She had always known that when Mom said, “We will just shop a bit and then go back home,” she had to have it in mind that she was going to end the whole day on her feet, and that was what had happened. She was even tired of whining and telling her that she was tired. And now she had pulled her to the makeup side, “Mom!” She called out, seeing the way she was randomly picking up things and putting them in the cart.
“Mom!” She rushed to her and held her hands, “I told you I don’t need any makeup, for god sake, Mom. I’m tired of shopping as it is, and this is solely waste of money because I’m never going to use up all that we’ve bought.” She pouted her lips, maybe if Mom saw that she was really tired she might consider taking them back home.
“Why are you all like this? Why not let your Mom spoil you? You look tired, surely, but you have to always look beautiful, right?” She heard a voice, and she was sure Mom wasn’t the one that answered her. They all turned back and when they saw the woman, she exclaimed, “Daphne!!! Oh my amazing god!”
Mom giggled as they engulfed each other in a hug, “Katharine, I can’t believe this is you!” Anna was sure their laughter could be heard from the main entrance of the mall and she smiled awkwardly at the women staring at them weirdly.
Anna moved closer to her Mother that was no engrossed in a very deep conversation with her lost but found friend, “Mom, can y’all keep your voices low, please? People are throwing weird glances at you; I have to confirm to them that y’all are okay.” She grinned at the woman her Mother had called Katharine and added, “Please, just a little bit low.”
“Daphne, you have a daughter already?” Did her Mom had a twin she had never told her about? Because right now it felt as though she was seeing a reflection of her Mother on another woman. She pulled her into a hug and smiled, “She’s so beautiful, oh my god!”
“I thought you had a daughter too? From the last time we lost contact, right? I wasn’t even married at the time, haven’t even met Brayden, how time flies.” Mom said with a pleased mile and you could tell that she had a short preview of the amazing moments she had shared with Brayden flashed through her eyes.
Anna hadn’t missed that look, that softness and sweetness that passed through her eyes when she spoke about him and this was the kind of relationship she wanted to have. Ouch, that hurt, the moment she remembered what that jerk had said to her how Nate’s action tallied with each word he had uttered. “Maybe we should go and have a few snacks somewhere? I’m tired of moving around, Mom.” She made a tiring face and Mom turned to Katharine to hear her opinion.
She met her during one of her shopping sprees, and since then they had been good friends. That was before she had even met Brayden, when she had lost both her parents and her boyfriend had dumped, the only thing that kept her sane was shopping, and Katharine was a friend that had never gotten tired of shopping. They lost contact after she had gotten married to Brayden and moved back to Spain with him. Seeing her now get as though she had seen a family.
“Do you think we should do that? I don’t think you’ve shopped enough, did you?” Daphne asked and they giggled before they hugged each other again.
Anna sighed and realized this was the kind of shopping partner Mom had been looking for so long, “I think I should leave you guys, right? I’ll be on my way.” She moved away before she had the chance to even argue with her decision. And Anna doubted if she had heard what she had said because she could hear them giggle as they moved deeper into the mall, shopping what she was certain they would never use up and in a week or less than that, they would have another shopping spree.
She sighed and closed her eyes as she rejoiced the solace of bring alone when she bumped into another person, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I haven’t seen you coming.” It was a pregnant woman, not yet heavily pregnant though but her baby bump was visible through her evening gown. She looked beautiful, no, she was beautiful and young. Not so young though, because Anna was sure she was far older than her.
“It’s fine,” she said as she held Anna’s hand tighter as she helped her stood upright, “Have you seen my Mom? We came together and she said seeing baby stuff makes her sad, so I have to go to that section alone, and now I don’t know where she has gone to.” She pulled a sad and tiring face and Anna smiled at her, “I’ve been calling her line but she’s not picking, she usually doesn’t pick her calls whenever she’s shopping.”
“That must have been tiring, shopping with Moms is the hardest thing on earth. You just have to look deeper into the mall.” She grinned, “I wish you luck.” They exchanged smiles and moved their separate ways.
When the driver saw her coming out of the mall, he immediately shook her head and waved dismissively at him, “I’ll taking a cab, Mom isn’t done with her shopping yet.” She handed him the shopping bags she was holding and walked ahead. She wanted to have some peace with her mind. Just walking alone on the street as she thought about the life changing events that had happened in just a day of her life. She might tag that day to be the worst day of her life she hadn’t lost her Dad.
She walked alone on the street, pulling herself in the pockets of her jacket and she heaved in a huge breath. She closed her eyes but immediately snapped them back open, afraid that she might not just knock another woman down but get bumped herself. It wasn’t until she was so tired of walking and she hailed a cab. When she arrived home, it was the same as she had left it, still had the fragrance that always remembered her that it was home, and despite the aching in her heart, Anna smiled beautifully. She had missed Dad, but somehow everywhere in this house reminded her of him.
