SERENA

". . . So that's what happened" Serena said on her phone. She narrated the whole incident to May, starting from the very start to the very end.

The situation that Ash, Calem and Serena were so worried to face had ended almost peacefully. She had excused herself after the family decided to sit and talk and resolve everything while they were at it.

Shauna had also excused herself, going home for the time being and returning back in the morning when everything was sorted.

"Damn" came May's response. The honey blonde rolled her eyes playfully.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"I am speechless."

"I guess it sounds like a lot of drama?" Serena laughed unsurely. Her life had been nothing but drama lately. A romantic-tragedy-comedy all in one. She wondered if she should laugh at the absurdity or cry.

"It does" May replied. Then almost hesitantly. "By the way, I did what you asked me to do."

Serena shot a confused look at the phone where May's name was displayed. "Sorry?"

"That thing" May's voice sounded impatient and somewhat - embarrassed? She continued. "I - I asked Drew about, you know, what he feels about us."

Serena almost dropped her phone. "Seriously?! What did he say?!"

"Well" May paused. "He said that nothing had felt so right to him before. His exact words. He wants me to meet his parents tomorrow."

"What?!" Serena yelled, quickly covering her mouth and turning her voice in a whisper. "What the hell, May? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I don't know" Serena could imagine the brunette shrugging casually. "I could see that you had problems of your own going on."

"You could have still told me" Serena sighed. "Anyways, what about you? It is pretty clear that he likes you; considering the fact that he is willing to let you meet his parents."

"I like him too" May said quickly. "I would have never started it if I wasn't serious about it."

Serena asked hesitantly. "You are not going to regret this?"

"I am positive. And if I do regret it" The honey blonde could almost imagine her best friend smiling on the other side. "then also it will be fine. This is life, isn't it?"

Serena smiled. "Right."

"Ms. Yvonne" Serena jumped up, nearly knocking the antique vase. She turned around to see Mrs. Kendra staring at her with a sweat-drop. Mrs. Kendra rarely talked to her — or anyone for that matter. But her silent behavior had nothing to do with her perfect execution of, well, literally everything. 

"Yes?" Serena squeaked, cringing later.

"Someone is asking for you over the company's telephone" Mrs. Kendra shifted from one foot to another. She peeked at the honey blonde from under her long lashes. "She says she knows you. Her name is Palermo — you must know her."

Mrs. Kendra's eyes wafted over Serena's frozen face.

Serena had, of course, known all along that one day she will have to face Palermo.

In fact, it was what she and May had planned. They were going back to thank her; even though the last time they saw of each other was not so memorable, Serena was still grateful to the old lady who always complained but never let them starve.

The only thing Serena didn't know was that Palermo would be the first to reach out to her.

"Should I tell her that you are not here the next time she calls?" Mrs. Kendra started but the honey blonde cut her off abruptly. 

"What did she say?" Her sapphire blue eyes snapped up to the older woman's.

"She asked for you to be given this address" Mrs. Kendra gave her a piece of paper. Serena squinted at it as realisation hit her. It was the address of Ariana's café — the place where she used to work. "She wants to meet you here. Tomorrow at 4 pm."

Serena nodded at her words, absentmindedly. Her mind was occupied with thoughts. She realised that Mrs. Kendra was still there. She stared expectantly at the greying woman who looked like she wanted to say something.

"Should I —" Mrs. Kendra hesitated and continued. "Should I let Mr. Ketchum know . . .?"

Serena heard her heart beating faster. "Don't, Mrs. Kendra. I will tell him myself."

Or maybe she will not. She didn't have any reason for to dig open graves of her past. She felt that there was no need for Ash to know about her life before becoming his P.A. The last thing she wanted is for him to worry about her. Or worse, pity her.

The older woman nodded slowly, an unspoken agreement to keep this a secret.

She clutched the paper tightly, the latter crumpling in her hands.

Serena panted, breathless as she stopped before the café. She wiped the sweat beads of her forehead with the back of her palm, running a hand through her hair and clothes. She looked at the Town Square's antique watch. 4.15. Fifteen minutes late.

