Leila was not expecting her mother to show up like this, in her apartment for Christ's sake. I mean, she came off as a strong willed person but whenever her mother was around, she just felt like a child all over again and it was dragging her down almost every time, that was one of the main reasons why she left Cali in the first place. She loved her mom but it was better as a long distance relationship.
"Mom, what are you doing here!?" She repeated.
Her mother gasped in shock, "Am I not welcome in my daughter's home?"
It took Leila all she had not to roll her eyes, this was a family conversation and Frank should probably not be here to witness everything. Her family was a complicated but loving one, ever since she lost her dad, it has just been she and her mom. She just sighed and hugged her mom, she mouthed to Frank to leave and muttered an apology. She felt bad for doing this but her mother had ruined the plans.
"Leila, See you at work tomorrow?" Frank asked.
Leila nodded affirmatively. She wished they could have had their little celebration before her mother showed up.
Frank cut her thoughts short, "Nice to meet you Mrs Baker, bye Leila".
Her mother smiled and gave her a knowing smile, Leila definitely rolled her eyes, she had to make a mental note to stop doing that though, it was getting too much. "Bye, I did not get your name young man" Mrs Baker inquired.
"It is Frank ma'am" He called out before he dashed out of the building.
Leila sighed in relief now that it was only two of them in the house, "Tell me mom, what are you doing here?How did you even afford the flight ticket?"
Her mom winked at her, "Frank right? He is cute"
"Mom, focus. Frank and I are just friends and answer me please, how did you afford the ticket?"
Her mom sighed in defeat, "Okay, Okay, Your friend got it as a surprise. She said you have been feeling down lately and she wanted to do something nice for you and since you have been away from home for long, she decided to bring me here"
Leila's mouth hung open, she really wished it was not Gavin but who was she kidding? who else could afford the expensive trip, "Mom? Which friend?"
Her mother opened her bag and reapplied her lip gloss, "How am I supposed to know? Is she not your friend? Tall? Model like body, tanned skin"
Leila's breath hitched, a lady? She did not have any rich lady friend. Scratch that, she did not have the luxury of befriending any rich ladylike friend
"Do you at least know her name?"
Her mom squinted her eyes, "Wait, I think I remember, she said her name was Adeline, I guess? I am really getting old baby, I can not even remember little details about my everyday life" She chuckled.
Leila's heart stopped for a minute, Adele? Adele brought her mother here? But why? She could not even think straight at this point. Adele was really a cunning woman and now that she thought about it, she should have probably left Gavin alone from the start, but she loved the way he made her feel, and the guy just got her an apartment, a freaking apartment. Nobody had ever done something nice for her without her even asking and this guy took it upon himself to get her another place just to make her feel safe but now that Adele had brought her mother here, she wondered if she was truly safe from her.
The door knock interrupted her thoughts. Damnnnn! She really did need to move to another place, too many people knew her address now. So much for staying anonymous and living a low-key life. She knew her mother would never go to answer the door, her mother's rules were the definition of uppity. "Give me a minute please!" She screamed.
She was still not dressed so she just grabbed a pair of joggers from the top of her bed and a shirt, wearing it hurriedly. She peeped and her mom was sitting down on the couch, playing with her hair. She wondered if her mom ever regretted marrying her dad, her mom came from a rich home but abandoned it all to get married to her dad, she wondered if she ended up resenting him over the years and before he died. The door knock came again, she stopped herself from over thinking and went to answer the door, it was Gavin. Crap, this was a bad idea. She was not ready for Gavin to meet her mom.
He leaned in for a kiss and whispered in her ears, "You sounded like you missed me on the phone, so I left everything I was doing and hurried over here. Perks of being a CEO"
Leila started blushing. You had to give it to him, The guy had his way with words.
"Leila, who is at the door? Is it the delivery guy. I ordered Thai " her mom called out.
Fuckkk. Leila thought, this was going to be a very long night and it had not even started yet.