Ella:
“No, I am not!” I looked up facing all the three of them, all calm and confident but deep down I was shocked and scared. Why was she asking me this question all of a sudden!?
“Oh c’mon, will you lie to your own family now?” Bridget continued to dig further.
I stood firm with my answer and said, “ No, I ain’t lying Bridget!”
“What is this then?” She flipped out her phone and showed a picture where I was kissing Joe, It was today, outside the office!!! What was Bridget doing there? What should I do now? I panicked and prayed for some of Helen’s quick thinking to come to my rescue.
Forking on the last bit of pasta I calmly responded “ Well, it’s not something serious, hence I did not mention it!”
“Oh you naughty girl! I did a little background social media check though, just to be on the safer side, you know how protective we feel about you” Bridget giggled.
“Oh tell us, what is his name and where is he from?” Beatrice joined in thoroughly enjoying the conversation at my expense.
“Our brother-in-law’s name is Joe Jackson, his friends like to call him Joey, he isn’t as cute as the one in the sitcom, but he’s way too good for Ella momma, look!!” she showed the profile picture on his social media handle to Mary.
She put on her glasses to inspect the rest of the information murmuring, “ He is from Detroit, Michigan, ughhhh” she made a face before saying, “Ella, I wasn’t expecting you to find someone whose family must have been even lower than the one washing dishes at Four Seasons. We are so happy for you”
“I’m still a bit upset though, that you did not feel we are close enough to share such great news!” she let out a fake tear of concern.
“I’m sorry Mary, it was fairly recent, I certainly did not mean to hurt you.” I knew some sort of drama would follow this conversation.
“If you had good intentions towards me and your sisters, you wouldn’t have lied and kept such good news from us. Oh I am so sad today, Richard had married me thinking Ella would have another mother in her life but today I came to know Ella has not accepted me as her mother at all!” she lamented in her melodramatic tone.
“Awww I am really very sorry Mary! From now onwards, I won’t hide anything from you. How shall I make it up to you?” I asked her upfront because I knew she would make me pay for it in one way or another.
“By spending weekends with me from now on before my little bird flies to make her own nest” she sweetly replied caressing my hand. Now, when roughly translated into Marish(Mary’s code of conduct in English), this meant “I’m going to make sure you don’t get to date/marry anyone anytime soon”
I was really looking forward to going to the business conference this weekend with Joe. Ah how much more will I have to endure?
Ella:I learnt from Helen that the conference was a huge success. Everybody on our team got significant leads to give them the required headstart for December, the last month in this quarter as well as the new year.
Ella:Time seemed to be flying with just under a week left for Christmas. I had started tidying the house up since advent. The curtains and bedsheets were changed with fresh linen, carpets vacuumed till every speck of dirt had vanished. Today after dinner, I would sta
Ella:As the clock struck 12 on Christmas Eve, I made a wish asking God to send me my saviour and bless my parent’s souls. After attending the midnight mass, we come out of the church to be welcomed by tiny little flakes of snow colouring the whole landscape of
Ella:As soon as I get up, I flip my phone out and call Joe, “ Baby how are you doing?”
Ella:I was counting days until the 31st of December, absolutely nothing was affecting me, neither work nor Mary’s jibes nor Bridget’s obsession with being Mrs.Holt.
Ella:The following morning, I got up earlier than usual, feeling so elated I scream out loud after it further dawns on me that nobody’s home . Mary won’t barge in shouting orders at me. This was my house again and today was the 31st, my first anniversary
Ella:Even though she had tens of people working under her, every time I entered the salon, she would personally look after me as though I was her daughter.
Ella:I open the door to see Joe standing beside his priced red Ford Fiesta wearing a classic white shirt and grey trousers. His shirt is slightly open to highlight the dragon tattoos from his favourite movie series “Fast and Furious”.