"Are you my friend? Like, will we go out for lunch and watch movies and have dinner parties now?" I asked. 

"I mean, if you want? I like you. You're fun to be around." He said. 

"But you remind me of Damian." I said sadly. 

"That's too bad, cause I knew a really nice sushi place downtown." He said. 

I let out a laugh, then I was sad again. "Is everything going to be ok?" I asked. 

"Everything is going to be ok Nadia. I promise." He said sincerely. 

"Ok." I said calmly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Can you help me set the table Nadia?" Mom asked as I was reading a magazine on the couch. 

"Sure." I said. 

I picked up the plates and the silverware. 

"Are you ok sweetheart?" Mom asked. 

"I'm ok." I said. 

"How is your head feeling?" 

"It's ok, if I touch it then it hurts. But it's healing." I replied. 

"That's good." She said. 

I put the plates down and the silverware, after I finished placing the glasses I sat down on the island in the kitchen and asked Mom, "Why are you acting weird?"

She was mixing the salad dressing in the salad. "What do you mean?" 

"Why are you acting so fake?" 

"Nadia, I'm fine." She assured. 

"Mom." I warned. "Tell me." 

She sighed and put the tongs down. "Nadia, I'm worried about you.  If this is what happens after every mission, then your father and I don't know how you do it. This is so dangerous. You need to settle down and raise a family and spend time with us. We're just scared, whatever happened these past few months really stunned your father and I." She said. 

"Wow." I said annoyed. "You know what I've never heard from you or Dad?" I asked angrily. "You've never told me how proud you are of me. How proud you are of your daughter for fighting crime and keeping not just our country, but the world safe! I try so hard to impress you and Dad but you never care enough to praise me! You only care enough so that I don't die. Because you only have one offspring that's still living right? Because you two still can't get over the fact the Ethan is dead!" I said furiously. 

"Nadia!" I whipped around to see Dad standing in the entrance of the kitchen

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

"Nadia!" I whipped around to see Dad standing in the entrance of the kitchen. I looked back at Mom who was in tears. "How dare you speak to your mother that way?" He walked closer. 

"Dad. I don't want you to tell me how rude it is for me to speak what's on my mind." I said. "You have never approved of my decisions, you guys really don't care." I said. 

CriminalWhere stories live. Discover now