A Mother's Daughter
Chapter 3
April 5, 2002
Madrid, Spain
"Goce de su vuelo, Senorita Petrova." The flight attendant handed Tasia her boarding passed and smiled politely. It was a bright, toothy smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Tasia, recognizing the signs of working long hours, admired the woman's patience.
"Gracias." She said, slipping the pass into the pocket of her well-worn corduroy jacket and stepping out of line. Turning away from the boarding area, she made her way to the small café. Entering her twenty-third hour of wakefulness, she hitched the strap of her oversized messenger bag and prepared to satiate herself with massive amounts of caffeine while she was still on solid ground. Airline food sucked, but airline coffee sucked on a whole other level. "Café grande de la avellana y un mollete de la cereza, por favor."
The man wasn't nearly as polite as the woman manning the ticket desk and filled her order without the slightest acknowledgement. "Seis veintetres Pesetas, por favor." After a quick exchange of money, Tasia made her way back to the boarding area with her large Hazelnut coffee and a cherry muffin in a white paper bag. She settled down in one of the thankfully comfortable chairs, curling her feet under her and taking a long, slurping sip from the cup. Tasia closed her eyes, wincing as the liquid scalded the back of her throat.
Her wince turned into a scowl as her cell phone rang. She set her coffee down on the empty seat beside her and began digging through her carry on bag. She unearthed the small silver phone on the third ring. She glanced at the caller ID and smiled, flipping open the phone and answering just before the voicemail picked up. "Checking up on me, Mother?" She said jokingly.
"Didn't want you to oversleep." Lara said brightly.
"No, I'm awake, I'll be on my plane." Tasia didn't add that it was hard to oversleep when you simply didn't go to sleep.
"So, how is Madrid?"
"It's here," Tasia said with a small laugh. "And the alleys are in top condition. That's about all I had time to see."
"So you were busy?" Lara inquired. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"A little of each," Tasia paused to take a small bite from her muffin. "We had some problems, but in the end, it all worked out."
"You will tell me all about it when you are home. You missed the Tretyakov fundraiser." Lara seamlessly shifted gears, from employer to mother. "Makarei was asking about you."
Rolling her eyes, Tasia had to grin. "Oh, Mother, you used to be so much more subtle in your matchmaking!"
"Matchmaking? Matchmaking!" Lara muttered. "I'm simply stating that you were missed. I have much better things to do with my time than force men on you."
Tasia began to tease her mother back, but paused as a pleasantly accented voice announced boarding on her flight. "Mother, I've got to go, my plane is boarding."
"Alright, be safe, little one."
"I will." Tasia stood, hitching her bag onto her shoulder. "Do you want me to come by the office before I go home, or should I just brief you tomorrow?"
"Go home and get some sleep. You may be taking another trip soon, so rest up while you can."
"Okay, see you soon. Goodbye, Mother." Tasia hung up, slipped her cell phone into her pocket, pulled out her boarding pass, and walked towards the desk. Just as soon as she was in her seat, she was fast sleep, her head pillowed against the thick glass window.
She dreamed that she was walking through hospital. The sounds of death were everywhere; the scent of death clogged her throat. She looked to her right and saw her mother sitting on a chair; a silver crown perched atop her head. Even in the hideous orange dress, Lara looked regal and beautiful.
"Look, Anastasia. Look." She pointed over Tasia's left shoulder. Her hands were covered in blood.
"Mom?" Tasia asked uncertainly.
"Anastasia. You must look to see." Her voice was frigidly cold. She pointed again, jabbing her finger at Tasia.
She turned and saw herself, covered her face smeared with blood.
And then she began to scream.
A/N: Oh my. Well, first off, my apologies for the length of time it's been. This story has always been kicking around in the back of my head, but finding the time to write it has been a trial. I'm in the process of ripping up my outline to make it more plausible, but I'm trying to get back on schedule. As usual, feedback is greatly, greatly, greatly appreciated. It always inspires me to write more. But, keep in mind, this was started AGES ago, way back before we knew SpyMommy's real name, so I was still making stuff up back then. Just go with it. Review! I'm begging!