Rewind

Chapter Five: Lunchtime Melancholy

"What can I get for you, ma'am?" asked the squint-eyed waiter who stared at us as if to examine and rate us on a scale of first impressions. It was enough to creep the hell out of me.

Mommy didn't seem bothered at all by it. "I'll have one order of garlic mushroom pasta and a glass of red wine," she said to the waiter, who was busy scribbling everything she said down. Mommy then glanced back at the menu. "How about you, Brie? What would you like to have?"

Do I really have to choose from among these, I asked myself. Everything on the menu seemed so delicious, from the four cheese pizza to the creamy chicken pasta right down to the blueberry cheesecake. I couldn't possibly settle for only one of these!

I ended up ordering all of these, to my mom's astonishment, plus a glass of red iced tea.

"Would that be all?" asked the waiter, squinting his eyes at us again.

"Yes, that would be all, thank you very much," said Mommy, and finally, the waiter left. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Looks like we've been raising a foodie all along!" she chuckled.

I smiled. "I'm just really hungry, Mommy. But I do like eating a lot."

--

The ambiance of the restaurant was simple yet chic and elegant. It was jam packed with many people who seem to belong to the corporate world, but what amazed me was that despite the large amount of customers, the atmosphere remained peaceful and quiet.The light from the crystal chandelier hanging from the middle of the dome-shaped ceiling shone brightly all over the place. 

The light from the crystal chandelier hanging from the middle of the dome-shaped ceiling shone brightly all over the place. "This restaurant sure is nice, Mommy," I said as I took a sip from a glass of water.

"Mhm," she replied, nodding. "Your Dad and I used to eat here a lot. Whether it be after a long work day or if we just wanted to spend time alone, we'd go here."

She drank from the glass of wine that squint-eyed waiter served just a moment ago, then sighed. She gazed at the chandelier and tapped on the table.

You'd think that my mom is a very tough, spunky woman, but the truth is, she could get a little saccharine about certain occasions at times. For every emotional phase that she goes through, she told me, she gets a piercing on her ear. One time she even let me accompany her when she got another piercing because she wanted to show me that it wouldn't really hurt that much.

Well, she spoke too soon. She screamed an agonizing scream, but I didn't really mind.

--

"So, you miss it, do you?" I mumbled as I bit a piece off a slice of four cheese pizza.

"Miss what?"

"You know, your frequent dates with him here and all that."

"Honestly, I do. I really do. But you know what? Leaving you both here was the stupidest thing I've ever done. It was so senseless of me."

She paused and continued eating her pasta.

"I know, Mommy, and I understand that. What I want to know is the reason why you left us. It's as simple as that."

"Are you sure you really want to know why?"

"For all I know, I'm already prepared for this moment."

Although she seemed hesitant about it, she began to speak.

"W-well," she stammered. "It's because---"