The 3 of us all hesitated to walk towards my mother, afraid. It was as if she was going to bite. She just looked different from the person we had been crying at for a while. We could not believe our eyes. “Well, come on over here, I don’t bite.” she smiled.My father, in all his shock and confusion and all possible emotions combined, slowly walked over to my mother with his eyes all puffy and red, ready to burst into a puddle of tears. “Mary…” he wailed as he dived on the hospital bed to hug my mother. She held him back tightly, leaving Roni and me completely confused and in shock. She was lifeless and practically dead the past few days, and then suddenly, she had all this energy. I eventually took a few steps towards her bed, initially hesitant, wondering if she was actually okay or if it was an act. “I hope you have been behaving, Tori,” she said as I hugged her tightly. “You know, your father isn’t as tough as me. He is fragile.”“HEY!” my father exclaimed after hearing my mot
A week had gone by since my mother’s death, and we were all in the house getting ready for the funeral. Russo had been very supportive and was always in the house, helping my father get over the grief. I was in my bedroom, fixing the top buttons of my dress and then slid on my black gloves on my small hands. “You look very beautiful.” a male voice said from my bedroom door. I slowly turned around and saw Russo standing by my door. His hands are in the pockets of his trousers. With him looking very smart and elegant in his all black suit. He unhurriedly walked in further into my bedroom with his hands still in his pocket. He closed the door and continued to walk up to me as I panicked, wondering what he was going to do to me. “Are you nervous?” he asked “Nervous about what?” I questioned back“Nervous about everything. Nervous about today. I mean, your mother was loved by everyone. Everyone will be there.” he replied “Well, I am going there to impress people and care about their
“Tori! Roni! Let’s go!” my father yelled as he banged on our bedroom doors. “And where the hell is Alessandro?!” Alessandro blinked at me as if he was thinking about what he was going to do and what he was going to say when or if he saw my father in the hallway. It was as if he did not expect my father to be looking for him. “I think you should leave,” I whispered, hoping no one else who may have been on the other end of the door would hear us.“No, I can’t,” he replied in a hushed tone“Why not?” I asked back, feeling all panicked and sweaty. It was not as if we had done anything, but we felt guilty. I mean, it did look wrong that my father’s good friend was in my bedroom when the door was closed.“It will look even more weird for me to come out of the room right now when he sounds very angry. Let us first wait for him to cool down or hide away then, we can go out,” he whispered. “TORI!” my father yelled again. I heard Roni’s door being opened and the sound of her shoes clicking
The tension was so awkward in the car. Roni was not helping by giggling and making comments under her breath after my father asked that awkward question. “Alessandro, why was the door closed?” he asked againHe did not even bother asking me because he knew I would find a way to change the story and make my father look like the bad person. “I guess the door just closed.” Russo finally shrugged. My father laughed, and Roni giggled in the backseat as if that was very amusing to her, while I was the only one sweating. I mean, I had not done anything fishy with Russo, but it just felt weird for my father to be pressing, my sister to be giggling, and Russo to be panicking. At least we reached the destination, and the second Russo opened the door, I hopped out. I needed air. Roni and my father walked ahead with everyone else as if we were the royal family or something while I was still at the car with Russo. “Are you okay?” he asked in a low voice.“I think you should go ahead, or I sho
I continued to kiss him until everything rushed back to my head and hit me like a tonne of bricks. What was I doing? I immediately separated from him and just blinked at him. He looked as confused as me. I suddenly realised what I was doing. And I knew it was all wrong. “I am so sorry. I- I- I did not- not realise what- I was- what I had done.” I stammered as I tried to step away from him“No- no,” Russo said as he tried to grab me back.I quickly stepped back and tried to head to the rest of the cars to hide myself. But he followed me. It scared me even more that he followed me. “Russo, I am sorry. It should not have happened. I am taking advantage of you. I am not in the right state of mind right now, and what I did to you was wrong.” I said as I began to tear up“No, you did not take advantage of me. Relax,” he said.He was trying to assure me, but clearly, it was not working because all I could feel was guilt. “Russo, my father was already very upset that you were in my bedro
“Do you think she will tell your father?” Russo asked in a low voice, hoping that Roni was gone by then“I don’t know. We better hope she does not.” I shrugged I was about to walk away when he grabbed my hand again. “Russo… I can’t. Roni just caught us, and I have to go look for my father and find out why he needs me.” I sighed “Well, you need to fix your makeup. Anyone who sees you there will know for sure what you were doing,” he informed me. “But now I don’t have a mirror. How am I supposed to fix it?” I asked as I panicked, wondering how did I look “Here, you can use my phone,” he said as he took his phone out of his pocket. It just hit me that I could have used my own, but I remembered Roni had my bag because it had the makeup, meaning she also had my phone. I opened the camera and saw how my face looked. It was not too bad, but for sure, anyone who saw it would know that I was probably kissing someone. I pushed my hair back, wiped my face a bit, and then handed him the pho
