"C'mon, mum. I thought you already forgave me" Reyona said as she chuckled and covered her mouth to muffle the sound.
"Of course, I forgave you. Who said I didn't? That doesn't mean I will forget anytime soon though. I can do both. Forgive you but not forget." Gladys declared over the phone.
Reyona grinned at the mental image of the expression she knew her mom must have on at that moment.
"I am going to make it up to you, I promise. You will soon forget when you remember just how much you love me. Let's not forget that I am your favourite daughter too." Reyona added with a cheeky grin.
"Ah, at the moment I can declare without remorse that Toria is my favourite daughter. Yes, missy. You heard that right."
"I am so sad," Reyona said with a smile.
"Yes, it is quite obvious. I can feel your pain from here", Gladys added with laughter, which was a replica of her daughter's.
After curbing her mirth, she said "Are you serious about making it up to me?"
"Of course, I am" Reyona answered sincerely.
"Good, then I guess you wouldn't mind attending Seth and Sean's graduation ceremony then, would you?"
"Uhmm..."
"And here comes the excuse," Gladys singsonged.
"Wait, you haven't even given me the time to think about it yet, Mom. Come on"
"Haven't I? Your first statement already gave me a hint of what to expect. Mum, I am busy. Mum, I have a company to run or mum, the world is about to end, and I have to save it. Which one is it going to be this time, eh?"
"Mom, I have never said any of that, have I?"
"Tell me why you have hardly ever been around since then. Girl, these kids could pick Toria out of the dark but you? Na, thank God for the video call. If not, I am sure you will need to describe who you are whenever you meet. Makes me feel like you still won't forgive me for…"
"Mom, come on. You know it is not like that. I am just…"
"... busy." Gladys completed.
Reyona clamped her mouth shut since that was exactly what she was about to say.
She quickly said "Ain't they 11? They are graduating from high school already?"
"12, girl. You sent presents, remember?" Gladys sighed theatrically, then added "And no, it is not high school. They will be completing their 9th grade soon. Their school put together this mini-graduation for their students and I think it will be a good time to be together as a family, you know. They have only met you a couple of times after all."
"We…"
"Video calls don't count." Gladys interrupted Reyona before she could complete her statement.
"Yes, ma" Reyona said with a smile.
Gladys chortled, then she said "Will you at least consider it? I will let you know the exact date when the school announces it."
"Yes, I will consider it," Reyona said in resignation.
She reached for her pad to note that she needed to get the twins gifts for their graduations.
They were pretty smart to be done with junior high school too.
It seemed the brilliant gene runs in the family, she thought to herself in amusement.
"So this whole madness ends in a few days, right?"
Reyona's mood turned sombre as she realised what her mom was referring to. "Yes, it does."
Gladys was quiet for a moment before she said "Good. At least now you can be free to finally let go."
"Yes, you are right" Reyona answered automatically.
Silence ensued between them, then Gladys said "I have seen pictures of the two of you together."
"Oh?" Reyona said, for lack of a better thing to say.
Of course, she had seen their pictures together. After that particular picture that had been taken of the two of them after the interview, more pictures of them together popped up from time to time.
The reporters seemed to have a radar on them somehow. The captions this time were not malicious at all.
It was all a story about how love found a man who had always been seen as unapproachable and how a formidable woman like Reyona had found love again.
Reyona's pictures had been taken more in the past few weeks than they had been taken throughout her eight years in her former marriage.
She also couldn't deny that the publicity drove more businesses into ReyDexter.
As it was, she knew she couldn't delay opening a new branch anymore.
She had thought it would be the perfect thing to occupy her mind and time when she finally left the family.
But as her mother had stated, it was nothing but pure madness.
If not, why else would her heart ache so much when she thought of continuing her days as she had intended?
A life devoid of those kids and the man who had managed to intrude on the walls around her heart seemed blank in a way.
Before her mom called that afternoon, she was contemplating adopting a child or two.
That would help to take her mind off children she had no claim to.
They had agreed that she would stay one more week after Macaulay's last visit, so it would be much more convincing to whoever might be taking note.
That was the compromise they had made.
After he had gone back on his promise and told her he had no intention of dissolving their marriage.
"I would like to properly court you and have a proper marriage if you want. I want a chance at a life with you. I don't want to give up on what we have"
As much as Reyona's heart yearned to say yes to his offer, as much as she wanted to forget all her doubts and fears, the most prominent thing on her mind was how another man had promised her much more than that before.
Yes, she couldn't lie to herself that he had not come to mean much more than a lover to her, but she knew it wasn't enough for her to entrust herself to someone else just as she had done before.
It was one thing to play pretend, but the real deal? That was not something she intended to try again anytime soon.
She had been generous enough to offer that they could still be lovers if he wanted, but instead of taking her up on that, that had managed to anger him somehow.
Very unreasonable man!
That had been the night before.
They hardly spoke to each other that morning while having breakfast before Reyona went to drop the kids off at school on her way to work.
He had mostly responded with grunts and nods to all she had been saying regarding the birthday celebration they intended to have for Allysyn.
So, the media can say all they want about couples in love for all they care.
This would all end soon and everyone would go their own way!
"... are you even listening to me?" Gladys' question jolted Reyona out of her thoughts.
"What…yes, yes. I am listening." Reyona said as she hoped her mom had not asked her a question she expected her to answer.
Gladys sighed and said, "I guess it is for the best, right?"
"Yes, it is" Reyona answered, with no idea of what is for the best.
"Alright then. You think about that graduation, okay?"
"I will, mom. Send my love to George and the boys."
She had barely dropped the call when Charlotte knocked and entered to give her a message.
"Miss Boone said she had been trying to reach you, but it wasn't connecting. She said Mr Rakir and his assistant would soon be at the restaurant. You need to leave now if you don't want to keep him waiting."
"Oh, right," Reyona said as she remembered the business lunch she had asked Samantha to organise with a potential customer.
The man was Samantha's contact and though Reyona knew Samantha would have done a good job of prospecting him, the man still wanted to discuss with the owner to be sure his oil company would be in good hands if he handed the accounts over to ReyDexter.
Reyona was suddenly not in the mood for polite smiles and careful talk.
The sudden tiredness that had been setting in her bones recently also set in, and she felt very reluctant to leave her office at that moment.
She was almost tempted to tell Samantha to make an excuse for her.
But the thought had barely formed before she brushed it aside.
She was not going to brush her business matters aside for anything.
"Tell her I am on my way," she said as she stood up immediately.
She left the office anticipating another successful negotiation.