Behind the Veil

As the days passed, Lola found herself visiting her mother at the psychiatric hospital. It wasn’t any better than any other time she visited her. Her mother merely stared off hardly acknowledging her presence. After a couple hours Lola left the hospital and began to wander the streets aimlessly. The sun began to set and she found herself walking to a dimly lit park.

Looking at her from the shadows he watched her every move waiting for the right moment to approach her. Lola brought her gaze up to see the pair of icy eyes watching her. Of course she knew this meeting would occur sooner or later. He smirked at her in an almost taunting manner whilst he approached her standing figure. Her stare was cold and uninviting as he stood before her still smirking. Franz Keller reached out to touch the side of her face but she pulled away giving a look that could kill.

“What do you want?”

“What if I said I can get your mother back?” Franz responds in a cool manner.

“I‘d say you were lying,” Lola states.

“Telepathy is the therapy she needs to pull her out of her trance.”

“And what would you do? Fill her head with delusions? Make her forget what happened?” she counters in a haughty manner.

“Just make her remember her children and make her snap out of it, isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?” he spoke. Her eyes softened and she turned around to look elsewhere. She wanted more than anything for her mother to be okay again. After so many years she thought that maybe her mother would snap out of it and realize that she was still there. Franz took this chance to get closer to her, his hand grazing against her bare arm. “I can get her back for you.”
“At what price?”

“You know what I want.”

Lola felt his hot breath spill onto her neck and she shuddered inwardly careful to remain calm. She knew what he wanted and she worried about what extent things would go to this time. Her eyes closed briefly and she let out a small noise of compliance. Franz smirked and wrapped his arms around her body as he nuzzled his face into her neck.

“Make her better, but don‘t make her forget just make her get past it,” she responds in a stern manner.

“Of course,” Franz says kissing her neck.

“I have to be somewhere,” Lola states moving out of his grasp but he gripped her arms tightly in response.

“You will leave when I allow you to.”

Salvatore waited for a long time before his sister showed up. There weren’t really words to be spoken, Lola merely gave a tired smile before heading to the bathroom. She took a long hot shower hoping to wash off the events that occurred. When she got back into her room she looked in the mirror to see the bruises forming on her body. Tired, she got into bed and fell into a dreamless sleep. When she woke the next morning or rather next afternoon to the sounds of someone knocking on the door. Pulling herself out of bed she went to the front door to answer it with a blanket pulled around her body. As soon as she opened the door she came face to face with Tony and she immediately realized that perhaps she over slept.

“Oh man I‘m sorry I didn‘t realize the time,” Lola apologizes. “Shit I‘ll get some clothes on.”

Lola rushed back towards her room leaving Tony to smile at the doorway. He entered the apartment and closed the door behind him. Observing her from the doorway Tony smiled as she quickly pulled on a pair of jeans then let her blanket fall so that she could proceed putting on a jacket. As she headed into the bathroom she began to brush her teeth swiftly and rigorously. Once she was done she moved towards Tony with a welcoming smile.

“You‘re pretty fast.”

“Thanks?” she laughs. They stood there for a moment before heading out of the apartment. “Mind if I take the reigns on this one? I found a couple places I think you‘d like.”

“Sure,” Tony replies kind of surprised that she would take the reigns. Actually he usually just took control of things and made the woman adjust to his plans. Lola wanted nothing more than to take control because she was feeling as though her ability to control her own life was slipping through her finger tips. She did however have a record store in mind then a bar afterwards. Tony was a bit flabbergasted at the area of town he was being lead to. But he was pleasantly surprised when they began looking through the records. The place smelt a bit like weed and incense but the amount records they had was unbelievable. Not only were there records but obscure records and they laughed over the ridiculous cover art. The hang out was simple yet enjoyable. After the they were done at the record store, Lola led Tony to a nearby bar. It was strange but Lola actually felt comfortable around Tony and had a great time with him.

“Just to clarify, you don‘t like things being handed to you,” Lola smiles looking over her glass at Tony.

“Yes.”

“So if you were to get your ass handed to you when you play against me in basketball, you wouldn‘t like that,” she teases lightly.

“I wasn‘t aware people your height could even play basketball,” Tony replies taking a sip of his drink. Lola gave a light chuckle and looked down at the table before raising her eyes once again.

“I would destroy you in a game of horse Stark.”

“Whoa someone‘s overly confident.”

“First time you‘ve said that without looking in the mirror huh?” she smiles. Tony broke out into a bright smile and a throaty chuckle escaped his lips.

