Spaces in between (Stockholm Syndrome: Extended chapters)

June 2017

"I have a boyfriend!"

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"I knew it!"

My breath got caught, and it wasn't because I had just yelled at the top of my lungs. I stared at my mom, stunned by her reaction to my revelation.

"You...knew?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I suspected it".

"Oh...um...well..." I said uncertainly, and then I remembered the reason I had yelled in the first place. "Then why'd you set me up?"

"Because Wayne is a nice boy", she had the nerve to say.

I was dumbfounded.

"I didn't really know you have a boyfriend. I just suspected it. So, did you meet him in California?"

I nodded quickly.

"What's his name?"

"Felix"

"Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"Um...it's early, things are a bit touchy", I said. I wondered if she could see that I was uncomfortable.

"When am I meeting him?"

I wasn't surprised by the question. My mom took mothering too far. She didn't just want to meet Felix, she wanted to stamp her disapproval early so he'd be out the door without me getting scarred. Hell, that she couldn't choose a boyfriend for me beforehand bothered her.

"Like I said mom, things are touchy, he doesn't need the pressure of meeting you, no offence".

She snorted. "I wonder if he really exists".

"Why would I make him up?" I said before I could stop myself.

It was better if mom didn't believe me. She wouldn't go digging. At the same time, there were probably going to be more set-ups. I'd revealed my relationship with Felix out of anger. She had been pestering me about Wayne and why I'd left him in the middle of the date.

"Can I at least see a picture of you two together?"

"No. Now, can you please leave my room? I'm trying to sleep"

She huffed and turned to leave.

"And oh, Wayne says you don't have to repay him. Such a sweet boy", she said.

"That's nice of him. Bye mom".

That is how my mom got to know about Felix. She pestered me about meeting him. She ended up not meeting him for quite some time.

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