My Therapy

Chapter 18

Adriane's POV

"Adriane!? Adriane!! Dinner's ready!!" My sister's loud voice banged my ears and woke me up. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Ella's naked body laying beside me. s**t! we dozed off after our hot love making session! I jumped out of bed and locked my door as I heard my sister stepping down the stairs. She has this bad habit of bursting through my door when I don't wake up after she called me out. 

"Adriane!" she shouted as she tries to twist the door knob. Geez that was close, "I'm awake, I'll be there in a bit!" I answered as I quickly put on my shirt and shorts. Ella's still trying to open her eyes, I must've awoken her when I jumped out the bed. 

"Hey, love. You awake?" I whispered in her ear as she slowly open her eyes. "Hello there, handsome" she replied back with a smile. "Oh my God! Did we doze off?! her eyes opened wide when she realized she just woke up. "Kind of, and... Andrea and Lyle are back they're waiting for us upstairs to have dinner" I told her, on the back of my head I'm praying that Andrea assumes that Ella's still here. "Are you serious?" she replied back her face starts to turn red, maybe the same thought is running through her head. "Yeah, I think it'll be best for us if you get dressed" I said smiling at her. "You owe me!" she threatened as she gets her blouse and pants on.

We went to the dining room where Andrea is sitting and feeding Lyle. "Oh! Ella,  sit here and have dinner with us" my sister said with a smirk. Ella went on the other side of the table and my sister is giving me "the looks", she obviously didn't knew Ella would still be here and I have a feeling she knows what happened. I sat down beside Ella and served her food. 

This is the most awkward moment in my life! The dinner was really quiet except for Lyle's constant singing of nursery rhymes and Andrea's story how Lyle cried his eyeballs out while getting his new haircut. Ella and I would make eye contact like we know what's exactly the other one is thinking and my sister would send malicious smiles at me every once in a while. 

"Thank you for the dinner, it was really good" Ella said to my sister. "Don't say that in front of Adriane, she'll get jealous of my amazing cooking skills!" my sister boasted and laughed at my face. I rolled my eyes at her, she only learned how to cook when she married Larry - who's an amazing chef I might say - so she would get any compliment she can get when it comes to cooking. 

I walked Ella towards her car as we leave my sister and Lyle at the house. "That was really awkward" I said slightly laughing. "I agree, you owe me big time after this. I can't believe we dozed off for almost two hours after that..." Ella said not continuing what she's about to say. "After what?" I asked giving her a devilish smile. "Whatever! You owe me big and you know what I mean" her eyes met mine and I wrapped my arms around her waist. "I know, I know. Drive safe, love. Thank you for checking up on me today" I said and gave her a kiss. "I'll call you when I get home" and she got in to her car, then drove off. I exhaled deep preparing myself for some questioning.

I closed the front door behind me and prayed that my sister won't hear it. I slowly crept down the stairs aiming for my room, when I heard her say "You are a sly little fox aren't you?" I looked up and saw my sister with a big smile on her face. "Give me a break, I'm not a kid anymore" I replied not denying whatever she is thinking but not admitting it as well. 

"You know you can't hide it from me, I know just by looking both of you" she continued while skipping towards Lyle's room. Oh my god, she'll be talking about it for a while - maybe I should hit her head so she'll have a temporary amnesia - nah, bad idea.

*****

Margaret's POV

I've called their office and they told me that Ella and Julia left as soon as they were done with their sessions. I also called Julia and she said Ella is not with them, she said Ella did not mention going anywhere today so she assumed she went straight home. Now, I'm really worried for my daughter. It's almost 11 PM and the only time she gets home late for the past years is when she's with Julia. Should I report to the police? I'm still agitated on what I need to do, no calls, no texts from her today. I need a cigarette! I grabbed the pack I hid on my drawer and stepped outside, then I saw her car parking towards our driveway. 

"Where the hell did you go!?" I shouted as I hurriedly ran towards my daughter. "I haven't heard from you! No text, no call! Do you know how worried I am?! Julia said you're not with them! I almost went to the Police station with your photo to make a report!" I blurted out not giving her a chance to answer back.

"Sorry, mom. I know how worried you are, I forgot to call you or send you a message where I was. I'm really sorry" she replied back hugging me. 

"Where on earth did you go? Did something happened to you? Why didn't you call me? You didn't tell Julia that you'll go somewhere else either! You had me worried sick!"

"Mom, please calm down. I'm here now, I just forgot to call you. I don't have plans of going anywhere to start, then I suddenly thought about visiting Adriane cause she's sick for the past days. I was supposed to be home after a quick visit but they asked me to stay for dinner and I couldn't say no. I'm sorry" she explained. Ella's lips curved into a slight smile while talking about Adriane. I'm still mad at her for forgetting me but I am relieved that she's safe.

"You almost gave me a heart attack. Let's go inside, I won't need this cigarette anymore" I said placing the stick back in the pack. "Mom! I thought you quit smoking?" Ella exclaimed. "Well it's your fault for making me worry all night" I answered, walking back to our house.

She went up to her room and took a quick shower and I cleaned our kitchen before I go to sleep. I walked upstairs and Ella just stepped out of the shower. I walked past her bedroom, the door is slightly open and I can hear her humming while drying her hair. I pushed the door to take a quick look at my daughter, she's facing her make-up mirror while combing her hair as she dries it. 

"Let me guess, you had s*x with her. Is she your girlfriend now?" Ella's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, her face immediately fumed red when she heard me. "What? I know that glow your face has, it tells me that you had an amazing s*x with her" I continued making my daughter's face as red as cherries. "So that's why you were not able to answer any of my calls, you're busy screaming her name" I crossed my arms and smiled at my daughter who's still looking at me, not saying a word. She composed herself and managed to close her dropped jaw, then answered me back.

