TORN BETWEEN THE TYCOON AND THE MAFIA BOSS

PART 5: BITTER SWEET PANCAKES

MIA’S P.O.V

Following the sweet smell on pancakes I found myself in the kitchen, but to my surprise it was dad in there instead on Helen. “Morning dad, those smell delicious” I said as I place his good morning kiss on his check. “Good morning sweetheart, Nutella or ice cream?” he asked, holding up the two in each hand. “Both, maybe” I said, hoping that he approves. “Okay fine, since you are being so sweet today” he said and finished off the pancakes. “Where is Helen today?” I asked as I helped him take our breakfast into out dining room. “Well, sweetheart… Helen is not as young as she used to be. Now she has all kinds of health issues, back pain, sore legs, blood pressure etc. Last night when we came home, I found Helen lying on the floor, not knowing what was wrong, I rushed her to hospital. Sweetheart you have to be a little stronger for the next part, okay?” he said, his eyebrows furrowed up in worry and concern. “Okay” I said, preparing myself for what’s to come. “Last night Helen suffered a severe heart attack” he said and I began to tear. “Is she…” I couldn’t complete my sentence with the thought of losing her. “No, no baby but she is not going to be the same Helen that we knew her to be. She won’t be able to serve us like she did. However, Helen has been part of this family for many years. She is part to the walls of this house, so much so, that she doesn’t have her own house neither does she have her own family. So I decided that Helen will still be staying with us, but not as a housekeeper but as a family member” he said and a smile crept on my cheeks. “Dad, you really do have a big heart. I would hate to see Helen go. She played a huge part in bringing me up. While you were on business trips or just busy with work, it was her that was there for me” I said, emotion filled my voice. “I know baby, Helen has done a lot. Not just for you but she saved your mother’s life once as well and for that I would always be grateful to her” said my father, sadness fell on his eyes as he recalled the past.

“Dad, what do you think of Xavier?” I asked, pulling him out of his painful past and back into the present. “You haven’t touched your pancakes yet…Kitten” he said, the last past cynically. “Neither have you dad, Xavier kept that as my nick name, he said that I was as playful and free as a kitten” I explained and took the first bite of the pancakes ( with the now melted ice-cream). “Dad, this is delicious!!!” I said after they have melted in my mouth. “See, Xavier is not the only man that can cook” he said and took a bite of his pancakes. “Soooo…I’m getting the feeling that you don’t like him very much” I said, my tone sad as I started to play with my food instead of eat it. “Mia..do you trust this man?” he asked, putting his fork down, his tone serious. “Yes dad! Almost as much as I trust you!” I said, looking into his worried eyes. “Mia, how can you trust him so much? How long do you even know him?” he asked and I felt him catching on to our secret. “I can’t tell you that right now but I will one day. I promise. But the amount of time that I know him is not the reason why I trust him so much. I trust him because he reminds me so much of you dad” I said and confusion filled my mind as the worry in his eyes increased. “So you noticed that too. He is a lot like me and that’s my biggest fear Mia” he said, looking down at his uneaten pan cakes, refusing to make eye contact with me. “Dad, what are you talking about? You that the most kindest, gentle, smartest, person I know. You are a man of integrity dad. You respect everyone around you. You are everything that a man should be and if Xavier is like you than dad I think that he is my jackpot” I said, expressing each word as they came from my heart. “Mia, I am the reason why my wife is dead!” he said, hidden anger and sorrow showed itself. “Dad, what are you talking about? I am the reason my mum died” I said, a tear leaving my eye. “What? Why would you say that?” he asked, shock overtaking the anger and sadness. “Aunt lexi told me everything” I said, my voice coming out raspy as a lump formed in the back of my throat. “What did she tell you?” he words showed shock and fear. “S- sh –she to-told m-me- th-tha-that m-m-mum d-died wh- while gi-gi-giving bi-birth t- to m-me” I said, in between my sobs. “Mia, Mia baby that’s not true sweetheart” he said, his voice soft and comforting. “It is dad! Aunt Lexi told me! And- and I saw the papers!!! Mum died the same day that I was born!!! It’s all true dad!!! I’m the reason why she is dead!!! I’m the reason why you suffer in so much pain!!! I- I wish that I was never born!!!” I said as I could no longer control my emotions. “MIA!!!” My dad roared, making me jump in my seat. “Don’t you ever say that you wish you was never born Mia!” he scolded. “If you did not exist then neither would I. I wouldn’t have survived these past 14 years without you! You are the reason that I live Mia! You are my lifeline! You are my breath!” he said, his words filled with emotions, even though I’ve heard and acknowledged all, two words caught my attention. “14 years?” I asked in confusion, my voice low. “What was that?” he asked, not catching my words with my soft tone. “Dad, you said that you wouldn’t have survived the past ’14 years’ without me. Dad I’m 19” I said in confusion and shock once again formed on his face. “Yes I did. See, you in the office” he said and woke up to leave. “Wait, what do you mean? Why are you saying 14 when I am 19 years old? Dad please tell me! ” I asked, anxiously. “Go and ask your aunt Lexi. I’m not the one that lied to you, she was, so she should be the bearer of the truth not me!” he said and walked out. For the first time I met this side of my father, a side so cold, for the first time he refused me and for the first time he left me in the dark.

‘What could honestly be so bad that my father, as strong as he is, he is afraid to reveal this truth? Did something happen to him during the first 5 years of my life? Did he go into depression due to my mother’s death?’ A tear left my eye as another reason popped into my head, ‘Maybe he hated me because my mother died while giving birth to me. Maybe he didn’t want me. It all makes sense now! That’s why he refuses to acknowledge the truth that she passed on while I was being born’. Tears continued to flow from my eyes as I drove to aunt Lexi’s house.