Bovian Image - 7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mika Lucianne was starting to feel a bit of an idiot the more she learned about her youngest son’s life in Italy. Cole had graduated early from school, and instead of returning to Japan, he moved out of his grandparent’s home in Sicily and headed for Milan. Cole rented an apartment and with capital he borrowed from his grandfather, he started Cole’s Fashion. A thriving clothing boutique where the boutique’s latest designs were flying off the shelves.

Her son was gay.

This, she was starting to realize, was the main reason he was reluctant to go back to Japan. He was afraid of her reaction.

As she walked through the boutique, studying the different designs on the shelves, she realized that her capabilities as a mother were under a test here. She couldn’t mention Niad Fashions, and she couldn’t, under any circumstances, criticize her son’s boyfriend who was the young model who’d worn the finale design. Since she was staying at Cole’s apartment, she’d seen them together.

Cole was happy, which is all she ever wanted for her children. Maybe all she could do here was give Cole her blessings.

“How long have you two been dating?” Mika asked, when Cole came to find her.

He carried a set of women’s skinny jeans on hangers. He added them on a rack to her left.

“For about four years and a half,” Cole replied. He adjusted the price on one of the jeans and paused to study her. “You don’t have to ask if it bothers you.”

“Cole, it’s fine,” Mika said, leaning on a pillar to study him. His black hair curled on his head thanks to his father’s heritage. The only part of her she could see was his olive skin and his eyes. “I’m really disappointed, you know.”

“Why?” Cole asked, putting more jeans on the rack.

He kept his gaze on the jeans, no doubt expecting her to say something negative. She smiled to herself.

“You are my son, Cole. I love you no matter who you are or what you do. I’m upset you didn’t realize that,” Mika said, studying her son.

She’d spent a week getting to know him. Cole was such a collection of sides. He was creative, grown up, vulnerable to a point, but otherwise very strong. His success with Cole’s Fashion was astounding. She couldn’t deny that he really knew how to capture interest. She was proud of him.

Cole moved to her side, and pressed a kiss on her forehead. She glanced up at him in surprise.

“I love you too. I should also tell you that you tend to be a control freak and I’m pleasantly surprised that you’ve been here a week and haven’t tried to control me yet.”

“Must be Italy,” Mika teased him with a wink.

Last night, she’d watched Cole and Danny working in the kitchen while making dinner. The way they’d moved around each other. They’d tease each other, included her in their banter. It was bittersweet seeing Cole so happy. Knowing she could never pull him out of this place, Mika made a decision. She would never tell Cole how much she needed him in Niad Fashions. Instead, she would source a head designer, an outsider.

Cole deserved to keep what he’d built here.

She breathed out her disappointment and smiled at Cole.

“I think we should do something fun. I’m only here for two more days, my dear. Where’s Danny? I like his company.

“He took his motorcycle to the garage a few days ago. He’s been postponing to get it because he didn’t want to leave you alone. I convinced him to pick it up this morning.” Cole glanced at his watch. “He should have returned.”

Mika reached out and rubbed Cole’s chin with her thumb.

“I’ll take you both out to dinner later, if that’s okay with you.”

Cole held her gaze for a moment, then he nodded at her acceptance of his life.

“That will be lovely, Mom.”

“We can go to Danny’s favorite restaurant,” Mika said.

“He loves La Marguerite. It’s a little place a few blocks from here. They serve the best pasta.”

Mika nodded and was about to push off the pillar when one of Cole’s assistants came holding the phone. She handed it to Cole and took over the jeans arrangement while Mika leaned back on the pillar and watched her son answer the call.

Mika knew before he gasped that something was wrong. Pushing off the pillar, she took the phone from him when he stared at her at a loss.

“Hello,” she said in Italian, thanking the lessons she’d taken when she’d started dating Raphael, her husband. “This is Mika Lucianne, Cole Lucianne’s mother, what’s the problem?”

“There has been an accident. If you can please come down to the St. Maria Antoinette hospital downtown,” a man said on the other side.

“We’ll be right there.”

The ride to St. Maria took forever. Cole glared at his mother when she stopped at a traffic light. Fear blocked his airways at the thought of Danny in hospital. That man had sounded critical; he couldn’t even imagine the thought of Danny in hospital.

