Chapter twenty-two
Devyn
A week before Thanksgiving…
I was having the best day… not because of this beautiful city or because I was shopping. Not because I didn’t miss home, but because my daddy was here.
This was the first time he had been back since his last visit in July. I was super happy to see him because I didn’t have to wait for a text message or schedule a phone call around a six-hour time difference. He was right beside me, which was exactly where he was supposed to be.
“Devyn.”
I looked over. “What?” I asked as I slipped my arms in the comfortable sherpa jacket.
“You don’t need another jacket honey.”
I gasped dramatically. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
I clutched the jacket to my chest and pouted. “Why are you being mean to me?”
My father laughed. “I literally bought you three jackets already.”
“I know but it gets cold out here,” I argued.
His head fell back and I laughed. A few moments later, we stepped out of another store and onto the busy street. People walked in every direction… tourists, families, students and businesspeople. The city was definitely alive and thriving.
I was halfway through telling my father about a restaurant Sahara wanted to try when I realized he wasn’t listening at all.
His footsteps slowed down and then he stopped walking completely.
I frowned and looked at him. “Daddy?”
No response. His eyes remained fixed on something across the street, so I followed his gaze. At first I didn’t understand what I was looking at.
It was just a woman… tall, beautiful, elegant and svelte. She was the kind of woman that made people turn their heads to look twice at her. Her hair was long and dark and flowed down the middle of her back. A luxurious fur coat hugged her frame.
She had black boots with a hat that matched her coat. Everything about the woman screamed expensive. Beside her stood a man who was a couple of inches taller than her… very handsome and well-dressed. But strangely enough, I barely noticed him.
Because the woman wasn’t looking at the street or the stores or even the handsome man beside her for that point. Her eyes were glued directly on us. Well, me, which gave me a weird feeling in my stomach.
“Daddy?” I called again.
He still didn’t say anything. For the first time in my life, my father actually looked stunned. The woman looked just as shocked to see him as he was to see her. Neither of them moved or spoke. It felt like everybody around us disappeared.
Cars passed while people walked by. Life continued to happen, but somehow, the four of us were standing inside our own little bubble… frozen in time.
Then I saw the woman’s mouth moved and even though I couldn’t hear what she said, I read her lips…
“Caine.”
My father blinked as his jaw tightened.
“Monique,” he said in a tone barely above a whisper.
The name meant nothing to me… at first. Then it hit me. My mother’s name was Monique. My stomach immediately dropped as I looked at the woman again. I was actually studying her… the eyes, nose, and the shape of her face.
For the first time I noticed something that should’ve been obvious… she looked like me or maybe I looked like her. I wasn’t sure, but the realization of who she was made my chest hurt.
“Who is she Daddy?”
The question came out softer than I intended. My father didn’t answer right away, which terrified me. I looked at him then at her and back at him hoping for answers.
“Daddy?” I said as I tugged on his arm.
His eyes finally found mine. For a second he looked almost helpless. To be honest, he actually looked like he had seen a ghost. All the color had drained from his face as he looked back at the woman.
Then he quietly said my name, and the way he said it didn’t do anything to ease my anxiety.
“Devyn…” My heart started pounding harder. “That’s your mother.”
When the words left his mouth, everything inside me stopped. I couldn’t even feel my heartbeat anymore.
My mouth literally fell open as I asked, “What?”
The word barely came out as the woman finally crossed the street with the tall man. Now she was standing directly in front of us but still no one spoke… not her, my dad, her husband or me.
I stared at her while she stared back at me. And suddenly, I didn’t know where to look, what to do or what to say. Because what exactly do you say to the woman who gave birth to you then walked out on you?
What could I say to the woman I had spent my entire life wondering about? I had imagined this moment a thousand different times and none of them looked like this.
“Hello Caine,” she finally said.
“Monique,” he mumbled.
Then she took a small step forward while her eyes never left my face.
“Hello Devyn,” she greeted me with a smile.
The words immediately hit me the wrong way. Maybe because she said it like we were familiar and comfortable with each other. Like she knew me or something.
“Excuse me,” I replied sarcastically. “Who are you?”
She looked at my dad, who continued to look at her with a blank expression.
“Uh, Caine, didn’t you tell Devyn who I am?” she asked.
He simply shrugged his shoulders and kept quiet. I wanted my dad to say something, but he just stood there, clueless.
