117. The Eclipse

I swallow back the lump that rises and block my throat as I watch her stroll around the room. Somehow, she still seems half asleep and not so very present. She stops in front of one of the bigger canvases and stares at it blankly.

There’s a bunch of peonies painted in a rather messy and a huge mess of colors that makes it a bit painful to look at. She is at an arm's length, but if I take one step forward, she is close enough that I could pull her towards me.

Something tells me I shouldn’t do that though. She seems so different from the woman I met last autumn, while still being the exact same. It was a strange contradiction I did not understand yet.

“If you have a problem with me, you should not go around my back and aim for my mother.” She speaks in a low voice , her eyes cutting to me.

Her face is stern, cold and adamant like a sword ready to cut.

“Our problems should be kept private, don’t you think?” She adds and her flat voice makes me uneasy.

My brows narrow and as she turns