Chapter 6

It was Saturday.

Alethia had enjoyed the peace of Friday night since she'd fallen to obliviousness at the late hours anyway. Nothing was supposed to be special about Saturdays, at least in Alethia's view. She had never thought anything was special about any day. As much as she'd allowed herself to think about this, every day is nothing but the continuous repetition of yesterday. But this Saturday, something was biting her under her dress.

Her heart had been thumping fast since daylight streamed in through her blinds, and she'd been doing things she wouldn't normally do -- like arranging her room and dusting her bedside drawer over and again. It was as if she had to do something to keep her mind from continuously going over the fact that Ethan would be coming in during the day, so she had to make an effort to keep herself from thinking about him.

"Alethia?" Emily called at the door, startling Alethia out of her thought. Alethia took a deep breath to calm herself. She moved to the door and opened it, beholding her mother's elated face.

"Hey, honey."

"Hi, mom."

Emily wrinkled her brows at Alethia's dull countenance. "What's wrong? You look rather dull."

Alethia sighs sharply. "Well, I'm sorry if you expect me to be all over the house because you're bringing a man in today."

"Come on, honey. It's too early for this."

"Mom, I'm busy."

Emily smiled, trying to be more friendly. "So, what are you doing this early?" She attempted to peek into the room, but Alethia drew sideways to block her sight into the room.

"Mom, go away."

"Why?" She gave a disappointed frown. They exchanged a knowing glance before Emily gathered her face together in an apologetic way.

"I know you're still angry about Ethan joining us. But, honey. You shouldn't judge the man before giving him a chance to prove his sincerity."

Alethia chortled incredulously. "All men are the same, Mom. You giving him a chance to prove his sincerity just gives him a heads-up at hiding his true intentions."

"Well, not all men are the same. I mean, you wouldn't say that about your father," she took a glance at Alethia and lowered her eyes immediately.

Alethia couldn't argue with that. She might agree that all men are a bunch of scumbags, but not after excluding her late father.

"Mom, that's not fair."

Emily moved closer to her. "Baby, you just have to trust that I know what I'm doing."

"You're in love, Mom."

"Yes, I am. I'm in love with Ethan."

"My point exactly!" Emily instinctively drew back from Alethia and looked at her face. Alethia could see her bewilderment, so she added quickly. "How can you be right when you're in love?"

Emily chortled incredulously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mom, the fact that you're in love with him means you're already wrong about who he is. Love has a way of making us see what we want to see about a person, not who the person is."

Emily maintained a steady gaze on Alethia's face for a moment before she giggled. "So, now you're a love shrink?"

"Mom…"

"Look, honey…" She stepped closer and held Alethia's right hand. "... I'll be fine. Ethan is a great guy if you get to know him."

Alethia peered at her mother's face. It was obvious that the woman was in love, but that was the most painful part for Alethia.

She swallowed hard and cleared her throat, now avoiding her mother's eyes. From there on, she knew she'd have to put more effort into keeping secrets from her mother, and the magnitude of the one she bore was already wearing her off. Maybe that was why she felt tired within and not because Ethan was going to join them during the day.

Alethia reckoned she was using her head too much, and it was starting to ache, so she inhaled deeply and decided to accept the situation the way her mother wanted it.

"I just hope he doesn't hurt you."

"He won't!" Emily said sharply, with a bright smile on her face.

"Well, if you say so," Alethia shrugged. She was going to close the door but Emily pushed her way through.

"Mom!"

Emily took her time to take the sight in, marveling at the new view the room had assumed.

"Honey, are you renovating?"

"I'm cleaning, mom. It's not a big event."

"Well, the fact that you're cleaning makes it a big event. Are you seeing someone now?"

The abruptness of the question tugged at Alethia's insincerity so that she choked on her saliva. She coughed for a moment then cleared her throat.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked. Her eyes were peering at Alethia too hard that Alethia could feel herself naked in front of her mother.

"I'm fine, Mom. Why would you even ask me that?"

"You mean asking if you're fine, or if you're seeing someone?"

"Mom…"

"There's nothing bad with you having a boyfriend. I mean, you're twenty-two."

"Thanks, Mom. But I'm not interested in seeing just any man."

Emily smiled. "Does that mean there's someone special then?"

Alethia cringed with a kind of fear that was enough to make her crash, but she held on tightly, though she couldn't keep from being awkward. She grabbed her mother immediately -

"What, what's wrong?" Emily inquired.

"It's your cue to leave."

"But we're not done talking."

"There's nothing more to talk about, Mom."

"Yes, there-" Alethia helped her out of the room before she could finish the sentence, and what came next was the door slammed in Emily's face.

Emily smiled to herself. She didn't need a predictor to tell her that Alethia was seeing someone, but she might need a clue at who the supposed special someone was.

It was a matter of time anyway. She could wait -- if necessary.

Alethia tried to calm herself as she reclined on the door. If her moments with her mom were going to continue being like this, then it was a matter of time before she spills and tripped on her spill. She could already feel the impending doom, but there was nothing that could be done now. Ethan was going to join them under the same roof whether she liked it or not…

To put it rightly, Alethia wanted Ethan to live under the same roof as her. She wanted to get to know him more than just one night and one encounter -- something that would have been easier if it had been under different circumstances. Now she has to figure out how to live closely beside him without her mother's suspicion.

