Cherry - part 9

Zia

Years

She sees her dad at the morning table. It must be the first time in several years she sees him at that table. He was always working. Gone before her or Percival even got up. She smiles at him, noticing how that year have changed him. Does he really look that old? How does other people see him? Those, who are used to see him every day, do they notice the years sneaking up on him?

“Good morning, dad.” She says, as she places herself next to him. There's coffee in front of him.

“Zia, I'm so glad you came home, finally. The place is nothing without you.”

They hug and talk about her teaching job in Paris. As she figured, not much is going on in their life. He got that bonus.

Percival stands in the doorway, looking at them. He says nothing. He probably thinks they haven't noticed him, but Zia has. She doesn't dare look directly at him. He seems upset.

“... and then he fired the old assistant! Would you believe it? You knew him, right? Eh, miss Darsy's son? Anyway, I got the chance to hire Percy instead, which just might be better, who knows. But still, the kid didn't do nothing wrong, why would he let him go like that, without warning?”

“That's nice.” She answers.

She laughs. Percival seems to lighten up a bit, when he hears his dad mention him in a good way in front of Zia. He comes to the table and sit down.

She looks at her dad again. She never understood how a person could change so rapidly. A year in her life seemed like a lifetime. For him, she wondered if the years just kept coming without him noticing. Another Christmas, another birthday, another new years eve, passed without a single notice. He sighs, and she realize how stupid her flow of thoughts is.

He sighs again.