Chapter 3

"Caleb~"

I was awoken by my mother's voice as she knocked on the doors of my room.

"We'll leave in about thirty minutes, be ready okay"

It seems she wasn't lying about the grocery, when me and my brother were young he would mostly push his stuff on me when he had plans, but my mom would always pull me to the groceries so that my brother has to do the stuff he actually has to do. And up until now these things still continue to happen. I wonder why something still hasn't changed.

"Yes, I will"

I took time to stare at the view of the sky from the window of my room, it's been only 20 minutes since I fell asleep, yet, the dream felt like it lasted for a day. Knowing how my mother takes off earlier than the time she would speak of, I took a shower. I never really liked taking long showers but for some reason this day felt perfect, the cold water running all over my body as I stared at the shower drain looking at where all the water that passed through my body was going.

But then again time wasn't on my side at my parent's house so maybe I'll take one once I return to my condo tomorrow I guess. I got out of the shower and immediately wore some clothes, it smelt new despite the fact that I don't usually wear the clothes I left here when I moved out.

I went down stairs and found my mother laughing at a show on the television. She looked at me and smiled before switching it off standing. She took a pair of keys on the table and hid one of it in her purse and threw one at me.

"You're driving"

She spoke with a soft voice as she headed towards the door. The keys were my car keys, she definitely knows that I'm going back to my apartment later today, is it parents ' intuition? I have no idea. But the only thing I know is that she's already one step ahead of me in most of the things I do.

The grocery was a 15 minute drive from my parent's house depending on traffic, sometimes it takes about 25 minutes especially at noon. The drive was smooth since rush hour still hasn't hit so we reached the destination after about 14 minutes, we didn't talk much, she simply observed the establishments we passed by while the radio continued to play.

"Were here" I spoke, she nodded and walked out of the car.

The relationship between me and my mother had changed when I reached college, that time I lived in a dormitory near my university and would barely visit them. There were times when my brother would call me just to remind me that I should check on them once in a while.

I guess she's keeping her distance and doesn't want to force herself too much on my space. We entered the grocery like any normal mother and child, she pointed to the push cart which I immediately took. But while I was to separate it from the other push carts a hand suddenly grabbed it.

"Ah! I'm sorry!"

She immediately apologized, I gave an awkward smile and allowed her to take the cart. She had this embarrassed expression on her face as she was beet red.

"Are you alright?"

I immediately uttered. To be honest I'm really not into talking to strangers whatever gender they may be, but this woman gives me an extremely nostalgic and comfortable vibe. She didn't give any reply to my question, she stared at me for some unknown reason, she tried to tell me something but stuttered. In the end she replied "I'm Okay" and smiled before rushing away with the cart.

I watched as she made her way towards a few other women that seemed to be her friends, the moment she reached them they started to giggle like high school girls. One of them stared at me and waved her hand, I waved back my hand when my mother suddenly called me out.

I immediately walked towards her while pushing the cart.

"Some friends?" she asked.

"I don't recall..."

After my reply she suddenly stopped the cart and looked me in the eye before looking at something behind me.

"Grab me that detergent, and while you're at it. Stop running away from your past"

The words she spoke sent shivers to my spine, the tone of her voice was so serious that I had no idea if she was joking or scolding me. I followed her instructions and took the detergent to the cart. We spent most of our time in the grocery in silence, she would simply tell me what to get and I would just follow. Our cart was already half full when she suddenly spoke.

"I'll be in the restroom. You should get the stuff you need at your home, don't worry I'll pay for it"

She then walked further away as I stared at the items inside the cart. I started to push it walking back on to the isle's we've passed and took the stuff that I need at my condo such as; shampoo's, soap, stuff for my facial care, air freshener, a deodorant and other personal stuff.

It took my mother about 10 minutes to return, I was already finished at that point so we went straight to the cashier.

"The total would be ₱9,000 pesos"

I realized how much stuff I took in and didn't think about how much my mother had to pay. I immediately took out my wallet and tried to take my card out. Her hand suddenly stopped me. She didn't bat an eye on me and continued to pay for everything. We headed to the car and went on our way but it seems that we took too long on our grocery trip that it was already rush hour.

"Don't remember that girl?" She suddenly asked.

[Chapter End]