Alethia walked to her bed and sat at the edge, staring far beyond the wall in front of her. She imagined a lot of coincidences that would have made the present situation lenient on her, but she soon reconciled that things happen for a reason. Though she couldn't imagine what reason the universe would have for making her encounter with Ethan rather sweet-bitter.

***

It was about five hours later before Alethia could gather herself together. By then she was sure that she would be able to have Ethan's presence without letting her mind run wide. And by then her mom had made a feast out of the groceries they had in the kitchen.

There was caponata flatbread -- eggplant-topped, and grilled sweet potatoes with lemon-herb sauce. Emily had also decorated the dining table with colorful balloons, which had brought Alethia to a chortle when she beheld the sight. Her mom had been going up and down the living room and the triclinium as if something was missing, and Alethia was just sitting on the couch watching her.

"Hey, honey. What do you think?" Emily said once she was assessing her decorations again.

Alethia rose and moved closer to her by the dinner table. "Don't you think you're overdoing this?"

"What?" She glanced over her shoulder at Alethia.

"This is not a big deal, Mom. You're going to over-pamper this man into taking you for granted."

Emily turned to look at Alethia. She sighed deeply and decided to keep her comment. So she walked away from Alethia and ran her hands through the balloons again, though she didn't make any changes, sighed deeply for the sake of satisfaction.

"I think that's it," she said.

Alethia walked back to sit on the couch. She looked at the walls overall to make sure that her mom hadn't knocked down her dad's pictures just to please the new man. The pictures were still on the walls, and her dad was still smiling immovably as if he was somewhere close by.

Alethia caught herself smiling before she felt the back of her eyes burns with hot tears. If there was anything painful about keeping pictures, she decided it was the fact that it only captured a single moment.

Emily's phone rang on the dinner table, but she was already in the shower by then -- this Alethia knew when she tried to get her mom to answer the phone.

"Mom, your phone is ringing."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know," she said as if she didn't care. But Emily implored her to answer the call for her. It was when Alethia picked up the phone that she saw Ethan's name. Well, it was a surprise to her that her mom didn't save his name as 'Hunnybunny' or with those kinds of names.

"What do you want?" Alethia said once she had picked up the call.

"Who's this?"

"You're not so dumb not to know whose line you dialed, right?"

Ethan giggled. "Alethia?"

"Now you know, so what do you want?"

By the movement in the background, Alethia knew he was sitting down. Ethan cleared his throat and let his arms relax.

"I just wanted to tell your mom that I won't be coming in until another hour."

"That's not a problem. I think you'll be doing us a favor if you decide you aren't coming at all."

"You mean I'll be doing you a favor?"

"Do you have anything else to say?"

He cleared his throat. "Have we met before?"

Alethia frowned immediately. She removed the phone from her ear to look at the screen.

"Excuse me?"

"It's obvious that you hate me so much, but I know this is not only because I'm going to become your stepdad. So, have we met before?"

Now he wants to deny her? Alethia laughed out loud before she remembered that her mom was in the other room.

"What's so funny about this?"

"You can do better than this, okay? Now get the fuck off the phone."

"Aleth, wait-"

Alethia hung up on him. "Despicable lot," she said and dropped the phone back on the dinner table. She tried to regain her usual self after the call, but she just couldn't calm herself.

How dare he ask her if they've met before? She sat on the couch to think about whether he doesn't remember her. But she soon reasoned the impossibility.

Alethia rose from the couch and walked to the dinner table to check her mom's phone. She went through it to be sure she'd just spoken with Ethan. "What a jerk," she said as she assessed the phone. Realizing her frustrations, she felt like smashing the phone on the floor, but she didn't. She rather gave it a thud as she let it drop on the table.

Emily came out of the bathroom with a wet body and a dry white towel wrapped around her from chest to knees.

"Who was that?"

"Ethan," she said halfheartedly.

Emily walked briskly to her phone. "What did he say? Is he on his way? Gosh, I should have prepared earlier."

Seeing her mom this way frustrates Alethia. "Mom, that's enough."

"What's enough?"

"He's just a fucking man, Mom. A man who doesn't even deserve you."

"Alethia, I thought we were done with you chiding him?"

"Mom…"

"That's enough! And mind you, girl. I won't have you talk about my man with disrespect, ever."

Alethia breathed deeply. She acknowledged she was going too far.

"I'm sorry Mom, I'll keep that in mind." She said and made for the stairs, but then she halted and turned back.

"By the way, he said to tell you that he won't be here until an hour later. So you can go and do whatever you have to do to prepare for him." She was going to head up the stairs now, but then the doorbell rang. They both looked at each other, wondering if any of them was expecting another visitor.

"Get the door," Emily said.

"I'm sure it's not for me."

"Just get the door, will you?"

Alethia clomped to the door and opens it. She froze immediately upon the surprise that had been waiting for her, but she was more amazed by his look rather than his presence. He was putting on a casual plain polo shirt, but black did suit him. His dark hair was moist and curly at the front, with a few strands falling on his forehead.

As much as she was struggling to breathe, Alethia struggled to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Hey," he said.

As he smiled widely and she beheld his beautiful blue eyes brightening at her, Alethia wondered if she would ever be able to truly hate this man.