Longing for Mom

"Mom ..., I miss you so much," Keira whispered in a hoarse voice that could make anyone who heard her, feeling how deep her longing was, piercing her heart.

Her full name is Keira Annele Martin. In short ... Keira, as she's usually called. The beautiful girl with a slightly wavy waist-length honey-brown hair was currently in her father's working room, as a temporary substitute.

She was still quite young, twenty-four years old to be exact. However ... she was already very reliable, especially when it came to helping her father with his work, while he had to rest, due to his health issue.

"Time doesn't seem to have passed so quickly," Keira whispered again while including a faint smile on her luscious lips.

She was sitting with her body slightly leaning towards the table, her hands resting there, letting her beautiful hazel eyes glaze over, gazing longingly at the smiling figure of her mother, looking back at her in a beautifully framed photograph in her hand.

The beautiful girl's delicate fingers gently rubbed her mother's face, which was the point of her longing.

"It's been five years since you left me. I hope that God will give you the best place to be. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to visit you. I've been too busy lately, helping Dad manage the company."

The trembling lips stretched, returning the smile that had been so bitterly portrayed.

In her heart, she hoped that all her talks and sincere hopes could be heard by the mother whom God had taken with Him to the most beautiful place five years ago.

Tears of pain mixed with sorrow, longing and regret never ceased to escape from her beautiful eyes. The longing pierced her heart in every second and breath of her life since five years ago.

Grief and regret accompany the passionate longing. She never knew about her mother's health condition until her mom passed away in a hospital.

Her mother passed away due chronic heart disease. And the disease had already reached the worst level, until finally she could not be saved.

The regret Keira feels, every second of it is slowly killing her from the inside. The mother's hope to hide the pain from her daughter, so as not to worry Keira, became a sharp sword at the end of her story. Giving her a deep regret.

If only ... Keira could turn back time. She chose to suffer, accompanying her mother against the malignant disease that was eating away her health every moment. Perhaps, the regret would not have been this deep. Although in the end, she would still lose, but at least she had accompanied her mother to fight.

Everything had already happened. With a heavy heart, Keira had to let her mother go, even though the feelings of regret and longing always tormented her.

"Miss, may I come in?"

The sound of a knock on the door, accompanied by a resounding greeting, managed to disperse Keira's attention.

Keira was taken aback. The girl blinked, returning to her stifling world from the reverie that had swept her away in sorrow.

Keira wiped away the remaining tears. She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly as she willed herself to regain her composure.

Slowly and lovingly, she placed the picture frame she was still holding back onto her father's desk.

Then she looked up, staring at the door that loomed ahead. "Come on in!" She commanded after successfully taking charge of the overwhelming feeling.

A beautiful woman. Smooth, pale white skin clad in a neat work suit entered her room with a confident stride and a friendly smile.

She was Alyn. The secretary of Mr. Nickolas - Keira's father, who had been working at her father's company for three years.

Keira was already quite close to Alyn, although their meeting was still quite short.

"Hey! Your father just called me. He said you should hurry home!" Alyn screeched, a little irritably.

The friendly smile she had been wearing turned into a rictus smile as she finished her sentence.

Alyn and Keira's relationship did not look rigid and formal like a boss and an employee, but rather, more like friends of the same age, even though Alyn was four years older than her, instead have same age as Laura Leanne Martin - Keira's sister, twenty-eight years old.

Keira and Alyn would use informal language with each other, when they felt no other workers were watching, in order to break down the awkwardness and make Keira feel more comfortable around Alyn.

"Why?" Keira asked innocently.

"He said that someone is waiting for you at home." Alyn let out an exasperated breath as she folded her arms across her chest. "You still don't feel rich enough, do you? Always like to meditate in the office," she added.

Keira gave a small chuckle. "Sure, it's my dad who's rich, not me! But why he didn't just call me?"

Alyn rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, hence, you're being set up with a rich man," she muttered almost inaudibly.

"What does that mean?"

Alyn gasped. "Huh? Ahh, no." She smiled awkwardly as she waved both hands at Keira, not expecting the girl to hear her mumbling. "Mr. Nick has been trying to contact you for a while now, but he said he couldn't get an answer from you. That's why he called me."