Roni did not give any more information after saying something like that. Instead, she walked away as if she did not leave me confused and wanting to know more. I had just to tag along until we were close enough to my father and the other random people he kept taking us around to meet. But once all of that was done, I pulled her aside, desperate to know more. “What do you mean by you have been there before?” I asked in a hushed tone“Tori, that’s all I am telling you, and that’s it. You will have to find out the rest on your own. Now, we have to go back home and prepare for the prayers.” she replied. ***The drive home was the most awkward thing. I was still in between Russo and my sister in the backseat, wondering why Roni could not sit in the middle or why my father could not sit in the backseat instead. I wondered why Russo was even driving around with us like he was my father’s brother or even my mother’s brother when my own blood relatives were seated at the back and entering t
I remained outside for a while, completely and absolutely shocked, while different people continued to gather at our house. Eventually, I found the courage to put one foot in front of the other and walk towards the house where everyone was in the living room and dining room, talking, sipping on tea and juice and others pretending to be crying as they stared at the family photos. But there was no Russo in sight. I knew he did not go home because I was outside all that time, and I had not seen him pass by. I headed straight for Roni’s room, I gently knocked on the door and then twisted the handle and opened the door. She was seated on the bed, flipping through a photo album as she gently brushed and touched my mother’s face as if she could feel her. “Where is your husband?” I asked the second I sat on her bed, right next to her.“He is somewhere there in the living room. I told him I needed to get away from all those people for some time. I just feel- I don’t know… I just feel like a
“I have missed you!” she screamed. “Tori, come and take this.” my father said as he handed me the ice cream. Of course, I was the one stuck to looking like the servant because everyone else was having a little family and friendship reunion while I did not know anyone.“Hey hey!” Katie walked out of the house wearing an apron. I really wondered if all that chunky huge building was actually their house or was she renting it out or did they only stay in a portion of it. “Come right this way,” she said with a smile spread widely on her face. “We brought this.” I said with zero expressions as I handed the ice cream container to her before entering the house. “Oh, sweetie! You did not have to.” she smiled but still accepted it. I walked into the house, unsure if I should take off my sandals or leave them by the door. So, I did my famous strategy of pretending to fidget with them by the door until someone sees my struggle and then tells me what to do. “Oh no, you can keep them on,” B
For some odd reason, I knew that there would be drama. I knew my father would not just accept a random dinner that was offered that same night. Unless the people came marching into the house with the food. He was too much of a person that wanted to keep to himself. “What drama?” I asked as I closed her bedroom door. “We really should get ready for this thing or your father will snap our heads off.” she laughed after she noticed my excitement. “Just tell me quickly and then I will go and get dressed.” I pressed. “No, got get changed first and then we will talk. I am home for a few more nights so we will still get to chat,” she said. I had no choice other than to going off to my room to get ready. I looked through my closet, hunting for what to wear, realising that I had not done my laundry in a while, so there was either a bunch of clothes that smelt like sweat or had stains on them. But eventually, I was able to find a pair of black jeans and a plain white T-shirt. I quickly hu
“I guess we could come around. Do you still live in the same place?” my father questioned“Yep, down the Avery street,” she answered“Okay, we will be there around 6 or 7,” he said. She walked away, excitedly while I was wondering what my father agreed to. “Let’s go and get my watch and then we can go and get some desserts,” he said. “Wait, we can’t seriously be going for an impromptu dinner,” I asked as I widened my eyes. “Of course we are. Someone has offered to host us. You think I will say no to grilled chicken?” We walked back to the jewellery shop, and Tim handed my father the watch while he pulled out his wallet and paid him. “Hope to see you again, Eli,” Tim said“Likewise.” my father responded “And the same for you too, Tori,” he added on. We headed to the supermarket and I wanted to blend myself into one of those random aisles while my father was finishing off the shopping and wondering if he should get a simple chocolate cake or ice cream and custard or if he should
