NINE
"Mama's boy? " Marissa repeated.
"Yes darling," Zora affirmed. "And this is just the beginning because there would be more to come "
"I'm guessing that's why Lexi said he had never been able to hold relationships," Aaron said.
"Oh God," Marissa hit her forehead.
"Relax, " Zora soothed."But one of the biggest red flags is dating a mummy's boy Marissa."
"So,what do I do now? " Marissa asked with lines creasing her forehead.
"Leave him," Aaron answered quickly and Zora reached out and slapped him on the back.
"Ow! Your hand stings like a bee! " he yelped.
Marissa laughed shortly. "Serves you right"
"You can still salvage the situation the best way you can since you're in love with this guy," Zora advised.
"How?" Marissa asked, itching to know.
"First and foremost," Zora cleared her throat. "Don't make him choose between you and her, he is not ready for that and you would make things worse. Let him know its okay for Karen to give him advice sometimes, but he is not obliged to follow that advice. Remind him he is an adult and he should be self reliant. Encourage him to set clear boundaries, let him know he should not include her in your problems. Lastly, mama's boy or not, she gave birth to him so don't exclude her from things, try to bond with her."
"Wow Mom, you're dropping all these like a bombshell on Rissa. Can she survive?" Aaron asked with a concerned face.
"It would be hard to deal with everything but she really has to try." Zora responded and gave Marissa a light pat on her back.
Marissa was struck with the realization! She was actually dating a Mama's boy. Good heavens
>>>>>>
"Wake up Nena," Justin whispered to Marissa who lay on the bed sleeping, spread eagled.He rubbed her arm, gently gave her lazy morning kisses and she mumbled half incoherently without opening her eyes and not wanting to wake up.
The smell of hot brewed coffee from the mug Justin held filled her nose.
"I made your coffee just the way you like it," his voice was speaking again.
Her eyelids fluttered and then she finally opened her eyes, adjusted on the bed and sat up, facing him. He was smiling warmly at her. Collecting the mug from him, she brought it to her lips without saying a word.
"Come on, you're still not talking to me?"
"No I'm not talking to you," she responded quietly.
"I'm sorryyyyyyyyyy" he drawled. "Okay, how about we have a date night?"
"Tonight?"
"Yes,baby." he placed a playful kiss on her nose."A night in. We'd do everything you wanna."
"There would be food right?" she asked, her eyes not leaving his for a second.
"As much as you want, mi amor"
"Okay, forgiven"
Her smile mirrored his. Then he urged her to get ready for work. She groaned that someone was giving her a hard time at work.
"What did you say her name was again?" Justin asked, unsure.
"Alicia thorne, she's the head designer"
"Does she have a mole at the top of her lip?"
"Yeah... " Marissa looked at him oddly.
"Does she have really white skin and caramel brown hair and blue eyes?Looks intimidating? "
"Very pretty too.Yes, yes how do you know all that? " Marissa wore a confused expression.
"Well, she's my ex girlfriend"
"Oh wow,"
"She obviously knows you're with me now so giving you a hard time at work might be deliberate. I'm sorry Nena, don't pay attention to her."
"Its okay dimples, I got this. She's got nothing on me"
"Stop with the pouting, it doesn't change the fact that I beat your ass thrice in a row" Justin told Marissa who wouldn't stop pouting after they just finished another round of a video game they were playing.
It was their date night already alright.
"I'm going to beat you this time," she said, determined.
"That's the same thing you said the first three times," he said, laughing.
She suddenly came at him, twisting his arm and he begged for mercy.
"Jerk! I said we are going one more round."
"Okay fine. All power belongs to you, my queen" he said with a mock bow.
They went for the fourth round. And Marissa was close to winning but lost. Again. Justin burst out laughing. Marissa wanted to wipe the stupid smiles off his face.
"Just because I'm not really in the mood today," she flipped her hair and adjusted her oversized shirt. It was Justin's shirt.
Her face was makeup free, and nothing special was done with her hair. Justin was on a black singlet and ash joggers, his hair ruffled and a bit damp from the shower he had earlier.
She loved how comfy it was with date nights like these. They got the popcorn ready, as well as a whole lot of snacks scattered on the table, preparing for a movie they planned on watching. Every other light in the house was turned off, to set the mood.
They also had icecream sundaes with a bunch of different flavors and toppings from a local restaurant they had both wanted to try.
At one point, Justin's phone started ringing. Before he could see the caller ID, Marissa grabbed it from him.
"No outside distractions, dimples."
"What if Mom's the one calling? "
"Its about you and me tonight. Our attention should be on ourselves only"
Justin hesitantly nodded and Marissa switched off his phone.
"You didn't have to switch it off though," he mumbled.
"Shhhhh," she hushed.
Once they were done with the movie, Marissa had a tear stained face and Justin was teasing her about it.
"Crying? This isn't even real" he nudged her and she slapped his arm. He laughed and she wiped the tears off her face.
He drew her suddenly to him after turning on the lights and started blowing raspberries on her tummy and then started with the tickles. She laughed so much that her tummy hurt.
When she recovered, she sat astride his lap, with her hands on his shoulders.
"You're so beautiful," he said solemnly, with his eyes fixated on her, then kissed her palm softly. Then placed another kiss on her eyelids. It somehow produced a unique sensation, running from the base of her spine to her knees.She smiled, radiantly.
"Te quiero, " he added in Spanish. "The quiero muchísimo"
"I love you so much too," she responded, half whispering. "Always"
Gently, she took off his T-shirt she was wearing and threw it somewhere on the floor.
"Is this some new lingerie I see?" He asked, pleasantly surprised.
"Unhunh, " she nodded as he placed his hands on her arse. "Do you like it?"
"Mmmmm. Love is the word," he dimpled at her.
His lips were parted and she drew close enough to him, biting her lip and then suddenly the door flew open.
Shocked, she jumped quickly before realizing it. Karen was standing at the door with a sour expression on her face.
"Mom? You're here?" Justin asked with little surprise in his voice after glancing at the time that read 9:00pm.
A very embarrassed Marissa with her face flushed, searched around for Justin's T-shirt she had thrown away to God knows where.
"I was worried about you, Justin" Karen said, walking straight to them with a handful of bags."I called you and it rang. Suddenly it went straight to voicemail"
She looked oddly at Marissa who had finally found the shirt and was hurrying to get it over her head.
"Oh.. I'm so sorry Mom, " Justin apologized. "Marissa and I were having a date night so um..." he trailed off. "What brings you here?" he asked instead.
"I just thought I would bring by some groceries." Karen said with simplicity."I don't want your girlfriend starving you to death"
Marissa opened her mouth to object but decided not to.
"Marissa dear," Karen continued."Peach is a very boring color. Go for something bold and exciting next time before you choose a lingerie.You're a fashion designer, you should know everything about clothing" She wore a smug look on her face.
Marissa didn't know how to respond to that so she quietly excused herself to the room. How she wanted to leap forward and strangle her.
"Mom, can you give me a second? " Justin asked and ran after her. Karen showed herself to the kitchen to put the things she bought in place.
Marissa's shame transformed to irateness and she paced about in the room before Justin got there.
"What the hell is she doing here? Why would she barge in like that?" she complained, pointing her index finger to the air.
"I'm sorry Nena, I didn't expect her to come here." Justin said emphatically.
"So we no longer have privacy huh? She might as well live with us then! "
"Nena, please calm down. You getting mad wouldn't solve anything."
"Please tell her to kindly leave because she has disrupted our special night"
"I can't do that. Its disrespectful Nena," he replied firmly.