Not sure how I ended up here, but comment anyway!! :)
Stefania POV
As consciousness gradually returns, the blare of my alarm clock pierces the silence, jolting me awake from the depths of sleep. Disoriented and groggy, my senses were still clouded with remnants of dreams. I quickly reach over turning off the alarm on my phone, granting me a brief reprieve from the assault on my senses, though knowing it's just a temporary respite before the inevitable return to reality.
It's shoot day, I look at the clock reading 4:00 am. Our private jet leaves at 6 am and I have to be on set at 9 am. I looked over to Danielle confused about how she could sleep through such a loud alarm but after last night's events, I'm sure she fell into a deep sleep.
I decided to let her sleep just a tad bit longer. I sighed, climbing out of bed and tossing on my robe to start my morning routine. Digging out something comfy for Danielle and I to wear on our flight.
After organizing our things, I went out to check on Zadie, she didn't have her door closed so I just peeked in as she was sound asleep. I figured I'd get the coffee started, shower, and then wake the girls.
As I became closer and closer to the kitchen I started smelling the strong smell of espresso beans already brewing. I furrowed my eyebrows peaking in. "Ahhh, Buongiorno, madrina." I hugged and kissed Carmen. Walking over to grab me a mug from the cupboard.
"Buongiorno!! Ready for today?" She questioned grabbing her espresso from her Breville barista and taking a seat at the kitchen island. "Kind of.. for some reason, it's feeling like first-day jitters." I smiled trying to shake off my nerves. It's been so long since I've been on set, I just want everything to be perfect" I told Carmen, grabbing her freshly brewed espresso and taking a sip.
"Ahhh, don't stress it too much Stefania. You'll be amazing Tesoro" she encouraged.
"Yeah..." I sighed, lost in thought. I gaze into my mug of espresso. Carmen rose from her chair and approached me, standing by my side. Using her index finger, she gently turned my chin to meet her gaze. "Qual è il problema figlioccia? Parlami" Carmen questioned, I shook my head.
"Niente.. niente." I coaxed, taking another sip of my coffee
"Oh dear... I won't pressure you to speak to me. But, I can sense when something is weighing on that beautiful mind of yours. Just remember, whenever you need or feel ready to talk, I'm here... si?" Carmen gently, wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close in a warm embrace. She held me securely, offering a sense of safety and support. As she leaned into the hug, she provided a comforting presence.
It's not that I didn't want to talk to Carmen, I just couldn't talk to her about everything at this moment. My brain is still trying to process the conversation Danielle and I had last night. All while being clouded by this lawsuit, my daughter's behavior, getting her help, and being back on set.
"Grazie.." I told Carmen.
There was a silence that fell upon us. I slightly noticed a tiny little head peeping from around the wall into the kitchen. "Come here, Bella," I told Zadie.
With her tousled fluffy curls, and hair sticking out in every direction, she shuffled into the kitchen, her eyes still heavy with sleep. Her pajamas were slightly askew, and a sleepy yawn escaped her lips as she rubbed her eyes. "Good morning, dolce farfalla" I smiled.
Walking over to her, I held my arms out for a morning hug, she hesitated but eventually shuffled into my arms, her arms wrapping around my waist in a sleepy embrace. I leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss on top of her head, feeling the softness of her hair against me as I felt her body tense up.
That made my heart hurt. But I didn't want to give it too much of a reaction that would make Zadie more uncomfortable. While I don't have all the details of Zadie's story, her model profile reveals a significant amount. To me... Similarly, Brielle's situation, with her guardian serving as her agent, speaks volumes.
"Did you sleep well?" I asked, brushing a stray curl of hair from her forehead.
She nodded, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment before meeting mine with a sleepy smile. "Mmm, yes," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
As I released her from our embrace, she settled onto a stool at the kitchen island, blinking away the last remnants of sleep. "Zadie, this is Carmen. La mia madrina." I introduced the two.
"Hi, Zadie. It's very nice to me you" nicely greeted her, she walked over to Zadie and wrapped her into a hug all while giving me a questioning look. "Nice to meet you too" Zadie responded.
"Farfalla, we have to be at the heliport in about an hour and thirty. Why don't you go get dressed and make sure all your things are packed.." She simply nodded, "Okay" and tiptoed back upstairs.
"She's so sweet" I turned to Carmen. She gave me a look, "we will most definitely be having a chat later." As her phone vibrated with an email "Oh gosh" she exclaimed.
"What is it?"
