Chapter 8 : Melodrama

Ella:

“No, I am not!” I looked up facing all the three of them, all calm and confident but deep down I was shocked and scared. Why was she asking me this question all of a sudden!?

“Oh c’mon, will you lie to your own family now?” Bridget continued to dig further.

I stood firm with my answer and said, “ No, I ain’t lying Bridget!”

“What is this then?” She flipped out her phone and showed a picture where I was kissing Joe, It was today, outside the office!!! What was Bridget doing there? What should I do now? I panicked and prayed for some of Helen’s quick thinking to come to my rescue.

Forking on the last bit of pasta I calmly responded “ Well, it’s not something serious, hence I did not mention it!”

“Oh you naughty girl! I did a little background social media check though, just to be on the safer side, you know how protective we feel about you” Bridget giggled.

“Oh tell us, what is his name and where is he from?” Beatrice joined in thoroughly enjoying the conversation at my expense.

“Our brother-in-law’s name is Joe Jackson, his friends like to call him Joey, he isn’t as cute as the one in the sitcom, but he’s way too good for Ella mamma, look!!” she showed the profile picture on his social media handle to Mary.

She put on her glasses to inspect the rest of the information murmuring, “ He is from Detroit, Michigan, ughhhh” she made a face before saying, “Ella, I wasn’t expecting you to find someone whose family must have been even lower than the one washing dishes at Four Seasons. We are so happy for you”

“I’m still a bit upset though, that you did not feel we are close enough to share such great news!” she let out a fake tear of concern.

“I’m sorry Mary, it was fairly recent, I certainly did not mean to hurt you.” I knew some sort of drama would follow this conversation.

“If you had good intentions towards me and your sisters, you wouldn’t have lied and kept such good news from us. Oh I am so sad today, Richard had married me thinking Ella would have another mother in her life but today I came to know Ella has not accepted me as her mother at all!” she lamented in her melodramatic tone.

“Awww I am really very sorry Mary! From now onwards, I won’t hide anything from you. How shall I make it up to you?” I asked her upfront because I knew she would make me pay for it in one way or another.

“By spending weekends with me from now on before my little bird flies to make her own nest” she sweetly replied caressing my hand. Now, when roughly translated into Marish (Mary’s code of conduct in English), this meant “I’m going to make sure you don’t get to date/marry anyone anytime soon”

I was really looking forward to going to the business conference this weekend with Joe. Ah how much more will I have to endure?