“No, dear. He went to pick up some stuff,” she took a quick glance at her diamond-encrusted watch, “he should be back any moment. So sorry for the delay.”
“It’s fine, Ma’am. I will wait.”
She smiled animatedly, “In the meantime, we need to talk.”
“What about?” I asked calmly, trying so hard to mask my curiosity.
“Come, have a seat first.”
I slowly walked over to where she sat and eased myself into the sofa closest to her. Where in the world was Kevin?
It was one thing to have a talk with him and another to be interrogated by his mother. She was undoubtedly an easy-going lady, but I just didn't have anything to talk to her about.
“How are things with Kevin?” She enquired, closing the magazine and gently placing it on the stool on her left.
I was going to pretend she was asking, based on his recovery, and answer accordingly, “It's going pretty well, Ma’am. He’s responding very well to the therapy.”
“Smart response, Licia,” she let out a chuckle, “but I'm not talking about his health. I mean the two of you.”
“Oh…” I swallowed hard. I had faced Lexie a couple of days ago on the same issue, now his mom was taking it up a notch. Who knows? The dad might be next. What impression was Kevin giving to them?
That we were kicking things off again? In his wildest dreams!
“I am of the opinion that…”
Kevin's entrance interrupted her. I was the least thrilled by his presence. He had a lot of explaining to do.
“Welcome, Son.”
“Hi, Mom.”
He leaned in and kissed her cheeks. Then turning to me, “So sorry for the delay, Licia. Something beyond my control delayed me.”
“It’s fine, actually. Can we go now?” I blurted, almost immediately, rising to my feet. He happened to be my ‘out of jail free card’ from the awkward conversation I was just having.
He looked between me and his mom, probably trying to figure out what was going on. Phoebe gave him a reassuring smile.
“Yeah, sure. We can,” he replied skeptically.
Once we were out of earshot, I couldn’t keep it in anymore.
“What did you tell your mom is going on between us?” I asked, stopping him in his tracks.
“I don’t understand.” He appeared clueless, but he might just be feigning ignorance.
“Lexie and your mom seem to have this impression that something promising is budding between us. And there is only one plausible explanation. You definitely told them something or did something.”
I was fuming as I paced back and forth. The thought that he was possibly nurturing the idea was ticking off my last nerve.
He huffed exasperatedly, “Just calm down. I can explain.”
“Of course, you have an explanation. And please, don’t tell me to calm down. It’s only going to get me more riled up.”
“Alright… I think they may have misinterpreted my saying that things were no longer strained between us. I am sorry about that.”
I scoffed, “Yeah, sure you are.”
“Licia, what would you have me do to make things right? I have tried explaining things and even apologizing, but you keep blowing me off.” Frustration was dancing around his tone.