"I forgot to do something at the office. I'm going to run back and I'll meet you all at the heliport" She quickly grabbed her things and ran out the door.
I drank the last of my espresso, cleaned up my dish, and headed to get ready for my travels and work.
Brielle POV
I woke up excited to talk to harmonie. Tia was still sleeping so I slipped out of bed to go get dressed. I went to my room to pick out something comfortable to wear. Eh, I just grabbed my pink Essentials hoodie and sweatpants along with my pink Ron English Crocs and the necklace Zadie got me for my birthday.
I stopped to look at myself in the mirror. "Cute.. super comfy" I whispered to myself. I went to see if Tia had woken up, peeking into my mom's room and she was still sound asleep.
I tiptoed to her side of the bed, "Tia" I wiggled her shoulder, she didn't wake so I wiggled her shoulder again this time a bit stronger, "tiiaaa" I exclaimed as her head popped up. "whhhaaattt Mija?" She drawled full of exhaustion. "I'm about to head to harmonie's," I told her, her eyes began to flutter open, "Okay okayyyy, I'll drive you" She started climbing out of bed. "No, it's okay Tia. Get your rest. I'll walk and take the train" She lifted her head off of the pillow underneath her. "Okay, Mija but you better let me know when you've made it."
"Okay," I assured her, I kissed her cheek and headed out the front door. I figured on my way to harmonie's I would stop at the bodega to get her favorite breakfast sandwich and a few of her favorite snacks. My favorite bodega was a 2-minute walk so it didn't take me long to get there. I pulled open the door.
"Ahhh, Brielle! You haven't been in, in a while" Mr. Simons stated as I approached his counter. "Yeah, I know.. I was out of the country with my family. Annddd guess what?" I smiled, and he gave me a pondering look "mhmm, what?" He asked giving a warm smile.
"I TURNED FOURTEEN!" I danced and danced around the bodega as he cheered "Wooohoooo! You're getting up there girl! Hey, whatever you get is on me!"
"Oh no, I just came to get harmonie breakfast and some snacks." He shrugged his shoulder, "Well that's okay, harmonie's breakfast and snacks are on me and I'll get you next time! Yeah"
I shook my head with a slight giggle, "Okay Mr. Simons! That's fine. I want to get harmonie a Huevos Rancheros breakfast sandwich, extra jalapeño" he walked towards his electric countertop griddle. "One Huevos Rancheros sandwich with extra jalapeños coming up!" While he began making harmonie's sandwich, I wandered the store in search of a few of her favorites.
I picked up some Tajin peach ring candies, watermelon sour patches, cheez-its, Oreos, and fruit snacks. Taking them all back to Mr. Simons counter. "Order up!" Mr. Simons bagged up my things and before he gave me the bag he stopped as I reached for it. "Hey kiddo, you know you've come a long way. I remember when you first came here to New York, you were such a lost little pup. And you'd come in here all the time with those other two girls that were always mean to me. You never chose to follow them and from that moment I knew you wouldn't be like them. You've got yourself a forever family around these parks, Brielle.. I'm proud of you kid. Keep it up!"
I knew that he was talking about Vashti and Nevine. They were always such an ass to Mr. Simons for no reason. His little speech made me smile ear to ear, I tried to hold back my tears. "Thank you so much, Mr. Simons! I'll see you later!"
"Bye, kid!"
And I was on my way to harmonie. Just a 5-minute walk to the subway and a 7-minute walk from the train stop to harmonie's. It's a route I'd taken countless times before. I began my journey, but for some reason, as I was walking something began to feel different.
A weird sensation crept up the back of my neck, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I felt like I was being watched. I feel weird. I glanced over my shoulder, but how would I even know if something was off? The streets are full of humans on their way to work or.. Whatever. Brushing off my unease, I continued but quickened my pace a bit.
Maybe I'm overthinking it and it's just my anxiety, maybe my nerves are all amped up about talking to harmonie, but the feeling persisted, growing stronger with each passing minute.
I finally reached the subway, still trying to brush off my unease, I quickly boarded the next train, "thank goodness the train was pulling up as soon as I got here" I thought to myself finding an empty seat near the center of the carriage. As the train lurched into motion, I still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me or something.
My heart started racing, my anxiety reaching its peak, I almost can't breathe and I'm trying so damn hard to calm myself down because what I don't need is a meltdown in the middle of a subway ride.
I focused on my senses to bring myself back to the present moment. Feeling the sensation of my feet on the ground, the texture of my clothing as I rubbed my shirt in between my index finger and thumb, and the sound of my surroundings. All while taking deep breaths. Finally calming myself down.
