by Iris Blobel
“Come in. Have something to eat and some coffee.”
He contemplated all the things he wanted to ask her, all the things he wanted to know about her, but knew it wasn’t the right time. Looking around, he followed her into the back of the house into the lounge room. She switched on the light and the room lit up in a soft glow. The house was decorated with a feminine touch. The furniture matched in style and mostly in colours as well. With his modest knowledge, he assumed she liked art, as she had a few well-recognised pieces hanging on the wall. He noticed, though, there weren’t too many photos, if any at all, of family, only one or two of her in younger years.
“Give me her phone number. I will give her a call. She might simply block you.”
Staring at her with disbelief, he pulled out his phone and told her Mia’s number.
With a push of a few buttons she dialled the number and held the phone to her ear. Shaking her head, she indicated no luck as well. “I suppose you won’t get any help from the police before the twenty-four hour cut-off period?”
Zach shook his head. “You can report someone missing at any stage. I’ve rung them, and they've asked to check friends and family first before lodging a report. I will need to go down the station with heaps of stuff for that.”
Nodding, she made a gesture to sit down in the lounge room.
“I’ll make you a quick sandwich and get you a drink.”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t get a bite down at the moment, but thanks.”
Zach stood and stepped towards her. The dim light reflected on her black hair. Her dark blue eyes made him want to forget about everything, but kiss her. He reached out and cupped her face in his palm, letting his fingers caress her cheek for a moment. Studying her face, his lips were awfully close to hers. When she leaned away from his hand, he slowly removed it.
“I’m sorry,” he said just above a whisper. And with a heavy sigh he added, “Not sure where that came from.”
****
Mia walked towards the reception counter with her heart thumping so loud and heavy she wasn’t able to focus on anything else.
“May I help you,” a pleasant voice on the other side of the desk inquired.
Mia was suddenly not sure what she was doing at the hotel and turned to look around. But then remembered that he was her father, and she needed questions to be answered.
“Mr. Darren Schuster, please. Could you give him a message that his daughter is here?”
“Certainly, Miss. One moment please.”
“Thanks.”
Then she walked over to the waiting area and sat down. Waiting. Moving one leg over the other. Leaning back and then restlessly readjusting her position again. Thoughts raced through her mind. Questions like why he'd come to find her now? Had Sophie refused him permission to visit? How old was he? Had he loved her mother?
One minute, five minutes, ten minutes, she had no idea how long she had waited when she finally spotted Darren Schuster stepping out of the lift. He looked around, and as soon as he saw her, he came towards her. But suddenly the whole idea seemed out of control. Weird and downright scary. There wasn’t even the slightest smile on his face. Not a small smile of delight of seeing her. Or even a small smile because he was now able to talk to her. None of that. Not even a hint. Then again, she thought, she hadn’t been the most welcoming person that morning. He was probably just as apprehensive as she was.
“Mia.” He held his hand out for her to shake, but she ignored it. She wasn’t sure why, but somehow, the hand shaking wasn’t her thing.
“Mr. Schuster.”
Finally his mouth curved into a wee grin.
“How’s your sister?”
She shrugged. “Dunno.”
A deep frown wrinkled his forehead. “Where’s Zach?”
She avoided his gaze. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “At home.”
Darren rubbed his lips with his hand. “Would you like something to eat?”
As soon as the words had been spoken, Mia felt hungry. “Yes, please.”
They walked over to the hotel café where they sat in a small booth near the windows. Mia reached for the menu straight away, ignoring Darren’s stare. Her rumbling stomach reminded her that she hadn’t eaten for most of the day.
“Mia?”
“Hmm.”
His finger appeared on the top of her menu and gently pushed it down.
“Your order?”
“Oh.”
She turned to the waitress and then back to Darren. “You’re paying, right?”
Darren nodded slowly.
Mia rattled off an entrée, main meal, and ice cream for dessert, disregarding her father’s simple order of a coffee.
After doing her best to avoid his staring eyes, she finally gave up. Tilting up her face, she met his gaze. The silence between them started to become uncomfortably long.
“How long have you known I’m your daughter?” she asked at last.
“A while,” he replied hesitantly.
With her eyebrows raised she studied him. “A while?” she asked.
He shrugged. “A long time.”
More staring. “Excuse me?”
The waitress came and placed his coffee in front of him and a small plate of bruschetta in the middle of the table. Mia grabbed it straight away and took a bite.
“Why did you come here, Mia?”
“How long has Sophie known?”
Darren slowly sipped on his coffee, seemingly thinking about that question. “Since your move to Hobart,” he finally murmured.
“Whaaat?” she replied louder than intended, which earned her a glare from her father.
“Keep it down, Mia.”
She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and then addressed him. “I suppose I’m here because I found out today who my father is and now I’ve got about a thousand questions in my head. Like why? How? Did you love Mum? Have I got a sister or brother? I don’t know. Things a girl should know.”
Mia watched him as he raked his hands through his thinning hair. It drove her nearly insane how he sipped on his coffee with all the patience and time in the world.
