Back To You (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 14: Her Birthday

A voice of someone opening the curtain woke Gia up. She rubbed her eyes before opening them slowly. Adelina sat on bed next to her. "Happy birthday, Gia."

Gia immediately hugged her mother. "Thank you, mom. Thank you for everything."

Adelina pulled away to see her daughter's beautiful face. "With pleasure, sweetheart. I'm also happy to have you as my daughter. My baby."

She chuckled. "Yes, mom. I will forever be your baby." Then, she remembered her father, which made her smile sadly. "If dad were here right now, I would be very happy."

"Gia, your dad is in a better place now. He is watching us from above. He must have been very happy to see you become a more mature woman."

She shed tears. "I miss him, mom."

"I miss him too, Gia. In two weeks time, we will visit his grave, right?"

"Yes, you're right. I've told Mariska about that."

Adelina looked at her 31-year-old daughter. She thought that Gia was lonely. She had lost her beloved father for nearly 3 years. And she had also lost someone whom she loved since a long time ago.

"Gia, two days ago was Seb's birthday, right?"

"Yes, mom, you're right."

"Do you still pray for him?"

Gia nodded and smiled miserably. "I do. I always pray the best for him. Everyday, not only on his birthday."

"Do you also pray that someday he comes to talk to you?"

"I do, but, I'm not ready. I'm afraid if I can't control my emotions."

Adelina rubbed Gia's hair softly. "Okay. Now you take a shower. I will prepare something special for our breakfast."

"Thank you, mom."

Adelina kissed Gia's head before she left the bedroom. While, she folded the duvet neatly and made her bed. After that, she walked into her bathroom. She should start her special day with a happy feeling.

---

After having a special breakfast and also receiving a birthday gift from her mother, Gia went to the bookstore. On the way there, she replied the birthday messages from Gilbert and his wife, Mariska, Tobias, and others. It made her happy and grateful that she was surrounded with people who cared a lot.

She couldn't hide her smile when Sophia sent her a photo of Leonard who was holding a piece of paper. He drew a woman and on the right side, he wrote "Happy Birthday Aunty Gia!". She thought that the woman was her.

Gia saved it immediately. She appreciated her nephew's effort to draw her. After that, she looked at the photo of Seb and herself at the bookstore once again. She kept staring at his face.

He had moustache and beard and his hair was short, very different with Seb that she saw the last time in 2006. But his smile would never change. It remained her favourite smile.

Gia believed that Seb had found someone special. He was handsome, rich, and famous. It was impossible if he was still single. She was so sure about that. But she didn't want to find out about it, even though it was easy to search on the internet, especially on the social media. It would just hurt her even more.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but we have arrived," the taxi driver said.

"Ah yeah, I'm sorry."

Gia hurriedly took the money from her bag and paid it to him. After that, she went out of the taxi and walked to the bookstore. It was still closed but she was sure that her employees had been there. So, she opened the door.