The job of sneaking out of the Ketchum penthouse was more difficult than it seemed like. By now, everyone knew her and they stopped to smile at her, ask where she was off to. And she had to awkwardly lie each time.

The worst part, however, was that she couldn't ask David to drive her. She had to practically run to the nearest bus stop to catch the bus. 

'I should have taken the cab' The honey blonde groaned internally. Out of her habit, she had taken the bus — even though she had the money to hail a taxi.

It was true when people said old habits die hard.

The bells of the café jingled as Serena found herself back to the place before her world turned upside-down.

Her eyes took in the bright-colored space, the blue cushioned chairs and yellow tables, the gold-bronze tear drop lights and the abstracts on the wall. 

Palermo sat at a corner, away from the handful of people — highschool students, Serena assumed looking at their messy uniform — that infiltrated the café in the late afternoon.

She moved past them,  catching snippets of their conversations as she made her way to the table where Palermo was.

Palermo was staring at the huge tree that stood rooted to the ground, for what appeared to be at least hundred years.

She tore her gaze from the tree, resting her pale blue eyes on the honey blonde. She looked older to Serena; hair greyer than before, a few more wrinkles and the green veins sticking up on her back of her palms. 

"You are late" Palermo said, just like how she used to whenever May and Serena came back to orphanage after curfew. However her usual reproaching tone was replaced by something that was sad and bittersweet and melancholic. A small smile. 

"Sorry" Serena rasped, her voice scratchy. She did know what else to say.

"Take a seat, Serena" Palermo said, twirling a glass of champagne. Serena threw a strange look at the glass; she had no idea one could get champagne in a café. And wasn't it still late afternoon? She forced herself to look away and found Palermo staring straight at her.

"I know, not a very ideal hour to get drunk" A short, humorless laugh. "But I don't think I can go through this while being completely sober."

"Then you might as well offer me a glass" Serena replied, half-joking and half-serious. 

"No" Palermo shook her head. "You need to be sober. You need to hear this."

"What —" Serena stopped as the old lady placed a wooden box on the table. It had wooden carvings, skillful patterns diligently carved on its surface. "What is this?"

Palermo's gaze lingered for a split-second before she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. But Serena heard it anyway. Her eyes widened in surprise. She was sure she had heard wrong, but Palermo must have seen the doubt on her face because she shook her head.

"Your mum's" The old lady quavered, her voice trembling slightly. "Grace Yvonne."

"Why" Serena swallowed. What was something that belonged to her mother with Palermo? "No, how do you have it?"

"Its going to be a long story, huh?" Although her words could be perceived as playful, there was no mistaking the pain they hid behind them. Serena knew it all too well; the human instinct to cover up their pains with broken smiles, broken laughs. The pale-eyed woman stared absentmindedly at the ceiling for a long time before she spoke again.

"I knew your mother" She saw the flash of surprise and bewilderment on Serena's face as the latter opened her mouth to speak. But Palermo held up a hand, an action that quietened the orphanage children immediately, and the honey blonde fell silent.

"It was years ago, yet it still feels like yesterday" A sad smile fluctuated on her wrinkled face. "She came to the orphanage when she was three years old. Her parents had been killed in an airplane crash, the police said. She had always been a difficult child, that Grace. Her stubbornness would make you want to pull your hair out."

"But there was something about her that made her different from other children. I cannot explain it in words but if I have to, then I would say that there was nothing more adorable and charming than her. Wherever she went, she lit the whole place. It came naturally to her, to have people wrapped around her little fingers."

Palermo chuckled softly.

"But it was her eyes that bewitched people the most. They were like whirlpools, inevitable to escape." Her fingers tapped the table rhythmically. "She grew up wonderfully. Just like her name, she had become graceful in every aspect one could think of." 

Palermo paused and threw an unreadable look at Serena. She quietly sipped from her glass. 

"I loved your mother like my own daughter; we had a connection that was dangerous in a profession like mine."

