MajaThe bathroom sported all kinds of beauty products and she guessed that Proserpina saw to it that the guests who stayed here felt pampered during their stay. Soaking in the tub, she sighed as the English rose soap, handmade, she thought in wonder as she turned it over and over in her hands; it spread its heavenly fragrance in the bathroom. Sighing, she relaxed, eyes closed till the hammering on the door made her eyes fly open. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she saw with a shock that it was half an hour gone.The pounding was now becoming more intense. It was Maddy.‘Mommie, you aren’t dead, are you?’ came the anxious shout from the other side of the door.Maja sighed.The child was sometimes too much. Over imaginative, said the head teacher at the school.“Coming!’ she hollered and tugging on the soft robe she had discovered, she pushed her red curls from off her face. Flinging open the door, she began crossly,“What …’ and stopped, blushing. James Schwartz stood there in the

ProserpinaI dressed up with a sense of foreboding. When I looked into the mirror, I was mildly surprised to see that I looked good. My face did not betray my distress for I knew that I should not make my children worried, at least, not more than they were now. The silver-grey slinky dress was made of a shimmering material and contrasted dramatically with my deep brown hair.The pretty dress came down to a little below my knees and had a deep plunging neck with billowing sleeves. The back was also daringly deep and I knew that the dress hugged my bosom, flaring out slightly from the waist but still revealing my slight baby bump. I smiled my hand on my stomach. I looked like a woman expecting a baby and I was happy about it.Glancing at the time, I sighed, dabbing a dash of mild perfume to the area behind my earlobes, affixing the tiny diamond studs that Gaston had gifted me. I needed to go and see that the final touches to dinner had been done.MajaShe settled down in the chair at th

PiersHe had been under a cloud so to speak, all during the amazingly delicious meal that his mother had brought to the table. He reached for the meatloaf and smiled at her. She looked so beautiful, the thought, wistfully. The phone at his side was on silent mode but it pinged and he looked away in irritation as he saw that it was Susie his ex-fiancee.His lips tightened.He had made it clear to Susie and her father that he was not interested in becoming a puppet. It was, of course, her father who was creating obstacles, but Piers had had enough. He was not going to pretend that he did not know his father was a mob Boss. He had lived with the knowledge for years and had even toyed with the idea of taking over but he knew that his heart was not in the violence and bloodshed that went with the post. And the good thing was, his father had understood.The problem now was that Susie simply would take no for an answer. She kept ringing, weeping, begging him to listen to her father’s plans.

Proserpina DelanoI sat at the small dining table tucked away in a corner of the kitchen; my hands clasped as I tried to focus on an image of the Buddha which had always made me feel peaceful. But tonight a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach made me aware that something was horribly wrong. I could not concentrate easily.My eyes absently ran over this delightful corner of my large L-shaped kitchen. This little area was my refuge. The cheerful yellow wallpaper created a sunny disposition no matter how low and weary I felt. adorned with the unlacquered copper pots I had picked from a flea market once a long while ago, the soapstone counters that quickly patina, and a simple central dining table instead of a kitchen island, the kitchen's lived-in atmosphere instantly makes anyone who enters feel right at home.It was tucked away in a corner, slightly removed from the ultra-modern equipment of the rest of the chrome and marble kitchen. There was a small pillar that sheltered it for it

Lucien Delano.He stared at his wife as she lay, a slight figure on the hospital bed. She had fainted in the corridor on hearing about Paddy and had been brought there. Seeing Claude sporting a thick bandage and lording it about in the corridor had only added to her distress, caught as she was totally unawares, for he had skipped telling her about their rash son and his actions.Although she was showing signs of coming to, she looked so tiny and white as she lay there, helpless, vulnerable…The Mafia Don sighed. F*ck, but how he loved her! And to think of the incessant pain she was being subjected to, mainly because of him, had him feel guilty as hell.*Now her lids flickered, the beautiful mocha-coloured eyes widening as the curling lashes lifted to look around the room and finally, to meet his gaze.She lay for a while, blinking as memory returned to her, eyes going around the unfamiliar room in surprise and alarm.Turning to him, she whispered, ’Lucien?’He sighed and she sat up s