Unplanned and Unintentional

Chapter 8

Can's POV

Once I entered my house, I sprinted up the stairs to my bedroom, not wanting my parents and my sister Lay to see my tear stricken face.

I sneaked quickly into the bathroom before I could encounter Lay in the hallway. Inside the bathroom I kept splashing cold water on my face until the redness on my cheeks and my eyes subsided.

I then went downstairs to talk to my parents. It was best to let them know about Tin's decision to cancel our engagement before Tin's parents contacted them about it.

"Are you okay,Cantaloupe?" my mom asked when I kissed her on the cheeks.

Shit, I guess I had not spent enough time splashing cold water on my face. Why is it that moms have that unusual instinct about their sons.

"Not really," I replied looking down on the floor.

"Come and have dinner, son," my father invited me to the dinner table.

"I'm not hungry, dad, I had so much to eat at the fair," I said.

"What's bothering you, son?" Shit, even dads have some kind of instincts, too.

"I would rather discuss it after dinner," I said, "I will wait in the living room."

I walked with a heavy heart to the living room. Just then, I saw Lay coming down the stairs. I quickly turned the TV on, not wanting to engage in any conversation with her.

"P'Can!" Darn it, can't she see I'm trying to watch TV?

She sat close beside me on the couch, "P'Can, what were you arguing about with P'Tin outside the house?"

I turned the TV off. I guess it was best to let her know.

"He accused me of cheating on him," I said.

"Who accused you of cheating?"

I almost jumped in my seat. Dad had walked into the living room. In a few seconds my mom followed suit.

I looked down at my tightly folded hands on my lap as I waited for mom and dad to take their seats on the couch adjacent to mine.

I finally looked up and said, "Mom, Dad, Tin has decided to cancel our engagement because he thinks that I cheated on him."

"And did you???" Lay asked, shaking my shoulder.

"Of course not!" I protested, "he followed me to the fair and it happened that I was inside the ferris wheel coach with Good and his sister P'Wan, and when the coached started to move up with a jerking movement, P'Wan got scared and clung to me and that was when Tin happened to look up and saw us and concluded that I was cheating on him."

"I knew all along that your engagement had happened too soon," said my mom, sounding relieved instead of unhappy, for my sake.

"I guess that if Tin is someone who can judge you harshly without listening to your side of the story, it would indeed be best that you break off the engagement," my dad stated with conviction.

Lay sat quietly beside me rubbing my back gently to comfort me.

Thank goodness, my whole family was on my side.

"Just a heads up, mom, dad, Tin's parents might call you tonight," I said, "he told me that he would let his parents be the one to talk to you about the cancellation of our engagement."

My dad stood up from the couch. "No, let's not wait for them to call, let me call them right now."

I could actually hear my heart pounding loudly against my chest. I was about to give Tin's phone number to my dad when I remembered that Tin's mom had exchanged phone numbers with my parents on the day that she had come to the house.

"Mrs. Medthanan, this is Cantaloupe's dad, how are you?" pause...

"No, no, I prefer to call you Mrs. Medthanan, I am more comfortable that way." pause...

"Yes, Cantaloupe has just finished talking to me. I believe it is best for our sons to cancel their engagement and...no, please don't interrupt, please give me a chance to finish... hello, hello, oh, good evening, Mr. Medthanan." pause......

"Mr. Medthanan, I do believe that Tin's decision is for the best...... but we cannot force them to go on with their engagement if they no longer want to....no, no, no, no, no, there's no need for you to come over to discuss things, I have decided myself that the engagement is over, hello, hello, hello!!!!!! Goddammit! He's coming over to bully us into keeping the engagement!"