Chapter 47
Chapter forty-seven
Making Moves
Sophia
Walking into my childhood bedroom, I survey what I once considered my sanctuary and immediately sense a shift. It’s no longer my safe place. Waking up with Marco this morning felt so right because he’s the missing piece of the puzzle I’ve been working on for a lifetime.
I quickly pack a few other treasured belongings, adding them to the group of unpacked boxes I’d sent back from college. I’m usually the unpack immediately type, but intuition told me I wouldn’t be here long. It never lies.
The voices in the office down the hall get louder and louder as Marco and Dad argue.
I know I’m missing something about this rift between them, but I just can’t figure out what it is.
My mom’s loud command directed towards my dad halts the arguing and stops me in my tracks.
I strain my ears to decipher what she says next, but there’s only silence.
The sound of approaching footsteps gets my attention, and soon enough my mum joins me in my bedroom.
She looks perfectly pulled together but still cozy in soft silk trousers and a soft cashmere sweater in the same velvety shade of chocolate brown that offsets her fair skin and caramel blonde hair.
Her softness is both comforting and intimidating.
My dad may live and breathe the world of judge and jury, but it’s mom’s ability to determine someone’s strength of character that has always prevailed.
Unlike many women in New York’s society circles, she doesn’t use people or abuse their talents for her own gain; instead, she offers a warm smile that instantly puts people at ease.
Right now I need her calming presence. “Hi, Mom.”
She crosses the room and takes a seat on the end of my bed.
“Come here, darling,” she says, patting the spot next to her.
She angles her body to face me, and I adjust mine so I’m looking directly at her.
She takes my hands and holds them in hers, a loving gesture that tells me no matter what, she’s there for me.
My eyes start to water, instantly.
“What was all that yelling about?” I ask.
An unreadable look flashes across my mom’s face. Uncertainty and apprehension. Regret, maybe? She schools it quickly, and before I can probe her for details, she speaks again.
“The unknown makes people act in ways we can’t understand.
Your dad truly believes he’s doing the right thing, darling.
Believe it or not, he’s just trying to protect you from both getting hurt.
There are things you don’t under—” but she cuts herself off, and that odd expression passes over her face again, and I know she’s holding back.
“Mom, what are you not telling me?” I implore. “Marco was like a son to him. How many times has Dad said that Samuel is the only man he would lay down his life for? Marco is that man’s flesh and blood. I can’t reconcile why he’s so against this—us being together.”
“You’re old enough to make your own decisions.
For what it’s worth, I always knew it was inevitable that you and Marco would find your way to each other.
A mother sees all, Sophia. The bond you two have always shared has its own heartbeat, and not even putting distance and time between you could sever it. ”
“Just as well you feel that way, Mom, because Marco asked me to move in with him. I know it seems reckless and fast. But it feels like the most natural thing. Like we’ve both felt completely untethered for the last six years, and now everything makes sense.”
“As you get older, you understand sometimes what feels right doesn’t make the most sense, and sometimes what makes the most sense, doesn’t feel right.
It’s head versus heart,” she says, tapping the side of my head with one hand, then placing it over my heart.
“Here’s the thing. Logic is defenseless when it comes to matters of the heart.
I should know. I have been married to the best man I know for over thirty years.
He’s also the same bull-headed man yelling down the hall, trying to fight a losing battle with a man very much being ruled by his heart.
” She gives me a small, knowing smile, using humor to show me she understands the absurdity of my dad’s behavior.
“Whatever happens, you and Marco will weather it together. We don’t always get it right as parents. So even if you’re mad at your dad right now, I hope that one of the greatest lessons you have learned from us is that love can conquer all.”
She reaches out and softly wipes the tears silently falling down my cheeks before pulling me in for a hug.
“Love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, Sophia. I’m proud of you. Leave your father to me.”
“You’re making a big mistake, Sophia. You’ll regret this.”
I turn towards the low, resigned voice coming from the doorway, the words hitting like bullets. Except this time, they don’t wound deeply enough to make me back down.
“Well Dad, a wise man once told me you can’t please everyone. So I guess we agree on something.”
With that, I grab the first of the boxes that need to go into Marco’s car and walk straight past him and towards the man I love, my heart beating in my chest and tears stinging my eyes.
Sometimes love hurts. Sometimes love heals. Right now it feels like it’s mending and breaking me at the same time.