Thank you for anyone who reviewed the last chapter! Such lovely reviews already! Feel free to guess who the Dad is and why, a few more hints in this chapter- but even after chapter 1 I have been bribed (*coughlizzicough*)! So enjoy this chapter!
She had now been introduced to two potential Fathers, how many more there was or if these were potentials, she didn't know. Strangely, she hoped as soon as she met him, their eyes would meet and they would instantly know that they were meant to live happily even after. Perhaps these men weren't her Father, and she just hadn't met him yet. Maybe she would still have that perfect father/daughter moment that she had never had.
She had ruled a few people out, mainly because of their age and/or ethnicity. She knew that the person had to have worked at the Lyell Centre for a while. She remembered the day when she had asked her Mamma about her father for the first time that she remembered.
A small brown hair girl looked up at her mother as they walked down the small Italian streets of Rome. She had just come out of school.
"Mamma, ho un Papá? Do I have a dad?" The small girl asked inquisitively. She could see her Mamma's beautiful face frown slightly, her dark eyebrows scrunched up.
"Naturalmente si fa bella, of course you do beautiful. He lives in England." She replied.
"Inghilterra? Che cosa sta facendo lì? What's he doing there?"
"He works there." She looked down at her daughters big bambino eyes. Admittedly Giovanna Rossi didn't know much about her daughters' father. Not that Maya knew that of course, but he didn't know either. She had met him over seven years ago, whilst on her trip to England. She had met him in a bar and instantly taken a like to him. He was kind and caring. Not particularly like her usual string of men. They didn't fall in love, she didn't believe in love at first sight, but they did fall for each other. After the night she spent with him, she thought he might be the one for her. In the morning, he jumped out of bed looking guilty. He was handsome and English looking. She liked him. Until he admitted that he already has someone else.
She had tried to follow his progress over the next years. He didn't know this, he didn't know about their beautiful daughter. He was fairly easy to follow; he led a fairly simple life. She didn't know much about this other woman, she didn't know if she was still around or not, but she didn't care about this other woman. When the time came, she would know where he was, and she could introduce him to Maya. But it wasn't now. Maya would have to wait.
She knew her Mamma meant well by keeping her Father a secret from her, but she hadn't given her enough information. Maya supposed she would have given her more when the time came, but after her Mamma had been killed in a car crash just before her 16th birthday, she knew there was no more information to receive.
She knew three things about her father:
He lived in England in 1994, and in August (or around that time) he was staying in London.
He had never moved away from England, and had always worked in England.
Since 2003 at the very latest, he had worked for the team of people who were now based here at the Lyell Centre.
In all honesty, she didn't really know what she was doing, or why she was doing it. She had moved to England with her Mamma for the start of her GCSEs, and by the end of them, her Mamma was dead and she was living in a care home being prepared to move into a tiny flat in a huge dirty estate. She hated England then compared to her beautiful Italy; the place she grew up in. The only positive England seemed to have was that it contained her Father.
So here she was. Sitting in Professor Dalton's office in the Lyell Centre.
"Now we have established who are, and why you are here, I should probably introduce you to the many people we have working here. However I'm not sure you want that." He said looking at her. She felt like she was being surveyed, like he was trying to read her. She kept her face as blank as she could. "So, if you want, you can watch Nikki do a PM." His thin lips stretched into a small, yet warm smile. She smiled back at him.
"Sure. Ok." She replied. She had to remember that she couldn't blow her cover. Not yet anyway.
"Do you mind me asking, where are you from? You have a slight accent." Leo asked. He looked slightly embarrassed, she liked this man. He was kind.
"No, not at all. I'm from Italy, I moved here when I was fourteen. My Mamm... Mother I mean, wanted me to get English qualifications. I started here for my GCSEs." She gave him a smile to reassure him.
"You're Mother's died didn't she? In your letters it said that it was one of the reasons you wanted to work in this area so much." She nodded; she felt a lump appear in her throat. She hated using her Mamma's dead in vain, just to lie and pretend, but she had a reason. She just wanted to find him and then she wouldn't have to lie anymore.
"It's ok," he said with a reassuring smile, "I understand." She didn't know how. Perhaps he had lost someone as well. "Anyway, I'll get Nikki to show you down to the balcony area so you can watch the PM at a distance. It is a fairly simple one. Suspected stroke, he's 82, so quite natural causes. If you are feeling queasy, or you don't want to watch anymore please leave. I meant it. Not to be patronising, but you are only 17. I've seen grown men throw up just at the sight of a dead body, I dread to think what they'd do if they saw a PM."
"Ok." She replied. She definitely liked this man. If he was her father, she could see how her Mamma liked him. She wondered if he would fit into the three rules.
Leo passed her on to Nikki, who took her down to the balcony which overlooked the cutting room. Maya had goose bumps over her entire body, but she wasn't cold, she felt terrified. She had tried to mentally prepare herself for this, she knew it was going to happen, it was inevitable.
She jumped slightly as someone walked into the room. It was the other man. What was his name again? Harry? This really wasn't helping her nerves. She looked at him. He had propped himself against the wall, he had his arms crossed and was looking into the cutting room. Turned his head to look at her. He had a slightly lopsided smile on his face.
"You ok?" He asked. She didn't answer. He wrinkled his nose up slightly, it was quite funny really. "I guessed as much." He paused for a second before he walked and stood next to her. She looked up at his face, it had very strong features. A carved jaw line, large cheek bones, dark eyebrows and hair. By appearance, if he was more tanned, he was definitely her Mamma's type.
"Is this the first time seeing a dead body?" He asked. She shook her head; she had seen her Mamma's body. It wasn't the dead that scared her; it was more the cutting up of them, their organs being removed, them being prodded and poked. "Oh. So it's the slicing and dicing?" He joked; he was definitely a man who thought he was hilarious. "I'll stay if you like. They worst bit I think is opening up the body. That's the part which gets most people. Once it's open, generally people are ok."
"Thanks." She said with a smile at him. She want usually this quiet, she was a fairly outgoing and chatty. She looked back; the body was being wheeled in. Nikki was in white scrubs and she looked over at them with a smile.
"Is everything ok? Ready?" She asked her voice crackling slightly through the speakers. Harry and her both nodded at the same time.
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