Just once

A little on Mom and Dad

Colin sat in the car with a droopy face. 

"i shouldn't have left the coat yesterday." he thought. his head rested on his hand, and his elbow rested on the window.

"how could I leave something so important?"" maybe because I was drunk"

All Colin's thoughts seemed to reach at a final destination. "it was Nathan's fault" 

Colin brushed his coat. memories flooded in. Happy ones, about him, mom , and dad. If only things stayed that way.

Mom was in the kitchen, baking cake. 10-year-old Colin dashed to peak at the marvelous Chocolate cake baking in the oven.

"mom, when will it be ready?" Colin couldn't wait. It had been ages since he ate homemade cake.

"it will be ready soon, but we will eat it only when dad comes back"

"aww.....why? can't we just eat it and leave some for him? what if he comes suuper late?"

"he won't. you're dad's always on time"

"well, what if he is not today?"

"Colin!"

Colin and him mom giggled. The cake was done baking too. out came a hot, fragrant, chocolate cake, just ready to be eaten. 

"we'll keep it outside a little bit so it cools down."

Colin offered to carry the cake. both His mom and him carried the cake to the dining table together.

The clock struck 9:00. dad was still not home. It wasn't raining either. Dad was a very punctual man, what was taking him so long?

Mom got worried, she thought something might have happened to dad. half an hour passed by when there was still no news. Mom tried to phone him, but there was no answer.

Colin couldn't wait any longer. He pleaded with his mom the eat. 

Just then the door was knocked. Mom rushed to answer the door. On opening the door, the both saw something they never expected. the brown haired man reeked of alcohol, and lot's of it. 

He drunkenly stepped inside, opened his tie and coat and threw it to one side. Mom was confused, shocked, and possibly angry with dad. She stood there, still as stone, looking at dad.

after they ate dinner, in a very uncomfortable atmosphere, Mom and Dad went into a room, and shut it tight with a slam.

Colin couldn't sleep that day. Mom and dad were yelling and screaming. it wasn't meant to be like that. it was supposed to be a normal talk. Dad was out of his senses tonight. 

Colin jolted as the car stopped with a halt. the red signal went off, but the car in front still didn't move. Colin's driver beeped  his horn repeatedly to urge the blue car in front move front. 

good thing the blue car didn't move. if the car had moved then Colin's memories would flood in without a pause. After that night, the memories were only sorrowful, leading to his pitiful state today. he didn't want to recall the event's after that day. they are best left in the past. He didn't want to recall memories like that and turn out like mom.

Colin checked his phone to forget about it. Nathan had called, twice. Colin realized he probably wasn't going to meet Nathan again. Then he thought about Eve. He blushed, but surprisingly, he wasn't that enthusiastic about Eve anymore. " it was temporary i guess" Colin theorized and appreciated himself for not getting swayed by temporary emotions. 

But then He thought of Nathan. His feeling about him were mixed, but he felt like talking to him, he wasn't going to meet him again anyway. Colin clicked the missed call option. The phone rang, and Nathan picked up.

"hey, Nathan?" 

"oh, Colin? hey. Look, I'm sorry. I didn't think something like a jacket could be something so important."

"it's alright. I might have acted too much as well"

"yeah"

"....."

there was a deadly silence. somehow, it had become awkward to talk to Nathan. 

"where are you going Colin?"

"where I'm going? why?"

"I.....never mind"

Nathan cut the call. He was acting strangely. well, it's not like colin knew a lot about Nathan, nor was he his close friend. But he was certainly not like that last night. Last night, he seemed playful, he seemed risky and not apologetic. But then he was an adult so I guess it made sense. 

"maybe I'm not an adult" Colin thought. He felt pathetic. 

His phone rung again. this time it was mom.

"hey mum"

"dear, are you okay? are you well?" this was always mom's first sentence in a conversation with Colin.

"yes mum"

"I called you last night, you didn't pick up. What were you doing?"

"last....night?"

"were you busy?"

"I guess so, yeah" 

Colin felt an uneasy sensation in his chest. mom never liked clubs, and she started hating them even more after what they did to dad. He possibly couldn't tell his mom he had gone to a club to get a drink.

"Colin....Is work hard?"

"huh?"

"how is working as a civil servant going dear? must be hard...."

Colin felt a sharp pain in his forehead, that gradually spread across body. For some reason mom hadn't asked this question in a long time, in such a long time that he was no longer a civil servant. he wasn't fit for the job, and the higher-ups had fired him for his mistake.

"y-yeah. it's hard. I'm keeping the phone now, mom. Goodbye."

the silence that followed became a perfect environment for Colin to hate himself like never before. Now not only did he fail his job and does random other things to earn money, yesterday he ended up going to a bar. Pathetic.

Suddenly Colin realized he had arrived at his destination. His very non-cozy apartment. Colin walked up the stairs and shoved the key inside the keyhole. swiftly opening the door he ran across the small hall and jumped into his bed without changing. It was only morning though, but Colin felt extremely tired. 

After a quick rest, Colin got ready for work. He did three jobs at a time, and the earnings off all amounted to something descent. Descent for him though. This was not enough to support his mom. His mom was working hard on her own, and although her son sent her some money every month, it was just not enough.

Colin was at a coffee shop. The coffee shop was famous for its aesthetic appeal and outdoor set-up, as it helped their customers to relax. Colin was as usual brewing the coffee and serving to his customers, when his eyes suddenly fell on a lady with soft bluish-black hair. she looked familiar...

"Colin?"

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