Chapter 25 — Tell Me Why
“Tch.”
Mom reminds me of a clock. Not due to how she manages her time or how she seems to know whenever I ask her. No, it’s because she clicks her tongue every single time I make an excuse. However, this time was definitely worth arguing about, and there is no choice of backing out. Not when she plans to come to Devont City to ‘fix’ me and my studies. There is no way I’m going to let her do this.
“I’m old enough to live on my own,” I repeated for the third time today since we started this video call. I should’ve known that this would happen when she texted me to call her. “A full-blown adult. I’m turning twenty-five this coming February! I don’t need to be supervised—”
“The way you’re acting and this… this attitude of yours is telling me otherwise.” She retaliated, obviously displeased that I’m fighting back. “How could you go and fly to England when you have a very important exam? That’s irresponsible! Definitely not what an adult would do!”
“Mom, didn’t we just talk about this last time?” I heaved a sigh, trying to remember that I’m talking to my own mother each second that passed by. Insulting or hurting her feelings would be a bad idea. “I told you, you have nothing to worry about. I’m studying the best I can, I even told my boss that I won’t be able to help around the shop due to the finals.”
“Alex, I’m just concerned since this isn’t like you! I mean, you won’t even tell me the real reason why you went to England!”
“For the hundredth time, I went to have a peace of mind. A little sightseeing never hurt anyone!” I argued while silently praying to Buddha that she didn’t hear about the rumors of Aurelius and me. Due to her job, she’s usually busy and rarely pays attention to social media. Plus, she lives in a faraway city with even better scandals and gossip than any journalist could ask for. Surely they won’t heed a baseless rumor. Aurelius isn’t that famous unlike the Mavericks and the Salvadors.
“Where did you even get the money? You didn’t even send me pictures!”
“Fine…” Immediately, I sent her the photos of the hotel and Big Ben. Some even had me in it, doing a peace sign or just smiling. “There. And don’t worry, I used my own savings.”
Mom was silent for a few minutes as she scrolled through her phone to view them. Nothing gets past Bernadette Bay, but thankfully, I was prepared. Fooling my mother is never an easy task, and I stopped doing so back in high school.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.
Finally, after what seemed forever, Mom set her phone aside. She didn’t seem satisfied with what I sent, but she didn’t bother to probe me further.
“By the way, how is Elise? I heard from a friend that she’s gonna be starring in a movie that’ll be out soon.”
“E-Elise? Oh, she’s doing well.” I smiled softly, masking my nervousness. Still, the sudden shift of topic is throwing me off. “We don’t see each other often but we keep in touch.”
“Well, I’m not surprised…” Mom mumbled, reaching out to grab something beside her laptop. “She did marry the CEO of Salvador Enterprise. Eva must be weeping with joy. Must be nice to be that rich.”
Laughing lightly, I nodded multiple times. Slightly confused as to why she’s choosing this topic and deciding to drop the more reasonable one. But then again, it’s better than to hear her sermon about how lazy I am. “Yeah… lucky her, right?”
“When are you getting married?”
» — ✣ — «
Never.
“Alex, are you all right?”
Absolutely not!
“Yeah, uh… why do you ask?” Hands balled into fists, I buried them into the pockets of my jacket before looking away. Aurelius made an effort to invite me out tonight, there is no way I’m letting my sour thoughts ruin the mood. “Anyways, it’s nothing important. Where do you want to go?”
It was still eight in the evening, and we agreed to eat dinner at nine so we could roam around town. However, we never got to decide on what to do in our spare time so I decided to let Aurelius choose. Yet, as we passed by outlets and other stores that he might find interesting, we were just following the crowd.
He chuckled. “Isn’t it strange? I asked you on a date yet I’m the one deciding where we should go…”
“There’s nothing wrong,” I grumbled, scratching my arm. “Plus, you’re not acquainted with the whole area. Just describe something or what you like to see so I could refer us to a place—”
“How about there?” His eyes sparkled with interest as he gestured to the establishment to my right. I followed his gaze, raising an eyebrow at the arcade that was bustling with teens. The blue and pink neon lights hurt my eyes a bit. In short, the place seemed annoying or just a building I tend to avoid. Nevertheless, I didn’t voice out any complaints.
Well, Aurelius didn’t give me the time to do so.
Rushing in, I almost tripped as he excitedly pulled me inside. Just as I suspected, it was loud. Really loud to the point I couldn’t understand the things I was hearing. Kids and teens were either yelling or cheering. The childish slot machines and shooting games were almost filled with players waiting their turn. The only ones that were bare of people were the crane games. It’s probably due to how difficult it is to get a single thing. The whole machine is rigged, after all, made so that people would think it’s easy. The only thing easy about it is losing, yet people don’t stop playing it.
Humans are like that anyway. Coveting stuff that is hard to get, but once they do, they forget why they tried in the first place.
“Wanna play? I could get you that stuffed plush.” Aurelius grinned, pointing at the disgustingly cute teddy bear who was smiling too sweetly. I have to remind myself that these are aimed at children. “Do you want it?”
“Are you sure?” I questioned, a bit bored. “I’ll tell you this. If you concentrate too much on the crane machines, you won’t be able to play the other games.”
“Why is that?”
“Obsession.”
“O-obsession?” He echoed softly, clearly not sure where I was heading with this conversation. “Alex, this is just a crane gam—”
“You won’t get a single thing.”
“But I’m good with this…” After a long pause, he then laughed. “Wait, were you just thinking that just because I was born rich that I wouldn’t know about arcades?”
“Bingo.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble…” He smirked, pulling out his coins. “But you’re wrong.”
A shiver went up to my spine at his declaration. I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of a challenge. Surprised that I even care, I huffed. “Oh? I’m wrong, huh?” Pointing a finger at him, I smugly stated. “Then, I challenge you! If you’ll be able to get that bear before nine, give me one request and I’ll do it. No questions asked.”
Aurelius’ eyes beamed. “Really? Are you sure? Fine with me—”
“Don’t get too excited, baegchi.” I laughed at how ecstatic he is, rivaling a puppy who gets to see its owner. “Because if you lose, you’ll have to eat ten plates of spicy hot Korean noodles.”
“I accept—”
“Without any milk.”
This time, he roared, fired up by the challenging task. “I’m gonna get that toy and you’re gonna like it!” His childish antics made a few teens turn their heads at us, thinking why old farts were at the arcade. But I didn’t care and neither does Aurelius.
Are you actually a grown man?