Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
By the time they returned to the dining, Rose and Elijah were already having their breakfast without them.
“Sorry, but my niece and I don’t have the patience when it comes to food,” Elijah said without remorse, if anything he stuffed his mouth with more food.
Natalie simply smiled at him and took a seat next to Eric. There was a little tension between them after that conversation, but she knew it would soon clear up. It was no big deal.
However, Natalie took a bite of the food when she lost her appetite. She was still not comfortable with Rhea holed up in her room like that.
She put down her spoon with a sigh, a gesture Eric noticed because he asked, “What is it?”
“Nothing.” She said.
But Eric knew it wasn’t nothing. She was probably still worried about her daughter, he guessed.
Natalie was still thinking of what to do when an idea hit her and she faced Elijah with a sudden glint in her eyes.
“You and Rhea were close in the past, right?”
The suddenness of the question made Elijah choke on his tomato basil soup served with bread. No one had seen that one coming
“What?” He rasped, barely recovering from his coughing fit.
“You know Rhea quite well, right? Perhaps, you can talk her out of this depression. She’s not being herself right now.”
“Whoah, hold up.” Elijah stopped her right there. He said, “In case you have forgotten but Rhea hates my ass right now for bringing her back to you and believes I’m responsible for Lukas breaking up with her. If I go into that room, it wouldn’t be talking things out, she would probably murder me.”
“You know that’s not going to happen,” Eric rolled his eyes. He believed his brother was exaggerating.
“You shouldn’t underestimate a woman scorned. Anyway, the point is…” He breathed, “I’m sorry, Natalie, I really want to help you, but I can’t.”
“No problem. It’s alright. I’ll probably wait for her to come out of her shell.
“I’ll go, ” Rose said and all eyes turned to her, wide with surprise.
The girl shrugged, “If you and daddy marry, that makes Rhea my big sister. She doesn’t know me and I want to know her.” The girl made her decision and something told Natalie and Eric they wouldn’t be able to change her mind.
Fight For Your Love
Lukas was gone from her life and Rhea missed him terribly, she guessed it’s true that you never know what you’ve got till it’s gone. There wasn’t a day gone by that she hadn’t thought about the many ways her relationship could have gone had she only told Lukas the truth about Elijah.
It might sound cheesy but the nights were cold without him by her side and the days felt meaningless. The food was tasteless and Rhea only took enough to keep her alive. But she might as well have taken nothing because she kept on losing weight instead.
It was just a week and she was a shell of herself. It sounded stupid but Rhea wondered if Lukas missed her as much as she missed him. Has he moved on already? Was there another woman already taking her place in his life?
Rhea tried to think that the affection Lukas had for her was strong enough. But what if he was trying to forget her by using another woman? The thought of another woman polluting the bed that had spent time together aggravated her.
She felt like dying. Rhea missed him so much that she felt like dying. Her heart hurt so much like someone was repeatedly stabbing her in the chest. She was so sorry for what she had done. Rhea didn’t mean to hurt Lukas that way, but it was too late for apologies. Not that he was even going to listen, she knew Lukas’s temper quite well.
Rhea wished that she could turn back the hands of the clock and rewind it to that moment before he left to rescue his sister. Then, she would have told him the truth even if he claimed otherwise, that way she would be able to avoid this unfortunate end. But then, wishes were not horses and there was no turning back the hands of time.
Unfortunately for Rhea, this was an outcome that she had to live with and so far she was not doing a good job at it. She had pushed everyone away and refused to see anyone. While she should be excited to finally meet her mother, she couldn’t help but blame her inwardly for taking her away from Lukas and leading to this.
And as for Elijah, all she had for him was a burning stream of anger. After what she had done for him, saved his ungrateful ass, this was how he had paid her back. She had told him from the start that she was happy with Lukas! She begged him that night not to take her and yet he did. She would end his pathetic life once she lays her eyes on him.
Hence, Rhea wallowed in her misery. It was not like she had anything to do anyway. Her life doesn’t make sense anymore; everything was turned upside down. Rhea had been planning a future with Lukas and now that it was over she didn’t know what to do anymore. People always said to pick up the pieces of one’s life after a heartbreak and move on, what if everything was in smithereens and there was nothing to fix?
…..
Rhea was startled when a knock came on the door and she turned to it with a glare. Natalie kidnapped her here, why can’t she respect her privacy as well?! She thought. Rhea didn’t want to see her face, not when she was filled with nothing but anger, regret, and bitterness. It was eating her up from the inside out.
Hence, she ignored the knock on the door until she heard a click as the knob was turned and Rhea sighed inwardly. The universe must be punishing her for what she did to Lukas.
Even though it was early morning, Rhea’s room was as dark as night because she closed the curtains to the point light couldn’t penetrate in and the light was turned off. The darkness was efficient for hiding away from everything and everyone.
“Ouch!”
Rhea was startled when she heard a younger voice and a crashing sound. What the hell?
She quickly hurried and pushed the curtain open, letting light come in, and was able to see who had intruded into her room, because whoever that is wasn’t her mother.
“You!” Her brows narrowed together, trying to understand what Eric’s daughter was doing in her room. She was kneeling on the floor and in front of her was ruined food and broken ceramics.
“What were you thinking coming inside here?” Rhea took her hand and pulled her up to her feet else she injured herself. She didn’t want Eric to think that she hurt his precious only child when she only stumbled upon something in the dark.
“I didn’t think that it was this dark.” She grinned at her showing off her missing upper teeth, “I was close to believing that my elder sister is a vampire.”
“Excuse me?” Her brows furrowed. What elder sister? Was the girl kidding her? Rhea had not exactly thought deeply about what her mother’s marriage to Eric would mean to her.
“Don’t worry, it would be cool if you were a vampire. Although I do worry about something, would I be like this when I get older?”
“Huh?” Rhea was more confused than ever.
“I know being in love is fun and all, but I don’t want to have heartbreak and be as miserable as you are right now.” She said,
Rhea’s lips pressed into a thin line as she stared at the young girl. She means, having a little girl point out her…. Just how old was the sassy brat?
“Are you done? You can leave now.” Rhea told her, pointing at the door.
“So you can go back to being pathetic?” She raised a brow at her.
“Jesus Christ and I thought I was a rude child growing up!” Rhea blinked, she couldn’t believe the audacity.
“My papa taught me to be a strong woman and if you want something badly, you fight for it! Do not stay cooped up in your room all day and wait for a miracle to happen. I say you fight for your love!” Rose motivated her.
And the next minute, the door was closed on her face.
Strawberry Yogurt Cake
“What happened?” Natalie looked up hopefully, almost standing from her seat when she saw Rose return empty-handed, thinking that Rhea accepted the food.