Adria stood in front of a house, one that seemed nearly beaten.
She reached out, a light knock getting heard on the door.
"Mother..." She softly called, and when the door opened, a tin looking woman came out...
Her hair, a shade of grey, and her hands, looking slightly tin, making it able for her bones and neckline to show, her lips a little dry, and her eyes brown.
She squinted her eyes the moment she saw Adria.
"Mother?" The door fully opened, and she walked out.
This was her real mother, in both her past life, and this one, it did change a thing.
Samantha… that was her name… Samantha Copper, the blood mother to Veronica.
The moment she saw her, Samantha face squeezed with confusion.
"Vero ?" The moment Samantha spoke her actual name, Adria felt her heart skip a beat with happiness.
She was glad he mother could tell it was her.
Her voice was tin, deep, and screamed so many more.
It screamed... Help.
"It's me..." Adria took her other hand, "I am back..."
The woman, who looked so much like her, smiled, and took her inside the house.
It was as broken on the inside as it was on the outside.
"Do you live alone?..." Adria asked, her mother, sitting down with her.
"I do." The older woman nodded, "Everyone else left... Including you Vero..." She looked down, with Adria's hand still in hers.
"I apologize mother... But I'm here to help." Adria chuckled lightly.
"You know... Ever since you started seeing that man... You changed... A lot." Her grip tightened, and a drop of tear dropped on it.
The man she was talking about was Dakota… and no she didn't change, he just didn't permit her to come here.
She once used to live in the gutters… but, Dakota had picked her up, and changed her, like her mother said.
"A lot happened mother… A lot I can't explain to you now…" Adria looked away.
"There is time… There is no one here, except you and I… so what stops you?" She looked down, and chuckled, taking a sniff in next. "4 year… 4 years has passed since I last saw you."
"And it was all my fault, which is why now I'm apologizing… I'm sorry mother." She looked up at Samantha, the weak state she was in kept on breaking her heart.
He left her here… to surfer… and she was going to do the same for him. Adria bit her lips angrily.
"Now that you're here…. Life feels much better." She smiled, and her grip softened, pushing away anymore negative thoughts aside.
"But to tell you the truth… I'm no longer your daughter…" Samantha's face dulled.
What did she mean by that?
"What do you mean?" She questioned… her look demanding more of answers now.
"You may see this as me being crazy but." She chuckled… hesitating by few seconds. "never mind it… I was just being delusional."
Samantha smiled, a sigh of relief getting exposed.
"Good to hear… I mean, you do look different." She laughed slightly, now realizing the deference in Veronica and Adria, they looked similar, but had things that pushed that similarity far away. "Now, would you like some tea?"
"Yes I would like some." Adria smiled, holding her mother's hand back.
An hour went by… Adria was on her way out, and Samantha decided to escort her out.
She stopped half way at the door, holding it with glossy eyes. "Will you be coming back?" she asked with a concerned look.
Adria stopped, and looked back, a soft smile tinted her lips.
"I will…" She was about taking another step forward, but then suddenly stopped, turning back to her mother and running straight into her arms. "I swear I'll come back." She clenched her eyes, and her grip tightened around her mother.
Samantha looked shocked at first, but then, a calm smile replaced it, and with gentle strokes to Adria's head… she nodded.
"Yes… yes you will."
*** ***
Adria sighed, the car door slamming hard, as she got down from the car… finally, she was home, but with an angry Corry, waiting at the gate, with a tapping feet.
And she was so not ready to deal, with her.
"Corry…" she tried putting on a smile, but it didn't seem to want to come on, her feet approaching even more careful than before.
"What are you still doing here? You have the guts to show your filthy self here?" She asked with crossed arms, her feet coming to a stop.
"It's inappropriate to be standing out here… We should head inside." Adria finally got the chance to smile, wearing it on as if she had been forced to do so.
"Inappropriate? You call this, inappropriate?" Her tone seemed to rise.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Adria own equally became serious.
It seems she had tried the soft way… but since she didn't want it that way, she wasn't going to let her embarrass the little pride she has left.
"So, you think I'm a mad woman now that I stand here, huh?"
Adria opened her mouth, about to reply to her mother-in-law, pointless argument, when something else caught her attention.
It was someone, someone she hadn't expected to be here. Adria looked up ahead, the non-stop chattering of Corry getting dulled out, at the time, and her head tilting slightly with confusion. unfortunately, Duran wasn't part.
Instead… it was, her face squeezed at the realization.
Were they friends? When did it start? Did they newly become one? She never saw both of them in her past life together.
Adria felt a cringe in her stomach, the sight of them laughing, of him laughing absolutely disgusting her, and it showed all too well on her face.
She hated him, and it was only up to the point of her meeting her own mother.
Dakota Axton, and Author Atthill, the two who commanded respect to all…