*_*
She emerged from the bathroom wearing a terry bathrobe. A change of clothes for her was on top of the bed. Her mother was no longer in the room. She took a deep sigh full of regrets. Alcohol has always been the culprit for most of her stupid mistakes. She shook her head, stopping the memory of what happened a year ago when she also drank excessively.
Moving like a sloth, sighing every so often, she picked up the clothes on top of the bed. It was a red summer dress with small white daisies printed on them. It has short sleeves and has a decent length for it falls right on top of her knees.
But the dress is backless and her mother prepared a strapless bra. This would show on the back of the dress! She opened her suitcase, which sat at the foot of the bed. She pulled out a pair of nipple patches from her underwear pouch. She shimmied on the low-waisted bikini her mother also prepared, stuck the silicon breast patch to her nipple, and then donned the dress.
She removed the towel that was holding her hair and wavy hair cascading down on her shoulder. She shook her head and smiled at her image in the mirror. If her mother hadn't ordered her to be presentable, she would be happy with her looks. For her, it is not even necessary to brush or blow dry her hair because she loves the natural curls of her hair when it dries naturally.
However, that's not gonna happen today. She has to do what her mother said or she won't hear the end of it. Also, it won't be helping her to go against her mother now that she is in a tricky situation.
She gathered half of her hair up and tied it with white scrunchies. She applied a moisturizing cream to her face that also doubled as a makeup base. She hates putting things on her face so, she always picks up cosmetics that have a dual purpose. The last step in making herself presentable was the tainted lip balm she swiped on her lips.
She was feeling extra so she sprayed some cologne before she stepped out of the room and looked for her mother to listen to her punishment, get over it, and move on.
Ces - the older helper was waiting for her outside the room to inform her that everyone was waiting for her in the study. She said her thanks and slowly made her way to the room.
As she entered the room, everyone's head snapped in her direction. She saw that Andrei had already sat next to his mother, while her mother sat across from the mother and son.
She was trying to catch Andrei's eyes but they were glued to his hands that were clasped on his lap. A crease appeared on her forehead, 'Why Andrei was acting out of his wits? Did something happen with his talk with his mother?'
"Sit down, dear," Mrs. Tan motioned to the seat next to her mother.
The moment Andrei heard his mother's voice, he jolted out of his trance. He looked at Laurie who was about to sit down, "I need to talk to you!" he blurted out.
Before his mother could object, he stood up and pulled her to the far end of the room.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked in a hushed tone. She is well-aware that their mother's laser eyes and supersonic ears are on them. "Andrei, snapped out of it, our mothers were waiting!"
"W-what?" he asked, fidgeting. They stood next to the sliding glass door of the study that opened onto the beach. They were standing with their backs to their mothers so that their mothers would not be able to see their expressions as to what they were going to talk about.
She was waiting for Andrei to talk but he just gnawed on his thumb and shook his knees.
"What are you doing?"
He glanced at her as though he just realized she was standing next to him. "Eric - "
"I don't have time for Eric, Mark, or John," she spat sarcastically, "Let's talk to your mom and be over it."
"Were you able to convince your mother out of this marriage shit?"
"Well, yeah I guess." she shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly. " I mean, she told me that I just have to see her ob-gyne."
Andrei grabbed her arm, "You agreed to that condition? Are you fucking out of your mind, bitch?" he hissed in pure panic. "Are you trying to crucify me for something I didn't do?"
"Let go of my arm! What are you…" then a realization hit her on why her mother was asking her to see an ob-gyne. "Fuck! What should I do?"
"I dunno! Have about coming clean to your mother that your cherry has already been popped, and it wasn't me who did it!"
"Shit, shit!" Now it was her turn to panic.
"Yes, shit. We are fuck! If you will let your mother's ob-gyne inspect your vagina and find that your hymen has been torn open like a used condom pocket, who do you think they will blame for it, huh?"
"I don't know!" she said chewing on her bottom lip.
"Let's talk about Eric - "
"Why do we need to involve Eric in this shit?" she was on the verge of breaking down, and Mrs. Tan clearing her throat every five minutes wasn't helping at all!
"How long do the two of you need? The pilot is waiting."
"Fuck!" they both muttered under their breath.
Andrei took a deep sigh and grabbed her wrist. "We are friends, right?" he didn't wait for her to answer and said, "Trust me on this, and just say yes!"
Before she could open her mouth to ask any question, he pulled her back to where their mothers were waiting.
He held Laurie's hand tightly and took a deep breath. "Mrs. Crisostomo, mother, Laurie, and I are getting married." he declared the whole statement all in one single breath.
"Marvelous!"
"We are?" she asked incredulously.
She looked at her mother's relieved face and Mrs. Tan beaming on his son's standing next to her. Blood rushed to her head, she pulled Andrei away from their mothers who were now planning the wedding of the century.
"Andrei Mark Fucking Tan, have you lost your mind?"
"Trust me - "
He didn't finish his sentence for she suckered punch the jerk! "Have you forgotten how your blood is rainbow in screaming neon color!"