Song of the Firebird

Fifteen

'Good day to you too, mother.'

'No smiles and hugs for me, daughter dearest? Pray, I did not raise you this way. And the people always had to blame the mothers for not raising their sons and daughters well? Tell me Ivy, whose side is to be wronged? Look at you! Diane is such a sweetheart that's why she is gifted with good girls like you and Iris. Look at mine! She is making coffee and cake for strangers, but doesn't bother to make one for her own mother', huffed Maggie.

'I will make you one, if you happen to stay in a single place and drop by often, mother. You don't leave addresses behind unless we bump into each other', said Natasha, curtly.

The three women gathered enough attention from the other occupants in the taxi stand. A deafening silence turned out to be the aftermath. Drama on a Monday noon and where is the popcorn?, their minds roared. Ivy soon took note of her surroundings and decided to make a move before they were videotaped and got millions of views in a broadcasting channel. Breaking the silence, she said, 'Maggie, why don't we talk over a coffee? I know a good place.'

Natasha shot a scathing look at her friend and received a wink.

'Now, that's how you should behave, young lady. How am I going to give you away to a man, when you don't even treat people with courtesy? Gods, help me.'

Natasha grumbled and Ivy decided to push both the women in a taxi that opened doors for them. The driver was given instructions to go to the mall nearby. Ivy wondered if Kiara would be able to take a break. She also set a reminder to apply for a leave tomorrow. She texted her fellow lab mate about changes to be made that day and the following one. Sighing, she looked at the mother-daughter duo, who hadn't spoken a word yet, via the mirror. Natasha, by the look of her, might give an earful to Ivy about them getting-a-coffee-in-the-mall incident. Ivy prayed that she could use Kiara as her shield. Roughly after twenty minutes, they reached their destination.

As they paid their taxi fare, the women swept past the entrance walking towards the Starbucks in level one. Natasha inwardly complained about her mother and her fondness for luxury coffee. She didn't have enough connections for procuring the best coffee beans but she did try hard to give her customers some special blend and different cake menus for every occasion. She would experiment the blending of flavours every weekend in her place. She studied books and notes in baking and followed recipes from vloggers to improve her own café. She never worked that hard even for her final year thesis and that did improve her café's ratings.

Not wanting to arouse suspicion, she ordered their signature chocolate cake, that literally came with a thin KitKat crust. Ivy ordered their chai tea and Maggie, the espresso.

Looking around the cafe, Natasha wondered how her own is running. She hoped Iqbal would leave only when the second set of part timers arrived. She also hoped that her mother had other commitments. The women took their seats under one of the biggest fans.

Maggie took a sip of her espresso and sighed. Her eyes darted to her daughter's and stayed there for a long time, demanding her offspring to initiate the conversation.

Natasha cleared her throat and said, 'So, mother, where have you been staying and how long have you been working in the city? Last time, I heard that you're moving in with Rodney.'

'Sweetie, you are still lacking manners', said Maggie.

'He is not my father, mother.'

'He might be someday.'

'He is too young to be called a father.'

'He is charming, thank you.'

'He is after you only for the money you make. That's pretty obvious.'