Love me once more

Chapter nine: "Hello...?"

Was this now official? Ethan and I...? Was this a thing now? What about Ryan? All those thoughts kept haunting my mind. But I kept smiling throughout. I entered the cafè. "Look who's in a good mood." Reeva came up to me. "Gooooood morning! Isn't it a wonderful day today?" I hugged her. Her eyes were side open. "Did you win the lottery or something? She grabbed my shoulders and gently shook them, looking me deep in the eyes. "Oh no, that looks more like love. Did Ryan propose to you?" Her mouth and eyes were wide open. "Nope." I laughed and walked away. Was it so obvious? I went to my boss' office and knocked on the door. "Enter." He said. I slowly entered. "Ahhh ireena! I thought you'd never come see me." He stood up with hims arms stretched out and a smile on his face. "Uhm...Sir...." I slowly walked towards the desk and stopped in front of the sit. He slowly lowered his arms and sat back down. "Would it be alright, if I took this weekend off? Only if it does not put too much load on you." I asked. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, but one cigarette in his mouth, lit it on and inhaled deeply, blowing it all out. "Sure. Should be alright." He simply said. "Really? Thank you! Just this weekend, I promise." I smiled and left the office. Reeva was still standing at the same spot with wide eyes. "So, I will be going to see my mom this weekend..." I whispered in her ears. She turned to me. "Then what is it?" She asked. I was confused. "My mom wanted to see me...." she interrupted me. "No, not that. Why are you so happy?" she asked. Why was she so curious? "I can be happy, can't I?" I asked walking towards the exit of the cafè. "Of course you can, but in these years that I know you, I know.your types of happiness and this one is love., so spill it out!" she demanded. I dragged her out of the cafè. "So...I will be ending things with Ryan in a bit..." I whispered. She suddenly hit my arm. "What are you talking about? Are you crazy?" I rubbed my arm. "Ouch! And no, I'm not. I found love in someone else." I said, with a disappointed look. "Do you know how long it took me to approve of Ryan? Now you want to break up and date someone else? You haven't even broken up with him yet. Now, you know that's cheating!" She said. I was disappointed. She was right and also, if she found out who he was, she would never let me see him again. In fact, she would make me move out of that apartment and tell me to move in with her. "So who is he?" She looked at me. I looked to the ground. How was I going to say this? I suddenly thought of an idea. "You can't meet him yet!" She looked disbelieved. "Why not?" she asked. "Because, I want to see for myself, before I introduce him to you lots." I smiled. "But wouldn't it be safer to at least know how he looks like? Or see him from a distance?" she asked. I shook my head. "No, you have to wait for that." I smiled and began walking towards my apartment.

I was having ideas on how Ethan would wait at my apartment door, smiling with roses in his hands. My smile vanished when I arrived at my door. Neither Ethan nor roses were waiting. "Is he busy?" I thought. I began smiling again. "He might be waiting inside, after all, he knows who to get in." I slowly unlocked the door and entered. "Ethan?", I whispered. My apartment was empty. With a disappointed face, I locked the door, took off my shoes and went into the bathroom and washed my hands. "Should I call him?" I thought. I then realised, I knew nothing about him. Did he have a job? What was his full name? Where did live or does he have any family members? I couldn't stop thinking about those questions. Even after I had finished eating dinner, brushed my teeth and went to bed, I felt unease. I suddenly jumped out of my bed. "What if he got hurt again?!" My eyes widened in shock. I grabbed my phone, ready to dial his number, when I realised, he never gave me his number. I slowly sat down on the edge of my bed, staring at my phone. Was I supposed to simply go to bed? What if he was killed and that was the reason why he hadn't call or came to see me? I suddenly felt tears running down my cheeks. I wiped them away and laid back down and fell asleep.

