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“And they had a beautiful child.” Elena smiled at Olivia.
The silence drifted in again. The ladies watched Olivia carefully as if expecting a response from her, but her eyes were cloudy and her face plain. She was thinking, speechless.
“That is all I know, my dear child. Over the years, Andrei became a better man, but he never forgave me for convincing Maria to leave. But that was the right thing to do, and I would rather die poor than have done anything different.”
Alina kept her gaze lowered on the table the whole time her mother spoke, casting a quick glance at Olivia before resuming her blank stares.
Olivia bit her lower lip.I wish Mom hadn’t been so secretive about this whole thing; I wish she’d told me about her past.
“I don’t know why my mother never told me about all this,” she said out loud.
“Women want to forget the demons of their past. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about,” Elena said. She turned to Alina. “Her father was a drinker. We never speak of it.”
Alina nodded quietly.
“I understand,” Olivia said. “I still wish my mom had been open with me about all this. Everything feels so . . . strange and full of gaps.” She sighed and looked around, then quickly settled her gaze back on the table before they would think she was scrutinizing the house. “If I could find a box labelledanswers, I’d grab it with both hands.” She said.
“I would too,” Alina said. “With these badly-needing-a-manicure hands.” Alina held up her hands with cracked, pink nail polish. Olivia giggled.
“Well, let’s have some cake now and talk about other things, shall we?” Elena announced with a smile and pointed at a box on the kitchen countertop for Alina to grab.
“Sounds like a good idea.” Olivia smiled, ready to change the subject, even though her thoughts were still clouded with memories and unanswered questions of the past.
After a long silence, they pushed past the topic of Olivia’s mother and talked about various topics such as Romanian cuisine as time flew by. Or about how beautiful the countryside was.
It was already afternoon when they heard a loud, blaring honk outside.
“Christian!” Alina blurted as she ran outside. Olivia watched, amused, as Elena shook her head in disapproval.
“Young women . . . like dogs in heat these days,” she said. “I think it’s time.” Elena glanced behind her at a cracked wall clock. “Look how the time has gone. It was so much fun having you around. Maria’s flesh and blood. I cannot wait to see you again and continue where we left off.”
See me again?Olivia tried to hide a frown. “Are you not coming up to the castle with me?”
Elena cleared her throat. “I’m sorry dear, but Alina has to take me to the doctor this afternoon. I don’t want to be a bother to you, but would it be okay for you to go alone? Only for today? Christian will drive you.”
Olivia lowered her eyes in disappointment. More time alone with Christian.
“I’m sorry. I’ll go with you then,” Elena said and coughed wildly, throwing her back against the chair and thrusting her chest forward. Olivia shot up from her chair and tried to reach for her, but Elena held out a hand.
“I’m okay, my dear. You’re such a sweet child.”
“Please don’t worry about me. You have to see the doctor. I can go alone to the castle,” Olivia said. “It’ll be a lot of fun to check it out. I’ve never been in a castle before. A real one, I mean. Only seen them in the movies.”
“Such a sweet child,” Elena repeated. “I will come up there tomorrow.”
“That would be great. If your health permits. Otherwise, I will just come back to see you here. No biggie.”
***
Elena leaned against her daughter, holding the handkerchief to her face as the van rumbled off in a cloud of thick smoke. They waved eagerly and kept smiling until the van turned around a corner and disappeared out of sight. With a growl, Elena quickly straightened her spine and stretched out her arms, the knots in her joints popping.
“Now I may really need to see a doctor,” Elena complained and rubbed her lower back. “My back hurts like hell.” The grimace on her face turned to an excited smile. “That went better than I thought it would, even though you almost ruined things again,” she said, turning to Alina. Her smile disappeared as soon as she noticed the sulky look on her daughter’s face. “What’s that look for?” Elena asked with a huff.
Alina sighed, still maintaining her drawn look.
“Talk to me now,” Elena snapped with a sharp scowl on her face. Alina turned to her mother and muttered something.
“Your voice, Alina! Use your voice! You know I hate when you do that mumbling thing.”