“You‘re one of few women that can insult me and still have me wanting to talk to them.”

“Must like the verbal abuse,” Lola comments.

“Or I just like you,” he counters leaning towards Lola with a smile.

“That is a possibility,” she say pulling him into a kiss. Tony rested his hand on her knee while Lola’s hand grazed the back of his neck. Eventually Tony pulled away from the kiss and Lola’s eye’s remained closed both of them having quickened breaths. He took her hand in his and Lola opened her eyes to meet his brown ones. She nodded slightly knowing what he was suggesting or rather hoping. Tony quickly paid the bartender and they headed out of the bar.

Lola didn’t really think about anything as Tony drove them back to his hotel suite. Heading up to the room the pair acted as though nothing was about to occur. Tony opened the door to reveal the oversized suite earning a look from Lola.

“Do you make it a habit of staying in the most expensive suites of hotels?” Lola questions.

“I figured since I was going to be here a couple weeks I‘d make it a comfortable stay,” Tony states as he pulled her body close to his.

“That makes sense I suppose,” she smiles. Tony brought her into another kiss and when things got more heated Lola backed up towards the bedroom.

All the while at the psychiatric hospital, Franz Keller visited the incapacitated Lydia. Using his telepathic powers he was able to finally take release her mind from the prison he himself had created. For a long time he had control over her mind enabling him to make Lola more desperate and alone. It was his idea of breaking Lola down enough to make her need him in the future. Once Lydia’s mind was reinstated Franz left the hospital. The caretakers immediately took notice of the change in Lydia’s behavior. She was lucid and spoke to them wanting to see her children. Salvatore was called by the hospital officials and he immediately called Lola but received no answer so he proceeded to head to the hospital without her.

Lola and Tony lied on the unmade bed, tangled in the sheets. Tony fell asleep with his arm draped around Lola’s body and Lola took notice of his breathing patterns that seemed to slow down. Careful to not wake him Lola moved out of his grasp and headed towards the bathroom. Washing her body in the shower, Lola then took one of the robes and wrapped it around herself. She moved to the other room where she had dropped her purse. Lola soon noticed the several missed calls she had from her brother Salvatore. All breath caught up in her throat as she called back her brother.

“Lola where the hell are you? I‘m at the hospital with Mom,” Sal says in a demanding manner.

“Is she okay?” Lola breathes out.

“She‘s alright, she‘s lucid now. She wants to see you,” he replies causing a smile to form on Lola‘s face.

“I‘ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Visiting hours end at 8pm so hurry up.”

“Okay I‘ll be there,” Lola states before Sal ended the call. Lola put her phone back into her purse and then began to collect her clothes that were scattered around the place. She found the essentials back in the bedroom and soon began to get dressed. Tony stirred in his sleep and noticed Lola was no longer next to him. Opening his eyes he saw her rushing to get her clothes on to leave.

“Did you leave the money on the nightstand?” Tony inquires in a humorous tone.

“Here I thought it was free trial for the first thirty days,” she counters placing her hands on her hips. Tony gave a smile in response.

“Where are you headed?”

“I‘ve got to go to the hospital, Sal says my mother is currently in a lucid state and would like to see me.”

“I could take you there,” he says beginning to get up out of the bed. Lola placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled down at him.

“No stay here and relax,” Lola replies. “I can get there on my own just fine.”

“I believe that, well I‘m going to head back to Malibu to get some work done tomorrow,” Tony states.

“Don‘t work too hard,” she smiles kissing him on the lips briefly. “You know how to contact me right?”

“What am I an idiot?”

“Not at all but most that are at specialized genius levels they tend to forget common sense.”

“You think I‘m a genius?” he counters with a smirk.

“Bye Tony,” Lola responds with a smile.

Lola slipped her shoes back on and gave Tony one last smile as he walked her to the door. Tony kissed her goodbye then she left without another word. She rushed out of the hotel and headed towards the street hoping to find a taxi-cab. Eventually she did reach the hospital with time to spare and she began to grow slightly nervous. It had been years since her mother even knew what was going on around her and Lola didn’t know what would happen. She was led by one of the attendants to where her mother and brother waited.

Upon entering the room she met eyes with her mother’s dark down ones and Lola immediately knew at that moment that there was nothing to worry about. Lola soon found herself being embraced by her mother and she hugged back with just as much love. Finally things were as they should have been years ago. Lola never felt so much happiness in her entire life.