Aviana and Zeke entered the two bedroomed apartment just after 6 o’clock. Cyndel ran to her mother crying, “Where were you?” The words slowly made their way out of her quivering lips.

In times like these when she saw her child frightened and lost like that, the hatred for their father that she tried so hard to suppress, seeped to the foreground. She squeezed her tight to her own body, trying not to only ease Cyndel’s pain and heartache, but her own as well.

“I’m sorry, baby. I had to go get Zeke from the museum.” she cast him an annoyed sideways look.

Unwilling to pull herself away from her mother she clung to her and wept.

The muscles in her chin trembled as she tried to hold back a frustrated sob and forced herself to gain control as Cyndel pushed away from her.

“What was he doing there?”

“Well, he decided that today was the day to learn more about art.” She glanced at him and noticed that he was dabbing at his eyes with his sleeve.

‘Is he going to become an artist like Daddy, Mommy?”

“I’m not sure what he wants to do, honey.”

He turned his back on them and walked to his bedroom.

The fear that his ignorance brought to her practically suffocated her as she realised that she had less and less control over him each day. Her body stiffened as he threw his backpack on his bed and started to close the door behind him.

“I’lI eat in my room tonight. I have a lot of homework to do." He shut the door a little too hard for his mother’s liking.

She knew then and there that they were like two horses that pulled in opposite directions. Her only concern now, was to find a way to pull together, in the same direction instead of away from each other. The  question was ‘how’.

“Fine.” Is all she could muster to prevent the anger to rise in her once more.

Nina came out from the kitchen with a plate of Apfelstrudel, a typical Viennese speciality that Cyndel loved.

Words could not express her feelings of appreciation for all Nina's help. Her heart leaped for joy for the one person she knew she could count on when she needed help. She went over to Nina and squeezed her arm.

“Mmmmmm, this smells divine, Nina.”

“Guten Tag, Aviana. Danke schön, I vanted to spoilen Cyndel. Sche vas kryink for you unt Zeke zee entire afternoon.”

The feeling of losing her battle to keep everything together overwhelmed her. The pain in her chest she felt at that moment was the pain that usually brought her down and made her want to quit and stop functioning. But then her kids flashed before her eyes, and she knew that it was worth it to continue for them.

“Aaauh, my baby, I’m so sorry we’re late.” Cyndel’s smile brightened up her swollen red eyes as Aviana cupped her cheeks and kissed her on the forehead.

The both of them sat in the lounge eating the Apfelstrudel after Nina left. Nina took a plate to Zeke before she left after he refused twice to join them.

Her body refused to relax after the hustle and bustle of the day. She was anxious because she still had so much to do, but forced herself to rather spend time with Cyndel before she went to bed, knowing from next week she would see little of her. She’ll have to find a way to spend more time with the kids and stop trying to keep everything organised and perfect. After what happened with Zeke today it’s evident that everything was not organised and perfect.

“Mommy is going to be working late from next week, honey. But Zeke will be here every night. And Nina will be here too.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to work at the museum for extra money.” Cyndel moved closer to Aviana and got on her lap, a sign that she is not going to take this new arrangement well.

“I don’t want you to. I’m scared when you’re not here.” A burning sensation in her chest made her feel listless and empty at Cyndel’s words and she held tighter onto her as if that would ease her pain.

Aviana knew that Cyndel wouldn't understand, and that there would be a lot more tears from Monday. She hated it when Aviana had to work late. To her surprise Nina agreed to stay a couple hours later to make diner and see to it that Cyndel got tucked in every night. She knew it was going to be difficult to adapt, but she wanted to pay off the debt as soon as possible.

After Cyndel settled in for the night Aviana read her a bedtime story and went to Zeke’s room.

His head was bobbing up and down when she entered his room. Although he was wearing his headphones she could still hear music coming from them. The music must have been deafening. Since they moved into the apartment he wasn’t allowed to listen to loud music. They had to be considerate towards their neighbors.

A wave of sadness washed over her because she knew he felt trapped in this small apartment. He opened his eyes when she sat on the bed and took his headphones off.

“Mom, before you say anything, I just want to apologize for what I did. I am really, really sorry. I don’t know how I’ll repay you.”

“Why did you do it, Zeke? It was extremely irresponsible of you. We are in a lot of trouble because of it. As if we don’t have enough problems as it is. If Mr. Laurent hadn’t offered to help, I don’t know what I would have done. Why?”

“I don’t know. I was just so mad today. I wanted to go out with my friends after school. I couldn’t because I had to look after Cyndel.”

“How did you end up at the museum?”

“She drove me so crazy with her nagging, mom. So, I just left the apartment and started running. Only when I stood in front of the museum did I realize how far I had run.”

