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467words
On my last business trip, I secured a major deal.
The company had previously intended to transfer me there for development.
However, Liam and I got engaged at the time, so this matter was temporarily put on hold.
The company granted me a two-week leave.
I availed myself of this break to undergo a procedure.
Lying in the OR, the nurse asked me if I had any family with me.
"...No. I hired a private aide."
I closed my eyes. A single tear escaped, tracing a path into my hairline.
When I opened my eyes again, the procedure was over.
I felt no physical pain except for just a deep, bone-weary exhaustion.
My heart felt hollow. I was too drained to stay awake.
When I woke next, Mom sat by the bed.
Her face was stern; her eyes were rimmed red -- like she had been crying.
"Mom..."
"You still remember having a Mom? Why did you this from me?! If that nurse hadn't kept my number from last time, I wouldn't even know you were here!"
"Do you have any idea what you're doing to your body?"
Her voice drilled into my aching head. I closed my eyes,
"I didn't tell you because I didn't want the lecture."
That only fueled her anger,
"What am I to you? The enemy?"
"I didn't want you to leave Liam. It was for your good!"
"I confronted that little homewrecker Vivian at the hospital!"
She paused, sighed heavily,
"I'm furious, Sophie. But let's be fair. Liam's a damn sight better than your father ever was! Lord knows I put up with his crap for years!"
"Men make mistakes! Liam nearly died for you! Isn't that enough?"
"Yes, you're beautiful. But you're 28, not 18! How many good years do you think you have left?"
"And after three years together, engaged, even pregnant... you throw it all away? What a waste!"
I turned my face towards the window. My voice was flat and cold,
"Mom, cheating isn't a 'mistake.' It's a choice. Zero times or a thousand times. You, of all people, should understand that."
Staying with a cheater? It’s like wrapping a putrid toad in pretty candy paper.
Some clung to the fading sweetness on the wrapper.
Others cut clean.
Three years. Nine years. However long.
Staying too long without commitment only wounded everyone.
His habits were woven into the fabric of my life.
His shadow lurked in every corner.
I would consider this procedure as scraping the bone clean to cutting out the sickness of him.
After a heavy silence, I asked point-blank,
"Mom. You didn't tell Liam, did you?"
Her hand, peeling an apple, stilled. Her eyes darted away.
Hah. I knew it.
Of course she told him.
