I try to savour the moment as much as I can before my heavy eyelids claim victory over me. The calm, the quiet, the peacefulness. It's not something I find often, yet it's in abundance here with this bewitching, sometimes irritating, always beautiful girl next to me.
"So....who is she?" Eloise leans forward in her seat to question me as I take a large sip of my coffee. It's been a long morning, Wednesdays always are, and now I've been roped into having lunch with my mum. I know instantly who she is referring to, Amelia. I haven't seen her since Monday morning when she slipped out of my bed and left me a soft kiss on the lips before rushing off to her first class. I promised her I would call her later in the week. I make a mental note to do so after this tedious lunch is over.
"Mum..." I groan at her question. She knows I don't like to talk to her openly about my relationships. She sees them in the paper, she asks me about them, and I never talk. That's always been our way, yet she doesn't quite get the message that I'm not going to openly discuss my relationships with her.
"I know, I know, but I just thought I'd ask. She looked very lovely in the paper," my mum smiles over at me and tilts her head to the side. I do enjoy it when we spend time together, sometimes, but whenever I do, it just seems to remind me of what a bad person I am. My mum is quite possibly the kindest woman who has ever existed, and here is her son; one of the most selfish, fucked-up humans to have ever existed. In a way, I believe my father nearly ruined her with his cruel words and his obvious hatred of us all.
"Her name's Amelia. It's new, but she's nice," I mumble as I take a bite out of my salad. My mum gazes at me with a shocked expression. She must think I have a brain aneurysm for opening up to her. For me, that's a big step. I can sense the motherly pride from a mile away, and I hope to keep it at bay as best I can.
"What does she do?" she asks in a very nonchalant way, though I know she's just dying to know everything. She's very involved in my sister's relationship; that kind of relationship always came easy to them. I've always been a lot more closed off; that's how I was raised to be with my dad around. And now that he's gone, she wants me to express my emotional side. A little late on that one.
"She's, uh, she's a student." I'm normally pretty good with lying to my mum. I've made up thousands of excuses to not return phone calls or attend family events over the years. But for some reason, I'm coming up blank, not that I really need a reason to lie; it's not like I'm doing anything wrong.
"Oh god, she's not in high school, is she?" I can't help but let out a small laugh as I shake my head. My mother's shocked expression slowly subsiding.