"I'm not a young girl anymore, you know that. But mom? I really had an amazing night and she said that she loves me" the smile on her face says it all. I've never seen her like this in years, tears are starting to make their way at the corner of my eyes but I tried to held them back. I reached out my arms to her for a hug. 

"I'm really happy for you" I said softly. "Make sure you invite her over to dinner on Thanksgiving. Tell her I wouldn't take no for an answer" I said to my daughter. "Good night, dear" I placed a kiss on her cheeks and walked towards my room to rest.

Ella's POV

After the amazing night Adriane and I had, my mom kept reminding me to invite her over for Thanksgiving. The thoughts of her "formally" meeting my mom excites me, but some part of me worries. I'm still trying to get through the bad memories I have about Thanksgiving Day. Julia said that Adriane might be the key to forget all those bad memories, however whenever I start to think about thanksgiving, bad memories keep haunting me. This will be the first thanksgiving day my mom and I will celebrate again after my dad's death. 

During thanksgiving we usually go to the cemetery in the morning , stay there until late afternoon and just have a normal dinner back home. My mom decided that today's going to be different. We went to the cemetery early this morning and went back home about lunch time to cook for our guest tonight. Ever since I told Adriane that my mom knows about us and that she's inviting her to dinner, she's been panicking a lot. She said she haven't celebrated thanksgiving before and she's scared now that my mom knows that we're together. Every time we would talk about it, she would be very anxious almost like she's taking a major exam. I find it cute but I can't say that I am not nervous myself.

"Adriane will be here any minute now" I said to my mom, who's still fixing her hair. She wants to make sure she looks good for Adriane. Well that's expected, she likes Adriane so much that she always wants to flirt with her - well I can't blame her, my girlfriend is so damn hot!

*Ding Dong*

I walked towards the door and opened it. "Hey there, love" I greeted Adriane as I kissed her lips. "Come in, come in" I heard my mom say excitedly. "Thank you for having me tonight. This is for you." Adriane said as she hugged my mom and handed her a box of cake. 

Before dinner, my mom gladly toured Adriane around the house showing her small garden, the certificates I got from all of the seminars I was invited to and my baby photos. 

"Is he Ella's dad?" Adriane pointed to the tall white guy in the photo carrying a little girl in a princess costume. "Yes he is" my mom replied with a sad smile. "He looks really handsome, you two must've been the perfect couple, like the ones seen in movies." Adriane said making my mom's smile reach both her ears. She might have noticed the sad smile my mom had before and quickly thought of a way to make her happy. My girlfriend's really sweet and sensitive, she can easily sense the emotional need of the person she's speaking to and will know what words she'll use to make that person feel better. I bet Adriane will be an amazing therapist once she finished her studies and I'll be the most proud girlfriend in the world when that happens.

After a while, we then went to the dining table to have dinner. "So, Adriane, Ella said you'll continue studying at the University for Psychology? Will you be studying the entire year?" my mom's interrogation starts. "I'll start this winter, but it won't be for full load, I'll still work at City hall. So it'll be part-time for both, I would need to support my studies. I don't want to trouble my sister on my finances" Adriane responded. 

"You'll study and work at the same time? How would you find time to date my daughter or even have s*x with her?" my mom asked without warning and I almost choked on my meal. "Mom!" I looked at my mom with wide eyes trying to warn her not to continue, but it didn't work. "Ella's been alone for a while, like more than a year if I remember correctly and I want to keep seeing her like this. Smiling, glowing, full of energy, happy..." "Mom, she gets it" I interrupted her and I looked at Adriane who's trying her best not to laugh on the whole time for s*x thing. "What I'm trying to say Adriane is that I'm not that young anymore and I want my daughter to find someone who'll take care of her" my mom still continued despite my attempts to cut her off.

"That won't be a problem, Margaret. I'll give all my time to Ella, I love your daughter and I will always take care of her" Adriane said while holding my hand tight. I felt my face blush, it's like this dinner is not meant for thanksgiving but for a proposal. We've been just together for a couple of weeks and seems like my mom wants us to get married right away. My mom smiled and looked at me, we continued to eat dinner while she asks Adriane questions once in a while. 

Adriane's about to leave and my mom asked me to take the dishes to the dishwasher. She said she wants to talk to Adriane alone without me interrupting their conversation - how rude. They went to the patio outside, I kept glancing on Adriane while talking to my mom trying to figure out what my mom is saying. Adriane looked at me for a second and turned her eyes back to my mom, still talking to her. My mom went back in after a few minutes and Adriane walked in to kiss me goodbye.

"Thank you for tonight, love" she said to me and placed a kiss on my lips. I walked her outside and closed the front door behind my back "So?" "So, what?" she asked playing dumb. "What did my mom tell you?" I asked. "Nothing much, she just told me to take care of you and that she would kill me if I ever hurt you" she responded slightly laughing.  "You know, you're not a very good liar" I said not believing what she said. "You're just too paranoid, that's what she told me" Adriane still sticking with her version of the story and walked towards her car. 

"I love you" she kissed me again and this time more passionately. "We're not even yet, you get that?" I threatened her. She smiled and said "I don't mind owing you a lot, I would be your slave if I have to", then she drove off. 

I still don't know what my mom said to her but for some reason Adriane's actions assured me that I don't have to worry about it. I know my mom won't tell me what is it, but Adriane would definitely say something probably not just today. I thought for a while outside, maybe it's time for me to move back to my apartment. My mom would like the idea and pack my things as soon as possible, but I still don't want to leave her alone.