Katalina
I couldn’t walk straight for two days after Huracio finished with me.
That was how long it took my pussy to heal up from the bruising it got from getting overstimulated and rubbed. Because of that, I had to postpone my shopping date with Emilia.
To apologize, I took her on a shopping spree.
To avoid meeting anyone from my high school, we avoided the local malls.
“School is starting soon, when should we do our school shopping?” Emilia suddenly asked as we were checking out some exotic perfumes in a high-end store.
My heart tightened.
Indeed, school will soon start. With summer coming to a close, I have just three weeks to convince Huracio to let me attend college. I got an admission to study Data Analysis, and Marketing at the only university in the city. Emilia and I were going to choose a college out of state, but Mum convinced me otherwise.
How I wished I didn’t listen to her.
Though we have never talked about my education, I was scared that Huracio won’t let me continue my studies. But since he gave me back my phone and even allowed me to hang out on my own, I started nursing the hope of convincing him to let me go to school. The problem is, I have no courage to ask him for permission.
Therefore, when Emilia asked that question, I had no reply.
“Kata?” She noticed that I had zoned out and shook my arm.
“En,”
“Should we start school shopping now or wait till school resumes?”
“Let’s do some today and the rest later. That way, there will be no rushing.” I replied.
“Really? You want to sponsor my school supplies too?” Emilia exclaimed in shock.
“Yeap!” I nodded with shiny eyes.
This shopping spree wasn’t just to apologize to Emilia, it was also to make Huracio bleed. He said I can use up the money on the express card he gave me. Since I couldn’t access the balance, all I could do was spend. I wanted to know how far I could go before he snatched it back.
“Are you sure that is okay?” Emilia gave me a worriedly suspicious look.
“It’s fine. He said I can spend as much as I want. I am even thinking of getting a car.”
“What? You have that much money?”
“Who knows?” I scoffed.
“In that case, let’s go grab lunch. We can make a list while eating, then come back to start shopping for real.”
It was just a few minutes past noon. It wasn’t time for lunch, but I agreed to grab an early lunch. If we started shopping at that time, it would be hard to break for lunch later.
We found a small Chinese restaurant with private rooms. Emilia ordered four dishes while I ordered six. By the end of the meal, we had a very long list. I encouraged her to buy new things like beddings, duvets, a new laptop, a more fancy hair dryer, and whatever took my fancy. Those were just gadgets. We didn’t make a list for clothes and shoes, but changing her wardrobe for Autumn was part of my plans.
Once we were done eating, we went to the restroom to touch up. After that, we returned to the mall to start shopping for real. On the way, I spotted an ATM and a crazier idea just dropped in my head.
What if I help Emilia resolve her debts? I mean, I had all this money, and I couldn’t think of what to buy.
Meanwhile, Emilia had taken a loan for both her small car and a house. She was paying the mortgage on the house, and I was paying rent. The rent I was paying was nothing to write home about as it didn’t even make up 10 percent of what she was remitting every month. Knowing that clearing her debt was her biggest worry, I will feel better about myself if I can help her clear it.
We went from one store to the other, buying and buying, until three girls started trailing behind us with shopping bags in all shapes, colors, and sizes.
Hours later, I suggested that we take what we bought back to the car and come back for a last trip. Emilia agreed and we headed outside.
I was worried that we wouldn’t have any more space in Emilia’s car, but those girls were able to arrange everything in such a way that there was still some space for a couple more bags.
While they were arranging the bags, I excused myself and hurried to the restroom area.
Just as I finished and stepped out of the restroom, I saw a copy of my back view, strutting down the long passage.
A chill went up my spine and I hurried forward.
“Mum?” I stuttered with both trepidation and excitement.
The woman was wearing a grey, loose top, with a folded, slanted neckline. Her black jeans were skin tight, and her hair was in curly waves, bouncing with each step. She was swaying with the grace and elegance of a cheetah.
Though she didn’t respond, I hurried after her. Just as she was about to make the corner that would lead her to the parking lot, I screamed her name.
“Helena!”
The woman paused. She was right at the end of the wall.
“Mum!” My heartbeat surged and I cursed my legs for not moving faster.
I expected her to turn around and answer me, but just as I was closing the gap between us, she moved away.
“No. Mum!” I screamed and started running.
I made it to the turn. To my right was the door leading to the pack. I hurried outside and started looking around. But all I saw were cars and lots of people.
“Mum!”
Frantic, I hurried forward, searching every female face I walked past.
“Mum!”
“Katalina!” Emilia’s voice broke into my daze, waking me up. I turned towards her voice and saw her hurrying over, looking perplexed.
“What is it? What happened to you?” She grabbed my two arms and asked.
“Mum, Emilia. I think I saw Mum.” I gasped and kept looking around.
“You saw Helena? Where?” She also started looking around. “What is she wearing?”
“A grey sweat top with a slanted, folded neck, and blue jeans. Her hair is black and curly.”
“Where did you see her?”
“In the restroom corridor. I called, and she paused for a bit then left. I tried to catch up but she was gone.”
“In what direction did she go? ”
“I don’t know. She should be somewhere in this park.”
“I don’t understand. Why will your Mum be avoiding you?”
“She…” Catching myself in time, I almost bit my tongue.
“What’s going on, Miss?” Stone’s deep, cold voice floated into my ears, and with it was Huracio’s order. “If you see your Mum or hear from her, you must inform me immediately.”
I bit my lip harder. I shouldn’t have panicked.
“Nothing.” I shook my head and looked away, hoping he did hear what I told Emilia.
But, did this count as seeing her? Was that even her? Why didn’t she stop? She didn’t even look at me. Was she ashamed of what she did to me? Was she angry that I married her man?
Should I tell him?