Heard but Unheeded

Mark saw Sarah once again so caught up in her own thoughts that she had ignored both him and her food waved his hand in front of her face.

When a hand suddenly appeared before Sarah, she was jolted out of her musings and realised she had drifted off, blushed a little in embarrassment.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Ahh, never mind it wasn't anything important. You should eat up before it gets cold."

With Sarah having been so distracted, the two then quickly finished their dinner and Mark paid the bill as promised.

As she walked out of the restaurant Sarah shivered a little from the cold air and Mark wrapped her in his jacket whilst she gave her thanks.

"Sarah you didn't drive to work today yeah? Let me take you back, don't worry it's only a slight detour for me."

Sarah heard his earnest suggestion and felt the night was a little colder than usual, decided to take him up on his offer.

Sarah looked at the handsome face of Mark as he concentrated on driving and her mind wandered back to those earlier thoughts regarding how she felt about him.

She knew that she was attracted to him and she believed he was attracted to her. Yet this relationship of theirs, if it could be called that, for the past three years had simply amounted to no more than the occasional dinner date after work and drinks with friends, also after work.

At the same time, she didn't really mind the way things were, after all her job was her life and she wished to focus on it for at least a few more years before even thinking of starting a family.

Sarah was only 24 and still firmly believed that the world was her oyster, as cliché as it sounded.

Before she knew it, lost in her thoughts, Sarah drifted off to sleep.

All this time Mark had tried his best to maintain attention on the road and finally let out a sigh of relief as he parked his car in Sarah's driveway. He looked over only to find her fast asleep. He could never get tired of looking at her face and here she was looking so at peace and calm, in complete contrast to her distracted and stressed visage earlier.

Mark knew he should not continue to stare, lest his thoughts stray in to dangerous territory and decided to lightly shake Sarah awake. A little bleary eyed but yawning cutely and illuminated only by the streetlights, Mark thought that Sarah was incredibly alluring. In his heart he wished he could keep her by his side, yet he knew it was not to be, their worlds were very different and he hoped that he could maintain this little slice of happiness for as long as possible.

"Sarah, we're here. You should go inside before your grandfather starts worrying again. You know how he is, that stubborn old man. Sometimes I wonder whether you two are truly related."

"Umm, just because you two don't get along doesn't mean he isn't my grandfather you know. But you're right I should go before he starts wandering the streets again and kicking up a fuss, looking for me like that other time. Anyways, thanks for the ride Mark, I will make it up to you another time."

With that said, Sarah got out of the car and walked to open the front door only for it to open just as she got to it. From the open doorway a loud voice bellowed

"Oi, you stinking brat now that you have dropped her off, hurry up and scram!"

Sarah heard her grandfather and was incredibly embarrassed. She quickly waved goodbye and shouted out an apology to Marcus before hurriedly pulling her grandfather into the house before he said anything worse.

Mark saw the old man's antics and laughed a little but in the corner of his eyes hid a gloominess. He reversed out of the drive way and slowly made his way home, slightly distracted by the scent Sarah had left behind and the cute little yawn she had made, imprinted in his mind.

After her grandfather was pulled inside Sarah began to complain.

"Gramps, Mark is a good guy, why do you two always butt heads every time you hear about each other let alone see each other."

"Hah, him a good guy. Sarah you know your grandfather has seen all kinds of people in his long life, but that Mark guy, nothing about him screams good. He looks so shady that even if all the trees in the world died out, I would still be able to hide under his shadow. I know you can't get away from him and I know you like him, but honestly he isn't good enough for you, my precious granddaughter."

Sarah heard her grandfather's terrible comeback and sighed. She gave up on trying to convince him to not be so grouchy about Mark. She felt a sense of déjà vu, as she truly could not remember how many times she had been in this situation. She guessed she would need at least ten hands and maybe a couple more.

"Ahh, Sarah have you eaten dinner yet? I had the chef cook your favourite dishes. If not, there is still dessert. Sarah, you know your stupid brother said he would come visit today but I waited all day and night and he still did not show. I really don't know what to do about such an unfilial child. Why couldn't he be more caring like you."

"Gramps, I already ate, but I could always eat more dessert, come let's go get something, it isn't often that I get to eat dessert with you."

Sarah quickly mollified her grandfather and took him over to the fridge to select from the various desserts the chef had made. Picking her favourite chocolate mousse and a mango tart for her grandfather, she guided her grandfather over to the sofa and sat down beside him.

"Grandfather, uh Steven called this morning saying that his flight might have to be delayed as something came up in the company."

"Oh, then why didn't he call me to let me know? That stupid child always forgets about me. Who does he think raised him huh? Who does he think wiped his butt after he went to the toilet and washed him every day huh? Does he even remember he has a grandfather?"

Sarah heard her grandfather start up his pity party and quickly moved to shut it down as she diverted his attention by bringing up her work.

"Oh, grandfather I got something interesting today in my email. Do you know anything about the Police Minister having links to the Southern Mafia?"

David, Sarah's grandfather heard the name Southern Mafia, quickly drew in a sharp breath of air and was slightly shocked before he hurriedly interrupted Sarah.

"Sarah, you must not mention them so carelessly. They have eyes and ears in many places. I think you should consider very carefully before continuing with your line of inquiries, if you draw the wrong gazes, your life would be the last thing you should worry about. However, if you think you cannot look away, don't worry I will protect you with all I have, otherwise my name is not David Longford."

With two warnings from who she considered some of her closest people in the single span of a few hours and from the same two people who would always be diametrically opposed to each other, Sarah began to re-evaluate her approach to what she had stumbled upon. Although she was reassured that her grandfather would protect her, she did not wish to endanger her family as a result of her work and she had always preferred to live her life through her own means and efforts rather than rely on the efforts of others or her family connections.

"Grandfather are the Southern Mafia truly that dangerous. This is the first time I am hearing about them anyway. The only things I could find on the internet and from my contacts were that they had been around only for fifty or so years."

"Ahh, stupid girl what did I just say. Do not name them so freely. But yes, they are incredibly dangerous, even though they have not been here for long their names are infamous in the underground. You know when they first arrived and established themselves fifty-five years ago, in the span of one night all the existing crime families that dealt with things like drug smuggling, money laundering to even sex rings were all eliminated in one night. The only ones that managed to survive were those that submitted early. Yakuza, Neapolitan Mafia, Triad were all uprooted in one night. Imagine that, just one night."

Despite it being such a bloodthirsty event, this was the first time she had heard about it and this made her even more curious about the extent of power to which this Southern Mafia had over the country.

Sarah felt that a normal person would heed this warning from both Mark and her grandfather and stop the investigation of the Southern Mafia. However, the danger merely stimulated her sense of adventure and curiosity.

Perhaps she was overconfident about her abilities or perhaps she was a masochist. Regardless her deep-seated nature and her job as an investigative journalist pushed her towards seeking the truth, even if it put her life at peril. With that said though, Sarah was not someone to rush into a situation recklessly nor was she a risk adverse person.

"Hmm, thanks gramps for the warning but you know me, I can't just sit back and leave something as earth-shaking as this unturned. I will be extra careful, don't worry."

David knew he could not convince his granddaughter otherwise and instead chose to support her in her endeavours unconditionally. In the back of his mind he felt the saying, curiosity killed a cat was ever more pertinent to this precocious granddaughter of his.