Adina's eyes flicked up from the cheque book at the sound of the door to the office creaking open. Maria stood in the entrance, her face pulled in a troubled expression.
"Dear, what happened to your day with Katheryn?" Adina queried, her worry only growing when her daughter only shuffled into the room and slumped into her chair in the corner. "Maria?"
"Do I have to make friends?" Maria glumly asked as she curled up into a little ball.
"Why would you not want to have friends?"
"French people are so nosy..."
"Darling, we both know that you should not call the people that. How would you feel if someone said that Irish people were thieves when one of our people stole something?" Adina responded as she closed the cheque book and stood up from behind the desk. "Now, care to tell your poor, worried mother what is bothering you?"
"Katheryn kept asking questions about Father," Maria finally revealed, her face completely unchanging.
"Do you not want to talk about him, sweetie?"
"Not really, Mother..." Maria answered as she brought her legs up to her chest.
Adina let out a soft sigh as she set down her quill pen and stood up from her seat. She picked up her threadbare skirts as she moved closer to Maria, stooping down to meet her only child's eyes.
"You will find that most children will be curious about topics such as that. Instead of vowing to never make friends with anyone, you could tell them that you simply do not wish to discuss your father with them," Adina softly murmured as she moved to stroke Maria's cheeks, her lips turning up into a soft smile. "You are a sweet girl, you know that?"
Maria only stared blankly at her mother, who continued to whisper sweet nothings to her. A soft sigh left Adina's lips as she sat back on her heels as her daughter continued to stare mutely at the scrubbed floorboards. A short period of silence passed between the two of them before Adina finally said, "Your father would not want you to be utterly miserable for the rest of your life."
"Can I not be sad?" Maria mumbled, her dead eyes still angled toward the floor.
"Of course, you can..." Adina's hand reached out to cup Maria's cheek as her lips spread into a tiny smile. "However, you should try to recover from the loss. Your father's death is not the end of normal life."
Maria's eyes snapped up at this statement as she leaned away from her mother's touch. "How is this normal life? We are in a strange country, and I have to make friends with a nosy girl. I miss our old house and the village kids."
"Honey, I will try my very best to make this life as normal for you as possible. Please just try to find some happiness in this. Despite the change in location, life is still normal. You can still feel the sunshine on your face and jump in puddles."
"It's dark and dreary here," Maria commented as Adina let out a soft chuckle.
"Yes, but the weather will begin to change soon enough. My sweet child, please do not let yourself be miserable," Adina replied as she inched forward to place her hand over her daughter's. "Please understand that I am just as devastated by your father's death. He was such a loving person in both of our lives, and I truly miss him. However, there is no use in being so sad for so long. I am still gloomy, but I am trying to pick up the many broken pieces and build my life up again."
Maria silently shook her head as she moved to grab her book and open it up. Her eyes stared at her father's favorite story before she whispered, "I don't want to speak about this anymore. Let me read."
YOU ARE READING
What Lies Behind the Mask (Phantom of the Opera x OC)
FanfictionA new retelling of the Phantom of the Opera.
