“My mom and my brother have been asking about you every day.” Trevor told Laura Tuesday night when their dessert arrived. “In fact, not only them, but my cousins, too. They all like you.” Trevor took a chance with her and see how she would react to his family liking her.
“You don’t mean it,” Laura’s eyes widened in surprise. “I thought you said you were going to tell your mom the truth.” She took the first bite from her apple crumble pie.
He shrugged. “I will, but I don’t want to tell her over the phone.” He took a spoonful of his tiramisu and nodded in satisfaction at the taste. So far, the upscale restaurant had proved everything his brother said about it. It was his older brother that suggested the place to him.
“I enjoyed their company too,” she smiled. “On Saturday. Never had so much fun at family gatherings.”
His heart sank, hearing that from her. “Are you serious?” He cocked his head.
“Yes,” she said, scooping up a piece of apple and caramel with her spoon. “You know, it’s not everyone that’s lucky to have a loving extended family.”
“I believe each family has its own dynamics, anyway.” He said, trying to make her feel better
“That’s true,” she agreed, nodding her head slowly, gazing at him. “But my family life has always been awkward. My siblings and I are so unlucky with our extended family”
They fell into silence.
“I’m sorry,” she dropped her spoon after some time. “I didn’t mean to ruin the..” she started, but Trevor cut her short.
“No,” he reached over and squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to apologize for anything.”
She sighed.
“If you don’t mind,” he said, still holding her hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“My paternal grandparents never accepted my mom,” she started saying. “Both of them were medical doctors and very rich. My maternal grandmother was their maid. My mom and my father fell in love and he married her, against all odds. Needless to say, his children were never accepted, even by our uncles and their kids, our cousins. My father’s parents had four boys. They treated us like outsiders.”
Unshed tears glistened her eyes.
“It’s okay, if you don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Trevor said.
“It’s fine,” she sniffed. “I want to talk about it.” She gave him a shaky smile.
“I knew my father loved my mother, but he bowed to pressure at some point and divorced my mom eleven years ago. And got married to an investment banker. Though my mom is a professional too, a pharmacist. That was how he abandoned us.”
Tears gathered more in her eyes. “He never looked back for once in those eleven years.”
“I’m so sorry,” he handed her his handkerchief. “So sorry.”
Now, he’s back after eleven years.” She wiped her tears with his handkerchief. “And he’s behaving as if nothing happened.”
“It’s okay,” he rubbed the back of her hand.
“And the most infuriating part is that my brother and my mom just embraced him.” She looked into his eyes. “As if nothing happened. How could they forget all the pain we went through in those horrible years?”
She stopped talking when she realized people were looking at their way.
“I’m sorry,” she blew her nose into the handkerchief. “I must be embarrassing you.”
“Not at all,” he said truthfully.
“You know what?” she smiled kindly at him. “Let’s leave. We are done with our food, anyway. We can continue talking in the car.”
She nodded.
He called for the check, paid, and they left. Outside, Trevor didn’t walk towards the car park. Instead, he held out his hand to her and said, “Unity Park is close to here. Let’s have some fun.”
She smiled, and took his hand, “let’s go.”
They walked hand in hand down the street, and before long, they got to the park. They wandered around for a while, just taking in the breathtaking view of the magnificent city.
He bought some hot dogs, and they sat down in a secluded area.
She didn’t want the night to be tinted more with her family’s sordid history, so he asked him to tell her about his family before he could ask her to continue her story.
*********
Katherine Gray dropped the design magazine she was reading on the sofa when she heard a car driving up the driveway. She stood up and went to the window to look outside from behind the blinds.
Laura and Trevor got out of the car. They were talking as they walked hand in hand towards the front door. Katherine turned away from the window and went back to sit on the sofa.
On the other side of the door, Trevor said, “I’ve had a good night, Laura.” He grinned. “I hope you enjoyed yourself too?”
“Yes,” Laura chuckled. “I did. You were a great company.”
“I will be expecting the next two chapters of your thesis on Thursday,” he said with a hint of his classroom voice.
“Yes Prof.,” she chuckled.
“Can I call you later?” He asked tentatively. “You said you are still going to study tonight.”
“Yes,” she checked for the time on her wristwatch. “I guess I will still be awake for the next three hours.”
“Great!” He beamed. “I will call you.”
“Alright, goodnight Prof.”
“Goodnight,” he said and pulled her to his chest for a moment. “I will call you.”
“Sure,” she said when he released her, though she wished he would keep her there longer.
She wrapped her hands around herself, shivers dancing on her body. Not from the weather, which was warm anyway. But from the contact with his body. Laura watched as he returned to his car. And waited until he had driven away before she opened the door and walked in.
She locked the door behind her. It surprised her that her mother was still awake.
“Mom,” she called softly and walked further into the living room. “You haven’t slept yet. Is everything okay?” She knew her mother goes to bed by 9:00 pm.
“Nothing, I just feel like waiting up for you,” her mom said from the sofa.
“Thanks mom,” she plopped down beside her mother on the sofa.
“Did you have a nice time?”
“Yes, I did.” Laura smiled at her mom.
“Was that the Professor who took you to lunch on Saturday?” She asked. She was not around when Trevor came to pick Laura up for dinner.
“Yes, he is the one.”
“You look so happy, so relax,” Mrs. Gray remarked, her adoring gaze on her daughter.
Laura just smiled. She was indeed relaxed and happy.