting Claire, blurted out, "You're back?"
Octavia, hearing voices, thought it must be Cindy. When she came out and saw Claire, her face changed for a second.
"What are you saying? That's Claire." The maid quickly corrected herself, "Claire."
Claire didn't care about Octavia's attitude. However the maid addressed her, it didn't matter. Honestly, Octavia acting so uncomfortable was almost funny.
"Claire, come in, come in. Edison, come in too - have a seat." Latham welcomed Edison like he was a long-lost friend.
Truth was, Latham really wanted to be close with Edison, hoping Edison could introduce him to the person behind VIA Group. There had to be some major player running the show, and if Edison could setup that meeting or help get their project funded, things could take off to no time.
So right now, Latham's enthusiasm for Edison totally overshadowed his greeting for Claire. Claire caught on immediately and shot Edison a quick wink. Edison knew exactly what was happening.
Edison was no rookie, and in business circles, even the craftiest types had a hard time pulling one over him. Latham's little game was pretty obvious.
With Latham busy with Edison, Octavia ended up looking after Claire and Jenny Jenny was there as Edison's girlfriend. When Octavia heard genny was a director for her own overseas fashion brand she dennitely seemed interested. She figured they'd have plenty to talk about fashion-wise.
Claire and Shirley, meanwhile, didn't need anyone hovering over them.
"Hey Octavia, where's Cindy?" Shirley asked, dropping Cindy's name on purpose.
"Oh, Cindy just left. She said she needed a break from homework and wanted to get some fresh air.” Octavia, really, was kind of annoyed about it.
She felt like Cindy left on purpose, just to dodge Claire, which annoyed her. Why should she have to act that way?
"I could've sworn I just saw Cindy walking with some older lady, laughing and
talking. Honestly, I thought it was you at first. But then we came here and saw you were home the whole time."
"You saw Cindy with someone else?"
Octavia looked skeptical. Was
Shirley really trying to stir up
trouble? Honestly, Octavia didn't
think Shirley would have the brains
for that kind of thing.
Octavia glanced over at Claire instead. Now, if anyone could be orchestrating something, it'd probably be her.
Shirley just shrugged, all innocent. "I thought I saw her, but maybe I'm wrong. Could've been someone who just looked like Cindy, I guess."
"It was probably just a mistake then," Octavia said, brushing off the idea.
Claire kept quiet the whole time. She knew that if she said even a single word, everyone would think she was planting seeds and trying to cause drama.