Angelo had decided to leave when I got up to continue serving and even though several minutes had passed my mind just couldn't stay in the right place.
I sighed, putting an empty tray on a random empty table and holding my forehead in distress. "Why would she do this? She can't just show up out of the blue like that. It's not fair-"
I was well away from the large window by now but I couldn't stop my hands from shaking from all the pent up anger and disappointment and even love I couldn't help but feel towards her.
With a groan, I let my head fall against the nearest wall.
What did she want? Why today? So much had happened already, I couldn't handle this properly today.
I couldn't think straight enough to provide myself an answer yet but when I turned and looked across the room, I saw Dad coming out of the kitchen just as the main doors opened.
Thoughts of running to tell him what just happened flew out my head when I realized my mom just walked in. They were walking to each other!
"No! She's coming in?!" I whispered and turned back to face the wall, my eyes squeezed shut. "I thought she was just passing by! I wish she could just... leave us alone."
Leaning back, I peeked over my shoulder to see where they were seated and it was far across the room in a corner.
What were they talking about?
Luckily for me, where they were seated was a perfect place for eavesdropping.
Newly determined, I hurried along the walls of the restaurant, staying out of sight till I was right beside them; hiding behind a wall with square air holes for flowerpots.
Taking out my phone I put it on silent, making sure there'd be no accidents.
"...and so after South Africa, I decided to stay here a bit, you know, to get better." Mom was saying.
She was sitting right opposite Dad, her legs crossed as she leaned back into her seat. Dad had his arms folded and on the table, he might have looked nonchalant from above the table, but below it, his leg was bouncing.
"Well you don't look sick, I assume you're fine now." He said. "Why aren't you half way around the world already?"
"Why are you here?" I whispered, narrowing my eyes. There was a black bag on the floor near her seat and I could see the edges of a stack of papers jutting out of a side.
"Keith and I..." Mom started.
"Ah, yes. The boyfriend." Dad said dryly.
She had a BOYFRIEND?!
"Well he wants us travel together next so I'm waiting for him to sort some things out." She said, tapping her black nails on the table.
I raised a brow.
"I'm sorry, he wants?" Dad asked, leaning forward. "When did you start doing anything someone wants, Princess Olivia?"
"Don't call me that."
Dad scoffed.
"Keith and I discussed and agreed that I'll wait."
"That's really hard to believe."
"Maybe it's because we've never wanted the same things, Jimmy."
"We are two people, we're not supposed to want the same things, but we're supposed to find our middle ground."
"Obviously, we're too different for a middle ground."
"I bet you and Keith get along really well, he tells you what to do and you think your minds are so compatible that you just go along with it. I've never seen you even talk back to the guy."
Mom's eyebrows crashed down. "Keith does not tell me what to do. No one tells me what to do."
"Whatever you say, Princess Olivia." Dad said, unfolding his arms just to pick up the cupcake in front of him, look at it and put it down. "You have what you always wanted..."
Mom smirked, resting an elbow on the table and supporting her chin with her hand.
She was so effortlessly beautiful, I'd almost forgotten.
"You have what you always wanted too, Jimmy." She said looking around the place. "Your own restaurant? You followed your dream, I'm... proud of you."
"Thanks, that means so much." Dad said dryly.
Mom's smirk only expanded. "Sarcasm? Wow, someone's tougher than I remember."
More leg bouncing on Dad's part. He was trying to play the tough guy but unfortunately for him, that wasn't his forte. Mom was the tough one and he was the pushover.
"Okay, jeez I was just trying to know what else I missed." She said leaning back into her seat. "Do you work out now?"
She was having a laugh.
"Technically, that's not really your business."
"Technically, I'm still your wife."
I did not know that. Was that what those papers were then? Divorce papers?
"Doesn't mean you can walk into my life anytime you want, you need to stop doing that. You need to make up your mind so you don't have me watching out or something, okay? You're not some kind of boss lady anymore."
"I'm not?" Mom asked, going to rest her elbow on the table again, this time 'accidentally' knocking her cupcake to the ground.
"Oops."
Almost without thinking twice, Dad stood up and went to it, bending down to pick it up before he realized what he was doing.
I face-palmed with a quiet sigh. This guy.
Mom looked down at his position on the floor, raising up her sunshades to reveal a victorious look in her eye for a second before it softened to something else.
Dad sighed in resignation and looked up at her, the smudged cupcake between his fingers. With one hand, Mom reached out and brushed back some of his hair that had fallen out of place.
Absently, I tried to remember when they stopped looking at each other like that.
"Here, I'll throw the stupid cupcake away." Dad said, sighing again. "It has raisins anyway."
"I hate raisins" Mom said, watching as he made to rise.
"I know... OW!" He'd slammed a shoulder into the underside of the table with a bang as he stood.
I hid my snort behind my hands.
"Jimmy!" Mom said, immediately getting up to rub his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Ouch, yeah, yeah I'm fine...." Dad said, laughing lightly at himself, "I'm such a...mess..."
"You hit yourself pretty hard."
"It happens!"
"Didn't break anything?"
"No, but I'll bruise for sure..."
They were both laughing now and Dad had his hand on her elbow.
I chuckled a little too, but got a hold of myself before I started longing for something that wasn't certain.
But they clearly weren't over each other yet, it was obvious since they were still holding each other despite their laughter having died out.
"Jimmy." Mom said.
"Hmm?"
"I wish we could find our middle ground."
My chest heaved as I looked down. Wasn't I enough of a middle ground for them?
"This isn't..." Dad hesitated before letting her go and taking a step back. "It isn't just about us anymore, you know?"
