A Flower that Blossomed in the Winter

Chapter VIII

After a few weeks since Thea and Lola's business opening everything was going well. Lola felt guilty for using Thea's powers, but she always managed to lighten the burden of Lola's conscience, considering that the initial idea was Lola's, Thea he did not have to work hard.

Lola became good friends with Cecil and Alessia. She visited them frequently, accompanied by Thea or not, as it was Thea's wish. She had her own life, one that Thea would not necessarily be a part of and Lola felt okay with that, she did not feel dependent on Thea, but even after living with her daily and they even lived in the same house for two weeks she still wanted Thea's company and by that time, Thea started therapy. Thea was encouraged by her friends and her girlfriend to seek help and through therapy she found out she could suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder.

After a period living with Thea, Lola returned to live alone. With a small loan, she bought a small house, close to her company's headquarters, about half an hour driving, but even closer to Thea's house. With some insistence on her part, Lola managed to convince Thea to call the his "Persephone" company was headquartered in the hills west of the city, just over half an hour away from the place he had traveled to with his friends and Lola.

Winter was ending and Thea had an idea, one that Lola was reluctant to do. Visit her mother-in-law. Lola had not seen her mother since she left her house, even with her reluctance, Thea's request weighted on Lola's mind due to how much she missed her mother, but she did not want to go back to her mother's house being the same woman she was when she left.

Thea bought a car not long after starting the company with Lola, a 1989 Ford Escort XR3 convertible. She had been planning to see Lola's mother for a while.

They left in the morning and were now on the road, the trip is supposed to last over two hours, Lola warned her mother that she would be coming and that she would be taking someone. Thea drove while Lola tried to stay calm, but the anticipation of seeing her mother had been making her nervous since the week before the trip.

They arrive in town before noon and the simplicity of the houses caught Thea's attention in a first sight, unlike White Forest, with its well-planned architecture that made it seem like a single mind had designed the whole city. Mt. Santa Maria is a city of two thousand inhabitants and it seems like the people built their own houses, they take a while to find the house that Lola's mother lives.

They turn a corner and finally see, at the end of a dead end street, the only house that seemed to stand out, a two-story house, built in irregular stones, the windows were round and surrounded by iron bars, they parked in front of the courtyard. It is lined by a mortarless brick wall with an iron railing and beyond the gate is a yellowish stone walkway surrounded by grass.

They get out of the car with the dogs on a leash and to Lola's surprise, the gate opens by itself as they approach. They start walking down the catwalk and Thea, seeing that Lola is nervous, takes her hand.

From inside the house Lola's mother watches her daughter coming, her nervousness is obvious but the presence of that tall girl seems to mitigate it, even though they contrast with each other, Lola wears a light green dress, soft, just above the knee and sneakers, no accessories, while Thea wears a plaid suit, dark brown with cream lines, shoes matched the outfit and the straight-cut pants, her wavy brown hair ran down to her shoulders.

- She's really your type, isn't she, Lola - says Lola's mother to herself before leaving.

The door opens and a black skin lady with very light hair comes out of the house, there were few wrinkles on her face, but many spots, she was not very tall, her body was slender and she walked a little stooped towards them, her lips were thick and her nose broad, Lola's face barely resembled hers. Accompanying, a woman very similar to both, but thin like her mother.