Inside The House

XIII

- Me and Gregory... - My mother continued in an irritated voice. - We... We got engaged.

Mom smiled from ear to ear and sincere tears of happiness flowed from her eyes. Gregory grabbed her hand and pulled her close for a kiss on the cheek. As for me... I received a harder punch in the face than the one Alex had dealt me. The mental pain seemed to be a thousand times stronger than the physical one. A piece of the "egg yolk tartare" I was eating got stuck in my mouth, unable to chew it any further. I felt my temples and the back of my head begin to burn, my back under my shirt began to sweat and my hands began to tremble. My ears grew stubbier and my fluffy tail grew hairier and stubbier. I stared blankly but furiously into the expensive porcelain plate lying before me. I wasn't so mad about them getting married. It was a matter of time, although I hoped that something would go wrong between them and we would return to the United States someday. The thing was, my mom wasn't interested in me anymore. She left me alone, surrounded by a metaphorical nest of venomous snakes. She saw what I looked like. We hardly spoke for a long time. I hoped that she would take an interest in what had happened to me. But I didn't. Her new life was more important to her. She was probably already thinking about her wedding dress and wedding scenery. How many courses there would be, what the first dance would look like, the date of the nuptials, and so on. Mother was beaming, while I wanted to howl. I slowly looked at Aurelia, who didn't seem surprised. Nevertheless, she still looked upset and annoyed. Kevin's face expressed mixed emotions, but it hadn't changed since the previous time I looked at him.

At this point, there were words of congratulations from Luna and questions about helping me select materials for my wedding dress. Gregory, Luna, Apolonia and my mother Catleyn seemed very happy to talk about the subject. Unlike me, Kevin and Aurelia. Finally, I couldn't stand it and opened my mouth.

- Aren' t you curious about what happened to me mom?

The subject of the wedding dress obviously dropped and the eyes of the revelers at the table turned to me.

- Maxwell. - My mother began in a subdued, yet slightly nervous voice. - You are about to turn eighteen. You are already an adult and you should draw the consequences of your behavior on your own.

Aurelia snorted with laughter and Kevin covered his face with his hands and gave me a meaningful look that suggested he wasn't comfortable with it himself.

- You seem to have forgotten what it means to be a mother. - I replied while lowering my gaze down.

- Max I trusted you. - My mom said. - I thought you were more responsible, that you avoided alcohol and getting into trouble. We'll talk about it alone.

- Thank you for your comment, Ms. Catleyn Von Rostov.

I got up from the table. I didn't want to be here anymore. I wasn't hungry...in fact, I didn't want anything. Except to get away from this damned place. Although I expected how Grandma Apolonia would react to my attempt to leave dinner, nothing happened. No banging on the table with the old woman's wooden cane, or aggressive stares. Nothing, absolutely no reaction. This surprised me, but I moved on. Then I heard the clatter of the wooden cane on the table and I was sure that Apolonia had just given me a meek return to her place at the table. I looked over and felt a kind of bittersweet emotion inside me. Bitter because I expected my mother to move after me and she did not. She continued to sit by her fiancé's side, only looking up as I already stood a few feet away from the table. She didn't react in any way. Sweet, on the other hand, because Kevin also got up from the table and at first he did not even pay attention to Apolonia's noticeable protest. We stood like that for a while looking at each other in suspension. Finally, Kevin spoke to Apolonia without turning his black eyes away from me.