Mom nodded. "How is she?"
"Angry." Dad replied, straight up. "Rightfully so, Olivia, she doesn't deserve what you're doing to her."
"I'm sorry, I-" Mom sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose, "I want to fix it, I know I messed up but I had reasons..."
"What reasons? What could be good enough to justify abandoning your own child?"
Mom just shook her head, "I can't tell you that."
"That's just a load of bull, okay?" Dad said and I couldn't agree more. "When you're really ready to fix things with Violet, you'll tell her your reasons and maybe she'll tell you all the terrible things she went though when she needed you."
Mom's hands formed fists at her sides and before I was sure if they were trembling, she put them in her coat pockets quickly.
"She hates me now, Jimmy. I saw her through the window and her eyes were just..."
"Violet knows you're here?" Dad asked and immediately started to look around. Gasping lightly, I stepped back from the wall just incase he could spot me.
But I didn't need to bother because just then, a bespectacled, red-headed man suddenly came in through the main doors.
He was tall, he could have been anybody but the way he searched the crowd and frowned the moment he spotted Mom and Dad standing together was a given.
The way he walked towards them, the way they watched him walk towards them and worst of all the way Mom started to look small in her pretty outfit.
"Keith, what are you doing here?" She asked and my jaw could have fallen to the floor.
It wasn't what she said, it was how she said it.
All the confidence and sass I'd associated her with since I could remember was suddenly inexistent.
Could it be?
"Please no." I whispered to myself but watched closely, hoping I was just villainizing him because he was my mom's boyfriend and because he openly didn't like my Dad.
"Adams." Keith said stiffly, not answering mom's question.
"Mr. Mulligan." Dad replied with a nod.
"I thought you were at the gym." Mom said with a smile that seemed more patronizing than anything.
"I'm sure you did." Keith replied. I don't know how Dad didn't wince from the ice in his voice. "Come on, let's go."
"Olivia isn't done with what she came here for." Dad informed him.
"She wasn't supposed to be here in the first place." Keith snarled before turning to Mom who looked away quickly. "You said you had a hair appointment."
"So what?!" I hissed. That was supposed to be Mom's line but she remained silent, going to pick her bag off the floor.
"I'm sorry, Keith. Let's go." She smiled and hooked her arm with his so they could walk out together.
Dad just stood there probably wondering what was going on.
But I didn't have to wonder, I knew exactly what was happening.
"No, no, no." I whispered and dashed out of my hiding place.
"Wait!" I called, running past Dad who did a double take in shock.
I weaved between the tables as fast as I could, trying not to knock anyone or anything over before bursting out the front doors.
They were on the sidewalk now, walking faster.
"Mom, wait!" I called, heart pounding in my chest.
She was about to turn around when Keith, said something that made her change her mind, his hand firmly gripping her arm.
"I need to talk to you!" I screamed. People were looking but that couldn't stop me right now. Keith was already leading her to her car, hurrying her into the driver's seat and shutting the door before walking briskly to his own car, not sparing me a glance.
I didn't make it to her in time and I skidded to a stop when she drove off. Panting hard, I doubled over in defeat, watching Keith get in his own car and drive after her.
He, from what I could tell, wasn't good for her at all. I didn't know how much damage he had done but I couldn't let him go on. I couldn't let him take her away from me.
"Violet," Dad's voice called as his running steps slowed down to a halt behind me. "Honey, are you okay...?"
"I need your keys!" I said, straightening up and wheeling around to face him.
"What-?"
"If I drive fast enough, I can catch up and talk to her..."
"Violet..."
"What are you waiting for?" I asked him, my voice frantic to my own ears. "Please just..."
"No. And that's it." Dad stressed.
"Just listen to me! You don't know what's... You didn't see how..."
"I saw it." Dad said and pulled me to him by my shoulders and squeezing me in a hug. "I saw exactly what you saw, but you need to slow down, please."
Shutting my eyes, I took deep breaths.
"She made her choice."
"But..."
"She's a grown woman, Violet. You can't meddle in her mess right now." He said, rubbing my back. "I know her, and I know she'll see for herself what's going on. Once that happens, I promise she's got it from there."
I was in no way satisfied with Dad's answer, but I nodded and sniffed as he let me go.
There was hurt in his eyes that he tried to hide as he searched his pockets for his keys.
"Want to go home?" He asked, a weak smile on his face.
"Yeah." I croaked, nodding. "It's been a long day."
"I could use an early day too." Dad said and led the way back into the restaurant to get our stuff.
The drive home was quiet as we both thought over the events of this evening. The radio was so low it was just background noise.
What on earth did my mom even see in Keith? Maybe he was like Hale, perfect at first but changing so subtly she couldn't tell the difference.
Maybe, like Dad had said, she just liked him because they were similar, he must have been a traveler as well.
Was similar interests really all that mattered to her?
I looked up at Dad. He was perfect! Kind and generous, not ugly looking either and I just knew he treated her well.
"Dad?" I said quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you still love her?"
He stared straight ahead for a moment, his hands tightening around the wheel but eventually he gave an answer.
"I don't think I ever stopped." He said, glancing at me for a second. "And that's what really blows... um..." His voice cracked and I turned to look out the window.
Not only was my life a mess, my parent's lives were as well.
Just great.
(・o・)
Another update so soon? Woohoo!
Fun fact: Angelo was in this chapter at first, but I had to remove all his lines and actions because he was really giving npc vibes. Lol.
So...what do you think about Olivia Blackwood Adams?
Hope you liked this one!
Rhodes.