Of course, I sometimes dream of travelling and learning about other cultures, but I am not a materialist. I am also convinced that those who feel the need to show off how much money they have are the ones with the lowest self-worth of all.
I slap the book closed in annoyance. The sound it makes causes my cat to jump up from the snuggly spot on my lap, and she hides under my bed.
What happened today should be a reminder to me to never go out again, with anyone, ever. Not that I have done much of that before. Here is just another reason.
There was a time when I wanted to, but didn’t have the people to make it happen. Now, I don’t care anymore. I don’t want anything to ever disrupt my peace.
At that moment, my phone rings. I groan as I look at the display. My mother. That woman can sniff me thinking about her.
“Yes,” I say when I answer the phone.
“Are you okay?” my mother asks.
“Yeah, sure, why wouldn’t I?”
“You didn’t call today,” she says.
“Yeah, sorry, I was…um…I had a lot of work to do, preparations for next week.”
“You work too much,” says my mother. “You need to find a man, love, or all the good ones will be taken by the girls out of your league.”
“Mom!” I say, fuming inside within the matter of a second, anger boiling in me.
“It’s true, those girls know how to lock in a man, you should?—“
“Mom, seriously, stop it!” I shout and jump up. “I don’t want a bloody man, and I?—“
“You what? Those cats of yours won’t take care of you when you’re older. You need children.“
I scoff.Good to know why you had me,I think to myself. I don’t want children. I have my kids at school, and that’s fine. I want my peace at home.
“How’s Rick doing?” I ask to get away from the topic.
“Wonderful,” she says. “He’ll be back on Wednesday, and we’ll fly to Dubai then.”
“Dubai,” I say.
“Yes, he’ll take me for some shopping there. I can’t wait.”
“Great,” I say without meaning it. A knock on my door. “Have fun then. I gotta go, Bella is waiting for me.”
“Oh, tell Bella how I miss seeing her; she should come around more often. She has to tell me how it ended with that Lord she was dating.”
I close my eyes for a moment and breathe out. My lovely mother.
“I need your help,” says Bella through the door.
Everyone wants something from me. So much about nothing disrupting my peace. I heave my body off the bed and stick my head out of the door.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Zip me up, will you?” she asks and turns around. She wears a dark red dress that could not be any shorter. I can almost see her arse.
Bella is the complete opposite of me. Her rich mother lives somewhere in the States now and sends her money every month, while my mother married into money and gives me nothing. Not that I want it, I wouldn’t, but Bella simply uses her parents. I admire it. I’d like to have the guts to do so, too.
Bella’s father has a company and doesn’t give a crap about her, just like mine; it’s one of the few things we have in common. I don’t even know where he is or what he’s doing. After my mother left him, he just vanished. And Bella’s dad, he’s so superficial that I am certain someone will slip on his slickness one day.
“Did you talk to your mother?” Bella asks.
