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Coming down the hallway was a woman walking with a familiar gait. It took Pro a moment to realize it was her mother. She wasn’t sure how she’d filled her day, but Pro realized it must have been spent getting a makeover. Her hair was set in a new style, her makeup, something Elisha always prided herself on, was now flawless. She wore a black dress that hung on each curve as if it had been painted on, and a black wrap with red roses embroidered on it lay on her shoulders.
Pro stopped and her mouth fell open. She glanced back at Max to see him wearing the same open-mouthed expression, and noted that her mother’s eyes never even went to her but were focused on Max like a laser.
Elisha strode past her daughter, who noticed that the older woman had given up her comfortable shoes and was wearing heels that made her an even more imposing figure.
Max moved to her without hesitation. “My God, ‘Lisha, you are astounding.”
“Flatterer,” she said as she took a quick spin to show off what had to be a new dress.
“No, I mean it. You looked great this morning, but now! I cannot find words to describe you.”
“The mouth falling open did it for me. ‘Bout time someone made you do that instead of the other way around,” Elisha said, and for the first time noticed Pro. “Oh, hi, honey.”
Pro did her fish impression a second time as she tried to wrap her brain around her mother’s transformation. “Mom…?” she finally blurted.
“Shall we go?” Max said, taking the opportunity to head out.
“We should. Remember Patsy’s?”
Max looked at her with glee. “Do I ever!”
“It’s still there, and I made us a reservation,” Elisha suggested.
As they walked past Pro, her mother gave a wave and said, “See you later, honey.”
Pro watched her parents as they headed for the stairs and shook her head in disbelief.
“They make a handsome couple,” Tom Chu said, suddenly at her side.
Pro turned to him with fury in her eyes. “Don’t go there,” she groaned, as she made her way back to her desk.
5. Professor's Nightmare
Early the next morning, with two cups of designer coffee in her hands, Pro got off the elevator near her mother’s apartment. She had grown up in the simple West End Avenue abode and could recall playing up and down the hallways as a child.
When her mother married Joe, he had moved in with them and it had been just the three of them. Although Elisha had been disappointed that her marriage to her second husband had been childless.
Nevertheless, Joe threw himself into raising Pro like she was his own and adored her as she grew. He taught her self-discipline and knew how to be there when she needed someone to lean on, and to back away when she needed to spread her wings.
Pro stopped in front of the door, put the coffee cups on the floor, and unlocked the apartment with practiced ease. She picked up the cups and pushed the door closed with her hip as she walked in.
Bringing her mother coffee was a Saturday ritual they had held onto ever since Joe’s passing. It was a chance to catch up, talk, and spend time together. Between Pro’s police duties and Elisha’s work as a designer, they often didn’t have a chance during the week.
“Mom!” Pro yelled, and as usual headed toward her mother’s bedroom to bring her the coffee in bed.
She pushed the door open to find her mother sitting up with the blanket pulled up to her neck. “Pro?” she exclaimed wide-eyed.
“Yeah,” she said, and approached with the two cups, amused by her mother’s behavior. “Why you covering up? Did you have a hot flash and pull off your bedclothes or something?”
Pro froze as another shape moved in the bed just beyond where her mother lay.
Max’s head sprung up, his hair tousled and standing up in odd places. He smiled, a bit bleary-eyed. “Pumpkin? I hope that’s coffee.”
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Pro sat at the small kitchen table and took another sip from her cup. She was still shaking. The uncontrolled rage wanted to burst out of her and strangle the bastard who had sired her.
Her mother finally came out in a nightgown and robe, then sat tiredly across from her.
