Broken With My Mother In Law

“Hey.” I heard him whisper. Hearing my name leaving his mouth was so hot. “Linda..” I heard it again, louder this time and why does his voice sound so foreign? 

“Linda!” I immediately shot up from bed when I felt a hand shaking my shoulder and shouting my name. I looked at the culprit and saw a confused Elena looking back at me. “Are you okay? I was about to wake you up but I found you groaning in your sleep so I thought you had a nightmare.” 

Oh it’s a nightmare alright. I said to myself. What the… why am I feeling wet down there? What was that?! Knowing that Elena is asking me a question, I answered her truthfully. “Yes, I’m okay. Thanks for waking me up. I’ll just wash up first then I’ll follow you downstairs.” 

I said and then washed myself first. I already remembered why Dylan and Elena were here. I invited them over to hang out here. Since we can’t think of anything to do, we decided to watch some horror movies and do a movie marathon. 

We were busy preparing some snacks like popcorn, we also ordered some pizza and drinks. We chose a movie then switched off the lights. 

The pizza arrived shortly after comfortably settling on our seat. I’m on my second slice when Elena broke the silence. “I wonder what your boyfriend is up to right now.” My heart automatically beats faster at the mention of the name. Not wanting them to notice my reaction, I just stuffed the rest of my pizza in my mouth. “Maybe busy with his flight.” I answered nonchalantly. “What!?” Dylan asked. “Uhm, I mean, he is scheduled to go home later.” I said in a flat tone. 

“And you are still here?” Elena asked. Well, yes I am here. He will not go back until later. 

“Are you gonna get jealous if his ex-girlfriend comes back?” She asked, maybe because she is just curious. 

“Depends.” I just said and with that, our conversation ended. 

“I’m craving some hot pot.” Dylan suddenly said, chewing his popcorn. We were in the middle of the second movie when he said that. 

“Do you want to go out?” Elena asked after a few seconds. I thought for a while, we have nothing to do and I am getting bored of the movie. Why not go out then eat and play outside? 

“Do you have a place in mind?” I asked them. They thought for a while then when they thought of a place, we left the house. 

—

“Fitz, is that you?” When I got home at noon, I saw Fitz sitting beside Diana, staring at Diana, who was still still. She didn’t wake up. It seemed that she had to prepare more of this medicine.

“It’s me, here.”

“God, is she all right? I thought she went to bed. Why did she sleep here? She didn’t sleep like this all night last night.” I told Fitz disapprovingly that I wouldn’t admit that I put her here.

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen her like this. Since ‘Viewpoint’ won the Emmy Award, I saw her sleep so dead for the first time. Did you drink too much wine?” Said Fitz, pulling at Diana’s hair, which had been stuck in her gut tray, and frowning

“I wish I could stay and help, but I have to meet Donald at the airport. Can you take care of her? What?” I poured myself a glass of water and watched Fitz make my request.

“I underestimated you, you don’t need a gun.” Fitz looked at me with satisfaction, but at the same time a little surprised.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m going out now, and Diana will be left to you, thank you.” I took a sip of the water in the cup and smiled, but this thing still didn’t beat me.

After receiving Donald, I went to the restaurant to book a place together. When Diana came to have dinner together, while we were all here, we should have a good talk about our marriage to Donald and some “illness” about Diana.

“I’m so glad my mother had a good week with you.” Donald took me by the hand. Maybe I haven’t seen him for a long time. I came forward and hugged him tightly. I missed him so much. I would tell him that I had a good time with his mother and were like good friends.

“It is true that I have learned a lot from her, but today there is a guest coming to dine with us.” Donald and I were fascinated and didn’t tell him that his mother would come to dinner with us today, but Diana really taught me a lot of knowledge. It’s not too good to learn and use it now. I pray that Diana won’t cause any trouble today.

“Oh, surprise.” Donald was taken aback when his mother hurried over.

“I thought your colleague said we had lunch alone.” Donald stepped forward and hugged Diana excitedly.

“I hope you’ll forgive me. I just, I want to talk to you and Donald at the same time.” I looked at Diana’s haggard appearance, and I was full of indifference. She deserved it.

“Mom, are you all right? Why does it seem that the mental state is not very good?” Donald cares about his mother.

“It’s okay, even though I didn’t sleep well last night.” I can’t see how tired Diana is under her sunglasses. She won’t tell Donald that I bullied her last night, just saying that she didn’t sleep well.

“Oh, maybe you haven’t sobered up after drinking too much martini last night.” I thought about it and said that she just wanted to drink last night, but I stopped her and gave her medicine.

[Linda’s Perspective]

“Mom, you shouldn’t drink. Drinking while taking your meds is not good.” 

Donald told his mother with concern. 

He said that towards his mother because of my last statement. 

He then turned to his mother and said “Please try to be more careful with your health mom. This really makes me worry.” 

His eyes almost pleaded. 

“Okay, son. I will be more careful and more attentive with my health from now on ” Diana said. 

Donald then turned to me and said “Thank you for being attentive towards my mom” 

“That’s no big deal. It’s the least I can do” I said and smiled. 

Since everyone seems to be in the mood, I took this opportunity to apologize to Diana. 

“In fact, I wanted to apologize to you Diana.” I started off. 

“I’m so sorry for not asking for your opinion while we were looking for a wedding planner and getting ready with other wedding preparations. I know that you wanted to help.” 

I reached out to hold Diana’s hand. I wanted her to know and feel my sincerity. And I felt that with Donald around, she would not refuse to accept my apology. 

“Oh! It’s okay. That happened a long time ago. You should forget about it. I know you can do better at things like those. I mean, a young bride wouldn’t want to listen to an old widow, right?” Diana replied

I clenched my hand under the table while I squeezed her hand that I held. I can’t believe she actually threw some shade at her statement. But, I came prepared. I knew she was going to say something like this to destroy my image. 

“Oh my! That is nonsense, Diana. I would never do that to you.” I looked at Diana, straight in the eyes. 

“After all, you’ll soon be my mother too… and in the future, a grandmother to our children. So, I would do anything to keep our relationship good” I continued. 

“With that said, would you like to be one of my bridesmaids, I mean, my maid-of-honor to be exact?” I asked with my softest voice. 

Knowing that our relationship is not all good, I think she misunderstood what I meant when I told her that she’ll be a mother to me and a grandmother to my kids. I think that she thought I was already marking my territory. I understand that she does not want her son to get hurt but I am not here to hurt Donald, I am here to add more love that he receives. 

That is why I thought about this suggestion carefully. I want our relationship to progress. I don’t want it to remain cold and stiff in the future. I sincerely want to be a good daughter in law to her and a good wife to Donald so I want us to have a good start. I sincerely hope that she can be my maid of honor at the wedding.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.