Another chapter of The Star-Crossed Codex<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A sunny day warm enough to sit outside finally arrived. Rosa sat by the fountain, glancing up at the war memorial tower, the library, then back to her hands nervously wringing each other on her lap. A group of Academy students flooded by, headed to lunch, teasing each other in a way that reminded Rosa of how she and John used to tease and it put a smile on her face, momentarily calming her hands. She wanted that back, the light hearted banter and one-upmanship of a secure friendship. The rushing Gala water behind her in the fountain hissed until it drowned her thoughts and forced her to re-focus on finding John. With a sigh, she told herself she was sure he was there in town somewhere. \u201cHe\u2019s hiding from me, I just know it,\u201d she thought. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll bet Vanessa knows where.\u201d She suddenly craved a cigarette, something she gave up decades ago. Two pubs sat across from her, but she\u2019d given up looking for him there. Rosa\u2019s anxiety began to twist her mind, suggesting that she give up and begin the long journey home, but she resisted. \u201cI can\u2019t give up now, not when I\u2019ve come this far,\u201d she told herself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was then that she spotted Vanessa coming out of the Italian restaurant, head down and shuffling slowly. Rosa sat up, and had an epiphany. Instead of averting her eyes and hiding, she decided to allow Vanessa to discover her, if indeed she had any hunch that she was there, or even who she was. Rosa wasn\u2019t ever sure any more who knew what. When Vanessa crossed the street and started walking slowly in her direction Rosa stood, hoping to catch her attention. The girl didn\u2019t look up until a few yards away from Rosa, who blurted out, \u201c\u2018Scuse me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa looked up and said, \u201cOh, sorry,\u201d and avoided the collision she thought was imminent, but Rosa grabbed her arm. Vanessa looked indignantly down at Rosa\u2019s hand and wrenched herself free, looking at Rosa with fear in her eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Rosa said with a half-sincere smile. \u201cYou don\u2019t know me, but I know you. And I know that you\u2019re looking for someone.\u201d She flushed with a combination of relief and anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa relaxed, but maintained a guarded look. \u201cWho are you?\u201d She said softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRosa,\u201d she said, extending her hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa tentatively took it, with a timid touch. \u201cVanessa,\u201d she murmured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re John\u2019s daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She nodded imperceptibly, her brow furrowing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ok, John\u2019s an old friend of mine. In fact, I\u2019m here looking for him too.\u201d She smiled briefly, then continued, \u201cThe thing is, I\u2019ve about given up on finding him. I\u2019m almost positive he\u2019s here, but I don\u2019t know where. I take it you can\u2019t either?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa sat on the bench and stared up St John Street. Rosa stepped aside to allow more Academy students to pass, then sat next to Vanessa. Slowly turning her head toward Rosa, her voice broke as she said, \u201cNo. And I don\u2019t know what else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa put her hand on Vanessa\u2019s back and gave it a rub. \u201cLet\u2019s join forces. We\u2019ll share what we\u2019ve found out, and together we\u2019ll find him. What do you say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She stiffened slightly at Rosa\u2019s touch, but acquiesced and softly said, \u201cCan I trust you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa placed her hands on her lap again and looked at the ground. \u201cI know it sounds weird, a total stranger, thousands of miles from home, who just happens to be in the same town as you, on the same mission as you. I\u2019ve spent a year tracking him down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy are you looking for him,\u201d Vanessa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa blushed, feeling foolish for her answer being so simplistic, so schoolgirlish. \u201cBecause he\u2019s the only man who ever truly loved me.\u201d She looked sideways at the girl next to her. \u201cIf you\u2019ve ever been in love, I mean really in love- No, not in love. If you\u2019ve ever loved someone with all your heart, unconditionally and without inhibition, then you\u2019d understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa looked forward, studying the stone walls across the street, absently counting jackdaws on the grass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHave you?