Keira reached for her phone on the desk, after staring at Alyn for a moment in wonder. Seconds later, her eyes suddenly rounded perfectly, as she turned on the flat object she had grabbed and found nine missed voice calls from her father.

"Ahh, I left my phone on silent mode." Keira looked back at Alyn as she scratched the nape of her neck, which was not itchy at all, while showing an awkward smile.

"Ck."

Keira didn't want to waste much time. The girl shuffled, got up from her seat and began to organize - tidying up the files that were still scattered on her desk immediately.

"Then I have to go home now." She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I'll go first. See you tomorrow."

Keira gave Alyn a quick wave, after which she hurriedly left.

"Be careful on the road!" Alyn shouted as she stared at Keira's figure that slowly disappeared from her sight.

"Yes!" Keira replied with an equally loud chant.

***

Twenty minutes passed. Keira finally arrived at her doorstep feeling both curious and nervous.

Considering that her father was not in good health, of course the number of unanswered calls and Alyn's calls to come home quickly made her worry, a lot.

"I'm home ...!" exclaimed Keira as she opened the main door, entering her house. Changing her footwear first, then walking in a hurry.

"Oh, Kei... you're home sweetheart," greeted Nick, who was the first to notice Keira's presence in the living room.

Keira stopped her steps as she looked up, turning her head in the direction where her father's voice had come from. She was taken aback by the nervousness that ran through her chest when she saw that it wasn't just her father and Laura - her sister, who were there.

She was stunned, transfixed by the three strangers sitting comfortably on the circular sofa, their attention directed towards her.

Laura, realizing that, immediately got up from her seat and walked over to Keira. "This is my sister, Keira ...."

Laura explained as she took Keira's shoulder into her equally petite arms, making Keira gasp at the sudden touch.

Keira looked up at her sister who was smiling at her father and the stranger in front of her. For the first time in a long time, she finally heard the call 'sister' come out of Laura's mouth.

Her relationship with Laura was not normal, like any other sister. To be more precise, Laura hated and did not want Keira's existence at all since the beginning of her beautiful sister's presence in the family.

Keira, who was swept away and moved by Laura's title of sister, didn't realize that Laura had dragged her closer, facing her father and the three strangers who were there.

A simple title like that could stun Keira as long as Laura gave it to her. That one word was like a miracle that giving butterflies effect in her stomach.

"Hello Keira. Nice to meet you," greeted a middle-aged woman whose name was unknown.

Keira gasped and her attention was gathered again. She woke up from the daydream that had momentarily taken her.

She turned her head slowly towards the middle-aged woman who was staring at her while spreading a warm smile of welcome etched on her thin lips.

"Ahh yes ... Hello. My name is Keira. Nice to meet you too ma'am," she replied with a smile and a brief bow.

The middle-aged woman smiled back. "Ah ... how sweet. Come sit beside me," she ordered as she patted the empty seat beside her.

Keira turned a surprised look toward her father, simply asking for approval. Of course, her father agreed with a brief nod of his head.

Laura, who still had Keira in her arms, hurriedly let go and stepped over, taking her place next to her father.

Keira looked back at the middle-aged woman who had greeted her with a feeling of nervousness and confusion that filled her chest cavity and mind. She took a step and seated herself right next to the middle-aged woman.

Keira's gaze was downcast. Fighting off the awkwardness and nervousness that instantly piled up.

Keira gasped when she felt the touch of the middle-aged woman's hand that suddenly put her arm around her shoulder slowly and gently.

"Keira, I'am Diandra." The middle-aged woman briefly turned to her right side, where there sat a middle-aged man who looked about Nick's age. "And this is my husband, Dean."

Keira turned her head as she briefly bowed halfway as a sign of respect. "Yes, hello Mrs. Diandra and Mr. Dean. It's an honor to meet you."

The middle-aged woman turned her head back briefly as she fixed a bright smile while looking at the handsome but cold young man sitting next to her husband "And next to my husband, that's Sean. My son and also ... your future husband."

Tbc ....

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