A Discordant Melody

Three

Three

The sun was just starting to set over Rome.  Me?  I was taking full advantage of the shadows in the alleyways, only looking out into the streets when I thought I heard a familiar voice or two, hoping that I could be able to cross paths with them. 

It had been two days since I left home.  I knew that Mnemosyne was the only one where I really was.  But no doubt, Daddy was probably trying to do everything in his power to find me.  I wondered if he’d even thought of her in order to find me.  Maybe, maybe not. 

Laughter made me come back to reality and I peeked once more around the corner of the two buildings I was in between.  They paralleled their lengths and dead ended. 

There was a cute little restaurant across the street, the object of my attention. 

In the two days that I’d been in Rome, I hadn’t had any luck finding my mother.  I thought it was going to be easy after Mnemosyne finally told me where she was in hiding.  But after checking every hotel, I couldn’t find anyone saying under her name.  I’d even checked under Molly and Lee, but no such luck there either. 

So now I was back to just walking around Rome, mainly at night, in hopes that I would somehow cross paths with them and just make sure that they were alright. 

“Guys, come on,” a voice whined as three sets of footsteps headed in my direction.  “You said that I could pick where we would go for dinner tonight and I want to go here!  We came here our first night in Rome.  Remember how much fun we had?”

The person who had spoken laughed and another, deeper one joined in.  “Yeah, but I bet Persie doesn’t remember that night, do you, Pers?”

“Shut up,” another muttered, but the smile could be heard in her voice.

I knew exactly who that voice and the two others belonged to. 

My heart was pounding in my chest as I leaned back against the building I was by.  They were laughing again, coming closer to where I was hidden.  Their shadows appeared on the pavement from the lights that were turning on.  Not wanting to risk being seen, I bent the shadows around my body so they wouldn’t be able to see me as they passed by the opening of the alley. 

My breath caught in my throat when they came into my view before starting across the street and into the restaurant. 

There they were, Molly, Lee, and – the one that I’d been waiting to see – my mother. 

They looked the same as they did three months before, only with a few changes. 

Molly still had that infectious smile on her face.  She’d cut her hair, which was now styled in a long bob that hit just at her shoulders.

Momma was the same, though, like Molly, her hair was different, longer and now almost to her waist.  But unlike when I saw her last, the smile on her face…it wasn’t a real smile.  It was fake, plastered on her face like she didn’t want them to see her sadness or pain. 

I knew I should have been more excited to see my mother.  But when I looked at the man between her and Molly, my heart stopped and then started up again double time. 

When I first met Lee, it was the day that his father, Zeus, had told me that Daddy had found Momma after centuries of looking for her.  I remember coming into the room and seeing her, rushing over to hug her.  Yes, I’d been happy that she’d been back and furious that Daddy hadn’t let me talk to her or even told me about her, but there was something else that I could feel when I was in the room with them.