\u201d Rosa asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa shook her head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou will, some day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe you\u2019ve read about that kind of love in a great novel or seen it in a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She shrugged again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know, it sounds lame coming from an old lady. You have the real reason to find him, he\u2019s your father. A girl needs a father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a great conversationalist,\u201d Rosa said with a nervous laugh, touching Vanessa\u2019s knee. \u201cI\u2019m just kidding, don\u2019t take it so seriously. But I mean it, you need him more than I do. I didn\u2019t have much of a father. My birth dad left when I was little. My step-dad was barely there, and was a creep when he was. My mom divorced him. I had terrible role models growing up. It messed me up, to tell you the truth. Your dad was the first man I knew who made me feel like I could be a better person. Know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa turned her head toward Rosa and gave her a serious look, and softly said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDid he make you feel that way too? If he did, I\u2019m jealous. I loved my mom, but if I\u2019d had a dad that made me feel that way\u2026\u201d She looked off into the distance, then shrugged. \u201cI guess my life would have been very different. Maybe I would have married John.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa recoiled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know, I know,\u201d Rosa said, smiling, using her hand to calm Vanessa. \u201cWeird thought. Sorry. I\u2019m sure you love your mom and couldn\u2019t imaging anyone else taking her place. I get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Letting the sun warm her forehead, Vanessa allowed her self a moment to lose herself in thought, the bittersweet thoughts of her own mother tangling around her mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your mom\u2019s name?\u201d Rosa asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHer name\u2019s Rosa as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh really?\u201d She said with a surprised smile. \u201cI guess it\u2019s a common enough name. But what are the odds? When did he marry her, if I may ask?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike, ninety-four I think?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa\u2019s face clouded. \u201cNineteen ninety-four,\u201d she said slowly, thinking of that as the year she divorced Mark, and how she\u2019d missed John by a thin margin. A look of sadness came upon her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs something wrong?\u201d Vanessa asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, no. I was just reminiscing.\u201d Revealing the sordid details of her relationship with John was the last thing she wanted to do, if she wanted to win the girl\u2019s confidence. Strategic honesty, she\u2019d learned to call it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWh- when did you know my dad?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn nineteen eighty-eight. I\u2019m sure that was way before he met Ro- his other Rosa. His second Rosa.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou think he truly loved you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa nodded. \u201cAnd I\u2019m sure he truly loved your mom, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, sometimes it didn\u2019t feel that way. They were, I don\u2019t know, not close. She was mean to him sometimes and I hated that. I think he tolerated it for my sake. And then he had enough and left us both.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s all the more reason for you to find him.\u201d Inside, Rosa had a surge of enthusiasm, believing perhaps her long lost love may finally graduate from limerence to reality. Surely he would remember her from all those years back, surely he would recall their special bond, forged in secrecy behind her husband\u2019s back, nurtured after work in the solitude of the office they shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s technically still married to my mom, just so you know,\u201d she said. \u201cAt least I think so, she never said they were divorced.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa nodded. \u201cWhere is your mom, back home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo. She moved to Nicaragua to live with her mother. I\u2019m living with my sister for now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAh. I\u2019m sorry. You must feel doubly-abandoned. That has to be tough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m ok.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rosa regarded the girl sitting next to her, in a foreign land, on a quest, and concluded that the gumption and initiative that got her to this place did indeed prove that she was doing ok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell?\u201d she said to the girl. \u201cDo you want to join forces to find your dad? Or am I still a crazy old psycho lady to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa looked at the ground and gave a slight smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs that a yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She thought about her dwindling bank account, and having found nothing so far, turned to Rosa and nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the spirit! Why don\u2019t we go somewhere quiet where we can sit down and compare notes? Maybe that pub over there,\u201d she pointed with her chin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vanessa nodded, and after Rosa stood and offered her hand, she stood and they walked to The Salmon Inn. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Another chapter of The Star-Crossed Codex A sunny day warm enough to sit outside finally arrived. Rosa sat by the fountain, glancing up at the war memorial tower, the library, then back to her hands nervously wringing each other on her lap. A group of Academy students flooded by, headed to lunch, teasing each other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152,"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veedenfleece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}