The next day at lunch time I’m not invited to go with Nancy and the others. No surprise there, after the way I snapped at Nancy yesterday. I look for the nearest cafe and sit alone with a latte between my hands. I observe people sitting near me for a while until I remember what’s in my purse. I take out my phone and call Miranda.
Stefan is waiting for me outside the crystal doors. I give him a thin smile and he takes my hand to walk with me back to his car.“Are you still angry at me?” He asks me as we drive away.“I’m not angry, just... frustrated,” I reply. “My parents keep secrets from me all the time, there’s so much about them I ignore... in many ways it’s like I’m l
I wake up early and full of energy. I get to the CrossFit class at 9 o’clock and Miranda is already here. I’m excited, I have missed my training the last couple of weeks, but today I finally felt good enough to come. I take my place next to Miranda. I’m sure she’s going to want to tell me all about her date last night with Barney. “Good morning,” I greet cheerfully. Miranda looks at me with a sad expression. Maybe her date didn’t go very well. “What’s wrong?”
It’s almost Sunday afternoon and I haven’t seen my mom yet. She didn’t join us for breakfast and she hasn’t come out of her room all day. I hear her walking upstairs, but that’s it. I haven’t really spoken to her after she snapped at Stefan and I was hoping we could talk about what happened, but she’s clearly not interested in spending time with her daughter. It’s like I’m all alone at home. My dad went out, I bumped into him early in the morning when I was going out for a run, he was leaving with some intruders, Stefan included, so I assume they are doing something work-related. They haven’t come back yet.
The week goes by painfully slow. Every day seems longer than the last. I must admit I’ve learned many new skills at my job, but I haven’t seen Stefan once since last Sunday and the longing is killing me. He’s been busy with work and has spent most of his time supervising shipments. Part of me prefers it because at least that way he’s not at home as much and the less he’s there the fewer chances there are of my mom being rude to him, but it also means I don’t get to see him as much.I look incessantly at the clock on my screen, it’s Friday and I’m ready
I wake up before he does. I’m still wrapped around his arms, I move slightly to change my position, my legs feel numb. He doesn’t wake up. A warm feeling floods my chest, he looks so cute when he sleeps. I watch him for a while until I can’t hold the need to pee any longer. I’m not the kind of person that walks around with no clothes, especially in another person’s home, but he’s soundly asleep so I take my chances and run to the bathroom. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but I’m still pretty shocked by how neat the place is. It looks like a photograph from a magazine. Everything it’s in its place, the towels are
Every day for the next couple of weeks I spend every free second I have with Stefan, he picks me up after work every day and on the weekends we stay together as well. I haven’t seen Miranda or even my parents, but I’m enjoying my time so much I don’t even care. The more I know Stefan the more I like him. It’s scary how much I’ve come to care for him in such a short time. A few weeks ago, I didn’t even know he existed, but now I can’t imagine not being with him.“So, I was thinking of a fun game we can play tonight,” Stefan says as we reach the fro
I go downstairs earlier than usual. It’s hard to sleep feeling this excited. Stefan loves me and I feel like I’m walking on clouds. Everyone is surely still sleeping so I try to be quiet as I go down. I walk towards the kitchen to make coffee, but then I stop midway when I hear a heated discussion coming from my dad’s office between him and Mike. I tiptoe near the office door, remaining at a distance where I’m close enough to be able to hear the argument, but not close enough in case they come out unexpectedly and I have to run.“How can you be so calm after what they did?!&rd
Shortly after breakfast, Stefan and I go to the mall. We plan to go to the movies, but we run into Miranda on our way to the movie theater. She’s waiting for Barney who is running late. We decide to keep her company while he arrives. I’m glad to see her, not just because we haven’t spent much time together lately, but because I want her and Stefan to be friends as well. They haven’t had the chance to get to know each other and as my mom and cousin already hate him, it’s really important for me that my best friend is team Stefan.We go to the food court and sit at a table
I light the big Buzz Lightyear shaped candle on top of the carrot cake Agatha made. Alex loves Buzz Lightyear, so our house is full of toys and stuff from that cartoon character. He likes it so much we were afraid his first word would be Buzz, luckily it wasn’t, it was “dad”. He is even wearing a Buzz t-shirt that I bought especially for him to wear today on his 1st birthday. I step out of the kitchen and into the dining room, Alex gasp excited as he sees the candle, he is sitting on his dad’s lap. Agatha starts to sing happy birthday at the top of her lungs. Rebecca and Stefan share a mocking smile discreetly and then start to sing along. It has been hard for Rebecca to reconnect with her brother, but she wanted to be part of ba
At dawn, we hear a loud bang followed by multiple shots and a lot of shouting from Romano’s men. We are being attacked. Rebecca and I immediately get to the floor, I cover my baby with my trembling body. A tall man with dark hair comes into the room agitated.“They found us! We have to get out of here, come with me.” He yells at us. “Hurry!”
