KIRAI became aware of the warm late afternoon as I made my way back to my apartment. We were in for a magnificent evening as spring came to its end. I took it more slowly as I made my way to my destination, observing people enjoying the scenery. London might be a beautiful place in the spring. London might be a beautiful place in the spring. My daughter was playing with Mrs. Crane on the steps outside our flat and she was really enjoying herself. “Hello, honey!” I called Maddie with a smile.“Hello, mommy!”I took a seat on the steps and admired the trees and passing families. Two lovers walked by holding hands and looking only at each other. I observed them, took note of how involved they appeared to be in each other’s discussion, how the woman laughed and how the man’s eyes lingered on her face. I longingly wondered what happened to that feeling, since I knew what it was like to be that deeply in love. Why wasn’t love able to endure? Why did it seem as though it was continually
GABRIELI didn’t really care anymore that I was showing up everywhere with Lilliana, my secretary. Just like I didn’t care that last night I had picked the exact restaurant where Kira and Alana were. I rarely ate there, but somehow I felt the need to do all this in front of her. I could see the pain and disgust on her face at the same time. And today they invited us to a big party in honor of my childhood friend Jasper. The celebration was a social gathering. Our families have been acquainted for a long time. This was a party hosted by his parents to welcome him back to London after a brief absence. Jasper had reportedly gone to rehab in Scotland, but that was not how his family regarded his needed break. They talked about him traveling a lot. I learned from my mother that Jasper’s parents wanted him to rejoin the family business.I started missing my mum the moment I thought about her. Maybe it was time to call her and ask if we could get together for a few days.“How long must we
KIRAWhen Alana walked up to my desk, I was working on something.“Let’s go out to lunch,” she suggested. “Please,” she continued with a grin on her face.It was almost lunchtime when I looked at my watch, so I thought why not? But I was feeling like my work here was never ending. I looked up at her, but then quickly resumed my task.“I should really be working. I feel like I am always behind schedule,” I sighed. Since things were so busy at work just now, it seemed like I had barely met one deadline when another one arose."“Yeah, about that,” she replied, glancing intently in my direction. Let’s flee! I have something to tell you. " Now I was worried. Was there something I didn’t know? I glanced across to Carl’s office—one of my coworkers and, if you asked me, some sort of Gabriel’s informant—but he was preoccupied with reading a report and didn’t seem to notice anything. He said nothing when we went out and wasn’t that kind of supervisor. More than anything else, Carl’s frequ
GABRIELOn Saturday morning when I returned from my morning run, my mother was waiting for me in the kitchen. This was strange. My mother had not visited me in a while, but suddenly she was at my home. I couldn’t deny that I missed her.“Mom, to what pleasure do I owe your visit?” “Hello to you too, my son. I just missed you and I came to see you,” she explained, rounding the table to give me a welcome kiss and a hug. “I’ve made coffee.” She said with a smile. She was wearing a silk blouse and ironed trousers, and she had perfectly styled hair with not a single out-of-place strand.“Thank you. So, can I help you? Is there something wrong?”“Why do you think there is? I just came to see you” “Yeah, you said that once,” I said in a low voice.When my father left us, there were times when I blamed my mother. Then when he died, I shut myself in and left home. She tried a couple of times to get in touch with me, but I disappeared from her radar. She would text me from time to time, tho
GABRIELI was so quiet sitting in my office after the storm with my mother last night. It was not until Kira stormed through the door that I shuddered into reality. “I’ve had enough. I quit!” she screamed so loudly that her voice echoed through my ears.“What? Again?” I blurted out in shock, but I couldn’t help and grinned.It was the second time she would do it only this time she was shouting it in my face. “What are you saying?” I reacted with shock. I wasn’t expecting her to give up so quickly. Again.“Oh, come on, Gabriel. As if you don’t know” I had to come up with a solution since I couldn’t let her leave the office and my life in this way. Not for the second time.“I truly don’t. What’s happening, Kira?” I said in the most serious way possible.She gave a smirk. “I’ve been working my butt out! I’ve spent the last week slaving nonstop! After telling you, I decided it wasn’t the best course of action. I placed my life on pause, but after playing some pointless game of chance,
KIRAEverything happened so fast. When it was all over, I was quite ashamed. Even if it wasn’t the first time I scolded myself for being so easily tricked. But I wanted him so much. I needed him. We sat up, carefully getting our clothes back on, as he drew away from me. I was acutely conscious of my surroundings—his office, the boss’s office, even if it was Gabriel and the fact that we had engaged in sexual activity here it was like the worst stereotype imaginable. I was eager to leave this place.“See you on Monday?” I muttered and left his office without waiting for a response.So much for my attempt to quit the job.However, if I would be honest, I hadn’t really wanted to quit. I wanted to confront him about what was unfolding at the office, and I could get him to admit that everything was intentional. After apologizing, he gave a justification for his actions. The many tasks and unreasonable timeframes. I couldn’t believe it was because of Mark and we weren’t even dating, yet thi
GABRIELThe sun was still high in the sky and Saturday was off to a great start. I loved sitting by the pool and drinking my glass of whiskey on the rocks. I had company too. And it wasn’t my mother. “I’ve been thinking,” Lilliana said.“Yes?”“Perhaps tying the knot isn’t such a bad idea,” she muttered and her tone was carefree, as if we were only discussing our daily activities and not our long-term goals.“Say that again?”She turned and grinned at me. “I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem to be an enormous problem to me.” she stated with that same grin. I was in awe. Lilliana was just as shocked as I was to learn that our mothers were arranging our future together behind our backs. I assumed that her family had already spoken to her.“Who spoke to you? Your mother? Maybe your father?” I questioned her, but she gave me no answer.Lilliana totally ignored me. But she spoke in the same airy, carefree manner, gazing at the pool.“Oh, come on, you know I don’t give a damn about what
KIRAThe next morning I was shivering when I awoke. I’d left the window open over the night and it was chilling. As soon as I put on a sweater, I entered the kitchen. Something smelled so fine. Only one person could make those pancakes. My mom. As I entered the kitchen, she turned to face me and grinned. With too much noise and shocked at the same time, I sat down on the chair at the table. I watched her cook my favorite childhood breakfast, and it was like living a dream.“Are you hungry?” she suddenly asked me, squirming in my chair. It was like I was looking at her and still couldn’t believe she was here. I wondered how she’d gotten here. I clearly hadn’t called her. It’s not like I got so drunk after what happened with Gabriel that I didn’t know what I was doing. That thought gave me the creeps. But she was already here, cooking for me.“To be honest, yes, I’m hungry. I’m not gonna lie. I really missed your pancakes, Mom!” I said in a choked voice. I didn’t understand how sh