Honeymoon

'Ouch!'

'Thud!'

Annabella bumped into her mother, making her grocery bags fall off. The carrots shattered on the floor while a round cabbage rolled in Annabella's direction before stopping, colliding with her feet.

Annabella: "..."

She gave her mother a smile that she thought of as sweet as honey. She picked up the cabbage and hugged it in her arms.

"Anah, what a beautiful cabbage. It's beautiful just like you, Mom. Round and shiny!" She kissed the cabbage like it was a precious treasure.

Mrs Parker: "..."

She gnashed her teeth, looking mad. "Am I that fat? Am I really fat???" She asked in incredulity.

Annabella shook her head firmly. "No way, my mommy isn't fat. She's chubby and pretty like this cabbage in my arms," She said, swaying the cabbage to both sides.

Mrs Parker rolled her eyes. She didn't know how she managed to put up with a daughter like her! She was simply... Too childish!

"Shut up and pick up the carrots as well," Mrs Parker commanded like a queen from ancient times.

Lifting her chin, she tapped the floor using her foot, making a tiny click sound. She didn't forget to cross her arms above her stomach. Her whole persona looked hella arrogant and noble at the same time.

Annabella obeyed her mother right away and did as she ordered like a little servant. "Mom," She called out carefully.

"Call me Your Highness."

Annabella giggled, nodding her head like a small rat. "Okay, Your Highness. Can I have the honour to learn cooking from you?"

Mrs Parker's mood brightened up immediately. "Of course, I'm glad to teach you," She said enthusiastically.

The two of them went towards the kitchen and started preparing lunch. Annabella helped her mother to wash the vegetables.

She was washing a carrot, paying her entire attention to it like it was the most difficult task ever when she heard her mother ask, "Did you have breakfast with that boy? How's the date? Did it go well? And what were you doing outside just now? When did you get home? Did he give you a ri..."

"Woah, woah, Mom. Why are you asking so many questions?" Annabella pursed her lips, not taking her eyes off the carrots like they would disappear the minute she did so.

"I'm busy right now. I'll tell you later, okay?" Her voice sounded tired. However, her mother failed to notice that.

"Just tell me already." She forced.

"Wait a minute!" Mrs Parker's eyes flung open in shock when the realisation drowned in her mind. "You asked me to teach you how to cook because you wanted to avoid my questions, didn't you?"

She knew that her lazy daughter never liked to learn how to cook meals. When she asked her to join her, she always avoided it by giving various kinds of reasons. Such a person suddenly wanted to learn cooking. Wasn't it just too suspicious?!

Annabella swallowed her saliva. Shoot! Her mother found it out way too easily.

"Aaah, Mom. It's not like that." Annabella let out a tired sigh. "I can answer all of your questions... It's just..."

"It's just what?"

Just like that, Annabella found herself telling everything that had happened including the incident with the teenage boy. She knew although she didn't talk about him, her father would definitely discuss it with his wife. Better to do it before him to avoid any unnecessary questions.

"I can't believe it," Mrs Parker exclaimed in shock. "He ate your food and shamelessly left leaving a tiny piece of paper. A freaking note! Oh my, daughter. I didn't know that he's a jerk."

"He's a jerk." Annabella agreed. "But he loves his mother."

Mrs Parker's eyes lit up. "That means... You like him?"

Annabella squeezed her eyes, looking extremely troubled and annoyed. "Aysh, Mom. Complimenting him doesn't mean that I like him. No way!"

Mrs Parker was disappointed. "At least you can give it a try, you know. He isn't that bad. You can change him into a good gentleman."

Annabella huffed loudly. "Why should I bother to do that? He's a mature man not some kind of a kid."

Mrs Parker laughed. "Doesn't he suit you well then? He acts like a kid and so do you."

Annabella bit her lower lip, frowning. "I act like a kid ONLY in front of you. When I'm staying outside, I always behave well and mature like a professional adult."

"I know, I know." Mrs Parker mocked her. "My daughter is the best."

Annabella didn't care whether she was teasing her or not. She smiled at her mother uttering, "Well said!" 

