Erina's Curse (ENGLISH VERSION)

Chapter 32

“Leila, tell me the truth.”

I was naïve for thinking that my mother would let me go easily after what I just pulled of in front of them. Who am I kidding anyway? I’m not a good actress and I can’t simply hide my emotions, especially with my eyes.

“Mom, can we not talk about it? Please,” I beg her.

I’m just really tired. This day has been really hectic and all I want to do after this long day is to take a bath and sleep soundlessly in my comfortable bed. I don’t even want to think. I guess for me, thinking is the most exhausting thing to do in the whole wide world.

“Not talk about it? What do you mean? Is it that serious?” my mother asked with worry evident in her voice and face expressions.

Oh, God. I think I just made it worse. Because of my defensiveness, she’s now thinking that I’m going through something serious again. well, I guess I am. Or maybe I haven’t gotten over all the things that happened to me in the past. Either of the two, they both suck though. I suck, as always.

“Sir Leo wants me to go back and sing again,” without a beat, a said that straight forwardly. Hoping that my mother wouldn’t react badly.

“What the f**k did you just say, Erina Leila Castelo?” I guess I’m wrong. Because she’s here now, standing so fiercely like she’s about to hit anyone who comes near her. In short, she’s being scary.

“No need to react that way, mom. I already said no,” I tried to make her feel better.

“You better be! You’ve seen the worst of that industry Leila! There’s no way you’re going back! You understand me?”

“Yes mom.”

“Good.”

I thought that was the end of that argument, but I guess my mom has still a lot of energy stored somewhere.

“And don’t ever talk or contact Leo again!”

The next few weeks were okay. Everyday is repetitive, especially my mom’s obsession of checking what the hell I’m doing on my phone. She doesn’t like me watching shows of idols and actors because she thinks that I’ll miss doing those things. I do miss it, but that’s not enough for me to go back to that hell.

“Mom, I swear I’m just watching funny videos,” I insisted when she peaked at my iPad while I’m sitting in the living room couch. “I promise!” I can’t help but to raise my voice a little because she keeps on giving me the suspicious look.

Thankfully, she believed me this time and let it go. I continued watching funny clips on YouTube while she cooks in the kitchen. Uncle Loui is at work while Angelo is on one of her aunt’s house. He has cousins with the same age, so I guess he’s enjoying there.

“Leila, let’s eat!”

After almost an hour, mom finally called me to eat. One thing that I really enjoyed doing now that I can’t really do before is eating. When ii was still an idol, I have to always watch my weight. When I exceed 45 kilograms before, that would mean I won’t be able to eat for days just to lose that extra weight. Which is actually hell for me because I love cooking and of course, I love eating.

We sometimes treat ourselves to a heavy meal too but right after that, we have to kill ourselves by exercising almost nonstop every day. But now that I’m a regular citizen, I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want it.

I still exercise of course. Because that’s a healthy lifestyle and despite facing multiple challenges all the time, I still want to live a long happy life. And so, I still eat healthy but also, I can now add an ample amount to my diet and even desserts like sweets and cakes since my mom also loves baking.  

“Coming, mom!” I answered as I turned off my iPad and put it in the center table just beside me. “Woah! It’s just the two of us mom. Why does these look like a feast or something?” I exclaimed as I took my seat.

“You know I love cooking for you, right?” she smiled at me as she put food in my plate.

“I love you, mommy!” I cannot help but feel emotional, so I stood up and went to her side to hug her tight.

“Hey, honey! I cook for you all the time, why are you being emotional?” she asked as she hugs me then wipe my tears.

“I don’t know, mom. Maybe I’ll have my period soon or something,” I laughed as she pinched my cheek.

“Hey, were in front of food Leila!” she reprimanded me which made me laughed.

“Are you okay?” she asked as I catch my breath after laughing because of our silly conversation.

I’ve been always short of breath. Before, when I was still an idol, I do extensive additional training aside from the daily training that we do because I need to strengthen my stamina. My trainer always says to me that I’m an extremely talented person stuck in a weak body.

I can sing songs consecutively, but I find it extremely hard to sing and dance without stops that’s why our performances always have a 2-minute break. The producers find it a burden but I we can’t do anything about it. But sometimes in my best days where I’m in a really condition, I can pull 10-minute performance with little to no breaks so, maybe they forgive and forget my other weaknesses because of that.

I make-up for weak dance performances with my vocals though. I particularly enjoy our sit-down performances where we sing mostly RnB songs that are just chill and good to the ears for relaxing. Oh! I remember that me always being short of breath is also the reason why I write mostly chill songs. But let’s not talk about the past anymore. Or maybe I’m just saying that now, but the truth is, I’m down who always wants to reminisce the past. Because I miss the hype, the energy and mostly, I miss certain people in my life that I cannot be with in my present.

“I’m fine mom. I just can’t keep myself from laughing with all the drama,” I said which made her laughed in response.

We ate for almost an hour because we talked about so many random things. It’s just fun whenever I have alone time with my mother. Of course, it’s fun too when Angelo and Uncle Loui is around. I volunteered to wash the dishes because contrary to what my haters say, I’m not that shameless.

After washing the dishes, I sat beside my mom who’s watching the news.

“Did something interesting happen, mom?” I asked as I settled beside her and took my iPad so I can watch movies.

“I don’t know, just some news about the next election and the candidates who have plans on running,” she answered with little to no interest.

Because there’s nothing new on the news, I decided to open my i********: instead to kill boredom. This is not the same account that I had before. That was either deleted or gone. My new i********: is on private and the only photos I post there are either sceneries, flowers or places that I see randomly. Even though the account is private, I still take the extra precaution of not posting any pictures of myself and my family.

While browsing, something came up that made me almost dropped the iPad. Maybe it was mother’s instinct that my mom immediately felt something wrong.

“What is it?” she asked.

But I can’t even process the information on my mind so how am I going to explain to her or tell her what I just saw?

“Leila?” mom even held my cheeks to make me look at her. I don’t know what my facial expression says, or what my eyes say.

But since my mom is very much impatient just like her stubborn daughter, she wasn’t able to stop herself and grab the iPad from my hand. Because I don’t have the strength or the awareness of what’s was happening, I wasn’t able to stop her.

“What is it?! Why can’t you talk?!” she exclaimed. She was about to say more but maybe the news shocked her too and was not able to speak.

We were both silent for at least five minutes when I was startled because of her awkward laugh. “So, what Leila?” she asked. “It’s not like he’s here. He came back in that hell hole you call an entertainment industry. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll come back to, right?”

I can clearly hear the nervousness in her voice. With the way she stutters a little bit, it’s obvious.

I can’t blame her though. The news of Silas going back to the industry is shocking enough to make us speechless. It’s trending all over the world now. And what’s more shocking is the fact that he’s not coming back to his previous agency. He’s now signed to the Golden Medalist Entertainment Company, the same company where Sir Leo is working now.

The same company where he wants me to go back to. Now, Erina. Are you still sure about your decision? Of not going back?