04
04
My mother snapped upright in an instant. "You're going to apologize to Nathan!"
Nathan's eyes settled on me, and there was a smile in his voice. "Mom, Deb and I are about to get married. Who's talking about apologies?"
"Just behave and stop making a fuss, and we'll put this whole thing behind us."
I stared at him, and at Vivian standing behind him with that smug look on her face, and in that moment I wanted nothing more than to rip their masks off, consequences be damned.
But I knew there was no point. Even if my mother heard all of it, it wouldn't change a thing.
She didn't care. As far as she was concerned, as long as I got married off, it didn't matter what kind of person he was or how old he was, as long as he was a man.
As long as I got married off, so no one could call her a failure of a mother.
I stared at Nathan and, all at once, I smiled.
He froze for a second, and before he could recover, I spoke. "Fine. I won't make a fuss."
He blinked, caught off guard, then let out a soft sigh.
"Good. Tomorrow I'll take you to pick out the rings. You choose yourself. Whatever you like, I'll buy it for you."
This time, at last, he wasn't fobbing me off with little trinkets, and at last he was giving me a choice.
But now there wasn't a single thing I wanted.
The whole group of them left.
The office fell into an eerie quiet. An hour after I got back to my desk, I opened my phone.
There was a new post on my mother's Instagram.
She never shared anything. Back when I offered to teach her, she'd say in that snide tone of hers, "I'm old. I can't learn you young people's things."
But today that photo and caption were right there in front of me, plain as day.
In the picture, Vivian had her arm looped through my mother's, who was all warmth and smiles, the two of them sitting in front of a bubbling red hotpot. Across from them sat Nathan, his expression gentle.
"What a good daughter. She gave me the one happy day of my life as a mother."
The neighbors she knew had all piled into the comments with the same over-the-top praise.
"Oh my, Irma, you really are blessed! Your daughter and son-in-law make such a fine match."
"When's the wedding? You have to invite us for a drink."
At the very bottom, my mother had carefully replied thank you to every single one.
But her stomach was bad. She couldn't take even a bite of anything spicy.
Once, I'd cooked at home, seven dishes, six of them mild and one spicy.
She'd turned on me instantly, pointing at my face, cursing me out.
After that, no matter how much I loved spicy food, I never ate it in front of her again.
I looked at it for a long moment, then blocked her contact and walked over to my supervisor's office.
"Delia, I'd like to apply for an overseas transfer."
She glanced at me, surprised, then nodded and agreed.
The project was urgent. The flight was booked for the next day.
At the airport, Nathan suddenly called. There was a lazy ease in his voice.
"Tonight I've made a point of setting things up with your mom and Vivi. I'm taking you to properly apologize to them."
"Remember to clock out early and go save us seats."
The boarding announcement came again, and I walked slowly toward the gate, my voice calm and even.
"No need, Nathan. We're never going to see each other again."
The line went silent. Then, all at once, his voice came through, frantic and furious.
"Debbie, where are you right now??"
