The Sicilian Affair

Chapter 1 - Falling Into Place

It was dark outside.

There were no stars in the midnight sky, it was simply too quiet for a Friday night.

The sound of sirens going off in the distance was of no aid to Tomas Carsingni.

He stood half naked inside his bedroom, with his forehead resting against the hard window pane as his skin absorbed the cold sensation that the glass had to offer.

He found it soothing, the ability to still feel something meant that he was still human. That he was not completely numb.

His ocean blue eyes were lost in the overview of traffic lights flickering in the distance from his penthhouse, it reminded him so much of Sicili. The one place he missed but swore to never step foot on again.

He breathed out a loud sigh into the receiving end of his phone. The worried sound of his mother's housekeeper on the other line made his heart clenched painfully inside his chest as she delivered her monthly report about his mother's condition.

"How sick is she, Silvia?" He asked.

Part of him didn't want to know. The thought of his mother laying in her death bed was very unsettling. He wasn't ready to see her like that, not when they had so much unresolved issues. Not when he still hadn't told her that he had already forgiven her.

"Sick enough for Dr. De Vega to request for a home nurse, I'm afraid. She still won't eat, Signore Tomas and threatening to call you has almost stopped working."

He raked a hand through his thick black hair before letting a heavy breath escape his mouth.

His mother was sick and very stubborn and now he'd have to go back there -- to that place.

He wasn't ready.

"When did the doctor last see her?" He quipped, walking over to his night stand, careful not to wake his sleeping mistress, as he took his box of cigarettes and lighter.

"Three days ago, he prescribed her with several medications including one for her lack of appetite. She takes them herself but I supervise, the doctor said it was okay for her to do so, just as long as I was there while she's taking them."

His frown deepened as he walked out of his room and onto the balcony. "What did you say his name was again?"

"Doctor Luciano De Vega. Why?"

"Just curious." He replied, brushing off her question.

He took a cigarette from the box and lit it.

A small moan broke from his throat as he exhaled the smoke, there was no better stress reliever than this, well, apart from sex, of course.

"When will the nurse arrive?" He prompted, suddenly finding himself curious about his mother having a home nurse.

The idea actually soothed him. Just knowing that a nurse would be there at hr every beck and call, providing her comfort made him more at ease.

"On Friday. Tomasa?"

He smiled.

Silvia hasn't called him that since he was twelve, he remembered it so well. She had been like a second mother to him and even after years of trying and begging her to resign and finally move into her very own cottage by the sea to live out the remaining of her life, stubborn Silvia just would not burge.

But as much as he missed her frequent scolding and impeccable cuisine, Tomasa missed her, her grey hair which was always pulled back into a bun, her buttery scent and her soft brown eyes that gleamed with happiness everytime he'd fly her daughter over to Sicili, just to surprise her.