The Silver Lining

TWO

GRANDMA Hall was content, not just because her grand-daughter had gotten her dream job, but also because Ashton Cooper, Lisa's best friend, had planned a special celebration and Grandma had finally found some lone time after a very long time, to reminisce memories of her lifetime. Lisa had agreed to join Ashton at their regular food joint and Grandma Hall had immersed herself into the cleaning of the storage room. She stumbled across a peculiar photo-frame while cleaning her old trunk and it brought tears in her eyes.

'Never tell Lisa who we were, mother.' She remembered her daughter's last words. 'Never let any shadows from this world trouble her. Mija se merece lo mejor.'

Grandma Hall remembered the last words her daughter had heard from her. She remembered the promise she had made to her dying daughter. She pulled the frame out of the trunk and held it tight in her embrace while walking up to the sofa. She sunk in and let the tears find their way out of her eye sockets. She cried her heart out in the memory of her daughter.

She vividly remembered that evening when her wounded daughter, with a child in her arms, had hammered on her door to seek shelter and help. She remembered how her daughter had struggled for every breath and then passed away in an hour in her embrace. She remembered how she had to leave her dead daughter behind, without a proper goodbye, just to save her only successor.

She remembered walking out of her house with her grand-daughter, seeking shelter in random cities, struggling for essentials and her journey till finding home here on Mill Hill Broadway.

She cried for hours until she was emotionally spent and soon she passed out on sofa due to the exhaustion.

It was late at night when Lisa unlocked the doors of the apartment. She walked in to the house and saw her grandma sleep-talking. Lisa sighed with a sad smile when she heard the only English words that had come out of her sleeping Grandma. 'I hope you're proud, Lizzy.'

It was very weird to hear a different language coming out of that perfectly British woman. But then again, Grandma Hall was a woman of many virtues. Lisa smiled at the sight and walked away towards her room after offering her grandma, warmth of a woolen blanket.

Lisa sighed as she sunk in her bed and reminisced how perfectly her day had gone. Even the dinner date with Ashton had gone very well. He was quite angry at the stunt Lisa had pulled earlier today but she was glad that the person who had answered her 999 call recognised her voice and immediately assigned Ashton's Unit. Knowing a cop family had its perks and Lisa was well-trained by her grandma to play her cards wisely.

Lisa stumbled at the thought of how her parents would have felt if they were around to see what she had become. Not that she remembered many things about them, but the stories her Grandmother had told her made her somehow believe in their greatness... the greatness that she always aspired to become.

Lisa closed her eyes while sighing away the thoughts. She drifted away into the darkness of sleep only to wake up next day, around six in the morning. Lisa was done with her chores and out on streets well before seven, walking up to the bus station.

She arrived at her office early and received a surprising nod from the Receptionist. She kept herself reminding that she had made a promise to her grandma that tonight they will be having a dinner at her favorite diner and that in return her Grandma will tell her few more stories of her parents. She decided to get her work done early and book grandma's favorite corner table for their dinner tonight.

However, once she was ushered to her desk, she had to immerse herself in her first assignment, which was already placed on her desk with a welcome note from Mr. Spade. Lisa was required to e-mail the brief notes and wait for Mr. Spade to revert.