"We weren't supposed to get attached; children leave when they become adults and I knew it full well that getting closer than necessary was bound to be disastrous for me. And yet, the harder I tried to stay away, the more difficult it was."

"Remember when I told you that Grace had only been three when she came? The poor child had no recollection of her parents or her past life. The doctors said it was amnesia. Naturally, Grace took me as a parental figure, a mother to a broad extent."

"I didn't correct her. Mainly because marriage and children were more of a dream to me; I grew up in a rather violent household and I had no good memories of it."

She laughed briskly, lifting up her glass. "Imagine the happiness I felt when I got a child out of blue! It was like a dream come true."

"Grace and I were family. We bickered over what clothes she should wear, how bad it was for her health to pull all-nighters before exams and what should be made for dinner. I loved every second of it."

"I thought it was going to be like this forever" Another sad smile, another quick sip. "But life always disappoints, right?"

Palermo opened the box, as Serena watched on breathlessly. Her eyes hovered over its contents, her fingers involuntarily moving on their own to graze the old, dusty photographs, letters and clippings of newspapers.

Serena picked up the Polaroid photo of a beautiful black Arabian horse.

"Her dream was to become an equestrian" Palermo said, casting a brief glance at the photo in Serena's hand. "She was good at it too. I arranged funds for her to go to the best American equestrian academy."

"I remember looking forward to see her during Christmas break" Palermo grimaced at the burning taste of her champagne. "The kids at orphanage and I decorated a big Christmas tree and baked gingerbread man cookies."

Serena swallowed as Palermo narrowed her eyes at something vague, her face turning dark. "And you know what happened? She came home. With a boy."

Serena caught her breath, hoping that it wasn't what she was thinking. Palermo scoffed, tipping her glass slightly.

"I never thought Grace would do something like that to me. They had apparently clicked at a party and started dating. She wanted it to be a surprise."

"Surprise?" The older woman guffawed. "More like a shock!"

"You can guess what happened next, no?" She asked rhetorically, her pale blue eyes meeting sapphire. "I admit I did blow it way out of proportion but I was so mad. I said some pretty harsh things to the boy too."

"Of course, Grace had grown wonderfully" A pause. "And her stubborn streak had grown along with her."

Serena waited as Palermo fell silent. The clock ticked away somewhere. The honey blonde took this moment to realise that they were alone now, the students already gone at some point of time.

"It was all so unpleasant; the way it escalated" The older woman's fingers gripped the glass so tightly that Serena feared it would break within her grasp. "She told me she would never return. I didn't stop her, not once. That was the last time I saw."

One.

Two.

Three.

The clock ticked away as Serena released a breath she didn't even know she was holding in. It was . . . all too much. The life of a woman she thought would forever being a mystery to her was unfolding right before her.

In this penetrating silence, all she wanted to do was to run to Ash. To bask in his comforting presence and forget about everything else.

"W-What happened to her?" Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears.

Palermo smiled, a bittersweet smile and Serena knew it wasn't meant for her but rather the woman who had given birth to her.

"Five years after that, I heard the news that she had committed suicide after losing a long-standing case against that man — turns out he was a married man with two children of his own."

Serena sucked in a sharp breath, letting the piece of information sink as a guttural feeling gnawed at her, a new realisation pulling every one of her heart strings.

"Am I . . .?" She desperately wished it wasn't what she was thinking. Anything but it.

"Yes" Palermo said, and for the first time Serena knew the expression the older woman wore on her face — that unreadable expression that left the honey blonde unsettled.

A twisted feeling of contempt and love. 

Contempt for the fact that she resembled so much of the man who had led Palermo's beloved Grace to a disastrous end.

Love for the fact that she was the last thing left that could keep Grace alive.

Serena's heart sank to her stomach. A nauseous feeling overtook her senses; she wanted to cry but no tears came out. She felt numb, physically and mentally.

"I am sorry."

Maybe it was because of the sincere apology, or her breaking point; Serena didn't know, but for the first time since the conversation started, she allowed herself to cry.