“Mr. Schuster?”
That got his attention.
“You came to find me, not the other way around.” She sighed as she watched the waitress take away her plate. Then her gaze moved back to Darren Schuster. Apparently her father. He was attractive, even though that thought freaked her out. It seemed her green eyes were part of his genes, although his were freakishly intense. After a mental eye roll, she opened her mouth, but all of a sudden, having lunch with a stranger, no matter whether he was her father or not, seemed scary. The thought of just leaving crossed her mind, but curiosity won. She decided to let him explain first, before she threw all her questions at him. If she was still eager to know.
“You looked for me, here I am. Ask away.”
He chuckled and sipped again on his stupid coffee. “You’re quite a handful, Mia.”
She shrugged. “You’re not great father-material, either.”
Inhaling deeply, he seemed to avoid looking at her. “I’m about to retire from the day-to-day management of the company. You’re my daughter and only family. I’m here to put things in place for you to be financially involved in the company in the future.”
Tilting her head to the side, she stuttered, “Come again?”
Chapter Twelve
Zach opened the car door for Natasha before getting in himself.
“So you’ve rung her friends?”
“Yup.”
“Been around the pier and the wharf?”
“Yes.”
“Princes Park?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
“It’s getting dark.”
He turned to look at her as to say That statement doesn’t help.
“Call Mark for an update. Mia might have rung him.”
Zach reached for his mobile in his pocket and flipped it open. First ring. Second ring. Third ring. No ans
wer.
“Mark. Zach here. Call me with an update. Cheers.”
“Not answering?” Natasha enquired.
“What was your first clue?” Zach asked, tossing the phone onto the dash.
“Don't be a smart aleck,” she told him.
He pulled in his lips and clamped his jaw shut, before he muttered an apology. “It’s been one bad day. I suppose my nerves are as tight as a drawn bowstring.”
A quick glance at her told him she understood. Then a sudden jolt went through his body when she placed her hand on his leg. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He turned to her as he stopped at the red light.
“I understand.”
Zach gulped.
“So let’s focus. Not Mark either. Would she have gone to the man who says he’s her father?”
“He is her father.”
“Does daddy have a name?”
Trying to focus on the problem at hand, Zach gently placed his hand over hers, their fingers entwining playfully. Staring at their hands, he replied, “Darren Schuster.”
After receiving no response, he turned his gaze to Natasha and met her eyes dead-on. He leaned in close and spoke softly, “Once this is sorted, I really need to take you out to dinner.”
Equally quietly spoken, she replied, “It’s against our rules to date family members of our students.”
“I’m the babysitter,” he told her as he touched her lips with his own.
“Well, lucky me.”
But their tender moment was interrupted by a cabdriver honking his horn. Zach jerked, cursed and drove on. Still stirred by the kiss, he rummaged through his jeans pockets for Darren’s card. He dialled the number and waited for an answer.
“It’s Zach here.”
“How’s Sophie?” Darren asked.
“No news, yet.” Zach sighed. “Have you seen Mia by any chance since this afternoon?”
He heard background noises and assumed Darren was in an eatery or similar.
“Yes. In fact she left only a few minutes ago.”
“Far out, isn’t anything going right today?” He moved to the side to park near the pavement and asked, “Did she say where she was going? Was she upset?”
There was the pinging noise of a lift in the background, and Zach hoped that Darren wasn’t stupid enough to enter. The phone connection would be dead instantly.
“I wouldn’t call it upset, more overwhelmed. And sorry, no, she just left.”
Zach was about to hang up when he heard Darren repeat his question. “How’s Sophie?”
He flipped the phone closed, not caring about Darren. Sophie! Drat.
Zach’s emotions were in an overdrive. Never had he experienced anything like this before. He worried about Sophie and about the little unborn baby. Yet, he was still annoyed with her for not coming clean with Mia. And Mia running away!
He shook his head and noticed Natasha moving next to him. Such bad timing, he thought. He rested his head on the steering wheel, eyes closed. The memories of their brief kiss poured back like a movie running in his head. Concentrating hard to stay focused on his search for Mia, he tried hard to think where she could’ve gone now. It had been a bad move to hang up on Darren. He should’ve asked what they’d talked about, what he had told Mia, and whether or not he’d offered her to take her home. Was she on her way home? Alone?
“Zach?”
“Uh-huh?”
“Your phone.”
His phone was buzzing. Mark! With his fingers flicking all the buttons, he answered but was too late.
“Crap! Someone tell me this isn’t happening.”
Mark had left a message. All was okay. Sophie was okay, considering the circumstances. Still in labour and very exhausted. The doctors were keeping a close eye on her in regard to her fatigue and were hoping the baby wouldn’t start to stress.
He inhaled deeply, but without looking at Natasha, he sighed. “One problem under control. Sophie is okay considering all, but baby’s not behaving and still snuggled up inside. Must be the Levesque gene.”