Aviana breathed out a resigned and weary sigh. She rubbed at her tired eyes, “And then…?”

“I bought a ticket and went in. I remembered how dad loved the drawings the museum exhibited. When I saw the ‘Poussin to David’ exhibit I couldn’t wait to see it. In front of the Jean-Baptiste Greuze, French drawing, ‘The Ungrateful Son’ I just couldn’t help missing dad so much. He always lingered in front of this drawing. And then I got so mad at him for leaving us, I wanted badly to do something bad.” A sob escaped his lips.

Aviana grieved for him internally. She had wept so many times because she had to place the burden on him of looking after his sister when Nina couldn’t make it. She had wept because Mark had robbed them of their joy and peace. The sadness had taken away bit by bit of their innocence. There was a time when he had been just a boy that loved having a conversation with her. Conversations about friends and school and girlfriends. He shrieked with laughter when she had teased him about his girlfriends. All of that are gone now. And she missed it so much.

She moved closer and put her arms around her son. At sixteen he was still just a child. A child that missed his father tremendously.

“I’ll make everything alright again. I promise. But I’ll need your help. I can’t do this on my own. And you’ll have to accept that your father is not coming home. We have to deal with that whether we want to or not. Let’s agree to make life better for ourselves. Let’s stop thinking about him and start thinking about ourselves. What do you say? Can we do that?”

“I think we can. I just miss him so much.”

“I know you do. From now on we are not going to waste our tears on him anymore. We are going to make each other happy. Starting from tomorrow. We’ll go for a picnic at the Danube river.”

“Really!”

Aviana laughed as she almost fell off the bed when he leapt up. The sparkle in his eyes were priceless and filled her heart with hope and great joy. Something she hadn’t felt in a while. If they were going to win this battle they would have to fight for it.

***

A year ago when Mark left them and returned to Boston, she had to find a cheaper place to stay. A lot of searching brought her to the apartment in Landstrasse in Vienna. She chose the apartment because it was close to the city centre and she could take riverside strolls along the Danube with the kids. A recreational activity she knew she would be able to afford and something the kids would enjoy.

To her regret she started taking them less and less because she just had too much to do and was always tired. Staying in the apartment on weekends was enough for her. Only now had she realised it hadn’t been good enough for them.

The sophisticated apartment was decorated with a contemporary feel and stylish furnishings. The white walls helped made the apartment feel bright and spacious. Goodness knows all of them needed something bright to make them feel better. She just needed time to save enough money to go back to Boston. 

Aviana couldn’t ask her mother for money. After all, she did warn her about Mark, and she wasn’t ready for the ‘I told you so’s’, yet.

Mark was a rehabilitating drunk that was offered a second chance at a decent job at the Albertina museum. She knew it was a risk leaving her job in Boston, but she had to work on her marriage. It was in shambles after she found out that Mark cheated on her.

And all this suffering was for nothing in the end. One morning when she woke up she found a note on her bedside table. Mark had gone back to Boston to his lover and left her with all the debt. She hadn’t been as sad about him leaving her as she had been that he left her with all the debt. She realised their marriage was over two months after they arrived in Vienna. But she nevertheless tried.

She slid down into the warm water, allowing the soft bubbles to hug her. The soapy sparkling bubbles cascaded over the rim of the bath. She breathed in the sea breeze aroma of it and held her breath for a couple of seconds. Her heart started palpitating. She didn’t know if it was due to the lack of oxygen or the memory of a different man that had entered her thoughts.

She remembered his muscles bulging under his dress shirt. Aviana felt a flush creep up her neck. His neatly trimmed full beard and moustache accentuated his square jaw and his buoyant speech still lingered in her thoughts. He spoke so passionately about the art at Albertina. Which irritated her initially. But this was how she remembered him. Passionate.

He barely smiled, but when he did it was with ease. A smile she could never forget. His slightly full, pink lips with the cute little smirk at the corners made her stomach lurch. He had always been close shaved, but now his slightly greying beard made him look more attractive than she remembered.

Closing her eyes, she tried to recall his musky aftershave. He used to speak into her ear with his baritone voice. She could almost hear and taste him. She felt like she could drag her fingers through his wavy dark brown hair greying at the temples.

She was forced to the present by Cyndel’s coughing. Her last thoughts of Kace before she got out of the bath was his serious facial features. How his dark daring green-brown eyes, looked into her soul. He hadn’t change much from when she saw him last. Kace definitely matured, but there was something sad about him.

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the 2nd chapter. Please comment and leave me your thoughts on this, I will really appreciate it❣

The picture at the top is of Christoph Waltz. I had him in mind when I wrote this story❣