I was very sure he didn’t like me. Why in the first place would he like me? I’m just this stupid, married-at-nineteen woman while he was a dashing and smart prince. And why did I even bother to kiss him? He didn’t even kiss back. Or even say ‘goodbye’. He must loathe me. But I must admit, the kiss was pretty out-of-the-world. When my lips brushed again the corners of his mouth, I felt fabulous. And when our fingers touched, it seemed as though I shocked by some thousand-over-volt lightning. It was so thrilling. You’re a married woman. You’re a married woman. I reminded myself as I drove into my garage. “Dear, I hope I’m not late.” I kissed Cody on his cheek. There was no electricity between us at all. None. Zero. “Oh darling, it’s just nice. I taped the shopping list onto the fridge. And Melanie is in the playing room.” Cody was always in charge. “Love you, dear.” Somehow this sounded less convincing as each second passed. “Love you. See you at seven.” And he was out of the house already. I sighed as I went to pick Melanie up. “Hi sunshine. We’re going to go to the supermarket and meet Aunt Emma.” I tried to sound as excited as possible. Melanie clapped her hands excitedly though. In the next twenty minutes, I changed Melanie’s home clothes into a baby blue silk dress and tied her hair up into a loose French plait. Ooh… She really looked like a princess. While her mother isn’t. After that, I packed everything up and called Emma. She picked up on the second ring. “I’ve been waiting for your call for a century!” Emily squeaked. “Exaggerating.” I wasn’t even paying attention. I was trying to get Melanie to sleep in my cradle of arms. It had always seemed so easy with Cody. But I was certainly having problems here. “Whatever. Where are you now?” “Home.” I finally gave up. And strapped Melanie into the pram. “Ooh. That’s great. Can we borrow Cody’s Volvo?” “Nope. He’s gone to work.” “Then you’ll just have to bear with walking.” “I’m fine with it.” “Ok then. See you.” I didn’t know whether Emma sprinted, flew, or ran. But she got to my house in a record-time of four and a half minutes. Wow, I must say. “Oh my gosh. You sweetie little cutie pie!” Emma squealed as she took Melanie into her arms. Melanie smiled delightfully and put her hand onto Emma’s chest. Hey. This was unfair. Why was I the only having problems with Melanie. “Oh come on. Let’s go.” I urged Emma as I pushed the pram out of the house. Our first stop was Pacific Place: the shopping mall. During lunch at Johnny Rocket, I managed to dish out why Emma was so excited about shopping for new clothes. “Where do you think I should buy my clothes from? Is Ann Taylor ok? Or should I try Express?” Emma asked as she stuffed some chili fries into her mouth. “Emma, you hardly get so worked up about clothes. You wear sweatshirts over jeans every day.” I protested, feeding Melanie with one bit of my chicken salad. “But I can’t do that on a date with Paul.” She admitted sheepishly. “Ooh. Someone’s got a boyfriend.” “No!” Emma slammed her glass of coke down onto the table. “He just asked me for dinner.” “When?” I asked, desperate for more information. “He asked me out yesterday. We’re supposed to meet at the ristorante italiano on Friday, eight o’clock.” “Oh my gosh. This is exciting.” I squealed in delight as I fed Melanie with another mouthful of salad and sipped my coffee milkshake. “So you see how important this is to me?” Emma sighed. “Hey sweetie, of course I do.” Emma was never the correct girl to ask out for dates. Boys hardly approach her. And even if someone did, they would reject her after the second meeting. Apart from Bryan, the bastard that led her astray. Of course that son of a bitch wasn’t counted. He didn’t even love. He just used her. So I could see how important Paul was to her. “So how is this?” Emma asked, twirling around in an orange and yellow tank top over a yellow skirt. “Nope. Too bright, I think the blue ensemble is better.” I commented as I rocked Melanie gently in my arms. Of course I bought my stuff already. The staff hardly paid attention to me. Of course, since I was carrying a toddler. Just that the male staff kept on staring at me. And as for Emma, we had spent nearly an hour here and we only found one outfit suitable: a blue silk halter and white denim skirt. That was pretty unproductive. But we couldn’t blame Emma. One is born with their looks. Emma was not ugly but just plain-looking. Her shoulder-length reddish-brown hair made her skinny face even more angular. And her eyes. No double-eyelids. And green eyes that don’t fit her at all. Her lips were small compared to her acne-covered nose. I sighed. Probably I shouldn’t hang out with Emma. I made her look more average-looking. “Ok. We’ll take this.” She muttered to the sales staff before turning to me. “You got your stuff already?” She asked as she wrung her hair out. “Yeah. Just a blue sweater from the sales rack.” I mumbled, totally uninterested. “Hmm… Do you think we should head down to Victoria’s secret?” Emma asked as she swiped her Visa card. “For what? I don’t really need pajamas.” “Eh. Well… Just in case Paul decides to… You know. I should have nicer-looking undergarments.” Emma cleared her throat several times. “Emma!” I slapped her on the back of her head. “Just in case?” Emma looked at me with puppy-eyes. “Fine. But we need to head down to Thriftway later.” “For what?” “Not everybody has their mothers cooking for them.” “Oops.” Emma smiled back sheepishly. And just like the old days, we lounged around the mall, holding hands.
