Christina's video call late at night startled Irene. Though she was wide awake, her mind was stuck into Ayden's words. She switched on her night lamp and straightened herself.
Swiping on her phone, she received Christina's incoming call. Placing the phone to her ear, she kept aside her low self to talk to Christina. "Hello. Yes, Ma'am."
"Why do you keep calling me Ma'am? Call me, Mom…"
Irene sighed, hearing Christina's complaint from the other end. She wished that she had thr right words to explain why she could not bring herself to address her by that.
Breaking the uncomfortable silence that was lengthening between them, Irene cleared her throat. "Is everything okay? I mean, it's quite late."
"I am sorry, I didn't realize. Were you sleeping?" Christina asked, smacking her head upon realizing that it was almost past midnight.
