Page 37 of Obsessed by My Ex's Mafia Uncle
“I’m eating,” Blue repeats, stabbing her pancake with unnecessary aggression.
“Eat faster,” I tell her, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.
She smells like coconut oil and syrup.
Home.
“You have your meeting today?” Blue asks, looking up at me with those wide, curious, hazel eyes that never miss anything.
“I do.”
“The big one?”
“The very big one.” I smile at her.
“Okay.” She nods, serious now. “I’ll eat.”
“I should’ve just said that.” Aisha snorts.
“Yes,” Blue replies, completely unbothered.
I laugh before I can stop myself, shaking my head as I step back, grabbing my bag from the chair.
For a second, I just stand there watching them.
Aisha is handing Blue juice, Blue talking with her mouth half full, both of them filling the space with noise and life and something I didn’t always have.
This… This is mine. It's not perfect. It's far from quiet. But it's mine.
“I’ll pick her up later,” Aisha calls after me, softer now, catching my eye.
“Thank you.”
“Go,” she adds, waving me off. “Before you start overthinking everything.”
Too late.
But I go anyway.
Miami is already awake when I pull into the main road, sunlight bouncing off glass buildings, the ocean flashing between streets like it’s reminding everyone it’s there.
The air feels different here. Lighter. Like it doesn’t hold onto things the same way.
I grip the steering wheel loosely, letting the rhythm of traffic pull me into something calmer.
It's been three years in this city.
Although, it doesn’t feel like a number. It feels like a lifetime I had to build piece by piece.
There was no immaculate break or perfect ending.
One minute I was living for myself, moving through life like it was mine alone to spend, and the next, I wasn’t.
Everything changed without asking me if I was ready. And the choices that came after… the kind you don’t sit with for too long.
Because you already know what you’ll find if you do.
I didn’t come here with a plan. Just a need to start over. And somehow, I did.
