The next day, we returned to greenfield not talking to each other. With Mum being an early riser, I decided to sleep nearly early though I wasn't sleepy considering the fact that I just woke up a few hours ago. I went to my cabinet and found the brownish medicine bottle gone. I knew instantly that Uncle Liam had retrieved it. He warned me the last time I overdosed. Could have gone to his room and raise hell till he gets wornout with my noise but with Mum around, that would be a stupid move. Realising I may have to stay up all night, I turned on my TV and surfed the Internet for what to watch. It was a long night. Just as expected, we left home as early as 8am this morning and arrived at Phoenix a little over an hour ago. And so far, the only thing we have done is have tea with a friend of mum's in one of the 5 stars cafes. That is just the first tea. More would come. Each time we have this shopping trip, we always visit her friends, have lunch and dinners with people i have never seen at the house and just roam the whole city. Sometimes for a week. And I hate it. I love shopping like every girl. I just don't like the company. I don't understand why I have to tag along and get dragged around the golden city of phoenix when I wouldn't be allowed to make a single decision on what i would be buying for myself. She does all the decision making. It doesn't matter what I think. If she likes it on me, she buys it for me. If I like it and she doesn't, we are not buying it. Then every night, she disappears after dinner, leaving me alone in our hotel room till the wee hours of the morning. Yet by 9am, we would be up and roaming the city again, buying things I don't want and meeting strangers I don't care about. Her leaving me alone in the room used to be the best part of the trip for me because that was the time I get to do whatever I like even though I was not allowed to leave the room. But on this trip, I don't want to stay in the room. I want to go out too. Ever since my incident with Uncle Ron, I have been terribly curious. I find it very hard to believe that Mum is cheating on Dad with him. I have no great fondness for Mum, not because she was abusive or hostile in any way. To be candid, she is more attentive and a worrywart than Dad even though she is never around. My only problem with Mum is that she is too controlling and self-conscious and she expects me to be the same. Then she won't stop complaining about how we look the same but completely different. Gush! I hate that! Therefore, when we got to the reception to collect the keycard to our already reserved room, I demanded for my own room and even offered to pay for it. I was denied instantly as expected so I made it clear that I am now an adult and would not be locked away in a hotel room while she does whatever she does at midnight. Whatever it takes tonight, I needed to follow her and find out if she was the kind of person Sophia said she is. That night, i followed her using her phone GPS and ended up at a bar where she was just hanging out with more friends that i couldn't identify. The only strange thing was that they were all men. Decent looking men. That shouldn't be a red flag but I just couldn't help but wonder so I took some pictures and waited at the bar till midnight when they all got up, half drunk and entered different cars. Where could they be headed at 2am in the morning? With no choice but to give up, I returned to our hotel and went to bed after 4 orgasms. When I woke up in the morning, I found mum, ready for the day, dressed in chic shorts and polo with a gofer cap. She was standing on the balcony with her second cup of coffee. I will never know how she does it. I mean, I slept around 3am. When did I get back and how could she be up and ready at 7am? Even vampires sleep. That day, we didn't go shopping at all. We spent the morning at a golf course, the afternoon drinking tea at a family friend's house and the night at a fashion show. At midnight, she put me in a limo and had me return to our hotel while she continued the night. There was no way to trace her. On the third day, we went shopping. As usual, I bought nothing for myself. She did all the buying while I just watched. Looking at the heap of stuff I would probably never wear and trying to figure out how to convince Uncle Liam to give me another room for storage, I robbed my forehead as I could feel a headache coming on. After she had satisfied her urge to empty her account in my name, we went to a men's only shop where she insisted that I pick Uncle Liam's gift only to condemn it and make recommendations. I shrugged and picked one of all the watches she recommended after which I went ahead to pick items for Riley. "That shirt doesn't go with his eyes' ' Mum said when she saw me run my hand over a pink shirt. It was as if something tied down inside me suddenly gained freedom and pranced out. "He is my boyfriend and I will decide what goes for his eyes and what doesn't, Mum." I Snapped at her. She was caught unaware and her eyes went wide like a saucer as she stared at me. I turned away and continued my search for a decent shirt for him. But just to maintain my defiance, I picked the pink shirt and added it to all the things I picked before. "Lady, you will not take that tone with me." She grabbed my arm in anger. I snatched it back and kept walking away from her. She could be loud when angry but she would hold it together till we got back to the hotel so I had nothing to worry about. When we got to the cashier, she told them she wasn't buying all the things she picked for me again. I was shocked but extremely relieved. I hated all she bought anyway. After our little drama, she lost interest in the shopping and we returned to the hotel where she tried to talk me down but I followed my Dad's ways, i walked past her into my bedroom and locked the door. By the time she was done ranting about how ungrateful and disrespectful I have become since I became an adult, I was contently soaked in my bathtub and halfway to heaven with my fingers slipping in and out of my Vijay micmicking, Sylvester's pacing. Sylvester! Since I left his house the other day, things have really changed for me. And I am scared of where these new feelings could lead to. So I have been pushing them down and pretending they are not there. The only time I can't ignore his aroused gaze that is stuck in my head is when I am masturbating. It keeps flashing in my head and when i focus on it, my body becomes hot and i can literally feel him touching me, biting me, finger fucking me and owning me. No man has ever looked at me with such hot desires. I am scared to put my feelings into words. I do not want to acknowledge them. I am ready to do anything to stop feeling like he owns me. Iike, he is the right one for me. Like I belong in his arms. These are things I don't feel for Riley. Or better still, I don't feel this strongly about Riley…
"The next time you address me like that in public, there would be dreadful consequences." Mum suddenly announced halfway through our meal. I paused my heaped fork that was on its way to my mouth and returned it to my plate. I looked up and met her challenging eyes as they darted at me, daring me to step beyond my boundaries. I wanted to give a retort but something kept holding me back. My brain kept telling me to keep shut. So I picked up the fork again and started eating the suddenly tasteless meal.