Mika recklessly cut off an oncoming car to enter the emergency drive. She dropped Cole off at the entrance and he raced in, frantic. Cole grabbed on to the first nurse he could find.

“I’m here for Danny Palozzi. He was in a car accident?” The nurse gave him an odd look and directed him to another nurse.

He rushed toward her his fingers turning cold. He needed to see Danny now.

“Excuse me. I’m here for Danny Palozzi.”

“Cole Lucianne?” the nurse asked in a gentle tone.

“Yes, I’m Danny Palozzi’s in case of emergency,” Cole answered. “Is he alright? We came as fast as we could. May I see him?”

“Please come with me.”

The nurse took his elbow and led him to the benches along a wall in the busy emergency room.”

“What’s wrong? Where is Danny?” Cole panicked.

“There’s no easy way to tell you this. I’m sorry to inform you, Danny died on arrival to the hospital. He suffered severe trauma from the accident. We did all we could for him but he didn’t make it and—”

Numbness crept in fast, Cole felt like his body was turning to stone. He couldn’t understand what the nurse was saying.

“I—C—can’t—”

“I’ll give you sometime,” the nurse continued. She squeezed his hands tight, her face full of sympathy. “You may see him for the purposes of identification. Do you want me to call someone?”

His ears were ringing. Cole stared at the nurse unseeing. Danny couldn’t be dead. He was so vibrant, so alive and wild. They had just had coffee in the morning in the kitchen. Danny had teased him for putting too much sugar in his coffee. Danny had kissed him goodbye and rushed out the door with a wave.

Mika finally showed up. She sat beside him, an arm going round his shoulder. She greeted the nurse.

“I’m his mother. How is Danny?”

The nurse turned to her in relief.

Tears filled his eyes as the nurse repeated the news in a kind voice. After a moment, things just dimmed.

“I’m so sorry, Cole.”

Mika pulled him in to a half hug.

Cole barely heard her, he felt as though she was talking from a far off place. The emergency room halls bustled, people moving in and out, phones rang, children cried, sirens, doctors, nurses, everything seemed to blend. He couldn’t think.

“Cole,” Mika said after a while. She shook him slightly to pull him out of his stupor. “I’ll take you home.”

“We can’t leave him here,” he whispered. gripping her hand. “We can’t. I have—I have to take him home.”

“I know, darling. I’ll take care of everything,” Mika soothed. When he didn’t move, she crouched down before him and looked into his grief stricken face. “Cole.”

“What am I going to do?” he asked her. His eyes filled with tears. “Mom, what will I do without Danny?”

Mika pulled him into a tight hug. Right now, when it was so raw, all she could do was hold him as he fell apart. When he wrapped his arms around her, she closed her eyes, his grief becoming her own. Tears slid down her face too when he sobbed.

“We were taking him to dinner,” Cole sobbed.

***

They laid Daniel Shaw Palozzi to rest at his father’s family home in Sicily. Cole could barely keep the tears from flowing down his cheeks as he watched mourners place flowers on Danny’s coffin. Mika held on to him, probably afraid that he might try to jump into the hole beside Danny. It certainly felt like an idea, but he was too tired. He just wanted to go back to their apartment and bury himself in their bed. It was the safest place to be.

“Place your flower on the coffin, Cole,” Mika said.

She walked him forward, she placed her white chrysanthemum on the coffin, and he followed suit. She pulled him back with her, and they both watched as Danny’s father did the same thing. When he was done, he came to Cole and they hugged. Mr. Palozzi’s hug broke him.

Cole pulled away and ran from the service, headed for the limousine they had used to come here. He flung himself into the backseat and allowed his tears to flow freely. He couldn’t live through this. What was the point anyway? He’d fought so hard to make a life they could share. Cole’s fashion was his life with Danny. Without him, what was he supposed to do? Shaking his head, Cole doubled over in pain.

The door opened and Mika slid in beside him. She placed a hand on his back. Her touch eased the pain, but it didn’t stop it.

“Cole, I’m right here,” Mika said. “If nothing else makes sense, know your brothers and I, are with you.”

***