Chapter 3
The Swagger's and their guest enjoyed their evening meal with a glass of wine, expect for Emmy who indulged on a cup of grape juice.
"Have you ever been to Italy, Harold?" Angel asked.
"I've never been to Europe, always wanted to. If I could grow wings, I will head over there in an instant. Would you be heading to France? That is, you are looking for..." Harold stopped talking as he knew discussing about Cherine would make Emmy ask a lot of questions.
"I always wanted to go to Italy," Angel said, as she never ventured out of North America before.
"You will love Europe," her husband, Mok said to her, "They like foreigners. Of course, they like getting tourist money and such."
"Mommy," Emmy said, "May I be excused?" she asked.
"Yes, you can go," Angel replied and the little girl left the table.
"Sooner or later, she will hear about her grandmother," Harold said to the two.
"I never thought my mother would return to France, in fact, I never knew where she came from before coming here," Mok replied and refilled his wine glass.
"Once M.A.I. has finished searching for the Beaulieu family, then we will see if she did return to France," Angel pointed out and had her wine glass refilled. "However, if she did not have any family here, then I would think she did return to Europe."
"After what happened to her, I would say she did return to France. I honestly believe that she and her family had some falling out of a sort before she moved here," Harold stated and continues, "If she had told her family of what had happened, then they would welcome her back in.
"I had a cousin who had a big fight with her father and she ran away one night. Now her father did say he hated her, but when she left, he did break down in tears," Harold explained, "He spent his entire time and his money to locate her. Turns out she was at a bus station, but she had no money to leave West Virginia."
"If it does take time and money to search for my mother, I don't mind at all," Mok said and finished his wine.
"Mok, when was the last time you went to France?" Angel asked, she wondered if he may have seen Cherine, that is, if she was in France at the time.
"Well, the first time was my first European tour, which was about...15 or maybe at least 18 years ago and it was a terrible experience in France at that time," he answered and explains, "Emmy, my girlfriend was suffering the final stages of cancer and on the first night of the concert in Paris I received news that she collapsed in our hotel room.
"I decided to delay the concert and visited Emmy in her hospital room. She insisted, no, more like ordered me to go and sing for my fans," Mok continued with the story. "But that did not end there. In the middle of one of my songs, I litterly stopped and started sobbing. I'm talking buckets of tears."
Angel rubbed her husband's back and says, "You loved her, that is what matter to you during that time."
"How did your fans react?" Harold asked, rather curiously.
"They started shouting in French, but I don't remember what they said. I think a few said 'Do it for Emmy!'. So, I started the song over and it was a hit with them," Mok answered and takes one of Angel's hands. "I decided to cancel the rest of my tour," he added.
"So you did not see anyone that looked familiar to you?" Angel asked.
"I did not see my mother in the crowd, I was not paying attention to the fans. All I cared about during that was Emmy," Mok said and he kissed Angel's hand.
"Harold," Emmy, their daughter said, "Would you play that song, again?"
"Sure," he answered and took out his violin. He tuned it and began to play 'Short Trip Home'.
Angel felt entranced by the song as always as she loved to listen to that song. When she first heard it in Miami, where she and Mok met Harold, it was a wonderful experience as her fears withered away in the wind.
As the song played, all of the stress Angel had been holding in was dying and she felt a weight lift from her shoulders.
The moment the song ended, Angel came back into reality.
"Oh, why does it have to end?" Emmy complained.
"I have it on a CD, of that concert," Mok said to his daughter and she got excited. "You can play it over and over."
"But it sounds better in real life," Emmy stated and Angel agreed to that.
"Harold is tired from his journey, I believe he wishes to go to sleep," Mok said and Harold nodded at Emmy.
"Once I'm all rested, I'll play the song over and over," he said and placed the violin back in its case.
Angel realized of how late it was for Emmy and she took her daughter's hand and says, "It's pass your bedtime young lady."
"Can I stay up for five more minutes?" Emmy pleaded. Angel could not turn down her little girl, but she had to set an example.
"Two minutes and it's bedtime," she ordered and Emmy rushed off to her room.
Angel watched as Emmy listened to the CD that had Harold's violin songs. It was the last CD that Mok ever released as he had retired from the music business years before.
When the two minutes were up, Emmy got into her night gown, brushed her teeth, and went to bed.
Angel decided to retire to bed early as she was exhausted for some reason. She washed up in the shower, dried her hair, and went to bed.
Her husband laid beside her a few minutes later and both were sound asleep.
From the author: Stay tuned for more!