After washing up the dishes, I went to the bathroom to get showered and dressed. My father did the same as well and then he came out of his room, smelling fresh and looking good. “You ready?” he asked me“Let me just spray myself one more time.” I said as I hurried back to my room to practically drown myself in my perfume. I walked out of my room to find my father fidgeting with his watch and squinting at it. “Ugh!” he groaned “What’s wrong?” I asked“I think the time on this thing is wrong and I can’t even see it. It’s so tiny.” he complained “Let me have a look at it.” I said as he pulled off the straps and handed it to me. I took a few minutes to look at his watch and then I handed it back to him. “I think it’s dead. It’s frozen. I think it got stuck on a time from like last night or yesterday.” I replied “Really?” he asked in disbelief“Yea.” I shrugged “It has been working for a long time and this is when it decides to die?” he practically wailed “Yea Dad, these things
My father had finished making the pancakes and we both put some on our plates and went ahead to eat them. We left some, hoping that Alessandro was going to come back and have his share.“Something is wrong with Alessandro.” my father sighed.I kept quiet. Apparently, I was the only one in the family who did not seem to know him long enough to determine if someone was wrong with him. My mother in her grave was probably also seeing that something was wrong with him. “Maybe he just has some things to deal with.” I shrugged “Perhaps. But one thing about him, he will be very stressed about something but he will never his a stressed or worried face in public.” my father replied “Maybe it just hit him about Mom or something.” I continued to suggest possible reasons why he was in such a mood. But my father disagreed. I mean, he did have a right to disagree. It was his friend that he had been with for a while, so he would be able to tell if something was wrong with him. “You know the othe
I quickly got dressed into my pyjamas and slowly crawled into my bed. I could not believe the day I had. I first went to some guy’s house and he managed to play along with a lie with me thinking it was all his, only to find out that it was not his house, then my ex-fiance carried himself to my house to kiss only to tell me he is getting married to his mistress and then some forbidden guy kissed me and probably wanted more but the minute I mentioned I was a virgin, he left. All of the guys I kissed that day ended tragically. The worst was I could not tell anyone about any of those. Especially the forbidden guy. So, I just laid in my bed and tried to think about it. I wanted to get out of bed and head into the room that Alessandro was sleeping in but I figured he did not want to see me after that unless I gave him what he wanted. I wanted to call my sister at that hour and have a chat with her but I knew she was not going to pick up. Or if she was going to pick up she would have proba
“I am sorry…” he whispered“Just leave!” I snapped at him “Tori, I am really sorry.” he sighed as he tried to reach out for my hand but I pushed him away “JUST LEAVE!” I yelled at him. He got off the couch but still stood there looking at me as if he was waiting for me to say something. “Go!” I yelled as I started to hit him with the bouquet of flowers that he brought. I heard my father’s door opening and then Alessandro and my father showed up. “What’s going on?” my father asked in confusion“Make him leave,” I responded in a loud volume. “Okay son, you need to leave.” My father said as he slowly walked up to Chris and tried to walk with him to the door. “Victoria, I am really sorry.” Chris tried to say again as my father had managed to get him to the door. Alessandro also stepped in as the brave man he was and took me aside to the kitchen and started to wipe my tears with a cloth he had in his pocket. Chris left the house and my dad walked towards Alessandro and I. I had m
My father stood up from the bed and walked out of the room while Alessandro followed behind. I remained sitting on my bed. I had finished the last drop of wine in my glass and wondered if I should get more. “Tori!” my father called out my name. I placed my glass down and walked out of the room as slowly and as carefully as possible, trying to ensure that I did not fall. I felt the room slowly spinning around as I stumbled to the living room. “What are you doing here?” I asked as soon as my eyes landed on Christopher. It was as if he heard us talking about him because why did he show up right at that time? Right after I had just poured my whole heart out to my dad about him and right after I had just told my father that I was letting him go. I was allowing him to do as he wanted. “Can I come in?” he asked. He was holding a bouquet of flowers and he wore full black. That was the first time he tried to look decent, apart from the wedding. “I don’t that would be best…” my dad start
We immediately separated and panted as we both stared at each other. That was the second time that day that my kiss had been interrupted and by a parent. “Oh? You’re still here!” My father said in shock as soon as his eyes landed on Alessandro “Yes, I am still here. I am a little bit tipsy. I am not sure if I should drive home when I am like this.” Alessandro replied.I wanted to laugh at his response. I was told a few minutes prior to that, that Alessandro lived nearby or at least not too far from our place. So, I thought that if he just pressed the accelerator the whole ride, he would be able to make it home, with no worries. But what did I know? That was technically the first time I had ever consumed something alcoholic so I did not know much about drinking and driving. “Oh okay. Well, you can always sleep in Roni’s bedroom since she is not around and then you can drive back home when you’re ready.” my father answered“Thank you.” Alessandro smiled“Okay, now could you please g