18. Her mother’s 3
” Then what happened?” Martina asked eagerly.
” Be patient will you?” Her mother softly reprimanded.
” Your father would come every evening to the cafe and ask the manager to specifically ask me to serve him. It reached to a point all the employees in the cafe didn’t bother to attend to him. He would sometimes ask me to accompany him in his table and ofcourse the manager never objected to it. What I didn’t know was that he had taken upon himself to pay my salary so my duties were limited. We got to know each other but I never knew he was from a rich family since he used to dress up casually. One evening he proposed to take me out and we agreed that it was to be the following day but that day I didn’t come back. My mother’s health worsened and she was rushed to the ICU. I had to go accompany her in the hospital. Your father came to the cafe ready to take me out but did not find me” Her mom paused, took a glass of water, took a sip to wet her already dry mouth.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
” At first he thought I had ditched him and the obvious reaction was to get angry ofcourse. He left that day disappointed but still came back the following day, probably to confront me. He still did not find me and he figured out maybe the reason I did not come was not to avoid him. He approached the Manager and inquired about my whereabouts. He was told that I have a sick mother admitted at the hospital and the reason I had missed work was because I asked for a leave to take care of her.
During that time I felt Lost. I watched as my mother’s health became worse everyday. Despite working I couldn’t even pay a tenth of the surgery fee. I felt so useless and helpless. I didn’t have anyone to seek help from. I literally knew no one who could help me so I watched as my mother’s life slipped away. That day, your father came rushing to me. When he saw me looking haggard and lost, he hugged me. I did not expect him to do that because we hadn’t known each other for long. At that moment all I wanted was a shoulder to cry on and your father offered that to me.” Wiping the tears rolling down, she continued.
” Your father offered to pay for the surgery. He didn’t ask anything in return and helped me but it was too late, before we could even finish processing the payment, my mother passed away.” Remembering the past Martina’s mom could not help the tears. Her mother was a very sensitive topic to her especially how she couldn’t save her own mother due to poverty.
Martina allowed her mother to weep silently. She knew that this was not the time to interrupt her.
” Your father helped me in settling the hospital bill until your grandmother was laid to rest.
He would visit me from time to time. He helped me back to my feet and provided emotional support when I needed it most. To me, your father was the light in my rather dark world. He was my salvation. He saved me from drowning in sorrows after loosing my mother. He would do anything to see me smile. After spending time together, I found myself getting comfortable with him. Six months after staying by my side as my friend and confidant, he asked me out one evening. It was that evening he asked me to be his girlfriend and I accepted. ” A small smile bloomed when she mentioned the day he proposed relationship to her.
Martina could see that even at her age, her mother’s heart was still set on her father. Not that she could blame her, afterall from the story she just heard, her father was an important pillar in her mother’s life back in her darkest of days.
” By the time your father asked me to be his girlfriend officially, he was working in their family’s company but not as the CEO. We dated for one year plus before we took the next step in life. All this while we had kept our relationship a secret, not even his parents knew about us which was ofcourse my request. I had enrolled back to college and your father helped me support myself. He one time arranged a surprise proposal for me. He had asked me to marry him but even though I felt that I wasn’t the right person for him, he convinced me that I was the only woman he will ever love and I eventually accepted. We were set to get married immediately I finished college but this time, his parents caught a whiff about their son asking a commoner to Marry him.” She paused and one could feel the strain in her voice saying those words.
” They confronted him and asked him to end things with me and marry the woman they had chosen for him. Your father was a stubborn man so he ofcourse refused and threatened that he would elope with him and leave everything behind. His parents knew the stubbornness of their son so they feared he would really carry on with the threat so they changed the target.
They had approached me and threatened me to leave their son alone or else they would deal with me. I ofcourse did not give in easily but something happened that changed everything.” She said and turned to stare at her daughter lovingly.
” I got the news about being pregnant during that time. I was torn into telling your father or not telling him. I knew if I told him, he would leave everything behind and elope with me but I couldn’t be selfish to do that. Staying with him, I was risking the life of my unborn child but I could convince him to leave with me, he was born rich so how could I make him go live in poverty with me. I couldn’t do it so I chose my child over him. Back then I didn’t even know I was pregnant with twins.”