“I see. If you don’t have anything else to say I’m hanging up then.”
“Uh, sure. Thanks again. Sorry for disturbing you. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. Bye.”
After hanging up I placed aside my phone to change into some comfortable pajamas.
Well, I certainly took on a tough job without thinking. I hope it all goes well. Marshall is expecting a good result from me. I’ll make sure not to disappoint him.
When I went downstairs to place down the plates for me to eat, I heard the sound of a car pulling up on the porch.
Are they back already? What’s the time now? I checked the clock to see it was 8 p. m.
They surely took their time to come back home.
I went to fetch the dishes from the kitchen and sat down to eat. I heard footsteps coming my way but I ignored that.
Not paying any attention to them is the best.
I chewed on my food and noticed Dave and Mom coming inside with her hands wrapped around his arm.
I almost choked to see that.
Since when did they get so close?
“We’re back,” Mom announced in a cheerful tone, approaching me.
“Welcome home,” I greeted meekly, unable to show any reaction.
“Are you eating alone, honey?” she asked.
I nodded, looking in Dave’s direction. He was all silent but looked a bit troubled.
“I’m really sorry about that,” Mom apologized, “You had to eat breakfast alone and now dinner as well. You know, we wanted to be back early but somehow got stuck in the traffic and it took so much time before we realized it.”
“It’s okay. I’ve had no problem,” I replied. “And it’s not every day you two go out. You should enjoy it as much as you can. Why worry about the time?”
“My daughter is so understanding, isn’t she, Dave?” Mom comments, smiling heartily turning to him.
Dave gave a hesitant nod, avoiding my gaze.
“I’m old enough to understand things. You don’t need to worry,” I replied, observing Dave’s expressions. “Won’t you two have dinner? I can bring the plates for you as well if you want.”
“No, no. Don’t bother yourself with that,” Mom replied. “We already ate outside.”
“You…did?”
“Yeah, it was getting so late that we decided to have dinner also. I was calling you to inform you that we’ll be late so you should eat dinner, but your call was busy for a while. Who were you talking with?”
“That was”
Wait, why do I have to explain myself to them? If they don’t bother explaining anything to me, then why should I take the trouble to do that? No, I won’t do it!
I’ll play just by their rules.
“It was…one of my friends in college. We were discussing about tomorrow’s class,” I explained.
“Friends? I see. Well, alright then. Enjoy your meal. I’ll see you tomorrow in the morning.”
“Yeah, sure. Goodnight, Mom.”
“Goodnight, dear.”
“Goodnight,” Dave mumbled, before simply walking away with Mom without paying any attention to me.
I kicked on the table leg out of frustration only hurting my feet in the attempt. I feel so irritated.
How can they both just forget about my presence and have fun for an entire day? Do they not care about me at all? Am I even a part of their family?
Forget about Mom! She doesn’t have a sense of time when she’s outside having fun. But Dave also? Neither did he pick up my calls, or reply to my texts, and now not talking to me properly after coming back as well.
He went straight upstairs and refused to talk with me. Why? Are we strangers or what?
Why did he pretend to be a strangers? Is Mom so much important to him that he needs to avoid me at home?
Just what happened between them when they were outside? I need to know! There’s no way he can avoid me like this!
Despite how angry I was, I couldn’t start any argument at this time because I felt like it.
So, I texted Dave and waited for him to either reply to it or either come outside to meet me. Cause I know very well, it won’t be possible for us to talk in the morning.
We can talk while she’s asleep.
I stood outside his room with my phone in hand, checking the screen every minute for his message to pop up.
10 minutes passed by, and there was no response. After 25 minutes I realized he wasn’t going to reply so I just gave up.
I left and decided to return to my room. As soon as I stepped inside, my legs gave in. My knees went weak and I fell to the ground with my back against my door.
I hugged my knees and rested my face on top of it.
Hopelessness filled my thoughts and the air I was breathing in.
Everywhere I looked, I could see nothing but darkness.
Why did you do this to me, Dave? How can you hurt me like this? Don’t you know how much I love you?
Then, why do you keep crushing my feelings by involving my mom in the matter? This way, you are making it obvious that she’s my rival. Even though I don’t want that!