109 Landscape

In the evening, Lana decided to visit Maddy. The girl just woke up and was in a terrible mood. But seeing who come to visit her, she turned slightly pale, as if the memories of the previous night had pounced on her all at once. Lana stopped at the door, giving Maddy the opportunity to somehow react to her arrival.Chase her away or invite in.

"Oh, stop standing there like a statue, and staring at me with those big puppy eyes! Come in." - Finally, Greg's sister couldn't stand it any longer.

"You know, I am a person of broad views and have never discriminated against anyone either by race or by sex, much less by religious principle. But I need a little more time to digest that my brother's girlfriend is a mythical creature from fairy tales ... " - Maddy grumbled with a sigh when Lana sat opposite her on a small stool.

"I brought cinnamon rolls and milk tea, Greg said you love it," - Lana said instead of an answer, smiling shyly and pulling the bag and paper cup toward the girl.

"Gosh, that was low of you,"-Maddy grunted accepting treats. - "To hell with you, welcome to the family! But if you tell someone else how easy it is to buy me, I will shave your tail! Although I can imagine that this will only encourage Greg's perverted fantasy more!"

Lana smiled back, chuckling.

"I can honestly promise you that I will never intentionally harm Greg or any of his relatives." - Lana swore from the heart, watching as the girl eagerly consumed the cakes.

" If we were just talking about someone else, then I would have doubted it. But Greg is unlikely to let himself be damaged so easily. The only way you can hurt him is if you leave him the same way as you did back then." - seriously replied Maddy, washing down the last baking piece by the tea.

Lana smiled wistfully. Her eyes clouded slightly.

"Now it is hardly possible. Back then I left to keep Greg away from everything that surrounds our kind, and from other things too ... But now he has sunk too deep in all this. So we can only fight and go forward!" - With each word, Lana's voice became more and more confident; by the end of her little speech, she clenched her fists and looked at Maddy with a challenge, as if urging her to object something. But the girl only slyly smiled in response.

" It should be like this, girl! If you are happy with him - then it is worth fighting for. Sometimes just a comfortable, quiet life - worse than any melancholia. For many, my hair, tattoos, the constant changing of work is a kind of challenge, childish rebellion, which I can't overgrow. But in fact, after the death of my father, I very clearly felt one simple thing. Life ends, you, I, Greg, all of us will be dead some day. And this is not a tragedy - it is a natural final stage. But life itself is much more than shown to us. I'm just trying to feel all the boundaries, make my own picture, taking my time to draw the landscape in vivid colors and attempting not to limit myself to a pathetic sketch, like most. Do you understand?"

Ruslana beamed in response and nodded.

" I guess, now I do!"

"By the way, I wanted to ask you for some time now. This thing is just stuck in my head for all this boring day, as I am laying her. Why your brother is so much alike that bastard Ryan Grand, are you -relatives?" - Cutting off the philosophical topic, asked Maddy. Judging by the flared eyes and the tingle in her voice, this question really tormented her badly.

Lana hesitated as if weighing the words.

" Yes, we are really relatives, although not a close one. Ryan is the son of mom's cousin if I remember correctly." - She uttered finally. Maddy's eyes lit up even more.

"So he too ...?" - whispered Maddie, leaning forward. Lana frowned.

"Maddy, I can't tell you everything. If Ryan wants, he will tell you it himself. I can only say that he is not quite like us. Previously, Ryan and Bryan were indeed very similar. But now Bri has Risa, and he can take a lot of things calmly, even your taunts. I heard that Ryan, on the contrary, remained the same. So be careful with him. Especially when you consider ... "

She cut herself off in short.

"What?" - Maddy asked impatiently even lifting a bit from her bad. Her face was full of curiosity. - "Can you be more specific?"

Lana herself already regretted having said so much. Fortunately, the sound of the phone saved her from explanations.

"Risa?" - She answered in a hurry.

"Yea, sunshine, it's me. Your mom and I are almost in the town. Tell me where to meet. "

Lana hesitated, trying to collect her thoughts. She did not expect them to arrive today. The clock on the wall showed already about twelve o'clock at night. She did not notice how quickly the time flew by.

" Come to the hotel, the restaurant should work around the clock, and there are hardly any people there now." - Lana finally squeezed out, carefully hiding the tremor in her voice.

" Good." -Risa chirped in, - "We will be there soon. Order us something to eat and wine. I think it will help us through all the nerves. So make it at least a bottle!"

Lana giggled nervously, hanging up. For some reason, it seemed to her that ordinary wine today would not be enough.

***

In the small restaurant at the hotel, there was really almost no one at this time. Even the waiter nodded behind the bar, no longer waiting for new guests.

Lana got here first, although she walked all the way very slowly as if trying to delay this meeting for at least another second.

Seeing the girl, the waiter grimaced in displeasure, but still got up and led her to the table.

"What will you order," - he asked in a cold tone. Lana quickly ran over the menu, which consisted of a single sheet wrapped in a film.

" Please, one from each type of snack from your menu and a bottle of wine ... Or better make it two." - Lana spoke slowly, trying to remember what her mother actually liked to eat. Oddly enough, but nothing came to mind. They often dined together when Lana was still young. But it was like staged family dinners twice a week. No one ever spoke, nor discussed the news; nobody even gave the opinion on food. Mom was always and in everything perfect, respectful and polite with the servant. Every time she thanked the maids who brought the dishes and the cooks after. But all this was done so emotionlessly as if she really didn't care what she eats and did it just because it was how it should be.

The waiter accepted the order and with ill-concealed irritation on his face retired to the kitchen. Lana began to wait, trying to sort through all the options of what this meeting could lead to.

After half an hour, the restaurant doors swung open again, causing Lana to start.

The girl was sitting facing the entrance, so when she looked up, the first thing she saw was her mother's eyes.

It was too late to run, or not?