Under A Dark Cloud

Chapter 44

* sings like a deranged Elsa *

No more boring plots

No more

Time to bring this out of the door

Sad parts

Will be gone

You don't have to wait anymore

Well, Here I write

with all my might

Boring plots will be no more

Haters never bothered me anyway

( Just kidding about the sad parts though * laughs * )
~~~~

0-10 : 3-0-p-m
Valentino Villa, Meeting room

Cloud prepared himself infront of the mirror before the meeting. He had took a shower and dressed his formal best tonight for the other bosses to see that he is fine and unaffected. Whatever they heard about him being depressed after the loss of his wife will be dismissed from their thoughts.

As he eyed himself from head to toe, He took a good look at himself in the mirror. There he saw was a tall, proud Mafia king who can do what he pleases and plunder any gang or family that stands up to him. But somewhere deep inside his mind, He knew that the outside part of him was a facade that shielding what was inside of him.

He shook his head as he went to the wardrobe drawer to fetch his cuff links for his suit. He opened the drawer and paused for a bit when a quick flashback had played in his mind.

" Oh you silly! Let me do that for you, ok? " Keira ran up to him and plucked the cufflinks from his fingers.

He shook his head and took out the cufflinks and closed the drawer again. He went infront of the mirror again and placed the cuff links in his cuff's button holes designed for both buttons and links. He stared at himself again as he ran a hand through his hair to fix it into place. He watched as another flashback played.

" I told you to fix it with gel and a comb. Not with your hand. Here, lemme just get it styled enough for you, " Keira scolded him as she ran a comb through his hair but then she paused and smiled as she placed a hand on his cheek and caressed it with her thumb affectionately.

Going back to reality, Cloud didn't realize his hand was on his cheek, right where her hand were. Looked at himself in the mirror and found himself looking weak and brokenhearted again. He ran a hand down his face and scolded himself mentally.

' No. Forget about her. Do it for the family. '

He removed his hand from his cheek and clenched it into a fist. He drew in a quick inhale then exhaled deeply. He fixed his hair by the use of his hands and steeled himself like before. A straight emotionless face with sharp cold yet cool emerald green eyes was plastered on his face.

' Do it for the family first. She and our child.... Keira and our child...our child... '

The last part kept replaying in his mind over and over again as guilt, sadness and pain swirled in him. Who was he kidding? She and their child was and always his family and top priority but when he thinks about the Familia, everything that his grandfather and father and the rest of the Valentinians worked hard for many years and generations to make this Family flourish and grow into greatness with their own sweat and blood, clouded the very image of his once top priority in his life.

Looking at himself once more, He knew that his facade was strong enough to fool them into thinking that he doesn't care at all and he's fine all by himself but in this mask of a facade he made, if one would look closely and see through the mask, you could see that there are small cracks etched in his mask.