Page 2 of Frayed Bonds

My eyes meet Karyn’s and without any words she simply nods and gets up, excusing herself to the bathroom.

“For what papá?” I wipe my mouth as I stare at him

“For coming back home to be with me. I know you built a life in Paris and that it has always been your dream to live and work there, so I'm grateful you could take time to look out for your frail, old father.” He laughs after saying the last part.

I roll my eyes, “Well, it’s no problem at all, my frail, old father.”

“I mean it, Fiore Mio, I know it must be difficult being apart from Mattheo.”

My blood stills as the name leaves his lips. Mattheo and I met early into my second year of university and fell head over heels in love, leading us to get married in December of that same year.

Pushing this man to the deepest parts of my memory is going to be more difficult than I thought.

“We’re getting a divorce, Papá. We haven’t been living together for the last few months,” I say, all in one breath, and begin focusing on the pasta in front of me, which is no longer appetising.

If my father knew that I’d been bouncing between hostels for the past two months with only these three suitcases and a load of paranoia, he might go into cardiac arrest. So instead of pestering him with the details, I decide to only tell him what he needs to know so he doesn’t worry too much.

“What? What happened? Where have you been staying?” he rushes out, eyes wide in worry.

I sigh, so much for him not worrying.

“We are at different stages in our lives, Papá. We want different things and decided it would be better to get a divorce now, rather than dragging out what's already been making us unhappy,” I sigh.

Yeah, I wanted a loving husband and he wanted a new girl every week.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes at the memory.

“I’m so sorry to hear, Fiore Mio. If it makes you feel any better, your mother always disliked him.” He smirks and a chuckle slips past my lips.

My mamá was a distinguished woman, never lashed out and never swore. You could never smell an emotion on her unless you were extremely close to her. However, she was extremely vocal about her dislike for Mattheo. Everyone within the city of Tevici knew she couldn’t stand him, and she would tell that to anyone who would listen. The only reason he never knew is because my mamá is one of the best actresses I've ever met. A poker face of steel in his presence, but death glares whenever he wasn’t paying attention.

In hindsight, her dislike for him was not without reason.

“Remember that time she put salt into his coffee instead of sugar,” I say, and we both burst out laughing.

“He tried hard not to spit it out, bless him.” My father chuckles.

Karyn strolls in surveying the room to see whether it is safe for her to return. I nod briefly as she enters, letting her know that it's okay.

“How does cannolis for dessert sound?” I ask while we're all sitting and watching a show in the living room. The afternoon is drawing to an end, the sun starting to hang low in the sky.

“Ooh, that would be lovely.” My papá smiles.

“Is Trescatelli's still open in the town centre?” I ask Karyn.

She nods, “Yeah, it closes in about an hour, though, so you should hurry.”

“I'm borrowing your coat until I unpack mine,” I yell, before taking a light jog out the door and back to the bus stop.

The rain starts falling as I stumble into the doors of Trescatelli's. The warm interior and the smell of freshly baked goods draw me in even deeper. Taking my hood off, I attempt to fix my hair—even though it's more dry shampoo than hair at this point.

“Valerie?” A deep voice rasps and I nearly jump through the roof.

A head of light brown curls and the most beautiful set of green eyes stare back at me. A smirk etches into his lips due to my lack of response. It's been a good seven years, he’s changed so much but, simultaneously is so undeniably the same.

“Antonio? What are you doing here?” I ask as he makes his way around the counter, disregarding the other customers waiting to be helped.

“I could ask you the same thing, Val. It’s been years.” He wraps me in a hug. Just like that, I'm nineteen again. It’s the day before I'm meant to leave for Paris, and we’re at Zeenith Air Terminal saying goodbye. My god, I have missed him so much since then.

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