Bad Friend

35. Himari

It's a long one. I apologize in advance.

My mind might have been fuzzy, but not enough that I wasn't aware of the woman trying to barge into my apartment now that the door was open. In one quick movement, my arm was stretched across the length of the doorway, barring my mother from entering.

My mother. My mother. Why was she here? I'd spoken to her a handful of times in the last few months, but I had only seen her twice since my father's funeral, both times being maybe a year ago. It wasn't like her to just visit for the hell of it, there had to be a reason.

It was only about nine o'clock in the morning, and knowing her she probably had just come from the airport, but she was still impeccably dressed in a tailored pantsuit, a pair of nude heels, and a string of pearls around her neck. My mother looked like she hadn't aged a day since I was sixteen—skin nearly wrinkle free and not a single strand of gray hair on her head. She was the kind of beautiful that was cold and unapproachable. Between her and my dad, it was no wonder why I turned out the way that I did.

"Are you going to let me in?" she asked impatiently, glancing down at the small suitcase at her feet.

"Um..." I craned my neck to see if Harry had gone back to my bedroom to put some clothes on, but he had not. He was cleaning things up around the kitchen in all his naked glory. "I don't know, Mom, now's not a really good time—"

"It is always a good time to see your mother, Himari, now open the door."

I knew there was no avoiding this encounter, so I braced myself and moved aside to let her in. Harry must've heard the word "Mom" come out of my mouth because when I turned and saw him, he was halfway to my bedroom with a hastily thrown on apron. I rested my head in my hands, knowing that no matter how I tried to spin this to my mother, it wouldn't look good.

"You have company," was all she said, looking Harry up and down with shrewd brown eyes.

The knot Harry tied on my robe was still secure, but I pulled it tighter around my waist anyway. "Yeah. You should've called first, Mom."

"What? So you could hide him from me?"

Yes. "No! So that I could at least be dressed when you arrived. Why didn't you call?"

My mother, who had been picking Harry apart with her eyes since she came into the apartment, finally turned towards me. Her face was so familiar yet so foreign to me. We had similar features, but they somehow looked more refined on her, more elegant. She raised a perfectly shaped brow at me and said, "I did call. Last time we spoke I told you I wanted to visit."

"That was three months ago!" I said, trying not to raise my voice at her. I knew that no argument I made would be sufficient for her. She was here now, and I had no doubt she was going to stay now that she had something to pester me about. At least more than she normally did.

My mother simply hummed her reply, calm as ever. That was always how she looked on the outside—calm, cool, unbothered. "Well, are you at least going to introduce me to your...friend?"

I wanted to take Harry and Cher and run as far from my apartment as I possibly could, but seeing as there was a slim chance of my mother letting that happen, I stayed put. Instead of running, I walked over to where Harry was still awkwardly standing and took his hand in mine. Bringing our joined hands up to my mouth, I kissed the top of his, wanting to be reassuring even though my own stomach was tying itself into knots.

"Harry, this is my mother, Dai Lu Kobayashi. Mom, this is Harry...my boyfriend."

★★★

"Oh my God."