Chapter Twenty-Four

Zoe POV:

I stepped out of the car. Finally, I was home. I felt exhausted and weak to the bones. My whole body felt like it had run a marathon. I walked to the door and entered the house with tired legs. "I'm home!" I announced my arrival as always. I noticed my aunt was on the sofa with a woman. I took a few steps and paused for a second. I recognized the woman.

Many thoughts ran through my mind, and my hands were trembling. Could it be who I thought it was?

I turned slowly and found my supposedly dead mother. I could not believe my eyes. "Is this a dream?" I said to myself. I didn't notice my tears till they fell to my lips. My mother stood, smiling and crying at the same time.

I wanted to run and hug her, kiss her, and tell her how much I'd missed her, but I felt weak and couldn't move. She slowly walked towards me. My tears could make oceans of water. She got closer and closer. I touched her arm just to make sure I wasn't seeing a ghost. It felt so real. Her hands moved to my face. How I've missed her touch.

I held her tightly. We both shed tears uncontrollably. "I thought you were dead," I said crying.

"How have you been?" She asked, wiping my tears off.

"I missed you so much." I had lost my voice while crying.

"I missed you more my dear," Mum said.

I noticed Aunt Emilia smiling from the corner of my eyes. We extended our crying to the sofa. I felt weak and full of energy at the same time. I was happy to see my mum after so many years thinking she passed away.

I wanted full details. She was alive all this while, why didn't she come back? What happened on that day?

"I know a lot of questions are running through your head," Aunt Emilia said as she held two glasses of water. "Here you go."

I took a glass and handed it over to my mum. I still could not believe my mum whom I thought I would never set my eyes on again was right in front of me. I pinched myself so hard just to make sure it wasn't all a dream.

"I'm sorry I've not been able to visit you throughout these years. Believe me, it's been really hard for me. Rocky told me if I visited you, he would kill you," she paused for a second. Tears rolled down her eyes. "I tried sending messages to you. I really missed you guys so much."

Mum tried to explain everything to me but that wasn't important. I was glad she was back, and Rocky was dead. I hope he ended in hell for all the pain he had cost us through the years. Mum and I talked for a really long time. I missed her voice, how she moved her hands while talking. I missed everything about her.

I didn't realize that time had flown so fast. We had a lot to say to each other.

I woke up the next morning, mum and I slept on my bed next to each other. Okay, I wasn't dreaming it was all real. Mum was back.

The sunlight shone on her face, she woke up and smiled at me. I missed that.

""Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"Of course, Mum." I missed saying that word.

We took turns to brush our teeth and headed downstairs.

Aunt Emilia came down in her sleeping robe.

"Are you guys up?" She asked, walking to the kitchen to get water.

I was starving so I tried to prepare breakfast. I opened the cupboard and found it empty.

"We are out of grocery," Aunt Emilia informed me.

"I'm going to the grocery store, I'm hoping you could come with me," Mum suggested

"Of course, I would come with you. Let me go and change my clothes."

I ran up to my room and put on a plaid shirt with a pair of shorts. I went downstairs and Mum and I headed out.

I started the engine of my car. All through the ride, my mum and I talked about a lot of things. There was so much catching up we needed to do, and I was more than ready to tell her everything that happened through the years and of course about Philip.

We finally arrived at the grocery store. I grabbed a trolley while Mum picked out some groceries.

"Oh, chocolate cookies. I remember how you used to cry whenever you didn't get this," she threw the cookies into the trolley.

I smiled. "I really love those."

We moved to the next counter. I was wondering how I would tell her about Philip. I waited for the perfect time and said, "Mum, I have a boyfriend."

"Really? When? How?" She was grinning.

"Yeah. We've been dating for a while now." I smiled.

"Well, I'd love to hear more about him," she said, moving the trolley to the next section.

"His name is Philip and he's my boss," I told her.

"I'm really happy for you. A lot has really changed. You found love and you are happy. I just wished I was here with you all those years, it must have been really hard for you," Mum said.

I didn't want her to regret anything or feel bad and I didn't blame her for not coming back all those years.

I understood her plight. "Well, you are right here with me now and that's all that matters." I smiled at her, and she smiled back.

We finished shopping and took them to the counter for payments. Mum offered to pay but I told her not to worry.

We were starving so I decided that we dropped nearby to get something to eat. Mum told me what she had to do to survive and how hard she tried. We got to a nearby restaurant.

Mum and I ordered chicken nuggets and soda.

We arrived home and I walked upstairs to my room and laid flat on the bed. Damn, I was tired. But what was more important was that my mum was back, and I still couldn't believe it.

The day ended so fast. I wished I could spend the whole day with her, but I remembered I had a job.

I woke up the next morning to prepare for work. My hair was a big mess, and my face was so dry. I had forgotten to moisturize before going to bed.

