𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄

I fiddle with the hem of my skirt as my mother gets comfortable in her seat in front of Antonio and me.

"What do you feel for Antonio?"

"Ah. I'm not all that hungry, Katherine. I might just get something small. The pasta looks good." Antonio replies looking at the menu.

My mom nods. "Yes, yes."

Antonio's hand finds mine under the table and he turns to look at me.

'Are you okay?' He mouths.

I nod at him and squeeze his hand enjoying the feel of his touch again.

His hands let go of mine and slowly find their way to my thigh and he rests it there.

"We need to talk when we get home." He whispers in my ear and I feel my anxiety levels increase.

What did I do? Did my mother upset him? Did she put him off? He doesn't want this to work anymore?

A waiter approaches our table and we all give our orders and they come back a few minutes later with drinks.

I take a sip of my water, trying to calm down my nerves as my mother stares at me intensely. Like she's trying to read me.

She raises a brow then switches her gaze to Antonio and grins. "So, what is it you do at the company?"

"Well, I'm the COO. My job is to manage and handle the daily business operations of the company and to work closely with the department heads. Is supervise and address all the issues along with coming up with new ideas alongside your husband, Mr Thompson."

My mother's shines her eyes impressed and I can practically hear her new plan in motion going on in her head.

"That's excellent. Just what I'm looking for, for my little Emilia." She gushes.

Antonio furrows his brows. "Pardon?"

She shrugs. "You know. Hard-working, good money. Good looking. It's all there for us really. You'll take good care of Emilia."

Antonio nods slowly but he still looks at her confused.

"So when are you two getting married?"

I freeze in place at the stilly question my mother dropped out of her mouth.

I look up at the shocked and she waves her hands around with a loud laugh. "What? What did I say? I'm being serious Emilia. When do you plan to get married?"

I clench my teeth. "Mom. Can you not embarrass me!?"

Mother shakes her head and takes a sip of her wine. "The only one embarrassing you is yourself. I mean, you just turned thirty. You're not getting any younger. And neither am I. I want grandchildren. And for you to have a husband who is at the same level as our family, Emilia."

I stare at her angry, frustrated, annoyed.

"Shouldn't this be a private conversation?"

"Why? You are planning to Marry Antonio, right? It's a perfect match. Plus I-"

The waiter rolls in interrupting our conversation and I couldn't be more thankful enough for the timing.

He places my mother's meal in front of her then mine and Antonio's.

Antonio clears his throat and I want nothing but I giant hole to swallow me.

My mother sees no wrong in her actions.

I feel like throwing up. Passing out. Sleeping. Anything to let out all my emotions or anxiety.

We sit and eat in silence for a few minutes then my mother opens her mouth again and I feel like screaming.

My mother's eyes rake down my body. "I can see you're sticking to your diet. Looking good Emilia."

I drop my fork on my plate losing the little appetite I had.

"The skinner you are the better. You know they only like pretty skinny girls on the model pages. Your social media needs to stay the way it is." She says. She flips her hair and shows me her phone. "Mrs Anderson's daughter just got paid millions to be on that cover for the fashion magazine. And her other daughter, Lucy just got her doctorate. They're doing great don't you think?"

I nod slowly. "Yes, mother. That's good for them and their family but I'd rather not be compared to anyone else." I grumbled.

Mom rolls her eyes. "It's not comparing, I'm just inspiring you. Do you know how hard this is for me? The daughter who quit her job and hasn't made a serious change in her new influencer job. Not married? Not getting ready to have kids? Look how it makes me look. And I only have you. One child."

Antonio clenches his jaw and stands. "Mrs Thompson, it was lovely to meet you. I have an early meeting tomorrow so I must take my leave." Antonio holds his hand out for me.

"Oh, I see."

"Yes. Emilia and I thank you. We've had a lot of fun. I'll take care of the bill."

"No. It's alright, I have my husband's credit card." She grins.

Antonio doesn't even give her any more time before he rushes us both out of the door and into his car.

I let out a quiet sob as I tear falls down my cheek slowly.

"Emilia? What the hell was your mother talking about? Diet?"

"I don't want to speak of it, Antonio."

"She controls what you eat? Why does she treat you that way?"

"I said stop."

"Does she not care how I treat you? She seemed more interested in what my job was than anything."

"I said cut it out!" I hissed. "I don't want to fucking talk about it with you alright?"

Antonio shakes his head and his knuckles turn white in anger as he speeds up his car and sees through the streets not looking at me once as he drives us home.

Twenty minutes in, and I feel like wrapping my arms around him and holding him tight but he doesn't at least look at me and I feel bad for yelling at him.

He's mad at me.

And I feel terrible.