The next morning, I felt sick, so I called my boss to excuse my absence. Also, I was going to stay at my mom's place over the weekend, it wasn't such a bad idea to pack earlier, so I got out of bed and began packing. "Should I leave a note for him?" I thought. I shook my head and kept packing. My phone suddenly rang. It was Reeva. "So you're sick, huh?" She asked with an underlying sarcastic tone. "I'm being serious, Reeva. But also, I will be at my mom's for the weekend, so don't freak out when I don't open the door." I said. She began laughing. "That's alright. Greet your mom for me." and dropped it. "What was the laugh for?" I thought. Before I continued packing, I remembered to call a taxi. I was finally done packing and the taxi had arrived. All that was left, was to get changed, which I did within five minutes and rushed down to the taxi with my one bag of travelling suit case. "I'll be back in a minute." I told the taxi driver, after I stuffed my baggage in the boot. I rushed back into my apartment to check if I had taken everything. "The windows." I thought. I finally locked everything, took my phone and looked the apartment door. "I'm off now." I texted Reeva. And rushed to the taxi and entered. "See you next week" she replied. I looked back at my apartment with thoughts of Ethan and how he might be surprised. Should I have left a letter? I looked out of the window and remembered to call my mom. "Mom could you pick me up at the train station?" I said after she picked up. "What? Are you on your way already? How long do I have, to prepare something to eat?" She was exited. "You don't have to, mom."? I smiled. "It's been months since I last saw my daughter, I have to prepare something as a mother, so we can have dinner together again, like a family. So what do you want to eat?" she replied. We spoke all throughout the one hour drive to the train station. "Mom, I'm at the station now, so I'll be there in about two hours." I said while getting off the taxi. "How much?" I asked the driver. "175$" he replied. I handed him the money and grabbed my luggage. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, I don't have much time." My mom said. I smiled while walking to the train station to catch my train. "We could just order in, like the good old days, mom." I replied. "No no, it will be done in less than two hours...oh and dessert." As I entered the train station, my train arrived. I quickly got on. The train was nearly full, but I managed to find a sit and sat down, next to an old lady. "This is going to be a long two hours." I thought.

A few minutes after settling on the train, I fell asleep but woke up to the sudden slowing of the train. I looked around, people were getting their luggage and waiting for the train to stop. The old lady beside me gently poked me. "It was an exhausting ride am I right?" she smiled. I smiled back and attempted to stand up, only to be push back to my sit by a passenger rushing to get out. The old lady tapped my shoulder. There is no need to hurry, I don't have to get off." she said. I then realised, she poked me, assuming I was still asleep. "Thank you." I smiled at her. The trained had stopped and the Passengers were now getting off. I quickly took my luggage. "Thank you." I said again to the old lady. and rushed to get out. "You are welcome. Have a safe Journey." she opened the window and waved. I waved back. "Thank you, you too." I shouted, trying to convey my message to her through the noise of the train. Suddenly someone tapped on my shoulder and I quickly turned around. It was my mom. "You finally came." she went in for a big hug. I smiled and spread my hands to hug her. It felt relieving to be in her arms. "I missed you so much honey." she mumbled in my shoulder, rubbing my back. closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I missed you too mom." I replied. I opened my eyes when she took a step back. "How? I've been begging you to visit ever since you moved out." she made a sad face and grabbed my luggage. "Mom, I had to settle down first, before running back again." I said. "Whatever. You're here now." We began walking towards the exit.

We arrived home quite late, so I walked straight into my old room. My room was kept the same since the day I left. My bed was the only thing that changed, it was prepared. I felt a hand slowly resting against my shoulder. "Like nothing has changed." my mom said. I smiled and walked in. "It looks just like when I left." I said and slowly sat down. She followed me with my luggage. "It hasn't even been a year, but why do I feel like it's been a year?" she smiled. I looked around. "I had to leave at some point, mom." I said. She sat down next to me. "I still don't understand why you would volunteer to leave your Wonderland? Since you let, all your old high school friends have bee asking for you. Eve neighbours, who never spoke to us before, kept asking where you went. I obviously told them it is no of their business, but I can't say that to your friends." She pulled me closer o her. "Oh and there is a rumour, that you got pregnant and that's the reason why you left so suddenly." I looked at into her shocked eyes. "There were some misunderstandings, mom." I replied and got up. Her face expression seemed worried. "Can I rest for today?" I asked. She slowly stood up. "But if you rest now, you'll only have one day to spend with me." she said and walked towards the door. "Ok ok, it' been a busy day, I guess. Good night and don't run away again." she smiled and closed the door behind her. I grabbed my luggage and opened it, to get me my pyjama, when my phone suddenly rang. It was a number, I had never seen so I hesitated. "Hello...? I answered.