Alessia sat frozen, her stomach churning with a growing sense of dread.
Her breath hitched as she studied the girl's face, a perfect match to her own childhood photos. Her pulse quickened as she realized the woman in the frame wasn't just anyone – she was her mother.
She looked up at Pa, confusion etched into his wrinkled face. Her heart shattered, knowing the painful truth she had to keep hidden. Even if Alessia was sure this was her mother, she couldn't shatter Pa's fragile heart by revealing the dark truth: that his daughter had survived the accident, only to be murdered by her own husband. How could she tell him that?
"Are you crying again?"
"No," Alessia replied, her voice trembling. "Your daughter... she's very beautiful."
"Yes," Pa said, his eyes twinkling. "She took after her mother, with her blonde hair and green eyes, but she got her kindness and good behavior from me."
Alessia gulped down the now lukewarm tea, fighting back tears. "Thank you so much for the tea, Pa. I'll definitely drop by for more regularly."
Pa's face lit up with happiness. "You can always come here whenever you like."
"Thank you, Pa."
They went out of his house together, and he hailed a taxi for her.
"You have a lovely grandpa," the driver said as he drove.
"I sure do," she replied with a wry smile.
The girl in the photo was definitely her mother. But why couldn't she remember? What had happened to her mother? These question plagued her mind, urging her to dig deeper into the past.
***
In L'Arcobaleno
"The response has been sent to her, I bet she's thanking her stars for such a high paying job from an unplanned 10 minutes interview from the reputable L'Arcobaleno that give job by special invitation after an extensive background check. We don't even do interviews!" Thomas rambled on, his legs crossed on Xavier's desk.
"When will she start?" Xavier had asked impatiently.
"Next week Monday."
"I can't wait that long."
"You sure can, Xavier, and we'll not have any more weird propositions. Everyone knows we don't even do interviews.
"Make her start next tomorrow."
Thomas covered his face with his palms.
"Can't you just please continue to be the irrational Xavier I know? You can't be illogical alongside. Don't do this to me."
"I want her here by Wednesday."
"Yes, my Lord."
As Thomas left the office, Xavier took a phone from his drawer and peered at it. Turning it on, the lock screen was a picture of a boy with a woman stooping beside him to match his height, a blue background behind them. The boy was him and not him at the same time.
The woman was dressed in an impeccable cream dress with a flowing skirt.
Her hair was in an elegant updo, showing her round face in dainty makeup that made her look younger than she already was. Her eyebrows crinkled in her big smile as she rested her weight on his shoulder. He stood there, looking at the camera with a frown on his face.
His mother had whisked him to a studio after school one day when he was in middle school. She dressed him swiftly in a black suit, ruffling his hair as if they were running late.
"Mommy, what's happening?" he asked as she used her saliva to smooth his eyebrows.
"I just want to have this photo with my big boy. You're growing very fast, and I won't know when you'll grow up and I'll have no young pictures of you." That seemed logical, but his mother was never one to talk so much, and as she spoke, her voice faltered.
Looking back at how things progressed from that moment till now, he understood why his mother was in a hurry. Just a week later, the biggest scandal in the history of Italy happened, one that changed the course of his life.
Meanwhile, Thomas was in the HR department, trying to convince the manager. "You made us conduct an interview out of nowhere, create a job that never existed in our system, and now you want her to resume tomorrow?"
"It's not tomorrow, it's Wednesday."
"Today has ended already, Thomas. It's two hours after closing time."
"That's what the big boss wants."
The manager gave a weary sigh. "I'll send the email right now."
"Thanks, you're a lifesaver."
Thomas didn't go to report to Xavier but went to his car. Slamming the door, he placed his head on the steering wheel. "This is the height of this, I can't take this anymore. My mental health…" He lamented.
Just as he was animatedly lamenting, he had a call from his wife. He picked up, giving afake sob. "The worst decision I ever made was following that withdrawn, pathetic high school kid. Who knew he would morph into a demon?"
"Stop whining and come home already," his wife, Kira, responded, her voice a mix of exasperation and affection.
"I thought having to clean up after him was the height of it all, but now I have to help him get his crush? I'm quitting this job!"
"Sure, what's good about a job that gives you a mansion in Hawaii, changes your car every year, gives your family fully paid vacations, health insurance for your family, and even your hamsters?"
"I have sold my soul to the devil!" Thomas cried out dramatically.
***
Alessia got the resumption notice later that evening. She was too tired to be bothered by it, the day was filled with many unexpected occurrence
She had not told anyone about what she had discovered that afternoon but was determined to find out about her mother's history first.
On Wednesday morning, Alessia arrived early, her heart pounding as she stepped into the sleek, modern office building. The receptionist directed her to HR, where Mrs. Rodriguez swiftly handled her paperwork and gave her a brief tour.
Her manager, Mr. Dante, introduced her to a few colleagues and assigned her an initial project.
Mid-morning, as she familiarized herself with the project details, the atmosphere in the team meeting shifted. A hush fell over the room, and Alessia looked up to see a group passing through the lobby. Among them was the tall figure of the man from the hotel, flanked by officials and bodyguards.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," said a colleague, noticing Alessia's wide eyes fixed on the back of the tall man across the room.
Alessia's mind raced as she recognized the silhouette of the mysterious man from the hotel, now standing in her new workplace.