My Boss

[28]

[ayanna]

Daphne and I were driven to an airstrip where we boarded a private jet and flew off to the place I had dreaded for years. The city I was afraid of because it's the city where I got my heartbroken for the first time. It was once the city I had great love and respect for, but now the city just held a broken heart for me. However, I can't forget what the good the city brought to me and the blessings. If it wasn't for the city I wouldn't have Noah or have met Marco, Leonardo at the time. Despite everything this was the city where I was kind of re-born again and taught the biggest lesson that I now hold dear to me. Being alone isn't so bad after all and that you couldn't fix everything.

— Flashback —

Saying I was excited was an understatement to what I was feeling right now. I couldn't believe it, I was finally out of the U.S. and in a whole new place where I could start completely over. Granted this probably wasn't the safest of options, but I still wasn't back home. All I knew was that I wasn't going to let the door close on this opportunity, especially since there was no turning back now.
Grabbing my bags I walked out of the airport in search of a cab and once I found one I was off. I had to pinch myself a few times because I really was in Italy. If you had told me a few years back that I would be coming here to take advantage of an opportunity of a lifetime I would've laughed in your face, but I seriously was here in this beautiful country. Not only was I given the chance to come here, but I also was going to be apart of revolutionary science. Being a psych major came with a lot of perks, but this one was the best of all! Soon I would be arriving at the St.Andre's Medical Institution for the Peculiar and begin my research with some of the patients. My career was finally about to take off and what better place to do it than in Florence."

— End Flashback —

I remember back then how happy I was, but I didn't know how naive I was. I went on to do my internship and research at St. Andre's where I met Helena Moretti, Marco's mother. At the time I didn't know it and she also was the center of my research. What I aimed for with her was to slowly begin taking her off the thousands of medications they had her on and try to figure out a way through natural human interaction to get her mind right, but something deeper was wrong with her. I would stay up night and day trying everything in my power to find a way, but since she and I made no progress in my first two months that upped her medication and moved her to isolation. I begged for them to give me more time because I was so sure that if she was away from the general population it would only make her worse, but the institution didn't budge. Of course, I kept on trying, but nothing worked until I met Marco that hopeful day at the flower shop after we met I had run into him again at the institution. At first, I thought he was a patient, but when he told me who his mother was I took that as a chance. Through Marco, I was able to keep up with the medications they had her on and teach Marco some basic practices to get her back to her sane state.
Also during this time he and I got close. Getting to know him I began to fall for him, hard, and I was slowly getting distracted from my work and research. I was love-struck and in a daze, it got really unhealthy and to the point, I felt like I was obsessed. It didn't help that he returned those feelings because we got so caught up with each other it was to a point where we always were together, but it got really serious when one day Marco came to the institution unexpectedly. That day was the day I had put in my transfer to Sicily for a man I loved and abandoned all the research I had done at St. Andre's for the simple fact that I was in love with Marco and couldn't bear the thought of being away from him. That also was the day the all of Italy dreaded too because the mafia had been very angered that day and many lives were taken at the cost of that anger, but I was too deep within in a trance-like state with Marco to even take notice to the crumbling city around me. So instead of thinking, I left the city that night with Marco not knowing that I had left the girl I once was behind as well.

"Ayanna? Darlin?"

Looking up I saw Daphne looking at me with a concerned face. The plane was parked and landed on the ground now.

"If you're having any second thought we can turn back right now."

She said rubbing my back. I shook my head no and stood up reaching for her hand.

"No Daph, we're already here and there is no turning back. Now let's get this over with and get back home."

We both gave each other hand a squeeze and turned towards the plane's exit, finally stepping off the plane. I was now back where it all started, I was back in Florence, Italy and this time I wasn't excited at all.