‘Really?’ My eyes popped.
‘Yeah. I’ve been thinking.’ She paused as the waiter brought over our dessert, which looked like a Tarte Tropézienne – a typical dessert from the Provence region which was like a sweet brioche dough cake that was cut in half and filled with pastry cream, then topped with sugar pearls and a dusting of icing sugar.
Once we were alone again, she continued.
‘I know when she finds out she’ll feel betrayed. But surely if she’s a true friend she’d be happy for me, right? And if she really loves us, although it’d be a huge shock and might take time for her to get used to, she’d give us her blessing. And I need to think about whatIwant for a change.’
My shoulders loosened. It felt like the weight of a thousand mountains had been lifted from them.FinallyLaila was starting to put herself first. This was what I was waiting for.
This was good progress.
‘You are right. Although if she does not give us her seal of approval, I do not want you to feel disappointed.’
‘What happened between you two?’ Laila asked. ‘I know you’ve said it’s not your place to say, but I need to know.’
I took a deep breath.
‘My mother betrayed us. She cheated on my father. And not just once.’
Laila gasped.
‘I had no idea.’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘It ruined our family.’
‘Oh my God, Gabriel. I’m so sorry. That must have been awful for you.’
‘It was. The arguments were relentless. I hated being at home. Going to school used to be an escape for me. But then she cheated with my teacher.’
‘No!’ Laila’s jaw dropped.
‘By then I think I was about thirteen years old. It was already a challenging time for me. The last thing I needed was people gossiping about my mother sleeping with my teacher. I tried speaking to her. But when I begged her not to get involved with him, she slapped me across my face and told me that I was a child and she was an adult and what she did was none of my business. But that was where she was wrong. When everyone at school is calling your mother a whore, it was very much my business.’
‘Absolutely! School at that age is hard enough without having to deal with that too. I can’t understand how she didn’t realise that.’
Hearing Laila’s sympathy caused a wave of relief to wash over me.
She understood. Just like I knew she would. This had been weighing on me for too long. It felt good to finally get this off my chest.
‘So what happened after that?’
‘That ended, but then she cheated with a rich man and ran off with him – abandoning me and my father. They moved around then eventually when that broke down, she ended up in London.’
‘Fuck.’ Laila shook her head. ‘I’m not excusing her behaviour, but do you think by the time she came to London she realised her mistakes and wanted to have a fresh start? Not just with her life, but did she try and make more of an effort with your relationship? Like to support you more? I’m really hoping she at least did that.’
‘She apologised. Admitted that she had made a mistake. Said she missed me and wanted to try and mend our relationship. Which was when I started to visit. But when I told her I wanted to leave university to pursue my app, she said it was a mistake to drop out. She did not believe in me.’
‘And I’m guessing that’s why you stopped talking and coming to London?’
‘Oui. I said that if she could not support my dreams then I did not want to speak to her.’
‘I get that.’
‘After a few years, she got in touch again and I thought I would give her another chance. But then she just kept telling me I should get a job and settle down. I found that so hypocritical considering what she had done to our family. I told myself that I should stop talking to her again, but I just… It is hard to explain, but for some reason, I still wanted her to…’
‘Love you? Believe in you?’
‘It is stupid, I know.’
