MAFIA'S PIANIST ✔

35| Veiled Past - 1

The neighbor continued as her mother shook her head carelessly "just some necessary items to feed my stomach" she joked while tightly squeezing on the poor flower in her hand.

The young innocent mind of Mia failed to notice the cold sweat that broke through her mother's face as she gulped quietly trying to end the conversation.

The neighbors laughed a bit "Anyway see you, Ms. Leighton, let's catch up later!"

Her mother finally closed the door and leaned against it, sighing out in relief. The stem of the sunflower was almost crushed but surprisingly the flower looked as beautiful as ever.

Mia's mother noticed her daughter looking sadly at the flower as she extended it to "Go and put it in the vase honey".

Mia smiled brightly while nodding as she grabbed the flower and ran inside the kitchen to grab a vase.

When she was finally out of sight, her mother's legs trembled uncontrollably and they finally gave out as she slipped to the floor. Her heart hammered against her chest as tears after tears escaped her eyes.

The fear of losing her child overwhelmed her as she slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her tears.

● ● ●

"Mom?" Mia whispered while chewing on her burrito.

Her mother hummed as she stared at the news channel, the number of deaths and the number of places bombarded had increased effectively.

"When will all this stop?" her childish question made her mother flinch.

"I-I don't know baby, it will soon-"

"When will dad come back?"

Her mother's head snapped towards her direction, her hand clenching against the remote. She quickly wiped away the tear forming in her eyes and looked away again.

"He will come back soon, I'm sure of it" her mother did not sound sure at all, it all felt like she was trying to convince herself too.

Mia didn't miss the small teardrop that escaped her mother's shimmering brown eyes, the mother-daughter duo shared the same color of beautiful eyes.

Mia was a little more sensitive than the kids her age, she knew what was going on. Her father suddenly disappearing almost 6 months ago did not do her mother any good.

Her mother cried almost every day.

Her father was never the one to stay with them always, but, he almost always came to visit them once a week. Mia was told that he couldn't stay because of his work.

But Mia knew that it was just an excuse.

The one thing the young kid could not decipher was why her father did that. She knew he loved both her and her mother dearly. So. . .why?

"If you are done, go to sleep baby" her mother's small voice whispered as Mia nodded obediently while jumping off the kitchen stool.

Mia's eyes caught the sunflower, which had brought a smile to her mother's face after months, one last time, before walking back to her room.