I See You

23

Nicola pushed the last bag in his mother's car and closed the trunk, he turned around to find Janet walking down the porch holding a huge handbag that was surely enough, about to burst from all the things Janet probably packed in.

"Mom, really?" chuckled Nicola "What do you have in there?" he pointed at the handbag.

"Things I need" explained Janet as she made her way towards the car and her son.

"Really?" asked Nicola, he crossed his arms "I'm pretty sure you don't"

"Nicola, you have no idea what might happen" explained Janet "I could end up selling more things than the ones I expect"

Nicola said nothing, he just rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, he took the obviously heavy bag from his mother's hand and walked towards the passenger door. Nicola placed the bag inside the car as his mother walked towards the driver's door and pulled it open.

The sun was high up in the sky and Nicola could feel the sweat beads appearing over his forehead, he took a deep breath and walked towards his mother. Janet smiled at her only son and rapidly pulled him into a tight hug.

It had been a few years since her husband had died and with his white and blue hair and all the tattoos, Nicola was the walking image of his father. She held him tight against her and he held her against him tight as well; there was a silence between them and for the first time since moving to town, Janet was missing her husband a lot.

"Will you be ok?" asked Janet as she pushed herself away from her son, she looked at him and cupped his face with both hands.

"Mom, come on" smiled Nicola "I'm a full grown man" he chuckled.

"I know you are" smiled Janet "That doesn't mean I don't worry about you"

"I know mom" smiled Nicola, he cupped her face gently between his hands "I promise to call until you come back, and it will just be three days, I'll survive"

"This house better not burn to the ground when I come back" joked Janet, she hugged Nicola once more "Invite friends over so you won't be alone"

"I haven't made a lot of friends in town yet, mom" pointed out Nicola.

"Invite Lena over then" sighed Janet.

Janet turned to the car and stepped inside, she closed the door and looked at Nicola as she rolled down the window.

"I love you"

"I love you too mom"

There was a silence between them and then Nicola added "Please be safe"

"You be safe too"

Because the truth was, they were all they had left; Janet looked at her son and then started the car and with one last smile she drove off leaving Nicola standing in the driveway.

Nicola watched as his mother drove off and followed the car until it was out of sight, once the car was gone he put on his sun glasses and turned to look at his own car sitting in the open garage; he frowned and rolled his eyes.

"Mom, you need to close the door at night" he whispered as he made his way towards the car.

Nicola looked down at his watch and pulled the car keys out of his pocket, he opened the car and stepped inside, he was almost certain that Lena was about to leave from work or had already left; he would drive by the Frozen Paradise and if she wasn't there he would go by her house.

He could take her out for dinner or maybe if she was tired he could bring her over to his house or go to the movies.

"You want her to come back home with you" he said to himself as he drove down the street towards the Frozen Paradise.