AllFreeNovel
Share Us
P.S. You’ll notice something missing from your wardrobe. I’m impatient.
That was the Paul I knew—the Paul that Mom didn’t see or want to know. Our time together was more than sex; it was full of humor, sharing our art or something special to us.
Paul liked to live over-the-top, but he was down to earth and easy to talk to. At times he made me feel like the most beautiful and exciting person in the world. I imagine it wasn’t much different from other relationships, and that was the part I didn’t understand. Why does he need all these rules and structures?Why won’t he let himself love again?
Because honestly, it was easy to fall in love with him.
I changed into a T-shirt and sweatpants and lay down on the bed. After everything that happened, I was sure it would take a long time to fall asleep. However, it felt like only moments later when Mom woke me gently.
“Dinner’s ready.”
It was dark, and after her nap, she would have only a few hours before she had to head back for her overnight shift. Mom had worked there for twenty-five years, and unfortunately, she couldn’t afford to retire.And now, she and Dad may lose everything they worked so hard to build.
My emotions were on a rollercoaster. I left to splash water on my face to hide my sadness for her.Now she won’t let me help them.
Once in the kitchen, I got her to sit down while I set our places and served the food. “Can you catch me up on the latest hospital gossip?”
“Yeah. Tyson’s online guy turned out to be a catfish.”
“Oh, no. Is he okay?”
“He’s back with his ex, Dr. Phil-Goode.”
“Feel good, Phil,” I joked. Dr. Phil broke more hearts than he fixed, as Mom put it. I didn’t understand his appeal, but some people can just get it.
We both paused to gush over the taste of the sunflower seed bread.Delicious. I must bring some back for Paul.
I took out my phone and sent a message to Ben to ask him to pick some up and gave him the address.I could cook a meal since he wants Flaki.
Ben: Sure thing. Tell your mom thank you again.
“Who are you texting?” Mom’s brows rose.
“Ben. He told me to tell you thank you. I asked him if he could bring some bread back.”
“Don’t you think it’s rude to ask him to run around and fetch things for you? Send him a message back and tell him we’ll stop there before we go to the hospital tomorrow.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and sent a cancel message to Ben.
“You’ve got to get used to being normal again, Nadia.”
I took a sip of tea. She made it seem as though I was behaving like Marie Antoinette.
“Mom, please give me some credit. It was the first time I ever asked Ben to do something for me personally. I had planned to cook and share the bread with him, too.”
“Okay, if you say so. Anyway, where was I? Mandy. Good news. She finally went on her holiday to Japan,” Mom said. “She has a million pictures, and we’ve seen them all. She also met someone special.”
Mandy had been widowed and alone for ten years. It was good to see that she had found someone again. “Oh, how wonderful for her.”
“She’s also back on the nicotine patch, but you know her.”
“Off and on.”
Mom went from story to story: who was caught sleeping on their shifts or leaving early, who was doing their job, and who was slacking off. It was fun to hear and watch her be her usual, easy-going self. I loved her dearly, but I realized this was the first time we were truly at odds. For the most part, I would go along with whatever she advised and was quick to correct anything she disapproved of. It hadn’t bothered me before, not untilnow.However, I decided to drop it. I had little time with her and didn’t want to waste it fighting.
We decided to watchStranger Thingssince Mom was the only person on the planet who hadn’t seen it. She was happy to provide her expertise in eighties’ life as commentary.
“Oh, my god. That’s a carbon copy of Northridge and Southridge Mall. I jazzercised too.”
