Mysterious

Chapter 92

Bruno spent the rest of the week with them, leaving early that Sunday to go home. Christian cried when Bruno drove away while Arissa felt a tear come down her cheek.

"He'll be back, Christian..." she said taking his hand leading him back into the house.

"Mama...." Christian said after the walked in the house. He dug in his little straight leg jeans to pull something out. "Daddy wanted you to have this..." he said handing her the emerald and diamond necklace he had bought her so long ago.

"Oh, that's beautiful..." she told him setting it on the kitchen counter.

"But mom, you have to wear it. That's what dad told me. He told me that if you wear the necklace it means that you've forgiven him...and that we'll be a family forever..."

"Christian...we're already a family. You don't need a daddy to be a family, sweetheart. You and me...we're a perfect family just the way you are."

"But mommmmmm...." he whined starting to throw temper tantrum.

"You have to wear it...you have to. Daddy said. Mama......" he started to scream at her taking the necklace from the counter. "Mommy...you have to. He said he wasn't going to hurt you again...don't you believe him?"

"I....Christian..how old are you?" she asked him.

"Four...." he said holding up 5 fingers.

"You're too smart to be 4...are you sure you're not thirty?" she asked him.

"Eww...mom...30 is old..." he responded.

"Come on...I will think about wearing the necklace. But until you're thirty you can't tell me what to do...." she told him picking up toys as they walked back into the play area of the house.

"He wanted me to give you this too...but I don't know what this is..." he said handing her a green USB stick."

"I'll look at this later, baby...what do you want to do today?" she asked him placing the stick on the coffee table.

"I want to play the drums...." he told her.

"Go for it, just don't get the neighbors upset, okay?" she said handing him the drum sticks glancing at the hat that Bruno had left. "And don't forget..you have to wear your hat when you play the drums...." she said placing the white fedora with a blue feather on his head,

**

Late in the evening Arissa glanced over at the coffee table n the family room seeing the green stick. I might as well look at it...if we're going to make it work I have to at least try....she thought to herself grabbing her laptop slipping the usb into the port. She waited for the computer to read the stick watching Itunes open. She clicked on the first song. She heard familiar voices in the background, her sister, her friends, his family...it was their wedding day. Arissa settled into her seat waiting to hear what song he had put on the CD....the song he played her as she walked down the aisle. It was followed by the song he played for her after they arrived at the tent and then the one he had written for her after her hit Robert at the Ivy. Then they stopped being familiar. She was confused. She understood the relevance of those songs, but then it stopped. She listened to four songs all written about her and how much he missed her. Misery, pain, sadness, anticipation that he would win her back...were all feelings she felt throughout the songs. I told him not to write about this...but I guess...he didn't release any of them...she finished listening to the last track in tears. She sniffed wiping them from her cheek. She checked to make sure everything was done...no....there was always something at the end...his voice came on with 10 seconds left in the last track. "I'm sorry, Arissa." he said. "That's...that.s...it." he said in a quiet voice.