Rafflesia's Lament

Chapter 2

Senpai was both excited and nervous to go out to dinner with his mother. They haven't been talking much, a lot of misfortune was happening in his life recently. He was nervous because he planned on telling her a secret that he had been keeping.

He was terrified of her reaction and was positive that she would be very disappointed. But he knew eventually she could give him the best advice on how to handle it. It may not be the advice he wanted to hear, but some tough love could force him to handle the situation better.

He thought about telling his brothers first, but it was hard to talk to them lately. Senpai hated being around downers. At least his situation had some happy undertones. Even if overall it was an annoying mistake.

They planned to meet at a restaurant that served traditional Asian cuisine. His mom used to bring him and his brothers there all the time.

As Senpai walked into the restaurant he saw that his mother was not alone but was with her boyfriend. He felt a sense of annoyance at this. It was supposed to be their night together! There was no way he was going to admit his secret to her now while he was there.

"Why is he here?" Senpai said failing to compose himself as he walked up to the table.

"Sen! Don't be rude," Phi scolded.

"Sorry... I just didn't expect it OK?" Senpai plopped down in the seat across from them. "A heads up would have been nice though."

"Hey. Senny how are you doing?" Gibby said unfazed. He has been dating his mom for almost three years and was very familiar with the attitudes of each of her sons. Especially when it came to Senpai, he was around the most.

"I'm great," Senpai sighed. He wasn't the best currently and that stupid nickname didn't help.

"Are you sure?" His mom raised an eyebrow in worry.

"Yep," Senpai took a deep breath as he started to count in his head. OK, he needed to chill. It was stupid to get mad at Gibby, he was a good guy. Boring and stale? Yes. But he hasn't done anything malicious. He was happy for his mom for finding someone. "I'm sorry," Senpai said genuinely.

"It's fine Sen. I am sorry that I didn't let you know. I know it's been a while since we talked," Phi said. "But I wanted you to be the first person I told."

"About what?" Senpai asked curious. Was she buying another building for her florist company? Was she going to move away? The endless possibilities of what it could be swarmed Senpai's thoughts.

Instead of answering she held up her hand grinning ear to ear.

There was a ring.

Sen's eyes widened. "Mom..."

She smiled before letting out a little squeal that was so loud it hurt Sen's ears and caused strangers to look at them weirdly. She covered her face in embarrassment and uttered an apology.

"Yeah!" Senpai nervously agreed. OK, now it was not the time to reveal what he was going to tell her. That would crush her excitement...

"I asked her last night," Gibby added. "Your mother is a great woman and I want to spend the rest of my days with her."

"Aww Gib," she sighed happily leaning her head on his arm. She then turned back to Senpai. "We're not going to have a huge wedding of course. I also wanted to ask you if you would help me plan it, my littlest angel."

"Well-"

"Wait hold on. I'll be back," Gibby said suddenly cutting Senpai off. His phone was ringing. "I'm going to go take this call and head to the bathroom after. Love you both!"