"I am waiting for your apology." She continued.
Well, I tried. I tried to hold back. I tried to not say a word but she kept poking me. It's been 3 days since we returned from phoenix and in those three days, she had done everything in her power to punish me for what happened on the trip. The night we returned home from the trip, she made me unwrap and pack all the gifts she bought for uncle Ron. I had no idea how to wrap a gift. If not for YouTube, I would probably never be able to get it done. Even with the help of YouTube, I still spent all night working. By morning, I was exhausted and ready to drop but just as I was thinking of that, Uncle Liam came and told me that she had instructed him to take me to the grape orchards to do some picking.
That was a good opportunity to plead with my uncle Liam to return the drugs he took from me. He just ignored me throughout that journey. Nothing I said got to him.
When we got to the orchard, i was given 25 baskets to fill. The grapes were not ripped yet. But they do pick the ones or twos that ripe ahead of the whole bunch. Because it had to be done manually, it took me all day to fill two baskets to the brim. By the time I was done with those two, I was worn out so I slept all the way home.
On getting home, I discovered that decorations had started while I was away. I was puzzled and asked Uncle Liam who told me we would be holding a birthday banquet for Uncle Liam at the house instead of at the greenhouse. The very idea of her ridiculing Dad by throwing a banquet for her lover inside our home was so disgusting and annoying but I decided it was better to stay out of their drama. All I wanted to do was stay low until it's time to leave.
I was preparing to return to the orchard as I still have 23 baskets to fill with ripe or almost ripe pieces from the bunches but uncle Liam told me that mum had invited me to breakfast. That meant she was about to leave. She always made me have either dinner or breakfast with her each time she wanted to travel. During this dinner or breakfast, she would remind me of work activities lined up for me, why I should put in my best and other irrelevant instructions. But since I stopped working as a model and after she had her big fight with dad, she had never asked to dine with me before leaving the house. One moment, she was here and the next moment, she was gone. So when Uncle Liam told me she wanted to dine with me, I was surprised and curious. So she wanted to have breakfast with me so I can apologize? For what exactly? Insisting I alone will decide what would look good on my boyfriend? Humph ! Make me.
"Apology for what?" I asked with a restrained voice.
"BAM!"
She suddenly hit the dining table with both hands, rattling me. I also dropped my fork and we stared at each other. It never occurred to me to step back as I felt my anger breaking loose and becoming chaotic. The angrier I got the heavier I breathed. She must have noticed because she broke the gaze and looked over before snorting and reclining into her chair.
"I guess the moth has finally transformed into a butterfly." She smirked. I was suddenly thrown off by her unexpected change in demeanor.
"But if you think becoming an adult gives you the right to be impudent and arrogant, let me remind you that butterfly wings can be clipped."
Completely lost and confused, I just stared at her. She stood up and walked over to me. Knowing what she was going to do, I quickly stood up to face her. Just as I was surprised at my own behavior, I could see that she was surprised too. On a normal day, when mum stands over me to stare me down, I stay seated with my head upturned and holding her gaze, nodding to all of her words. But here I was, standing up before she got to me. With the stance of someone ready for a fight. I wasn't even thinking. It was all instincts.
She stopped right in my face, heavily placed her right hand on my shoulder and pushed me down. I tried to resist but something told me not to so I let her but still held her gaze as my body forcefully returned into the chair. She demanded it anyway. She said a strong woman must be able to show strength in her look and one way of doing it is by looking people in the eye when talking to them. So I communicated all my displeasure through my eyes.
She searched my eyes and saw no weakness nor fear. Even though I didn't understand what was going on with me and I was not resisting the pressure on my shoulder, I made sure I stayed defiant. "Don't piss me off." She said before lifting her hand off my shoulders.
"... Your father in law 's birthday will also be his retirement party." She continued as she turned away and walked back to her seat where she picked up her handbag which was sitting on the chair to her right hand side.
"He is retiring?" I couldn't help it. That was too sudden and serious news.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"His health is failing."
"When did being an alcoholic become a valid reason to retire at a job you hardly show up at in the first place?" I asked in anger. Will him retiring not affect me? What if mum uses it as an excuse to stop me from leaving home? I can't let that happen! He really shouldn't retire. I wouldn't let him.
"Since i am his boss, I can reject his retirement right?" I asked.
She smirked and ran her eyes over my frame in a condescending way, triggering my receding vexation.
"Who made you his boss?" She raised her left eyebrow at me. That annoying smirk got worse and the thought to wipe it off with a slap darted across my mind in lightning speed. I felt the urge to stand up again but I grabbed the armrests of my chair and clenched it aggressively. She noticed and only smirked harder.
"What do you mean? The company is mine isn't it? Doesn't that make me his boss?"
"Only in name. Until you have the power of attorney, you own it only by name." She whispered; her low, soft voice, dripping with mockery. Then she stopped smiling all together and twisted her lips into a sideways pout before raising her eyes over my head, gazing into the painting of one of the orchards hanging on the wall behind me like she was suddenly thinking of something. I watched her make a silent decision then she turned her gaze on me again and all left in it was seriously. The mockery and laugh was gone.
Now what?!