19 Her Mother's Tantrums 2

Poor dad, he will sleep alone tonight again, thought Lea.

Lea closed her books and went downstairs to cook. Her mother normally would not cook when she is mad at them. Sadly sometimes this happens on school days, and her father would have to cook after getting back from work. So, this was a lucky day for her father, as she can cook. She was certain her mother would flip once she realises this, but Lea didn't care Her father needed to rest after a long day at work. Lea learnt how to cook from her aunt, Alice. She owned a restaurant in the neighbouring town. So every time she visited, she would learn all the secrets of the kitchen from her.

This was the time she showed her parents her talents, she was confident in her cooking skills. Like, she was confident in her studies. Lea was one of the geniuses in their small town and her mother seemed to forget this sometimes. She just wanted her to trust her, she didn't want a life dictator.

So, she started to marinate the chicken with some spices and put it in the fridge to cool down. She proceeded to wash the vegetables and cut them into cubes. Today, she was going to make pasta and stir fry, red wine roast chicken and vanilla pudding for dessert. She was humming and having a good time cooking.

***

Jonah was dumped with work because one of his colleagues didn't show up today. It was a busy time in their working environment because it was close to the holidays, and customer service was dickshit busy at these times.

It was not nice to work the weekends also, but he had no choice as he had a family to feed. So, when his wife called to complain about their daughter just added to his stress. He couldn't concentrate because he knew Lea nearly never backchats, there must be a reason she acted so out of place.

One thing he knew, was that his wife can be unreasonable sometimes. Though he loved her, she can be a handful.

She must have pressured Lea to study again. Lucille failed to understand Lea is a teenager and she should be hanging out with friends on weekends and getting a boyfriend to experience life. Though he wished she would not get a boyfriend so early, it was inevitable at this age. His daughter was a beauty. Sometimes he was scared of boys taking advantage of her, people turned to go for the looks than loving the person for who they are.

So, he hurried to finish his work to rush home so he can cook. He knew his wife will be on strike tonight.

***

While Lea was waiting on the chicken to finish cooking, she went to the living room to switch on the lights. That's when she saw the broken phone on the floor.

She sighed.

Her mom loved doing this, throwing phones on the wall and breaking them. Her dad will then have to buy a new one because it would be his fault for angering her. She was good at guilt-tripping people. She was never grateful for her father's hard work.

Lea understood that being a housewife was tiring work too. Cleaning the rooms, washing the dishes, cooking, iron clothes, doing laundry, making sure everything is in place. It may be more frustrating done any office job, but she still felt that everyone must respect the other's hard work.

Her father gets to be cursed at by customers. Humiliated every day and he cannot do a thing about it, because the customer is 'apparently' always right. He is always running around servicing the rich people and the poor, it didn't matter they all throwing tantrums. Then he comes home and gets another earful from his wife. It is not fair, mostly because he cannot see any improvements if he has to buy a NEW phone, all the time.

Poor dad! Thought Lea

She cleaned the mess her mom made, closed the curtains and then proceeded to the dining room. She set up the table with the table utensils, after she was done, she went back to the kitchen to check on the meat.

Lucille heard the car from her room indicating her husband's arrival and she woke up from her bed and got ready for a battle. She wanted to see that husband of hers cooking supper, it was his fault for taking their daughter's side. He should've run home the moment she called, to see what was happening instead of hanging up on her and acting as if he was better than her.

This was his punishment and he deserved it a hundred folds.

Getting in the house Jonah was dog tired from work. He was still thinking about what he should be cooking when he opened the door and was welcomed by a mouthwatering aroma. He heard his stomach growl in hunger.

Confusion was written in his face, as he was certain his wife would strike today. So, how come she cooked?

He started to feel very unsettled as this meant things were worse than he thought. Maybe she decided to cook them a last meal, was she going to leave him?

Whilst still being in thought he heard his daughter welcoming him home.

"Welcome home dad," she said with a warm smile. She hugged her father with a huge hug. Kissing his cheek, she said "You look exhausted. Was work too much today?" her concern for her father was evident in her voice.

"Yes, one of my colleagues did not pitch. So, I had double the normal work today," he complained.

"Oh, I am sorry dad. Let me get your jacket. Go up and freshen up, I've made dinner. Mom is at it again, just use the guest room," she advised.

Jonah hurried up and went upstairs to the guest room. As he closed the door his wife opened their room door going out with a vengeance determined face. Jonah hurriedly closed the door and locked it. He went to the bathroom and started to sing to avoid her yelling and knocking at the door.

"Jonah, open the door this instant. I want to talk to you about that daughter of yours," shouted Lucille at the door, knocking harshly.

Jonah carried on with his bad singing, whilst taking a shower and ignoring his yelling wife. This behaviour angered Lucille, which she started to curse her husband in her heart.

She could not believe he was avoiding her, didn't he understand she wanted to voice her feelings? He was acting as if she was not there, making noise with that squeaky voice of his. Oh, how he annoyed her. She could strangle the bastard for treating her like this.

With anger, she grumbled in annoyance and stomped her feet going downstairs. Sooner or later he was going to have to cook and he can never avoid her grievances.