"What! What did you just say, Amya? That you and David are in a relationship and have been seeing each other for four months now?" exclaimed Amber, who could not believe her precious daughter's confession that she was in a love relationship with her boss and had been dating him for four months.
A month had already passed before Amya finally decided to spill the beans about her relationship with David to her mom. It was a long struggle to find the courage to face her. She was determined to win this battle no matter what, even though she could see that her mother was flaring with anger due to her confession. But she decided to grab the bull by the horns and face the consequences later.
"Yes, Mother! David and I are in love with each other. I know it sounds a little unexpected and sudden, but Mom…" She did not get to finish when her mom's angry voice piped in.
"Sudden!! Really, Amya!! Well, it's more like an immature decision made by a naive little girl!!" roared Amber at Amya.
"Mom, please! How can you say that?! I love Dave, and he loves me as well. Believe me when I tell you that there is no other man in this world who has ever treated me the way he does. He is so sweet, kind, generous, strong, and jovial. I believe that if you get to know him, Mother, you will get to like him very much," replied Amya, her voice trembling but resolute.
"Oh, please, Amya. My God! Do you even know what love is?!! I mean, you barely even know the man! How can you possibly know if all those so-called good traits that you claim he has are genuine and true? My goodness, Amya, you have only known him for six months, and you already claim to be in love!! How could you be so naive, my dear! No! No! I am not going to accept this nonsense! You better break up with him right now! Otherwise, I'll..." Amber was interrupted by Amya, who erupted with pent-up emotions.
"Otherwise, you will what, Mother!! Huh! What will you do? Are you going to keep me locked up in my room? Or are you going to beat me up like you used to whenever you heard that I interacted with a boy at school? Are you going to make me watch long documentaries for hours about women being abused, harassed, and assaulted by men so that you can brainwash me with your unseething hatred for them! No, Mom! No! I am no longer that little girl whom you can control however you like! I am a grown woman now! I am more than capable of making my own decisions without anyone else controlling me! I am tired, Mother. I am tired! For twenty-three long years, I have been living under your control, your pestering, and your overprotectiveness! I am sick and tired of you controlling my life! When will you get the fact that I am not you! I am not Amber but Amya! And I am never going to relive your life. I will not make or encounter the same mistakes or bad experiences that you had in your life! Dad didn't hurt me; he hurt you! I wasn't even born when you experienced whatever it is that made you hate men so much, Mom! So please, I am begging you! Don't impose your life on me! Let me live my own life, let me make my own mistakes, and let me have my own experiences of life, please! Either good or bad, I don't care, just let me experience it, Mom, please. I need your support, not your judgmental criticisms. I need to feel your love, care, and affection, not your control, Mom! I love you, but if this continues, I don't think that I can stay with you anymore.... I don't think I can...." Amya said in a broken tone, tears streaming down her face.
Amber stood there, stunned and speechless, as she watched her daughter pour out her heart. The room fell into an eerie silence, the weight of Amya's words hanging heavily in the air. Amber's anger slowly began to subside, replaced by a mixture of shock, guilt, and realization.
Amber felt her heart squeeze in immense pain inside her chest, seeing her daughter break down like that in front of her. She never once thought that her overprotectiveness and control over her daughter's life were actually breaking her instead of keeping her safe. But keeping her safe from what? For the first time in her life, she did not have an answer to that question. Could it be that she was cocooning her daughter due to her own fears, pain, and regrets because of that horrid past experience that she went through? If that is the case, then... oh no! What has she done? All these years, she has been making her daughter live her life instead of her own. But either way, she was still not happy with her daughter's decision. So, leaning towards her, she said in a soft tone,
"Amya, my darling. I am sorry... I am so, so sorry, my love. I swear that I never intended to take control over your life. I thought that by doing what I did, I would be protecting you... protecting you from the harshness and cruelty of this world. But instead, I was limiting you from learning and having your own experiences in life. Please forgive me, my dear. And I promise to stand by your side and support you. But concerning your decision, don't you think that you are taking this too fast, my dear? I mean… I understand that you are in love with him, but my dear, please don't mistake love for friendship or lust, because if you do that, then believe me, my girl, when I tell you that your heart is going to be broken in the end, and I don't want my daughter's heart to be broken. I don't want that at all. I want my daughter to be happy and get married to a man that will love her and cherish her forever rather than a playboy that only wants pleasure instead of love, my dear."
"Mother, please don't worry. I promise you that David is not like that. Even though I haven't been dating him for long, I know that he is a good man, and I am sure you are going to like him as well. I promise," replied Amya while sitting on the couch and taking hold of her mother's hands.
"Alright, if you are so sure. I am not going to stop you. Not that I approve of it, but I will think about it," said Amber.
"Thank you, Mom. I hope you will accept this," asked Amya.
"We will see about that. And if he does prove to be worthy, then I will accept. But if not... I will make his life a living hell. Believe me, I will," replied Amber.
"Well, I do hope it's not going to be the latter. Thank you, Mom. Thank you for understanding me," said Amya while she enveloped her mother in a brief warm hug. Then, standing up from the couch, she further stated, "Well, Mom, I am going to work now. I promised David that I would talk to you about our relationship this morning before I went to work, even if it meant I would be late. Mom, please try to understand my situation, and I hope you will accept David. Well, I am going now. I will see you tonight." She kissed her mother on the cheek and left the house.
Amber watched Amya leaving for work. She still was not strongly satisfied with Amya's decision. She just could not bear to see her daughter's heart get broken or experience the same misfortune that she encountered in her past. So she was going to make sure that didn't happen.
As Amya left the house, her mind was a whirlwind of emotions. She was relieved that her mother was at least considering her relationship with David, but the conversation had taken an emotional toll on her. She knew that her mother's acceptance would not come easily, but she was glad that at least she managed to vent out her long bottled-up emotions and reach an understanding with her mother. So for now she was glad and hoped that she would accept her relationship with David.