Zia arrived a day earlier.

She called her mom a few days ago prior to her arrival, but something just did not sit well with her stomach and instead of extending her stay with her friends in a countryside cabin, she changed her mind quickly and decided to go home on a whim. Going on a summer getaway was not part of her plan, and going home was not part of her plan either, but there was something about her that she could not quite grasp or explain. Either she's hormonal or she's just suddenly nostalgic. It could be the heat, or the scenic view of the mountains or the very noisy kids of their next-door cabin neighbors, but ugh no. So, here she was standing in front of their door.

Zia whipped out a key from her pocket, then inserted the small metal into the keyhole and turned the knob.

The cool air nipped at her face as she stepped into the vast living room. The curtains had been drawn, dimming most of the room. She turned and found the switch quickly and scanned the room as she darted about. There seemed to be no one around in this house at the moment.

"Mom?" She called as she carefully dropped her bag onto the polished floor, not caring if she was going to be reprimanded like in childhood times. She was already a university student, an art student to be exact.

"Mom?" She called again as she fished for her phone. The long drive had been enough to put her to sleep quickly, and she was still feeling slightly groggy from the trip.

She called her mom, but she was unreachable. Strange.

She dialed again, out of annoyance, and still unreachable. Where could she be? She did not seem to be the type who would go somewhere unannounced. As far as she knew, her mom had been the type who would inform her of her affairs, be it shopping or partying. She had always been too vocal, and that's why she found it a little difficult to believe that she would ghost her and disappear quickly. Who knew? She could be with her stepdad and they could have gone somewhere and did not want to be bothered. Sheesh, of course. She almost laughed at herself.

Without letting unwanted thoughts intrude her mind, she darted toward the staircase, heading to her room. She had not been here for a long time. In fact, she had given a few silly excuses to her mom in the past why she could not drop by or visit quickly even if she could almost easily come and sleep here overnight. She had been too lazy, and truth be told, university life was too exhausting sometimes and she'd rather spend her free time going to the museum or visiting another neighboring city. During those moments of bliss, not once did she ever think about going back nor thinking how her mom would react if she started drinking and hanging out with boys she only just met, the ones who were not her type, but were good enough to offer her a free drink or free ride. Those things that she kept hush hush. Well, it seemed like her mother was already aware of these things, but sometimes, she could be very strict when it came to these matters. Her husband, Zia's stepdad was even worse. He had been too protective, and even if there was no chance in hell he would learn what she had been up to, she could hear him groan or give a side comment about the types of boys she began hanging out with.

Without anything in mind, she made for the staircase all the way to her room. She huffed a sigh of hesitation and turned the knob and paused as she scanned her room. The bed was well-made, the soft, clean white sheets lay on the bed untouched, like someone was expecting her to arrive today. The curtains were drawn, not permitting a sliver of light to filter through the room. Her old table lamp was still there sitting on the desk and as she quickened her steps to check, she found that it had not collected any dust. Well, it seemed like her mother made sure that everything should still be spotless despite her being away. It had been like this. She had been scolded a few times for being messy and for unwittingly leaving any form of clutter in her room. Her mother was always livid and she was always the one who would check if she was studying or if she was doing something weird in her room. There was no breathing space here, really.

Unable to contain the emotions that threatened to surge through her, she left the room then shut the door behind her.

A flurry of footsteps snatched her attention from her bedroom so quickly that she turned her head toward her right to see the approaching figure.

She almost squeaked when she saw that her stepdad was already standing on the landing, his back toward the wall and he was staring deeply into her eyes. He was wearing his white work shirt and had his black jacket over his shoulders. His hair was darker than she remembered but gray strands speckled on the side, giving him a more dominant look. He looked like he was still in his middle thirties if Zia did not know better. His face had some arresting features, including his lips that could pull easily into a smirk every time she would say something weird or funny in front of her mom while he was around.

“Hey,” he greeted her.

And just like that, a burst of butterflies settled in her stomach and her breath grew heavy as she fumbled for words to say. She realized that he had not been with her mother. Hmm. Her curiosity deepened for a bit then she realized that she had been feeling slightly conscious of his sudden appearance.

“You’re back,” he said when she only smiled, his voice so silky and calm.

“Where’s mom?”

“Oh, she’s in Italy,” he said matter-of-factly as he walked towards her.

She backpedaled, feeling slightly weird. “She did not tell me.”

He shrugged as he gave her a smile, one that made her cheeks flush quickly. It had always been like this when she first met him when she was thirteen years old.

“That’s so like her,” he said as he looked at his expensive wristwatch then his eyes went back to hers. “I guess, you could use a great deal of patience for now.”

“Oh,” she huffed, looking at the floor.

Maybe something happened between her mom and her stepdad, but…

She breathed deeply, calming her thoughts. But her stepdad’s cologne made its way into her nostrils and it was harder to concentrate.

“Yeah, and welcome back, Zia. You’re always welcome here,” he said as he gave her a last assuring look then made his way into his room, leaving her in the hallway.