As the train pulled into harmonie's stop, I gathered my bag with harmonie's things in it, ready to make a quick exit. I got off the train and darted back onto the busy New York streets. From this point on, I refuse to walk, I'm just going to get a taxi the rest of the way.
I scanned the never-ending stream of vehicles for a vacant cab. Spotting one approaching, I raised my hand and hailed it with all the confidence I could muster. The taxi slowed to a stop beside me, and the driver rolled down the window, eyeing me curiously. "Where to, young lady?" The middle-aged woman called out over the cacophony of honking horns and bustling pedestrians.
I gave her harmonie's address. The driver nodded and unlocked the doors, i climbed into the back seat, my heart pounding with excitement that i was able to get this cab. As the taxi merged back into the sea of traffic, I couldn't help but that weird feeling, it had to be something because my intuition never lies.
I finally arrived at harmonie's, I paid the driver and climbed out of the cab. I knocked on the front door only for Sophia to answer. "Oh... it's you" she uttered, I simply ignored her sass. Today has already been a lot for me. "Is harmonie here?"
"Duh, where is the psycho whore gonna be other than locked up in her smelly ass room" she giggled. "What the hell.. Sophia, what the entire fuck is wrong with you? Why do you always have it out for her as if she's done something to you?" I stepped inside while she closed the door. "And she did!" She nearly yelled at me.
"Okay, first off. Lower your tone. I asked a simple question. There is no need to yell. What did she do that was soo bad to y-" Before I could even finish my sentence she cut me off. "She literally stole my mom!"
My face scrunched up in confusion, "what do you mean Sophia." She rolled her eyes, "Just go.. she's in her room" shaking her head as she looked down at her phone and began texting. I normally don't feed into Sophia, but I'm starting to get the thought that maybe if I talk to her I can get her to back off of harmonie.
I took her hand, and we both sat on the couch. "No, I'm not going until you tell me.. maybe I can help?" She avoided contact with me, shrugging her shoulders, "I don't know.. I just... my mom already works a lot. Sometimes, she's barely even here. But when is, it's like I'm completely nonexistent and everything is always about harmonie. The little time I get with my mom, I try to do little things with her like watch movies or simply just tell her about my day. All she ever talks and asks about is harmonie! Harmonie this, harmonie that. Every word is fucking harmonie. My mom spends more and more time with harmonie, leaving me feeling like I'm being pushed to the sidelines. Family dinners became less frequent, and weekends that used to be spent together were now filled with outings with her. I miss the bond my mom and I shared, the late-night talks and the shared giggles over silly jokes and stuff"
I did not expect her to open up to me at all. But I'm not sure if I would be able to give good advice about this simply because I didn't even have a mom until I turned 13 and I don't have siblings or cousins... well, that I know of. But I decided to give it a go anyway.
"Sophia, I'm not trying to tell you how to feel. Because you have the right to feel how you feel and those feelings are valid. I just think that you should talk to your mom. It sounds like to me, your issue is with her, not harms. Um.. harmonie has already lost a lot, she has recently been through some tough things. Outside of me, you and your mom are all she has. Go easy on her, give her some grace. Because if the shoe was on the other foot, she would have never treated you the way you treat her. Maybe try to spend some time with her, she might open up. I don't know. But it most definitely needs fixing, because if you keep insulting her. I'm just going to beat your ass every single time" I ended that in the most respectful way possible and left it at that.
I smiled climbing off the couch, and heading up the stairs toward harmonie's room. I gently knocked on her door, but she didn't answer. I gently pushed open her door into a completely dark room. As I walked in, I tripped over whatever was in front of me "shit!" I exclaimed reaching for the light switch.
I turned on the light to see harmonie's room a mess! Everything was everywhere, indicating that she hadn't cleaned in what looked like forever. I shifted my focus to her bed where she was buried underneath her sheets.
I sat the bag with her snacks and breakfast on her side table, dodging clothes to get to her. "Harms" I softly called out, pulling the covers away from her head. Her skin was pale, it looked like she hadn't combed her hair in days and my goodness... she needs a shower!
Harmonie took her pillow hovering it over her head. "Harms..." I called out again. "What are you doing here?" She asked me, not even making an effort to look at me. "I wanted to talk to you" I rested my hand on her side. "I don't want to talk.. we have nothing to talk about" I sighed, not really in the mood for a back and forth. "Please.." I begged and continued, "I bought you breakfast and snacks.. you can't say no to that... right?"
