Under the comforting afternoon sun,I sat in the garden,with my laptop balanced on my lap. My fingers moved slowly over the keyboard, I had been trying to code for the past hour but my mind kept drifting to my encounter with Andrew last night.

All through the night I couldn’t sleep, haunted by the image of his firmly crafted upper build. His taunt shoulders and juicy biceps.

And also his words still stung. The way he looked at me like I was crazy. But I just said what I had observed. Andrew was different around my mom. He was calmer and more gentle. He wasn’t this way with his own father. Everything surrounding my mom’s marriage is just strange. She didn’t tell me when and where she met Rafael, just some vague explanations and Andrew acts like he has known her for years.

Nothing makes sense to me anymore. The more I try to understand the more questions I get.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I looked up to see my mom with her usual gentle expression. She was always smiling, always happy. And for a reason that irked me today. My life was in chaos, Andrew is harsher than usual and Rafael’s aura is getting more tense by the day and all she can do is smile.

I ignored her and turned back to my coding

“How was your day, Sarah?” she asked gently.

“Fine,” I replied with my eyes on the screen.

I felt her sit beside me on the bench “How has school been? I hope you are adjusting well.”

“I said it’s fine,” I snapped out, my voice coming out harsher than I meant it.

Mom blinked, surprised by my “Alright. I’m just trying to check on you.” She stood up.

Before I could even utter a word of apology, Andrew’s voice came from behind me harsh and cold.

“Is that how you talk to her now?” he asked, as he glared down at me.

I looked up, startled but refused to back down. “I’m not in the mood.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to be rude,” Andrew said. “She’s done nothing but look out for you.”

I stood up , my voice tight. “You don’t understand.”

“No, you don’t. Don’t take your mood out on her.”

I immediately packed my things and left. I looked behind and saw Andrew comforting my mother. Gently. Something he had never been with anyone, even me.

Lunch was quiet. The air was heavy with unspoken tension. Rafael tried to cut through it.

“The meeting is still set for tonight. I hope that you can still change your mind about your attendance ,” he said, looking at Mom.

Andrew scoffed. “Of course. Mafia comes first, right?”

Rafael frowned. “What’s your problem now?”

“A lot is my problem. First is you and your domineering attitude.”

“First of all she’s my wife and you’re acting like a child,” Rafael snapped.

My mom tried to step in. “Let’s all just—”

“No, let’s not,” Andrew interrupted. “You keep expecting her to cancel her life for yours.”

Rafael turned to me with a tired look on his face. “Do you know what’s gotten into him?”

I do not know how my mouth opened before my brain could process it. “He’s probably in love with my mom.” And I regretted it the minute I spoke.

The room froze.

Rafael looked stunned. My mom’s eyes widened. Andrew stared at me like I was some freak of nature.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Andrew spat out with a disgusted and furious look on his face. “That’s disgusting. Don’t ever say something like that again.”

I felt suffocated and dizzy under their judgemental gazes. I couldn’t handle it and I shot out from my seat and ran straight to my room.

I laid on my bed with my arms over my face, trying to stop the tears from flowing.

A knock came. There’s only one person who knocks politely like that.

“Go away,” I muttered embarrassed. I didn’t want to see anyone. I couldn’t.

My mom entered anyway, sitting at the edge of the bed.

“You crossed a line,” she said, voice calm but still had a hint of disappointment

“But I think it’s because you don’t understand.”

I turned to look at her.

My mom said my gaze smiled gently. “It’s time you knew how I met Andrew and Rafael. Maybe then, you’ll see things clearly.”

I wiped her face and sat up”Why does he care so much about you? Especially when he hates everyone else.”

My mom laughed at my statement.” He doesn’t hate everyone. He just doesn’t know how to fully express his love.”

“ But he definitely expresses it with you.”

“And with you.” She shot back at me.

I shook my head. “ No he doesn’t. He basically taunts me every moment here.”

My mom just smiled and tapped my head. “Exactly. He doesn’t talk to anyone, he basically shuts himself up everyday but he speaks to you, he taunts you based on things he observes about you, he took you to your school registration even though he could have definitely ignored his father’s order.”

I thought back realizing what my mom had said. I was only concentrating on his differential behavior with my mom to the point I didn’t realize that his supposed ‘hatred’ for me was also out of character.

“Andrew went through a very traumatic experience when he was a child and that’s how we met. It was a cold snowy night and you weren’t at home. You were with your dad in New York. I was at home when I heard a soft tapping at the door. I expected it to be a cat or a freezing dog but I saw a beautiful 6 years old boy in tattered clothes and blood all over him. He passed out the minute I held him in his arms and all he could mumble was ‘ save my father.”