“I’m your mother,” Monique said with a smile.
““Oh, you’re Monique,” I remarked. “I can’t believe you remember my name.”
Instant silence once I said that. The woman looked like I had slapped or offended her. I didn’t care because what did she expect from me? She left right after I was born, and here she was fourteen years later acting like everything between us was okay.
She swallowed hard. “Devyn…”
“Why are you saying my name like you know me?” I asked with an attitude.
“Caine, aren’t you going to say something?” she asked.
“What do you want me to say Monique? It’s been almost fourteen years since you walked out,” Daddy said.
She looked around awkwardly as the man stepped forward. “Corbin Marks,” he said as he stuck his hand out to my dad.
He shook it and said, “Caine Vaughn.”
“Nice to meet you,” Corbin said.
Daddy didn’t say anything else.
“What brings you guys to Switzerland?” Monique asked with a fake smile.
“Daddy can we go?” I asked as I turned up my lips.
“Caine, I don’t know how we all ended up in the same place at the same time, but I’m hoping that it was fate.
” She dug in her handbag and pulled out a card.
“Please call me when the shock has worn off. I’d like to meet with you, both of you…
” she quickly corrected. “I would like to have lunch or dinner and catch up.”
Daddy took the card but still didn’t say anything. Monique’s husband shifted awkwardly beside her. Like he wanted to disappear. Honestly, so did I.
The woman’s eyes filled with something I couldn’t identify. Maybe it was sadness or regret or guilt. Hell, maybe it was all three.
“Daddy!” I called as I tugged at his arm again.
“Yeah. Yeah,” he said as he snapped out of the trance he was in. “Enjoy your vacation.”
“It’s not really a vacation,” Monique said. “I’m here for a fashion show tomorrow evening. You two should come.” She reached in her handbag again and pulled out a couple of tickets.
“No thanks Monique,” I said as I tugged on my dad so we could leave.
Thankfully, he didn’t say anything as he walked away with me.
As we walked away, I was still in shock. I couldn’t believe I had seen my birth mother after all these years. Once we got back to the hotel room, I turned to him.
“Can you believe the nerve of that woman?”
“I’m sorry you had to meet her like this,” he said.
“I wish I had never met her at all.”
“I never imagined we’d see her like that on the streets of Zurich. I… I… damn!” he said as he sat down and sighed heavily.
I walked over to him and sat next to him on the sofa. “Are you okay Daddy?” I asked.
“Not really, but I will be. Just shocked is all. What about you? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? Do you wanna talk about anything?” Daddy asked.
“No, I’m just gonna go in my room if that’s okay,” I said.
“Yeah. Let me know if you need anything,” he said.
As soon as I got in my room, I called Sahara.
“Hey girl,” she answered.
“Are you busy?” I asked.
“No. What’s wrong? You sound weird.”
“You are never gonna guess who I just saw.”
“Dreco!” she teased and started laughing.
“HA! HA!” I replied sarcastically. “No.”
“Then who?”
“My birth mother!” I stated just a little too loudly.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
“Yes!”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, but no,” I replied. “She walked over to me and my dad like we were long lost friends or something.”
“Wow! What did your dad say?” Sahara asked.
“He barely said anything. It was like he was stuck or something,” I said.
“Did she speak to you?”
“She tried, but I wasn’t having it.”
“How does she look? Was she alone?”
“She looks like me or I look like her,” I said. “She invited us out to dinner or something.”
“Oh, are y’all gonna go?”
“Hell no!” I responded. “I don’t want anything to do with her.”
“So, real talk… you didn’t feel anything when you saw her?” Sahara asked.
“Nothing.”
“So, did she tell you what she’s doing here?”
“As a matter of fact, she did. She said something about being in a fashion show tomorrow. She gave us a couple of tickets or tried to, but I declined them.”
“Wow! A fashion show!” Sahara shrieked. “Must be that Couture Fashion Night in The Dolder Grand Hotel. I would kill to go to that show!”
“No! We are not going!” I declined.
“I know. I was just saying.”
“If I never see that woman again, it’ll be fine with me,” I said.
I was a baby when she left me. I suddenly realized I was angry. Maybe not screaming kind of angry but the worst kind, the quiet anger. The kind that sits in your chest and burns.
I used to not know what she looked like. Now, I couldn’t pretend she was anything other than what she was… my mother and a stranger.