"Not hungry" I walked over to turn the light switch back off, kicked my shoes off my feet, and got into bed with her. Tossing the pillow she had over her head off. I wrapped my arms around her. "Harms.. I know I left you. And I'm so sorry for that. If I hurt you... I'm sorry, but will you please talk to me" I pleaded with her.
"You shouldn't be apologizing Brielle. I hurt you. I disrespected your body after I told you multiple times I would never do that to you. Because of that, you felt it was best that we take a break. I was aware of the extent of the pain I caused you, making it unlikely that I could mend our relationship. I respect your decision. You don't need to apologize" she told me, I'm just going to assume that she's been locked in her room in this state because the way these girls breathe just burnt my nose is insane.
Slowly, I climbed out of bed, Gently grabbing harmonie's hand. Silently inviting her to rise from the depths of her sadness. With a hesitant nod, I helped pull her out of bed, allowing herself to be guided by my gentle touch into the bathroom.
I began to run shower water for her. "Do you need me to get in with you? Or are you okay?" She shook her head, "No it's okay.. I got it"
"I'll get you clothes" I left her to her privacy to go gather a few comfy clothes. I placed them on her counter and returned to her room. The energy hung heavy with the weight of harmonie's sadness, her belongings scattered everywhere amid the chaos of her unstable thoughts.
I sighed, Without a word, I began to clean, as I meticulously organized each item with care and tenderness. With each book lovingly placed on the shelf and each article of clothing folded neatly away, I sought to bring order to the chaos that consumed harm's mind.
As I cleaned, I couldn't help but feel the weight of harmonie's pain pressing down upon me, a silent reminder of the darkness that threatened to engulf both of us. Yet, with every item I put away and with every gentle touch, I offered my silent support, a glimmer of hope amid the storm.
As the room began to take shape, transformed from a fucking disaster into a haven of serenity, I glanced towards harms, who watched silently from her bathroom doorway. Our eyes met, and in that fleeting moment, I saw a glimmer of recognition.
Harmonie dropped her dirty clothes into her laundry basket. I turned into the bathroom to grab a comb and brush. I gently guided harmonie to sit before me on her bed. With tender care, I reached for the comb, its smooth bristles glided effortlessly through harms freshly washed hair. Each stroke was an act of love, a silent reassurance that she was not alone in the darkness that threatened to consume her.
"Harms" I gently called out, "yeah?" She replied in a whisper. "Is that all that's been bothering you?" I didn't think that just our situation alone would leave her in this state. It had to be more. She shook her head no. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I just feel stuck.. lost.. alone" she shrugged, I didn't respond. With each pass of the comb, I whispered silent words of comfort, my voice a soothing melody that danced upon the air. I spoke of love and light, of dreams yet to be realized, and the promise of a brighter tomorrow.
As the last tangle fell away, I set aside the comb and let her fingers trail through her hair, relishing in the softness of its touch. I parted it in three huge chunks and began braiding her hair down her back, tying it with a black rubber band.
Harmonie stood up, "thank you" she avoided contact with me. "Um.. I'll go warm your breakfast sandwich. The rest of your snacks are in the bag" I reminded her, digging her sandwich out of the bag and heading to the kitchen.
Sophia sat at the dinner table, quietly indulging in cookies and milk. A weighty silence draped over us until she finally broke it with her voice. "How is she?" She asked me biting into her cookie. "Um.. not the best. But she'll be okay.. I'll make sure of it" I popped the microwave open to warm the sandwich, setting it on for a minute.
"Mmkay, then how are you?" That question caught me off guard. To be honest, it's all just overwhelming for me right now. I don't know how to feel, I don't know what to think. I shrugged my shoulders. "I honestly don't know, Sophia," I told her as the microwave chimed. "Well you have to take care of yourself too, you know"
"Yeah" Before I grabbed the sandwich I pulled out my phone to swipe to my message. I clicked on Mama's name to send a text.
Mama☕️♥️🇮🇹
B: mama.. What do you do when someone you love ends up hurting you?
B: I know you're working so you probably won't see this until later.. But I miss you so much.
I normally would only keep the ugly truths within my relationship between Aunt Barrett and I. Simply because she really is my best friend and I just don't want to stress my parents. While I know my mom is always available to talk to, sometimes I fear she might overreact to what I have to say. She doesn't handle tough gooey situations as calmly as Mama does, and right now, I just want my mama. I pressed send, grabbed Harm's sandwich, and returned upstairs.
SN: LEAVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS! :)