Rancorous

Chapter 3

PRESENT

Herlina

Deliberating my outfit for the day, I decide on wearing black leggings, a regular white t-shirt and my favorite jean jacket. After quickly doing my subtle makeup, I brush my hair and leave my bedroom.

Walking downstairs, I make my way into the kitchen. My dad is already sitting at the table drinking his morning coffee. His jet-black hair is neatly combed. It isn't out of the ordinary for my dad to drink coffee in the morning, afternoon, and at night. I smile.

"Good morning," I say to him.

"Morning sweetheart," my dad says taking a sip of his coffee.

I notice my mom hasn't woken up yet which is strange because today was important. I look at my dad and he waves his hand for me to come over.

"There's a bouquet of flowers and three large balloons in the car, could you bring them in?" My dad smiles, his hazel eyes glimmering, and I grin back.

"Yeah."

"Your mom's taking a shower, so we have time. I'll make breakfast."

I nod and walk outside to my dad's silver SUV and find the pink roses along with a heart-shaped balloon, another with the words "I love you," and the third one is a smiley face. I shake my head and chuckle quietly to myself bringing the items inside.

"You really had to didn't you dad?" I shove the smiley face balloon in his face.

"Hey, I'm a happy man with two wonderful women in my life. What can I say?"

Laughing, I drop the flowers on the table while I loosely tie the balloons to a chair. Turning to the kitchen, I help my dad prepare his famous ham and cheese croissant with sautéed potatoes. Prepping the table, my dad sets the plates with the delicious sandwich while I stay on the lookout for my mom.

"Is she coming?" My dad asks.

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and nod frantically. My dad then grabs the roses just as my mom walks in.

"Happy anniversary, Honey." Dad hands my mom the roses as she stares at them. He then holds her forearm and kisses her cheek. I feel something unpleasant in my chest when my mom doesn't smile as brightly as I thought she would.

"Thank you." She glances at me quickly before turning back to my dad.

"We made breakfast for the queen of the house." My dad grabs her hand and leads her to the dining table.

"Oh." My mom smiles sheepishly and sits at the head of the table.

Pointing at the flowers, my dad says, "I'll get a vase and water."

After he leaves, it's just my mom and me at the dining table. I find myself once again wishing my mom had never left to Paris last year because ever since that trip, she became a different person. But, she had to go as the event planner and make sure the wedding for the French couple was impeccable. It's what she does for a living, I can't complain at her for doing her job. On the bright side, my dad has always remained the same loving person.

"This looks delicious." She says without sparing me a glance.

"Yeah." I don't really know what to say. Due to her reticent behavior, whenever we were in a room alone, the air became awkward and uncomfortable. I miss when I could talk to my mom like she was my best friend.

Dad comes back with a vase and drops the flowers inside decorating the table beautifully. We eat breakfast with my dad doing most of the talking.

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