My Mom called me early in the morning and asked me to come up and have breakfast with her. Yesterday, she noticed that I had lost weight, so she decided that while I was here, she would stuff me with food to make me fat and "cute as a teddy bear" again, because she says that skinny people seem unlucky.
But when I got there, it seemed like she was just finishing a business conversation with a manager named Prae or maybe Phlu... I don't remember. I only know that we had an argument once when I fought with a foreign guest, and my mother mentioned that this person is the one who keeps telling her everything about me.
Saying that I am "somebody's daughter" back in Pattaya. Complicated...
"Thank you so much for valuable information."
My mother said with a serious expression to the manager.
"You are an indispensable contributor for our hotel. Keep it up... And you."
She turned to me.
"You took a while to get here; I called you a long time ago."
The manager left with a smug smile, and I'm completely confused.
"Why are you praising someone who called me 'somebody's daughter'?"
"I just found out now that she's 36."
"And what does it matter?"
"Because I'm going to let her work here until she's 42, then ask your father to fire her without severance. At 36, there are still opportunities for her, but starting from scratch later is practically a sentence. It will be deserved."
As soon as she finished speaking, my mother crossed her legs and lifted her coffee cup to take a sip, with her little finger raised, displaying the refined air of someone successful.
I, on the other hand, felt a shiver run through my body at the aura of cruelty that emanated from her. Who would have thought that, behind that smile and those complimentary words, she had already drawn up a long-term plan. It's as if there was no turning back, but continuing would lead nowhere either.
"Come on, sit down! Mom ordered a lot of food especially for you, Nong In. Eat a lot, you're just skin and bones now. Mom raised you so well, and someone came to invent these ghost things to scare you, can you?"
"I'm not even that skinny, Mom. I'm just surprised by your ideas. You're a real inspiration! Now I understand why Dad has so much respect for you."
"haha."
My mother laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.
"I know how to deal with people. And your father is a prey."
"But I heard you say that Dad tricked you when we were taking a bath, didn't he?"
"What did he fooled me? I'm the one who made that situation happen, for goodness sake."
"What do you mean, Mom?"
"Your father and I met in England. When I first saw him, I thought: 'What a man! So white, with such a beautiful smile, and so cute.'"
My mother laughed, remembering the distant past.
"I was studying there, I worked in a restaurant, and we ended up getting along really well and we've been talking ever since."
"It seems to have been a gradual thing," I replied.
"It took a while, you know? Your dad was kind of slow. I invited him to watch a movie in my room, and he only watched the actual movie! I got annoyed. The third time, I went to his room. Then... I teased him a little, and he got jealous and started promising heaven and earth, and in the end, your dad ended up thinking he was the one who convinced me of something and grabbed me."