I brushed my teeth before going downstairs. Mum and Aunt Emilia were making breakfast, pancakes, and egg. I preferred mine with coffee.

"Hey, mum. Hey, Aunt Emilia."

I opened the fridge for a glass of water. I took one long gulp.

"Were you that thirsty?" Aunt Emilia asked while breaking the eggs.

"I guess."

My phone buzzed, I needed to get ready. I quickly rushed upstairs to freshen up. I took a while getting ready when I was finally done breakfast was ready.

I took just a slice of pancakes. I was running late. I tied my hair in a bun. I put on a pink blouse and black fitted skirt. I did my make up and put on my heels.

I hurriedly drank my cup of coffee and rushed to the car.

"I'm leaving!" I announced.

"Okay, honey. Be safe!" Mum hollered from the kitchen.

How did I become this late? Philip was going to be in the office anytime soon and he shouldn't be there before me. Although he was my boyfriend, he was also my boss. I started my car and hit the road.

The traffic was light, luckily for me. I got to the office earlier than I thought. Philip wasn't in the office yet.

I prepared his coffee just the way he loved it and placed it on his table.

I checked the windows and saw his car pulling up in the parking lot. He was here, earlier than expected. He had a very important meeting he needed to attend.

I went to my office and waited for him to walk out of his elevator. I was so eager to tell him the good news.

"Hey, babe." I ran up to him and hugged him.

"Good morning, baby. You seem so excited today. Tell me, what's going on?" Philip asked.

"You won't believe it. My mum is back!" I said excitedly.

Philip's eyes widened. "For real? How? When?"

"I came back from work and met her in the living room. I could believe my eyes."

"That's so good to hear, babe. I can't wait to meet her," Philip said.

"I already told her about you," I told him.

"Wow! That was fast!" Philip chuckled.

"We used the public holiday yesterday to catch up on lost times. I'm so happy to have her back. I've waited for this day to come and it's finally here. They thought I was crazy when I told them I was sure that mum was still alive."

"I can see how happy you are, babe. I'm so happy for you." Philip held my face and kissed my forehead. "I need to prepare for my meeting. Is my coffee on my table?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Thank you. Please, give me a minute." Philip went into his office while I went back to my desk.

***

Philip POV:

Zoe rushed in to remind me of my meeting. "Your meeting starts in five minutes," she said.

"Are all the investors available?" I asked.

"Yes. They're all waiting for you in the conference room," she replied.

"Thank you," I said, putting on my tux. I stood up and went to the conference room. I apologized to everyone for being late and the meeting began.

My meeting was finally over, and I was starving. It felt like the meeting wasn't going to end. I saw Zoe returning to her table. I checked my wristwatch. It was her lunch time already.

I walked to her table and asked, "Lunch?" She looked at me with her beautiful eyes and smiled. I could never get tired of seeing those beautiful eyes.

"Of course, I'm starving. I turned down my friends for you today so you're going to let me eat a lot of junk." She quickly finished up what it was she was doing.

I drove us to a restaurant nearby. I used to eat there when I had the time.

We ordered our food and talked about a lot of things while we ate. As promised, I had let Zoe order junk food.

"I want you to meet my mum," Zoe said.

"Yeah, it's already in my plans. I'll stop by during the weekend," I said.

We finished our food and headed back to the office. I had nothing to do so I sat down in Zoe's office and watched her work.

The weekend came very quickly and on Saturday evening I headed over to Zoe's house. I didn't know what to get on the way. I had never visited a girl's family before, and I had no idea what to do so I dialed Zoe.

"Hey, babe. So, I'm in front of a mini mart and I don't know what to get," I said.

"Philip, there's no need for that. Your presence is what we need," Zoe said.

"Alright. I'll be there in a few minutes."

I ended the call and stared at the mini mart. I found myself going in and coming out with boxes of perfume.

I arrived at Zoe's house and rang the doorbell. A woman who looked so much like Zoe came to open the door.

"You must be Philip. Come in," she beamed at me and stepped aside from me to come in.

"Hello, ma'am," I greeted.

"Call me Camilla. It's so nice to finally meet you. Zoe, Philip is here!" Camilla announced.

Soon, Zoe came down the stairs and I pulled her into a hug. "Hey. You smell good," I told her.

"So do you," Zoe smiled. "What's in here?" She pointed at the small bag. "I told you not to worry about getting anything. I knew you weren't going to listen." She shook her head.

"I couldn't come empty handed," I defended. I turned to Zoe's mum, Camilla, who was looking at us with a smile. "I got these for you and Aunt Emilia." I handed her the small bag.

"You didn't have to do this. That's so thoughtful of you, thank you very much," Camilla smiled at me and I smiled back.

We sat down to eat, and Aunt Emilia asked me to say a short prayer which I did.

As we dined, I realized how much I wanted to be with Zoe. Not only did she love me, so did her family and I was happy to be enveloped in their love.