1 The Mother

There was a loud bang that echoed in the small office room as Addilyn let her head fall against her desk loudly. Papers flew from the amount of force that hit the desk but also from the wind that came from the downwards motion of her head. She groaned loudly. She had so much paperwork to do in less than a week but, then again, she always took it upon herself to complete the tasks that her boss offers her.

She hears shuffling coming from the front of her cubicle as she looks at the ground. As the shuffling stopped, she looked up to see her friend Adrian standing in front of her cubicle. He had a worried but amused facial expression as he looked down on her.

She'd known Adrian since the first day of her work at 'Beyers Enterprises', the biggest company in the United States. Although, she didn't expect to make friends during her work here, she realized the opportunities for herself as she met Adrian. And here they were, knowing each other for 5 years and still friends.

"You look troubled today!" States Adrian as she looked up at him. He was good looking. Jet black hair that fell down onto his forehead and temples, short at the back. He had the deepest gray eyes anyone could see and his facial features were sharp and defined. He had a magnificent jawline and a tall, lean but toned, body. He handled the business calls and errands as he was the companie's CEO's son's assistant.

"Why do I do this to myself?" She answered him as she stood up to pick up the paperwork that scattered on the desk and onto the floor.

"You could start by saying no! Although, looking from your point of view, that would be challenging," he rubbed his chin as he looked off into the distance. Addilyn stood up with the papers not so neatly stacked in her hands. She set them down onto the table.

"And when has that ever worked? I always go back and take on the job anyway." She bites her bottom lip as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Addi! You need to learn how to say no! Look at yourself! You have stress wrinkles on your forehead." He pointed to her forehead as he said this making Addilyn cover her forehead in panic.

"What?" She gasped. "No!" She grabbed her cellphone and looked into her reflection to see that her forehead was as smooth as ever. She looked up from her phone and narrowed her eyes at Adrian. He chuckled before throwing his hands up in the air as a surrender.

"I'm joking! Joking!" He gave a small chuckle as he watched her stack her papers neatly and cleaning off her desk area as it was time to leave work. "Where should we go today? We have the arcade, park, maybe the movies..." he trailed off as he thought about where they could go.

"Let's hit the arcade today! We still have some tokens left over from last Saturday but we can buy more!" She looked up at him as she smiled and grabbed her bag to sling over her shoulder. They walked out together, chatting about the games they could play and the fun they would have.

Addilyn looked down when her cell phone started ringing. Taking it out of her pocket and looking at the caller I.D., she saw it was her sister. She looked at Adrian as she pressed the answer call button before she mouth to him a silent 'Hang on' as she walked away over to a wall and listened to her sister's "Hello".

"What is it, Makenzy?" Addilyn asked after her sister's greeting. Her older sister called her everyday to check to see how work was going for her and sometimes to give her a little news about her love life.

Addilyn had a lover. Or, at least, she called it that. They went on one date and they never really met up as she was too busy working. They still talked though.

"You might want to hurry back to your apartment!" She could imagine her sister's worried look on her face as she said this and instantly, she wondered what was wrong.

"Why? What is it, Mak?" She asked hurriedly as she wanted to hear what her sister had to say that was so important.

She heard her sister sigh and take a deep breath before continuing.

"Mom's coming." Dread filled Addilyn's mind as she heard what her sister said. She didn't exactly fancy her mother. Yeah she could be sweet but she was a real pain. She complained about anything and everything and set high expectations on her and her sister. She even nagged at them about their love lives. She didn't like when her mother came over.

"I'll talk to you later! Bye, mak!" She hurriedly pressed end call before she speed walked over to Adrian. "I can't go to the arcade!" She said looking up at him.

"Why? Did an emergency come up?" He asked her for her to nod her head hastily.

"My mom is coming to my apartment." She said to him and he made a worried face. He didn't like her mother either.

"Good luck!" He said before they did their secret handshake that they made around three years ago. Addilyn hurried into the parking lot and found her car before she drove home.

Running up the stairs to her apartment, she quickly pulled her house keys from her pocket with a jingle and, it took a few tries as her hand was shaking, opened the door for her Australian Shepherd, Rhody, to come barreling towards her. She quickly made her way into the door and shut it with a loud click.

She put her back to the door and looked at her apartment. It was a beautiful apartment and Addilyn still couldn't believe the price was so cheap. It had a view of the city from a wall that was only made of glass and the living area was spacious. It was like a mini suit. Looking around her apartment, she noticed she had a few chores to get done before her mother would arrive and she quickly went to her room to change into more comfortable clothes.

Coming out of her room in a tank top and shorts, she got to her chores. She swept the floors, mopped, washed the dishes and dusted here and there. Her apartment was usually tidy and never really a mess. The worse mess that had ever happened in the apartment was the few dishes in the sink and a few wrappers on the coffee table as she lived alone.