Only the two of them had lunch together as Annabella's father had work to do. Mrs Parker was the one who cooked the meals. Annabella could only support her by doing small things like washing and cutting.

She really didn't know how to cook.

"Do you remember Nideria?" Mrs Parker suddenly asked, chewing on a chicken wing.

Annabella replied without batting an eye. "Of course, I do. She's one of my classmates."

Mrs Parker let out a 'Hmm'.

"Do you know whom I met today at the grocery store?" She began.

Annabella naturally knew that her mother was up to no good. She dropped her shoulders, pitying herself for being so miserable.

"How am I supposed to know that? Do you think I have superpowers?" She asked, indicating that she disliked the topic they were talking about.

Mrs Parker ignored her as she continued, "It's Nideria's mother, Anastasia. She said that Nideria got married a month ago and is still busy spending her honeymoon. She's so good at cooking. She cooks breakfast for her husband every morning and both of them go to a beach or park or some interesting place to spend their day thereafter. What a blissful life." She sighed as she said.

Annabella sneered in her mind. 'What a good way of wasting time! Doing nothing but kissing, cuddling and... I don't even wanna think about it! Ewww, so gross!'

"Mom, why are you so upset? By any chance, are you regretting the way you spent your honeymoon with Dad? Do you wanna travel back to the past and spend it more romantically?" She enquired in a mocking tone.

Mrs Parker gave her a death glare. "Rascal, I'm not talking about me and your father. I'm talking about you! You don't even have a boyfriend while your friends are getting ready to become mothers. Really! Why are you wasting your youth like this? Being 25 is NOT young already. You are so close to reaching your thirties. It's not good to have babies at such an age!"

Annabella's eyes turned red. She got hurt by her mother's words.

"Mom, are you telling me that I'm old?"

"Of course, you definitely are! Don't cry like a baby when I'm telling you the truth." Her mother said curtly.

"Mom!" Annabella cried in a muffled tone. "I can't get married to a random guy. It's about my life, okay?"

Mrs Parker sighed heavily. "I know, sweetie. But you must understand what Mom's saying. I'm providing you with the best thing I can. So have faith in your mother and date a guy I choose for you."

Annabella's face turned dark when she remembered the incident with John. Of course, her mother was giving her the best... Including the best pervertic fiancé who almost destroyed her innocence.

She wanted to speak about that incident with her mother so badly however, she knew she couldn't bring herself to do that. She didn't want to make her mother worry so much. She would absolutely regret introducing John to her if she knew what had happened.

Both of them fell silent after that. They had meals quietly. It made Annabella somehow feel suffocate. Thus, she grabbed her phone to scroll through it. Maybe she could open Webnovel to check new updates of her recent favourite novel.

Speaking of which, she wasn't a fan of romance novels. She found them stupid and naïve but for the sake of healing her asexuality, she forced herself to read some of them.

Suddenly, a message popped up on her screen exactly at that moment. It was from an unknown number.

The unknown number: Hi, Annabella! Damien's here. I hope u remember treating my wounds today...

Me: Of course, I do. I don't have amnesia! But how do you know my number? I can't remember giving it to you!

The unknown number: Ohkay... ( ;

Me: What do you mean by okay?

The unknown number: I left a box on your bed. Get ready and wait for me. Imma pick you up at 6 p.m. Dress up well.

Me: Why would I?

The unknown number: This is the help I asked you to do earlier. You should pretend to be my girlfriend for today. Only for today. I won't pester you anymore. Get ready on time, bye!

Me: Hey, wait! You didn't answer my question. How did you find my number? And why do I have to be your fake girlfriend? Where are you taking me? Why should I dress up well? Are we going to visit your family?

There was no reply for a long time.

Me: Damien...

Still no reply.

Me: Hey, Dummy. Where are you? Answer my question!

Annabella put down her phone with a 'Humph' before going towards her room to check the box he left for her.

Wait... She forgot to ask the most important question there.

When and how did he put a box on her bed? No one noticed him going to her room and she didn't even tell him which one was her room when he came to their house!