As she walked to her room, she kept on nodding her head at the maids that greeted her and welcomed her. Some even had to sympathized with her for getting dumped by her boyfriend and she though, can’t Mom for once be secretive?
❦
Jack heaved a sigh as he got out of his car, his eyes still held the anger that had been together with him since in the morning. He couldn’t believe that he had once felt guilty for doing what he did to this girl, because she certainly didn’t deserve that from him. All she deserved was his anger and revenge and for him to make her shed even more tears. How dare her say all that to him? She paid him, really? Did she think that she was she only rich person on earth?
Wait, he had promised himself that he will stop thinking about her because doing that only made him even more furious than he was, and it was worse than good. And here, he would have to see Clara, she promised him that she would wait for him, that brought a smile to his face and he brought his phone out of his socket. “Hello, Clara, where are you?” He walked into the house and the numerous workers Mom kept nodding at him and they were greeting him.
Briskly, he asked, “Where is Mom?” And didn’t even wait for an answer because he knew what it would be. He didn’t even know why he bothered himself to do despite that almost all the time it was the same answer, it was as though he could never walk home without that question. He had once read a quote that said, ‘Home is not Home without Mom.’ Partially, that was true, but as for their Mom, without her their home will be less of a boutique, a mall and more of a building with a father and two siblings fighting to live by day.
“I’m in the kitchen, I’ve been waiting for you.” She whispered back to him and he smiled before he ended the call. He met Clara’s Mother in the living room as she ordered the chefs on how to arrange the meals they were making and the table arrangement that needed to be changed. Clara’s Mother worked in their home as the head of the workers since before he was born, that was how he came to know of Clara, since they were children. He had always liked her, and he fell in love after she was done with high school. No one knew of their relationship, and Jack was certain that not even her Mother.
He casually walked into the kitchen but the moment he did that, someone closed the door behind him, and she let out a giggle, “Jack! Oh god, I’ve missed you so much!” She hugged him roughly and he laughed as he hugged her back. To him, this was home. She was home.
“I’ve missed you even more, Clara.” He lifted her face and when he looked into her eyes, they were gleaming with so much happiness and he merged their lips in a slow kiss that told her of how much he had missed her. She kissed him back, slightly more passionate and she smile when they broke apart.
“How have you been? You haven’t been eating well, right? Look at how you’ve lost some weight.” She was scrutinizing his entire body with a worried look in her eyes, and he just stood there smiling at her, “Come and sit over there, I have to feed you myself.”
He didn’t argue with her when she guided him to the kitchen island and made him sit on one of the chairs. She walked over to the microwave and brought out the snacks she had heated for him. He was just smiling at her, appreciating the fact that he had this beautiful and warm woman in his life. She placed them in front of him and motioned for him to open his mouth, “I’m going to feed you myself, open up.”
He chuckled, but he did open his mouth as she had requested. “Someone might walk in on us, Clara, how do you plan on explaining things? Worst, it could be your mother because I know Mom will never be home by now.”
She smiled and shook her head at him, “Mother wouldn’t be here, she told me she’s going home. And the chefs will only be here in the next 45 minutes, even to an hour, we have a lot of time.”
He took her palm in his and kissed her warmly, staring seductively into her eyes, he asked, “Can you go to my room, then?”
She giggled and shook her head, “Come on, Clara pl—” she shoved the snack into his mouth to stop him from saying his next words out and they laughed together after he had swallowed the food. She kept on feeding him amidst stolen kisses, steamy looks, and seductions. Someone barged unknowingly into the kitchen just when Jack was about to pull Clara onto his laps and he abruptly released her.
“Jackyy!!!” Willa screamed at the pitch of her voice and she rushed to hug him. When she wrapped her hands around him with her baby bump standing on their way, he didn’t know when he released the breath he was holding. Because he was certain she wasn’t even calm and attentive enough to must have noticed what nearly happened.
“I’ve missed you, look at this boy for god sake!” She pinched his cheeks in the way she knew he hated so much and laughed when he groaned. She sat on the chair Clara was seated on before and took a mouthful of his snack. “I’m so tired and damn hungry, had to leave Mom and come back home because that woman isn’t even ready to finish her shopping.” He sat back and discreetly winked at Clara, who blushed and looked away from him. She greeted Willa who answered her warmly and excused herself.
“You can’t be roaming around when you’re looking like this.”
She murderously looked up at him, “Do you mean I look like a pig or what? Jack!!!”