Mafia Lord's Mute Sweetheart

Chapter 23: Chapter 23 Annie

Bobbie’s Cafe

The little cafe was tucked away on a quiet street, hidden between a bookstore and a florist, its entrance easy to miss if you were not looking for it. It was Daisy’s favorite place in the city. The walls were painted a warm cream color, decorated with faded photographs of old Hollywood stars, their faces soft and dreamy, their smiles frozen in time.

The tables were small and round, covered in red and white checkered tablecloths that had been washed so many times they felt as soft as fabric. The air smelled of fresh coffee, warm bread and something sweet baking in the back, cinnamon maybe, or vanilla.

Daisy sat in her usual corner booth, her back against the wall, her eyes fixed on the door. Her yellow dress felt bright and cheerful against the dark leather seat, a splash of sunshine in the cozy dimness. Her hands were wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate that she had not touched, the warmth seeping into her palms.

She was waiting.

The bell above the door jingled.

Annie burst in like a hurricane. She had curly black hair that bounced with every step, a beautiful striking fair face, and deep blue eyes. She was wearing a flowing white blouse and ripped jeans, a colorful scarf wrapped around her neck and silver bracelets jangling on her wrists.

"Oh my god! My baby Daisy!"

Daisy stood up just in time to be crushed in a bone breaking hug. Annie was taller than her, her chin resting on top of Daisy’s head. She smelled like vanilla perfume, airport coffee and the faint hint of airplane hand soap.

Daisy hugged her back, her face pressed into Annie’s shoulder, her eyes squeezed shut.

She had missed this. She had missed her.

Annie pulled back and held Daisy at arm’s length, her dark eyes scanning every inch of her face, from her hairline to her chin.

"Look at you! You look so pretty! That dress is gorgeous! Yellow is your color, I keep telling you! When will you listen to me?"

Daisy smiled. She pointed at Annie, then at her own heart, then made a small fluttering motion with her fingers.

I missed you too.

Annie’s expression softened, the mischief fading into something gentler. "I missed you more. Now sit. I am going to order us everything on the menu."

They sat.

The waitress came, a young woman with a nose ring and a tired smile. Annie ordered coffee, pastries, sandwiches, and a plate of cookies that Daisy loved. The words spilled out of her like water from a fountain, fast and endless and full of energy. She told Daisy about her flight, about the rude man who had sat next to her, about the crying baby three rows back, and about the amazing sunset she had seen from the window.

Daisy just listened.

She watched Annie’s hands move as she talked, the silver bracelets sliding up and down her wrists. She watched her eyes light up when she described a sunset she had photographed in various places, the colors bleeding into each other like watercolors. She watched her laugh at her own stories, her head thrown back, her curls bouncing.

This was what Daisy loved about Annie. She did not need Daisy to speak. She did not need Daisy to fill the silence. She was happy to fill it herself.

But then Annie’s expression changed.

Her smile faded. Her eyes grew serious, the sparkle dimming. She reached across the table and took Daisy’s hands in hers, her fingers warm and strong.

"Oh god, I am sorry, my baby Daisy. What I am going to say might offend you, but... are you spineless? Why are you tolerating that scumbag Cedric?"

Daisy’s smile thinned. She looked down at their joined hands, at Annie’s fingers wrapped around hers.

Annie squeezed her hands tighter. "If you agree to leave that prick, I will give you my apartment for free. You can stay there as long as you want. Forever, even. I mean it, Daisy. I am not joking. I have a spare key in my bag right now."

Daisy looked down at their joined hands.

She knew Annie was right. She knew that any normal person would have left years ago. Any person with self respect, with dignity, with a backbone, would have walked out the door and never looked back. They would have packed their bags, called a lawyer and burned every bridge behind them.

But she was not normal. There was something wrong with her, something deep inside that made her stay, that made her hope, that made her love a man who had never loved her back.

She loved Cedric so much.

It was not a logical love or a safe love. It was not the kind of love that her mother had described in bedtime stories, the kind that was gentle and kind and reciprocal. It was desperate and foolish and painful. It was the kind of love that kept her awake at night, that made her chest ache, that made her forgive things she should never forgive.

She loved him without expectation, without demand, without condition.

She just wanted to be there beside him, in the same house, breathing the same air, waking up under the same roof, falling asleep to the distant sound of his footsteps in the hallway.

She just wanted to be useful to him, to make him tea when he was sick, to have his shirts ironed before meetings, to be someone he could ignore but someone who was there. Always there.

Annie watched Daisy’s face. She watched the emotions flicker across her features like shadows cast by a candle, here and gone, here and gone. Her heart ached.

But she took a deep breath, thinking about the reports she had seen. She would tell Daisy eventually. But not yet.

Daisy pulled out her phone. Her fingers moved slowly, carefully, as if each letter cost her something.

I love him. I do not mind whom he loves. I just want to be by his side.

She showed the screen to Annie.

Annie read the words. She rolled her eyes so hard her whole head moved. "You are impossible. You know that? Completely impossible. You are the most impossible person I have ever met, and I once met a man who tried to pay for his coffee with a seashell."

Daisy shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips.