When I entered the kitchen I saw Mom finishing up breakfast. She looked back at me and she just had this smile on her face, like she knew something that I didn’t.
“Good morning, Sweetie!” she cheered out, putting breakfast on a plate.
Dumbfounded that she was acting like nothing happened, I just sat down, speechless.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked, putting the plate down in front of me.
I had to clear my throat of the sleepy mucus that had built up from my shitty night, “Uh, yeah. I slept alright.”
She leaned down and kissed my forehead before saying, “You’re still wearing yesterday’s clothes. Go wash up after you eat.”
Once again she had left me highly confused and alone in the room as she walked away. I finished eating my breakfast, cleaned the dishes, and left the kitchen for my room. Each step had me a bit more worried. Why was she acting the way she was? Like nothing happened, when we both knew that wasn’t true.
I found myself back in my room, feeling similar to the night before, but in a different way. Less heartbroken, more confused, out of my mind. What the hell was she up to?
Shaking off any lingering thoughts, I decided it would be best to hurry up and take a shower. I quickly went through my drawers, just taking some clothes that would keep me warm, feeling like I would need to take a walk outside to refresh my mind.
I left the clothes on my bed and while undressing, entered the bathroom. I put down the toilet seat and laid my towel on it for easy access. Turning on the water, I put my hand under the faucet to test the temperature. I imagined the warm water as my mother’s hands, massaging mine. This however, turned into quite the ironic moment when the water’s temperature went from a warm, soothing stream of bliss, to a searing hot lava faucet.
I quickly yanked away my hands before adjusting the knobs to something that wouldn’t melt me as soon as I entered. When I reached the desired median of hot and cold, I pressed down on the little switch that activated the shower. As it kicked on, a few hiccups of air had caused the shower to skip a few beats before returning to a steady stream.
Stepping into the shower, I closed the curtains behind me, blocking most of the light. The warm water pelted my body, relieving me of most of my tension. I finally had a moment of peace, the sound of the shower drowned out whatever other sounds I could have heard, this combined with the dimmed lighting was exactly what I needed.
I scrubbed my body clean of the dirt, and the guilt from the previous night. The shower finished wiping any left-over soap from my body and I stood there, soaking up the steam for a few minutes.
Turning off the water, I flicked the dripping remains from my limbs and pushed it out of my hair before grabbing the towel to finish the job. I padded myself dry and laid the towel down in front of the tub so I wouldn’t get my wet feet on the tiles.
I walked out of the bathroom and was greeted with the sight of my mother sitting next to my clothes, just staring at me. She had this huge smile on her face, and her eyes were traveling across my body.