Half A Heartbeat Away

28

•Milena Blackford•

[earlier that day]

Later during the day, after Beckham went to work and the kids were off to school, I decided to visit my parent's house. I've missed my mom and Miguel, since I haven't seen them in so long.

I stepped outside, only to find Hans gleaming at my figure. "Let me guess, you want to go to your parent's house?" He says already moving to open the car door for me. I give him a sheepish grin while climbing into the vehicle. "Thank you" I mutter as he closes the door then rounds up to the front to occupy the driver's seat.

"But why are you happy though? We're visiting my parents not yours" I joke and see the somber look he gives me when I mention his parents. Guilt settles into my stomach and I quickly try to apologize "I'm sorry if I said anything to upset you, it wa-" I start but he laughs half-heartedly and shakes me off "It's ok, my parents are still alive and well, we just haven't talked in years because they do not see eye to eye with me on integral parts of my identity" He says as he backs out of the driveway.

I notice the defeated look on his face, wondering what drove the wedge between them. Could it be the fact that he works for Beckham? For the mafia? But decided at the end it wasn't really my place to pry. I just kept quiet in the backseat until we reached the house.

I thank him and ask "Are you waiting for me?" before stepping out of the car. He nods "I'll be here, just call me to notify me whenever you want to leave" He says as usual and I thank him another time before exiting.

I notice him parking the car and I wonder what does he do in the free hours I spend inside. Doesn't he get bored? Even after he assured me many times that it's ok and he was only doing his job, I worry I bore him too much out of his mind while he waits for me all the time.

As soon as I enter the front door, I'm tackled by my mother in a death gripping hug. I laugh at her excitement and hug her back with the same fervor. She smelled of cinnamon and sugar, and that's when I noticed the apron she was wearing. She was making cinnamon buns!

"I missed you sweetie" She squeezes me tight before loosening her ironclad grip. I grin too "I missed you too, mom".

She leads me into the living room before excusing herself for a minute into the kitchen hastily, because she didn't want to burn the dessert in the oven. I settle comfortably into the couch and it only was a few minutes before she entered again, with a steaming plate of the buns.

My eyes glossed over in awed adoration at the sight. She always made them extra sweet. I think if I act nice enough today, I could finally get her to disclose to me her secret recipe and maybe I could make it sometime for Beckham and the kids, they'd love the extra doses of sweetness.
She stares at me in an all too knowing look while I demolish the buns in mere seconds. "What?" I ask. She looks over at me "Slow down, I'll give you the recipe alright. Don't need you to choke on the bread and end up at the hospital" She disclaims jokingly and I brighten at her words "Really? Thanks mom".

"Oh, by the way, we got our invitations last night delivered, did you get yours?" She switches topics and I furrow my eyebrows. Everything that reaches our mailbox is inspected by the guards firstly for safety measures before they bring it inside. And they check it every single morning.

"Umm no. Invites for what exactly?" I ask and she holds out a finger rushing to an adjacent stand and picks up an elegant-looking envelope. She hands it to me and I open it to inspect the inside.

My father and mother's names were engraved elegantly into the paper and I read enough to find it's for the annual ball. Ughh, I used to hate those. At first when we were little, they'd only invite mom and dad. Fast forward a few years later, Miguel and I started receiving our own invitations each.

I always looked at it as a party for middle-aged adults discussing boring business. I never previously went except for one time. That one time didn't end well, so I stopped going altogether, and I think dad for once agreed because he didn't want me there embarrassing him like I usually do.

"Well, not that I have heard of or seen. I'll have to check with Beckham" I answer her eager eyes. She nods in understanding. In the back of my mind I thought about Beckham. If the invitations had already arrived, why hasn't he told me yet? Was he not planning on going this year? Or maybe he was but just didn't want me to accompany him? Maybe he'll be taking someone else? No, I know him, he wouldn't do such preposterous thing.

"So I take it that Miguel's invited too?" I ask in an attempt to steer the subject away from us. I'll just have to ask him later.

"Yeah, about that.." She starts while giving me a look that didn't necessarily bode well.

"What? What happened now?" I lean towards her, in order to concentrate on what she had to say.

"As I said, they got delivered last night. First Miguel wasn't planning on going but your dad emphasized how significant it was for him to make an appearance, as the heir in line and all". She explains using hand gestures, always like that my mother, expressive.

"Yeah.." I urge her to go on.

"Anyways, apparently your dad had talked with Alfonso Nordo, the uncle, and arranged for his niece to be your brother's plus one to the ball".

It was met with silence, I felt sad for Miguel. I know the feeling all too well. While they haven't arranged me a date for a party, they did ship me off to marry a stranger. I get how controlled and helpless he might feel. I just hope he fought back and refused to bow down to my father's hard nature.

"Miguel stormed last night up into his room, hasn't came down since, up until you came. I saw him leaving the front door while I was in the kitchen earlier. He was still upset and looked depressed". She finishes with pity spilling from her eyes, and I know it hurt her to see her kids being told what to do and how to live. Despite us being complete functioning adults, father couldn't yield us the power we deserved.

"I don't know this Nordo girl, but what was his protest for? I mean it was only one night he'd need to put up with her" I express my curiosity, getting matchmaked into a datenight..wasn't too bad considering the situation.

"That's the thing..your father might implied that it wasn't only a one time thing and suggested that this was a phenomenal way to get to know each other in case things progressed to marriage".

"So he's doing with Miguel the same he did to me? Only this time he is kind enough to suggest they meet each other before throwing them in a marriage?" My tone raises a bit out of pure anger and spite. He really doesn't think of us except for tools to help him over with the mafia in order to tip the scale in his favor with his business associates.

"You know how stubborn he is. But this time Miguel is stubborn too and things have been so tense I just don't know what to do". My mother looked distressed as she expressed her worries. I can understand her. No matter what she does, someone will end up losing somehow.