Poor Angela, she had sacrificed her family for a worthless man. I’m so sorry, daughter. Where are you now? I’m at the apartment, but I don’t know for how long. Mom, can I come see you? I need… I need to talk to someone. I don’t have anyone else. The irony was perfect.
Now that she was without the man she’d left me for, I remembered I had a mother. Of course, daughter. Come whenever you want. I’m going there right now. I hung up the phone and looked at myself in the mirror. I had to look perfect for this performance. I put on my most conservative gray dress, pulled my hair back into a simple bun, and practiced my concerned-but-resigned-mother expression.
When Angela arrived, she would see exactly what she expected to see. A poor, vulnerable widow who had been abandoned by her own daughter. Angela arrived an hour later. When I opened the door, I was shocked at how bad she looked. She had lost weight, had deep dark circles under her eyes, and her expensive clothes looked wrinkled and unkempt. Her eyes were red from crying.
“Mom,” she said, and for a moment I thought she was going to hug me, but she stopped as if suddenly remembering how things had ended between us. “Come in, daughter. Do you want a coffee?” Yes, please. We sat in the kitchen, at the same table where I had read Roberto’s papers weeks before. Angela looked small in that chair, lost, like when she was a child, coming to tell me about her school problems.
Mom, I’m so sorry for how I left. I know I didn’t behave well with you. It’s over now, daughter. No, it wasn’t. I treated you badly, I said horrible things to you. And now my voice broke. Now I have no one. What happened to Eduardo? He left with a 25-year-old hotel maid in Paris. It turns out there was never any business in Europe. It was all a lie.
Poor Angela, she had sacrificed her family for a worthless man. I’m so sorry, daughter. Where are you now? I’m at the apartment, but I don’t know for how long. Mom, can I come see you? I need… I need to talk to someone. I don’t have anyone else. The irony was perfect.
Now that she was without the man she’d left me for, I remembered I had a mother. Of course, daughter. Come whenever you want. I’m going there right now. I hung up the phone and looked at myself in the mirror. I had to look perfect for this performance. I put on my most conservative gray dress, pulled my hair back into a simple bun, and practiced my concerned-but-resigned-mother expression.
When Angela arrived, she would see exactly what she expected to see. A poor, vulnerable widow who had been abandoned by her own daughter. Angela arrived an hour later. When I opened the door, I was shocked at how bad she looked. She had lost weight, had deep dark circles under her eyes, and her expensive clothes looked wrinkled and unkempt. Her eyes were red from crying.
“Mom,” she said, and for a moment I thought she was going to hug me, but she stopped as if suddenly remembering how things had ended between us. “Come in, daughter. Do you want a coffee?” Yes, please. We sat in the kitchen, at the same table where I had read Roberto’s papers weeks before. Angela looked small in that chair, lost, like when she was a child, coming to tell me about her school problems.
Mom, I’m so sorry for how I left. I know I didn’t behave well with you. It’s over now, daughter. No, it wasn’t. I treated you badly, I said horrible things to you. And now my voice broke. Now I have no one. What happened to Eduardo? He left with a 25-year-old hotel maid in Paris. It turns out there was never any business in Europe. It was all a lie.
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