****
Mia was tired. Tired of the day. Tired of all the news. And tired of being alone. It was nearly dark, and in all her attempts to be a teenager she didn’t like the dark. Her conversation with her father kept running through her mind, and she couldn’t make sense of it. The whole financial stuff he’d told her was way too complicated and way too much out of her league. But when she’d asked about her mother, and he had constantly referred to her as “she” and “her”, but not her name, Mia had lost it and left. Assuming that the comment “his only family” meant she had no sisters or brother, Mia had received the answer to her most important question. And she hadn’t liked it.
She thought of going to Olivia, but knew that her friend's mother, Georgie, would call Sophie or Zach straight away.
Jared! Yes, he’d be perfect and he’d help her.
Financially involved in the company in the future.
The words just went round and round in her head like a buzzy bee.
Why now? There had to be a mistake!
No other sisters. And no brothers. Sadness filled her, but relief as well. Relief, that she hadn’t missed out on years she could’ve spent with siblings, but sadness, that there was, indeed, only her and Sophie.
She walked past the main streets and up towards Caldew Park. It took her a good twenty minutes, and when she turned around the last corner, she saw lights in the front rooms of Jared’s house. Mia let out a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding.
Jared was Mark’s best buddy. They had known each other since they’d been little kids. Neighbourhood mates, and they had kept in contact throughout the years, mainly playing squash or having the occasional beer together. Nowadays, Jared was a gardener and owned his own small landscaping business. Big bucks, but hard work as he always told Mia. But he was a dag, and she liked it when he was around. Always fun.
Listening for a moment, although not sure what for, she knocked at the door of the house. She heard steps as she saw more lights flicking on. Mia’s heart thumped nearly through her throat.
“Mia?” Jared surprise was obvious.
Okay, he obviously wasn’t up-to-date with the events of the day.
“Can I come in?” Her voice sounded timid even to her.
“Of course you can.” He opened the door further and stepped aside. “What’s up, buddy? Does OC know you’re here?”
Mia smiled at him calling Mark OC. He’d always called him OC, but nobody really remembered why. Then she turned, looked at him, and burst into tears.
“Whoa, darlin’.” In his very laid-back way, he grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her closer into a hug.
Mia couldn’t believe it. This was not happening again. She wasn’t crying again like a baby. But she was and the hug felt good, and she rested her head on his chest a little longer.
“Hot chocolate?”
Stepping back and wiping away her tears, she nodded. “And some tissues please.”
“Over on the fridge, darlin’.”
Following him into the kitchen, she felt a bit of relief. Finally someone to talk to who wouldn’t give a crap answer or tell any lies.
The sound of the kettle stilled, and she prolonged blowing her nose for just that tad longer.
“Sophie’s in hospital, Mark’s with her and Zach–”
When she didn’t finish, Jared turned and met her eyes.
“I’d better call him.”
Mia nodded. “But could you tell him to not pick me up? And not get angry. And to let me know that Soph’s all right.”
“That’s a mighty list ya have there.”
Yes, it was quite a list. It had been a massive twenty-four hours. More or less from the very first minute of the day. Mia closed her eyes for a moment, and the events of the day rushed through her mind. The breakfast, the lies, the news, the tears. More of hers than anyone else's. Shoving the thoughts back into the niches of her mind, she heaved another long s
igh.
Mia heard Jared on the phone and opened her eyes again. He’d gone into the hall, and the conversation was only a mumbling in the background. Please let Zach understand!
“Sophie’s fine. Baby’s fine. Ya have to give Zach a call, otherwise he’ll be on the doorstep in less than ten minutes.”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Phone or face-to-face.”
Her choices weren’t what they'd been cracked up to be. Looking at her phone, she hoped it would turn out to be the better choice.
Chapter Thirteen
“Jared, mate. What’s up?”
“Ya asking me? Apparently tons with y’all.”
Zach frowned slightly. It took him a brief moment to connect the dots. He hoped! “Mia with you?”
But why would Mia go to Jared? Out of all people. She liked him but wasn’t necessarily crazy about him. He was Mark’s friend, but as good as a buddy he had been to Mark, he had never seemed to be more than just that. So why had he asked that question?
“Yeah, she’s here. She must’ve spat the dummy big time to end up at my place.”
Zach’s sigh of relief was almost audible. Raking though his hair, he turned and mouthed to Natasha, We’ve found her.
She closed her eyes and muttered, “Thank goodness.”
“Let me talk to her,” he demanded.
“Mate, ya have to wait. She’s having a hot chocolate to settle the tears a bit. I give her to call ya in a moment.”
Zach nodded, then realised that Jared couldn’t see him. “No worries. But get her to call me or I’ll be on your doorstep in ten.”
“Oi! Buzz off, pal. Give the girl some space.”
“I’m the one giving her the space, but she scared the crap out of me by running away. So I’m not the one to buzz off. Clear?”
Zach cursed and pounded the steering wheel with his fist once, and then a second time. Out of the corner he saw Natasha flinch. Inhaling deeply, he tilted his head towards her and apologised.
“Who was on the phone?” she asked, her voice nearly breaking.