Mickey - The View From Here PART TWO - Gallavich

Time Keeps Ticking

I had never felt this small in Svetlana’s presence before. Sure, I always had a healthy fear of the fiercely driven woman, but never to this degree. Maybe it was because she was sort of my ex-wife, living an unimaginably successful life in my absence. Without me, she had blossomed a flourished from a Southside hand whore to a wealthy, respected businesswoman. Guilt spread through my being that I had never expected much from her, that I hated her at times through the years.

Removing her designer sunglasses, she let her gaze linger on mine. What she said was surprising. “You still have pretty eyes,” she spat in her guarded, I’ll stab you in the eye cadence I was so familiar with. A sour Russian woman, even her compliments sounded like insults.

Arching a brow, words fell out of my mouth without thought. “Um, thanks?”

Svetlana continued to study my face. “You look different. Old, but clean.”

I chortled. “Old? You’re like five years older than me.”

Her shoulders lazily hitched up in a shrug. “Yes. We are both old farts sitting on a park bench, watching our children play, though I had envisioned this differently on our wedding day. Our children aren’t ‘ours,’ no?”

“No,” I said, unsure where the conversation was heading.

“Little girl you somehow make with Carrot Boy is very sweet. She is very kind girl.”

“She’s Ian’s niece,” I explained. “Remember his younger sister?”

“Oh, the little one I help get men!” she smiled at the memory.

“Yeah,” I said. “Probably not a great idea in hindsight.”

“Is the way with many things.” She lit a cigarette and sighed. “Are you happy being married to Carrot Boy?”

My face burned as it flushed, my lips curled into a warm smile. “I am. Are you happy?”

Resting her focus on Yevgeny, Svetlana grinned. “Very much so.”

As we watched Franny and Yevgeny chase one another around, the tiniest smirk found my lips. If asked years ago if I would enjoy a moment like this, I would’ve scoffed in dismissal. Now, I finally felt a sense of ease through my entire being. Had this been what I had wanted the whole time, a semi-functional sense of family? It was nice. Maybe this was what being a “normal” adult felt like. Bullshit was always going to pop up and fizzle out. That was just life, but with my husband and the rest of my found family by side, I could live with that.

The End

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story and the journey we've been on for years now. Stay tuned for the continuation of my other Shameless fanfic Black and Blue, and feel free to read any of my stories. If you like one that I chose not to continue, let me know and i will give you more chapters. Thank you so very much for your attention, your patience, and your comments. They have kept me writing many times when I wanted to give up. I am currently focusing on original work and Black and Blue, but I like doing these fan fics for you guys, so let me know what you would like to read from me.
Thank you again for reading,
Bee <3