Til You Come Back to Me Again - A Love Story

Chap - 6

 Six

Fragile Hearts

The following day I had meetings all morning, so I did not see Suzanne. I did leave a note on the counter letting her know that Katia was with me. When Katia came to live with us, I made the decision to teach her at home. Suzanne thought it was a great idea, but she never offered to help. She wouldn't even try, always using the excuse that she was too busy, which was not the case. It saddened me every time this happened. Suzanne was the only mother Katia had now, we were the ones she looked to for nurturing, and she needed all the attention we could give her.

Katia was ten now, and when I had meetings, I usually took her with me. She would sit in my office and do her work while I met with management in the board room. I met with Tim and Andrew, my accountants, in my office, not wanting to be away from her for long.

Despite the tragic things that Katia had experienced, she was smart and very gifted. In addition to her school studies, she learned to play the piano so well, the student had become the teacher and I now learned from her. We also had a period when I gave her Jeet Kune Do instruction. I couldn't believe it when she came to me at eight years old and said, "Angelo, I want to learn karate from you." I had smiled and explained exactly what it was that I studied, thinking she would be put off because of all the training it encompassed, but she was even more eager to start.

Katia watched a concert on television one evening and came to me the next day wanting to learn the cello. I asked her if she was sure and she was adamant, so I bought a student cello, hired a teacher and she started lessons. She picked it up so quickly, the teacher was just as stunned as I was. She immediately moved on to the violin and the guitar, and I turned one of the extra bedrooms into a music room for her. Her instruments stood in every corner, and framed posters of great musicians hung on the walls.

A few months before Katia turned nine, she informed me that she wanted to start studying ballet, so I enrolled her in a class one afternoon a week. She advanced quickly and was now en pointe–an extraordinary feat. I had floor to ceiling mirrors and a barre installed in the game room that had been vacant since Papa bought the house. The room already had a hardwood floor, and she now used it to practice three times a week. I was completely amazed by her. She was a prodigy. Whatever she wanted to do, she did, and she did it brilliantly. There wasn't an idle bone in her body.

When I talked with Sylvia about Katia's gift of perfecting new talents, she helped me to understand that children dealt with experiences in different ways emotionally. Katia was a truly gifted child, and maybe her way of coping with the loss of her mother and the uprooting of her life was to learn new things, things she could focus on. Her growing abilities helped to keep her centered. And as far as stability, I was now the only permanent fixture in her life.

I watched her from where I sat at my desk with Tim and Andrew. She was working in her spelling book. Sensing my gaze, she looked up and gave me one of those adorable smiles that completely melted my heart. Then she lifted her hands and signed, "I love you, Angelo." Ignoring the amused grins of the two men, I signed back, "I love you, too, tesora." I did not know what the future held for Suzanne and me, but I did understand that Katia, my little treasure, needed me. If I did nothing else in this life, I would take care of her.

* * *

We wrapped up the meeting around two. I hadn't stopped for lunch and I was starving. Katia had eaten the snacks we'd packed for her and I worried about her being hungry as well. Sylvia had come up earlier and tried to coax her into going down to have something in the restaurant, but she'd wanted to wait until we could eat together. Sylvia knew Katia well enough by now not to push, so she just brought up a side of mozzarella sticks to hold her over for a while. Katia had thanked her, then brought the dish over to share with me.

After seeing the men out, I packed up my laptop and helped Katia pack up her things. "What do you say we call Suzanne and see if she wants to go out and eat with us?"

"Okay. Can I call her?"

"Sure."

I gave her my cell phone and watched with a smile as she called. No matter how much Suzanne neglected her, Katia was always thinking of her and she kept trying, determined to win her affections again. The problem was Katia shouldn't have had to try.

"No answer at home," she said. "Should I try her cell?"

"Yes. If she's out already, maybe we can meet her."

While Katia called, I looked over my appointment book and checked my schedule for the next week. Having covered everything that I wanted to today, I didn't have another management meeting until the following week. I considered asking Suzanne if we could do something fun with Katia, but I knew she would have an excuse. Still, there would be no harm in asking her. I sighed inwardly, suddenly exhausted.

"Who is this?" Katia asked, causing me to look up. It hurt to see the confused look on her face, because I understood without even having to ask. When she hung up, there were tears in her eyes. She handed me the phone. "A man answered and . . ."

"And what?" I said, pressing a hand to her cheek. "It's all right, sweetheart, you can tell me."

Tears rolled down her face. "Angelo, she was laughing and told him to . . . come back to bed." Her face crumbled and I held her as she buried it against my shoulder.

In that moment, I hated Suzanne. I hated her for hurting Katia, and for abandoning us both. I would have to forgive her, I knew, and not hold onto the bitterness, but at that moment, it was hard to think about anything except what Katia must be feeling. Her little heart was breaking, and my heart ached for her.

"It's all right, tesorina. Everything is going to be all right." I kissed her brow. "Let's go home. We'll stop and get something on the way."