Summer in France || 𝖩𝖤𝖭𝖫𝖨𝖲𝖠 ✔︎

twenty-three

“Jennie?” Jennie's mother sounded surprised to hear her daughter’s voice.
“How are you? Why are you calling so late at night? Are you alright?”

Jennie looked at her watch. It was only eight. She’d spent the day in her hotel room, watching bad movies. After each movie, she told herself she was going to call her parents, yet each time, she put it off and searched for another mediocre romantic comedy. Not a single one of the options in the long list on her pay-per-view channel portrayed two women, she noticed.

“No, everything’s fine,” she lied. “Did I wake you up? I can call you back tomorrow?”

“No, not at all. Your father and I were just getting ready for the night.” Her mother sighed. “It’s so good to hear your voice, Jen-Jen.” Jennie smiled.

“It’s good to hear your voice too, Mom.” Jennie picked up the piece of paper on her lap with her rehearsed speech. “As you know, Jaehyun and I have just finalized our divorce. We sold the apartment and I cleared it out today.”

“Oh yes, the divorce.” There was a silence. “So, you went through with that?”

Jennie rolled her eyes, crumpled up the speech and threw it across the room. The five scenarios she’d written out were useless now. She should have known her mother would come up with a reply as ridiculous as this one. “Yes, I went through with it, Mom. He was sleeping with his assistant. Besides, I don’t think it would have worked out anyway.” She opened her mouth to elaborate but decided against it.

“But honey, everyone goes through difficult patches. Your father and I haven’t always been happy together, but we married each other in front of God, and we wouldn’t dream of having a divorce. Life is long, if you’re lucky. And it’s not always great, but having someone to share it with is a blessing from the Lord. It’s sacred.”

“I know.” Jennie decided not to argue her mother’s pre-historic view on marriage. There was no point. “But as I said, it was not going to work out, ever.” She took a deep breath. “Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I’ve accepted a job offer in Singapore.” She waited for a reply. “Mom, are you there?”

“Yes, I’m here, honey. Singapore? Where is that?”

Jennie managed to suppress a chuckle. “It’s in Southeast Asia.” Her mother never failed to surprise her with her lack of geographical knowledge.

“But that’s in different country.” There was a silence. “Isn’t it? And we’ll never see you any more if you move there.”

“We only see each other once a year anyway,” Jennie said. “Okay, it’s been a bit longer this time around but that won’t happen again. I promise I’ll still visit you every year. Besides, for as long as I’ve lived in Seoul, you and Dad haven’t visited me once. So why does it matter if I’m somewhere a bit further away?”

“But Jennie, you know we can’t just pack up and leave,” her mother said in a defensive tone. “Your father and I have a responsibility for the chickens and…”

“I’m sure that in all those years…” Jennie paused, too tired to find the right words, “…you could have found someone to feed the chickens for a couple of days. I even offered to hire someone for you.”

She closed her eyes, cursing herself for picking an argument with the only people she had left. The only people she could still call without a reason, just to talk. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean it like that. Look, I was wondering if I could come over next week? I have some time left before I start my new job, and I’d like to see you both before I leave.”

“You’re coming to visit us?” her mother sounded puzzled. “Good God, of course, that would be great. It’s just that you haven’t been here in a long time, and I need to prepare your room and…”