The Games of the Heart

I feel the sunlight on my face, and I don’t understand why because I am sure the curtains were closed last night before I went to bed. I hear footsteps around me, and I finally understand why my beautiful sleep was interrupted. I turn away from the sunlight and try to go back to sleep. That all goes out the window once I hear her voice.

“Honey, I know you are awake, so do yourself a favour and open your eyes,” My Mom, Rosalia, says

“Good morning, mom,” I say, peeling my eyes open and look into the same eyes like mine. They are as blue as the ocean, one of the prettiest eyes I have ever seen in my life. Her wavy pitch-black hair flows down to her waist against her beautiful tan skin. Her oval face holds a smile on those rosy lips of hers, which says she is happy to be disturbing me from my sleep. Like every little girl out there, I believe my mom is the most beautiful woman in the world, even though I am far from little. The only things I inherited from her are her beautiful eyes. I am the female version of my father.

“I can’t say the same, dear; you need to get up and get ready. Our flight time has changed; we leave in an hour.”

“An hour! Weren’t we supposed to leave tonight? Why are we leaving so early all of a sudden?”

“Something came up, so we have to leave early. Your father will explain at breakfast, which you have 20 minutes to get ready for.”

“Wow, mom, I haven’t even finished packing.”

“How are you not done packing? We have been talking about this trip for a week now.”

“I planned to finish during the day since we were meant to leave at night.”

“Sorry dear, get ready for breakfast. I will have someone help you finish packing.”

“Alright,” I say, getting up from the bed to walk to the bathroom.

I walk downstairs for breakfast after I finish freshen up. I walk outside to the pool area, where my whole family is seated. I join my father, mother and brother at the table.

“Good morning, everyone,” I say, taking my seat.

“Good morning, dear,” My dad, Leonardo, says while reading the newspapers. He is 6 feet tall, well-built for a man of his age, has dark brown hair like mine and grey eyes. I am not as tall as him; I am 5’6 feet.

“How was your night, little sis,” My brother Santiago says while taking a bite of his French toast. He is 6 feet tall like my father, has a well-built body, dark brown hair. We both didn’t take after my mom in hair. He has the same ocean blue eyes as mine.

“It was disturbed by our beautiful mother here.”

“Sorry about that, dear, but we had to move the time of our flight to Italy,” Dad says

“And why is that? I still had something I wished to do today before we leave” The whole family is travelling to Sicily. Dad has a business meeting over there and asked us if we would like to come along.

“My business partner asked me to come earlier than planned because he might not be available for the rest of the week.”

“Oh, alright then.”

We left for Sicily a few hours ago, and the plane is about to land. During the flight, I wrote new chapters for my new book. I am an author, but I studied business management in school with a minor in English literature. I have not published any works of mine, but I plan to someday. I am scared people might criticize my work more than they like it.

The last two days have been spent sleeping. The power of jet lag is not to be joked with. I hear a knock on my door, and I drag my lazy ass to open it. I open it to reveal mom at the door; I step aside for her to enter.

“Good morning, mom,” I say, walking back to my bed.

“It is far from morning, young lady,” Mom says and pulls the blinds. I shield my eyes with my hands from the sunlight but remove them once I realize it’s dark outside.

“Oh my God, I slept through the day again.”

“Yes, you did, and I need you to get the hang of your sleeping pattern.”

“I will, mom.”

“Good, and I wanted to ask you if you would like to come along with me tomorrow. I am visiting an old friend, and her daughter is also one of yours.”

“You are visiting Mrs. Costanzo.”

“Yes, and I felt you might want to see Aurora. I know it’s been ages since you guys last saw each other”

“Yes, it’s been ages since we last saw. What time are you leaving tomorrow?”

“11 a.m. Katherine and I plan to have brunch together, so make sure to skip breakfast like always.”

“Don’t worry, mom; I will.”