On June 21st, I gave birth to a healthy beautiful boy with big blue eyes. Rebecca helped me delivered it, she is an important Gynecologist with her own private practice and she took great care of us. She also hired me as her receptionist and she helps me take care of little Alex whenever I need it.I have to admit, I get sad sometimes that my baby boy is never going to meet his dad, but Rebecca always makes me look on the bright side: we are safe, safe from Romano, saf
Luckily, Romano’s men don’t come with us to Rio, only Diogo, Agatha’s driver, and bodyguard, accompanies us to the city. We go to a big mall, buy an iced coffee and start going through the different shops. I keep on the defense, in case Agatha starts trying to persuade me to give Romano the information he needs, but she doesn’t even mention the subject, instead, she seems nervous. She constantly looks over her shoulder to check if Diogo is near us, I guess she is scared someone might attack us as they did to Stefan.
I stay in bed until morning comes, I’m overwhelmed by emotions: the loss of my parents, the fear of losing Stefan, and the concern for my own safety. Romano’s men are still standing outside the bedroom door, they haven’t moved an inch. I don't feel safe, they can come in any second and shoot me or do whatever Romano tells them to. I’m completely vulnerable. I can’t be alone, I have to be near Agatha or the grandparents so they can intervene if Romano tries to harm me. I ask the guards to let me go see nonna Julia. They seem reluctant, but finally they agree. They walk next to me to nonna’s bedroom and stay outside the door in case I try to go out. I don’t, I stay with her the entire day. We eat
A week goes by and Stefan's condition has not improved one bit. I resent Romano for not letting me go to the hospital, but at least he hasn’t come near me since the day he ordered his men to go through my belongings, he spends most of his days out of the mansion, probably in the hospital or searching for the people who did this to his son.I’m waiting for Agatha to come back from her daily visit to Stefan when I hear a loud bang on my door.
The firsts rays of sunshine slip through the beige curtains, I haven’t slept at all, I feel exhausted, but I can’t stay in bed any longer. My head is going to explode with all the fears and thoughts I’m having. I jump in the shower, wishing that refreshing my body will help me clear my head too, but it doesn’t. My whole body is trembling, I can’t control my nerves. I step out of the shower and hear a lot of noise in the bedroom, I wrap my body in a towel and I peek out the bathroom door to see what’s going on.
I still feel full from all the food that we ate last night, but that doesn’t stop nonna from serving me a big portion of scrambled eggs and potatoes. Romano is not having breakfast with us, so at least we get to have a harmonious morning. Unfortunately, my joy doesn’t last long. “Lucas is going to the docks to see the shipment off. I suggest you go with him, you know what to do.” Romano says as he walks in the room followed by a
We go downstairs to the dining room, but dinner is still not ready, for some reason, Agatha wants us to wait until midnight to eat. Instead, she takes us to the library, where the rest of the family is gathered, including Romano who is once again drinking scotch. He makes a grimace when he sees me come in and then looks the other way, ignoring my presence. Nonna Julia waves at me so I get close to her, I walk pass Romano ignoring him just as he is ignoring me.“I know we are supposed to wait until tomorrow to exchange gifts, but I’m old and I don’t like to wait. I knitted this for your baby,”