I was very sure he didn’t like me. Why in the first place would he like me? I’m just this stupid, married-at-nineteen woman while he was a dashing and smart prince. And why did I even bother to kiss him? He didn’t even kiss back. Or even say ‘goodbye’. He must loathe me. But I must admit, the kiss was pretty out-of-the-world. When my lips brushed again the corners of his mouth, I felt fabulous. And when our fingers touched, it seemed as though I shocked by some thousand-over-volt lightning. It was so thrilling. You’re a married woman. You’re a married woman. I reminded myself as I drove into my garage. “Dear, I hope I’m not late.” I kissed Cody on his cheek. There was no electricity between us at all. None. Zero. “Oh darling, it’s just nice. I taped the shopping list onto the fridge. And Melanie is in the playing room.” Cody was always in charge. “Love you, dear.” Somehow this sounded less convincing as each second passed. “Love you. See you at seven.” And he was out of the house already. I sighed as I went to pick Melanie up. “Hi sunshine. We’re going to go to the supermarket and meet Aunt Emma.” I tried to sound as excited as possible. Melanie clapped her hands excitedly though. In the next twenty minutes, I changed Melanie’s home clothes into a baby blue silk dress and tied her hair up into a loose French plait. Ooh… She really looked like a princess. While her mother isn’t. After that, I packed everything up and called Emma. She picked up on the second ring. “I’ve been waiting for your call for a century!” Emily squeaked. “Exaggerating.” I wasn’t even paying attention. I was trying to get Melanie to sleep in my cradle of arms. It had always seemed so easy with Cody. But I was certainly having problems here. “Whatever. Where are you now?” “Home.” I finally gave up. And strapped Melanie into the pram. “Ooh. That’s great. Can we borrow Cody’s Volvo?” “Nope. He’s gone to work.” “Then you’ll just have to bear with walking.” “I’m fine with it.” “Ok then. See you.” I didn’t know whether Emma sprinted, flew, or ran. But she got to my house in a record-time of four and a half minutes. Wow, I must say. “Oh my gosh. You sweetie little cutie pie!” Emma squealed as she took Melanie into her arms. Melanie smiled delightfully and put her hand onto Emma’s chest. Hey. This was unfair. Why was I the only having problems with Melanie. “Oh come on. Let’s go.” I urged Emma as I pushed the pram out of the house. Our first stop was Pacific Place: the shopping mall. During lunch at Johnny Rocket, I managed to dish out why Emma was so excited about shopping for new clothes. “Where do you think I should buy my clothes from? Is Ann Taylor ok? Or should I try Express?” Emma asked as she stuffed some chili fries into her mouth. “Emma, you hardly get so worked up about clothes. You wear sweatshirts over jeans every day.” I protested, feeding Melanie with one bit of my chicken salad. “But I can’t do that on a date with Paul.” She admitted sheepishly. “Ooh. Someone’s got a boyfriend.” “No!” Emma slammed her glass of coke down onto the table. “He just asked me for dinner.” “When?” I asked, desperate for more information. “He asked me out yesterday. We’re supposed to meet at the ristorante italiano on Friday, eight o’clock.” “Oh my gosh. This is exciting.” I squealed in delight as I fed Melanie with another mouthful of salad and sipped my coffee milkshake. “So you see how important this is to me?” Emma sighed. “Hey sweetie, of course I do.” Emma was never the correct girl to ask out for dates. Boys hardly approach her. And even if someone did, they would reject her after the second meeting. Apart from Bryan, the bastard that led her astray. Of course that son of a bitch wasn’t counted. He didn’t even love. He just used her. So I could see how important Paul was to her. “So how is this?” Emma asked, twirling around in an orange and yellow tank top over a yellow skirt. “Nope. Too bright, I think the blue ensemble is better.” I commented as I rocked Melanie gently in my arms. Of course I bought my stuff already. The staff hardly paid attention to me. Of course, since I was carrying a toddler. Just that the male staff kept on staring at me. And as for Emma, we had spent nearly an hour here and we only found one outfit suitable: a blue silk halter and white denim skirt. That was pretty unproductive. But we couldn’t blame Emma. One is born with their looks. Emma was not ugly but just plain-looking. Her shoulder-length reddish-brown hair made her skinny face even more angular. And her eyes. No double-eyelids. And green eyes that don’t fit her at all. Her lips were small compared to her acne-covered nose. I sighed. Probably I shouldn’t hang out with Emma. I made her look more average-looking. “Ok. We’ll take this.” She muttered to the sales staff before turning to me. “You got your stuff already?” She asked as she wrung her hair out. “Yeah. Just a blue sweater from the sales rack.” I mumbled, totally uninterested. “Hmm… Do you think we should head down to Victoria’s secret?” Emma asked as she swiped her Visa card. “For what? I don’t really need pajamas.” “Eh. Well… Just in case Paul decides to… You know. I should have nicer-looking undergarments.” Emma cleared her throat several times. “Emma!” I slapped her on the back of her head. “Just in case?” Emma looked at me with puppy-eyes. “Fine. But we need to head down to Thriftway later.” “For what?” “Not everybody has their mothers cooking for them.” “Oops.” Emma smiled back sheepishly. And just like the old days, we lounged around the mall, holding hands.
Chapter 3 part 1
