Afterglow

sharp

before:

Where would my dad keep his most sensitive documents? That was the most pressing question that pierced my mind as I searched high and low in his home office, tearing through boring analytical finance reports that looked like gibberish to my untrained eyes, looking for anything pertaining to my adoption and my biological parents.

There was a burning and aching need inside of me to find this crucial information, almost like I had to figure out who these people were in order to understand who I really was. In the grand scheme of things, it probably wasn't all that important, as I dictated the type of person I was and wanted to be, but what if there were certain things that I had a proclivity for because of who my birth parents were?

What if...that was my main question.

I found a sealed document underneath all of his manilla folders in his accordion drawers to the left of his desk and I sucked in a greedy breath of air as I fought back the triumph that wanted to blast through my veins.

I didn't get a chance to open the document, however, as Ian's ringtone began blasting through my phone, most likely destroying my spy career.

I cursed and quickly answered as I high tailed it out of my father's office, putting everything back into place as I spoke with my boyfriend on the phone.

"You do realize you were interrupting a very high tech spy mission right? It was like I was Tom Cruise, except the female version. I was Tomika Cruise!"

He chuckled through the other end of the phone and his next words had me laughing right along with him.

"Well, Tomika, I promise to text next time before breaking up a mission of utmost importance. What were you doing, looking for your birth family again?"

"What am I always doing? Ugh, I just want this to be over with. I sent in my DNA kit a few weeks ago and the results were supposed to be back by now. This is torture."

"I'm sorry babe. Maybe you can come over and I can torture you in a better way tonight?"

Heat flared inside of me at the clear innuendo in his words and a blush crept onto my cheeks. We hadn't gone all the way yet, but it was sure looking like it was headed that way, I was positive of that.

"Sounds like a plan. Oh, hey, I just got an email I have to check that. I'll see you tonight at eight?"

"Yes you will."

We said our goodbyes and I inhaled another sharp breath as I opened my emails. There it was, in print right before my eyes, the document I'd found long forgotten as my entire focus shifted to the answers right in front of me.

My DNA report had come back, and there was a link directing me to the website with relatives who'd agreed to share their information in order to find others related to them. This was it.

This was what I'd waited so long for.

I read the origins of my DNA, as pieces of me clicked into place with percentages and regions. I was a little bit from Scotland, ten percent. Another ten percent from Greece. Twenty percent from the Middle East and thirty percent from South America.

The last thirty percent was split up into tiny subsections spanning the different regions of Africa and right there in front of me was my entire DNA makeup sprawled out for me to see.

The list of relatives was pulled up immediately, and I devoured the names at the top. I had a full fledged, blood, first cousin. Her name was Marina Salazar, and she was my first cousin, a real cousin. I immediately requested to follow her on almost every social media platform I could find her on and sent her a direct message through the DNA service.