When Catherine went home the next day...
Thelma glared at her.
"What kind of a woman are you? Sleeping in other people's house especially a guy's house! You are like a whore!"
Catherine kept her mouth shut even if she was already irked by her mother's degradation of her. She doesn't want to retaliate. She still respects and loves her mother even if it looks like they were drifting apart from each other.
"Mother the guy am sleeping with is my future husband and we are getting married this coming Friday at 3:00 PM. I still want you to be there by my side. Please give us your blessing, Mother," she begged in a gentle voice.
Thelma shook her head and released a deep sigh. "After your wedding me and your siblings will go back to the province. You choose this rapist husband of yours and abandon us your true family!"
Catherine sighed. Tears were about to come out from her eyes. She really can't understand why her mother can't see the brighter side of things?
"I will ask you one more question Catherine, will you still marry that guy without me by your side during your wedding day, without my blessing?"
"Yes, Mother I will. I'm sorry," she answered.
Thelma looked at her daughter sadly. "You really changed into someone whom I no longer know, Catherine! It all started when you meet that rapist guy!"
Catherine holds her breath, then released it gradually into the air. Trying to control her rising temper. She doesn't want to be embroiled in another heated argument with her mother early in the morning, besides she still needs to report to work.
"Sorry Mother, I can't speak longer to you. I had to report to work."
She already had taken her shower at John's place and sipped coffee there. She folded her uniform and put it hastily in her shoulder bag. She had to get out of the house in a hurry to avoid her mother who was so keen on starting a world war 3 with her early in the morning! She gritted her teeth truly annoyed.
"Eat your breakfast first!" Thelma arranged the plate and rice in the table. In the last few days, her daughter has been ignoring her cooking, she felt useless! Her daughter no longer listens to her and no longer eats her cooking! She hated it!
"I will eat in the hotel's cafeteria, Mother. Bye!" She was about to go out of the house when she heard plates violently thrown into the floor, she was horrified! The plates hit the floor in a loud thud broken into pieces, rice, hotdogs and scrambled egg scattered all over the floor in a mess.
OH MY GOD! Catherine closed her eyes in agitation. This is not good! Their feud is escalating two days before her wedding day. She was actually hoping they can patch their differences before the day of her wedding, from the looks of things only a miracle from God can do that.
She released a deep sigh.
She went to the corner and picked up the dustpan and the broom, she swept the broken plates as well the scattered foods and dropped them in the trash can. She pursed her mouth, she has no right to reprimand her mother or get angry at her. She's still her mother no matter what. Her throwing of things doesn't make her any less a mother. She still has high respect for her.
"I'm going now, Mother. Please calm down. The children will get frightened. If not for my sake please do it just for the sake of my sibling." She was on the verge of breaking down. Feeling sad that her mother was now being reduced to this kind of hysterical and violent woman who no longer listened to reason and now hell bent on destroying things.
Before she left the house, she saw her mother sitting quietly on the wooden bench. She was beginning to get worried about her recent erratic behavior, she was afraid that it could lead to a more serious condition later.
As she was riding a jeepney towards the hotel, she was earnestly praying to God that her mother would calm down especially that she was not in the house right now. Maybe her mother already calms down now that she was no longer in the house.
Whewww, the situation between her and her mother is getting ridiculous. It should stop before her wedding! How can she truly feel happy getting married to John while her mother was in the house sulking and hating them from afar?
Gahh! A painful headache was starting to pound on her head. Good thing the hotel was now in sight. After paying her fare she got out of the jeepney and walked faster towards the entrance. She went to the fifth floor using the elevator and entered the Presidential Suite#1. She climbs into the bed and lay down and closed her eyes.
Ten minutes or fifteen minutes power nap can restore her strength that was deeply rattled by her mother's recent disturbing behavior. Her mother was always been calm, she'd never seen her destroyed things her whole life in the village.
As she buried her face into the bed, she can still smell hers and Johns body fluid in the bed sheets from their vigorous sex the other day, she blushed crimson red. She'd better changed the bedsheets ASAP!
Later after she got her power nap.
Ten minutes more left!
Ten minutes is over! Dang! That was fast. She groaned. She drags her unwilling body out of the suite, went to the stock room and get her trolly and filled them with essentials, then she began making rounds in the 4rth and 5th floor.
The rest of the day went well without any mishap.
She went home that night, thankful that her mother seemed to be calming down. She found her mother watching TV shows with her younger siblings. She felt relieved. She was debating to greet her or not, but she just passes her by, she has no idea what to say to her either. So silence was the best recourse for her. She entered her room and lay down in the bed for much- needed rest.
Before she closes her eyes, she checked her phone. She got a text message from John informing her that they will see each other tomorrow in the hotel.
She smiled and replied to him with... "See you tomorrow and I miss you! I love you!" She placed her mobile device back in the cabinet and was preparing to rest a bit.