A Mob Boss's Territory (Book 4-About Vincenzo)

3. Terza's Touch

Clarisa was sitting in the American Airline flight reading a magazine while looking around her in the first class section checking out the other passengers. This was holiday time. She was going to spend the holidays in America like last year and she looked forward to it. Of course meeting the wolf was going to be hard when he was occupied with someone else. She avoided him when he could but now it didn't bother her as much as when she had just left. The first few months away from her family she felt wrong because she thought she was running away from a challenge. But when she was spending time with Anna Rosario at her home, it was impossible to feel guilt. The woman was self made. She really looked upto her. If Vincenzo hadn't been fixing Letizia's mess and she hadn't been forced to leave to have some space, then she wouldn't have met Anna Rosario like she did. It was up close and personal at the house of Agostini. Anna Rosario was a rebel in every way. She was away from her family but she didn't show any regrets. She was independent. She was strong and she was well respected. Clarisa had attended parties with her and some business meetings were Anna Rosario was leading. She loved how a woman could be earning the respect of the men in their world. Of course her husband was an influence but Clarisa could clearly see how hard Anna Rosario worked to keep up with the world.

Clarisa had asked Anna Rosario about her motivations. What motivated her to go on in her life. She had answered simply " Love. I love my husband, I love my children and I love life..."

Clarisa hadn't been convinced and had asked " But you had a family in America. You left them behind. You gave up so much. Don't you miss it. Didn't you lose so much."

Anna Rosario had smiled " My man is worth it sweetie. He fought for me. He is what I live for. I love my family... But sweetie we have to make sacrifices. But if you love someone you will put the world aside for them. Falling in love is only the beginning of difficult choices. The easy way is to not fall in love at all. Sometimes it's easier to live alone and not have to face tough decisions. I wouldn't swap my family and children for the world even though I had to give up the chance to lecture at an Ivy League college. It was worth it. Love makes it all worth it."

Clarisa knew where she came from. Amethyst, her daughter had been almost dead for months. The pain of losing her daughter for those months must have been tough but she said love made it all worth it.

Clarisa put her magazine away and looked around. She needed to do something right now. Yes. Love mattered. But so did her studies and her career. There was a maths genius on the plane. She really wanted to interview him for her editor of a magazine she was working part time as an intern alongside her studies. He was  a genius and it was a good opportunity to catch him before others did. So she decided to go go upto him. He was sitting at the other side of the plane. She stood up and walked towards him. Her body guards were on alert. She gave them a sign to stand back as she walked closer to the seat of the maths genius.

Clarisa sat down next to him and showed him her card " Terza O'Neil. I am an intern journalist. Can I interview you?"

The young man was shocked " Me. No I don't like interviews. I am just going to America to judge a maths challenge as guest judge. I am not here to get publicity. In my country we don't care for becoming a celebrity. I am so sorry but I have to decline."

Clarisa sighed. At least she tried. She nodded " Fine. Ravi." She then stood up and walked away. " There goes the Maths genius from Gujarat. Maybe she could be lucky enough to meet another Indian Mathematician. She had studied the work of Ramanujan recently for her Maths articles. It would have been nice to interview a genius. Maybe better luck next time. It was hard to be a woman. It was hard to earn respect as a woman. She was trying not to use her name anywhere and make her way without the backing of her family. She was at least on track for securing a scholarship for college. She had the grades. That was one target to meet.