She turned on the news as she made dinner.

"....reports say that he stole the woman's bag and made a run for it but, while running, he experienced a heart attack and died on the scene." The news woman said as Addilyn stirred the noodles in the pot.

"Serves him right. Idiot." Addilyn murmured under her breath as she mixed the sauce and noodles and placed it on plates just as there was a knock on the door. Rhody barked and she told him to hush up before she looked through the peep hole. Behold and be told, it was her mother. She took a deep breath before she opened the door and put a smile on her face.

"Hello, Addilyn." Her mother said with a fake looking smile on her face. She dressed in expensive clothing with a purse and sunglasses. Her mother loved being presentable at all times whereas Addilyn only liked to look professional out in public and on some occasions in her home.

"Hello, mother!" She stepped aside to let her mother walk inside. She saw her look around the apartment and then look at Rhody.

"I see you still have that...mutt..." her mother said making a disgusted face.

"Please don't call him that, mother! He is a great companion!" She looked over at Rhody. "Isn't that right, Rhody?" She asked the dog for him to bark, sit, then wag its tail. She looked over at her mother. "See!" She extended her hand towards the dog.

Her mother scowled before walking into the living room. She sat down on the plush, white couch and crossed her legs.

"Would you like anything to drink, mother?" She asked her mother for her to take off her glasses to reveal beautiful green eyes. She inherited her mother's green eyes and her fathers straight, jet black hair. Though her skin wasn't as tan as her mother's, she had fair, olive skin.

"Just water will do." He mother answered as she picked up the remote and flipped through the channels on the television. Addilyn opened the cupboard to get a glass and filled it with purified water. Her mother only ever drank purified water. She didn't like tap water. She walked over and set it in front of her.

Her mother looked up at her and scanned what she was wearing.

"Can you at least be decent to yourself? Doesn't your-" she struggled as she said the word. "-boyfriend ever come over and see you like this?" She asked. An annoyed tone started coming out.

"What do you mean, mother? This is my home and I can choose to dress how I want. And also, me and Aaron are just talking!" She replies back and walked to the kitchen. "Would you like to eat?" She asked and her mother sat up and walked over to the kitchen bar that she used as a table. Addilyn brought the pasta before her and they both started eating silently. After a while, her mother spoke.

"I would hope you are exceeding expectations at your work?" Addilyn looked up at her mother. Was she joking?

"Yes I have indeed, mother. I've been working hard for one day to be as successful as you." She knew this was a lie because she never wanted to be like her mother. Her intentions were the opposite than her mother's and instead of wanting to be rich and famous, she wanted to be well off and live a decent life.

"That is lovely, dear! Your father and I would be so proud! You know, when you finally reach the age of 21, we should go out to treat you to a drink!" She looked into Addilyn's eyes and Addilyn looked away as she couldn't bear to look at her mother.

"Shouldn't you be leaving? Why are you even here anyway?" Addilyn asked, annoyance lacing her voice.

"My! A daughter's mother can't check up on her? Who do you think I am?" Her mother looked dramatically taken aback and it made Addilyn roll her eyes.

'I think you are the biggest snake that I have ever seen. And you need to get out!' Addilyn spoke in her mind and looked at her mother.

"It's getting late and I have work tomorrow!" Addilyn walked behind the bar and tried pushing her mother out the door.

"But, dear! Tomorrow is Friday! Can't you request a day off?" Her mother asked her as Addilyn pushed her out the door.

"No!" And she closed the door and locked it. She exhaled loudly before walking over to get the dishes done.

'What a disaster!' She thought as she tidied her living space up and went to the bathroom to wash her face before she went to dreamland.

Her phone went off with a notification and saw that she had a notification from her sister, Mak, and another from her best friend Adrian.

She read the text from her sister first.

'Did she do anything to you?' The text red and she responded with,

'No. She was just annoying and nagging as usual!'

She scrolled to Adrian's contact to read his texts.

'Would you like to reschedule our arcade fun for tomorrow instead? I'll pay!'

'Sure! Then we can go for some pizza or something! How does that sound?'

She saw him typing for a second before he responded with an:

'Ok :).'

She sighed before washing her face and crawling into her warm bed. Instead of sleeping, she lay there thinking about what her mother wanted.

Ever since she was little, her mother would push her into doing more than she could handle all because she wanted her to take over the family business. Instead of working at the family business though, she decided to get a job at the biggest enterprises of the United States.

The stress from the pushes her mother gave her started showing up over the years and her sister noticed too. She always warned her about her encounters with her mother, and what her mother wanted to talk about. This time, she already knew so she didn't really need to say.

Rhody walked into the room and whimpered before jumping onto the bed. He walked to her side and curled up next to her arm and fell asleep in a heartbeat. Addilyn gave one last sigh before her fatigue gave in and she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.