I CAN LINK YOU BOTH

I ran to my mother's bed and immediately hugged her tight, saying "Mommy! I've missed you so much." Tears started to roll down my face, and my mother, feeling sympathy and guilt for causing me distress, consoled me by stroking my back and saying, "I'm so sorry for putting you through all of this trouble." I continued crying and hugging her tightly, not wanting to ever let go yet as I had missed her so much.

"I'm just glad you're okay now," I said and finally let go of my mom, dishing out some food for her to eat. While she ate in silence. After a few minutes, my mother finally spoke up, asking, "How's everything going? How's your dad? Did he ever visit me?" However, I couldn't bring myself to answer and simply hung my head low, before explaining everything that had happened up until that point.

 This included what I had experienced with Josh, as well as my recent struggles with being kicked out of the house, but I left out any mention of Mr. Romanov to my mom.

My mom was left speechless before pulling me close for a hug. "I can't believe you had to go through all this," she said with sympathy, and I informed her that I stayed with Julie now. 

We stayed in silence for a few minutes before I mustered up enough courage and said, "Mom, I think you need to divorce Dad." My mother looked at me with a surprised expression, making it seem like I had three heads for even suggesting such a thing. After a moment of staring at her, she responded with "We'll talk about this later."

"No! We're talking about it now," I insisted, speaking firmly with my mother. I continued on, saying "Dad doesn't deserve you, so divorce him and take your share of the property. Start a new life." Mom held my hand and replied, "You don't understand Layla. I do love your dad, and I'm doing this for you, for us. I won't get enough shares so staying with him will ensure I can take care of you." However, I refused to listen and firmly shook my head, saying "I can take care of myself."

'I can take care of myself; I have a job.' I continued babbling, 'I'll get married soon without realizing that I had accidentally said that, only managing to cover my mouth with my palm and stop myself too late.

"Married?! To whom?" My mom exclaimed, completely shocked. "I missed a lot in your life. I thought you just broke up with Josh," she continued. I walked to the window and said, "Yes, I broke up with Josh, but I've moved on and I like my fiancé." I turned to look at her, trying to maintain eye contact with her while I told the surprising news.

I continued before she could say anything "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. My fiancé took care of your bills and can take care of us. I can handle myself, so let's not talk about this any further. Just finish your food, Mom," leaving little room for any further questions or inquiries. I hoped that my explanation and reasoning would be enough to prevent any further questions from my mother, as I had made up my mind and I wasn't going to change it.

Upon hearing my response, my mom remained quiet. She just said, "If you say so. I trust you, Layla," and continued to eat. After a few moments, she wondered, "When do I meet this fiancé of yours?" To that, I responded, "Soon, Mom. I'll be having dinner with his mom tomorrow. I hope you're discharged from the hospital before next week ends." I spent some time with mom and, before departing, gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I'll visit you tomorrow, Mom," I said before leaving the hospital.

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I was walking to release some stress when I happened to spot a familiar face. Upon noticing the familiar face, I shouted, "Hey, Zane." Zane turned towards me and, upon recognizing me, smiled. I walked closer to him and greeted him with, "Good evening. What are you doing around here?" and Zane replied, "I don't live far from here," to which I responded, "I don't live far either." We both shared a similar living situation, and that fact sparked a conversation between the two of us, as we enjoyed the pleasant evening.

We talked for a long time with Zane telling me how he had lived in South Africa for 6 years before deciding to return to his hometown. He shared that he was the first-born child of three boys and that he had worked in an electronic shop. As a bonus, I was excited to learn that Zane had a young niece, whom he referred to as Angel and mentioned that she would "love to meet" me. I was happy that I made another friend that isn't Julie as she's my only friend.

As the sunset grew closer and brighter, we became aware of how the night was approaching. We also realized that it was time to part ways for the evening, so I bid him farewell with the phrase, "See you anytime we see again." This made Zane laugh, and he replied, "We'll surely see each other soon," reassuring me and suggesting that we would meet once more in the near future, which likely pleased me, as I had enjoyed spending the evening getting to know him more.

Once we parted ways, I quickly rushed home as the darkness of night was slowly closing in. As I got closer to the house, I noticed Julie sitting on the porch, her phone in her hand. "Hey Julie!" I greeted her, causing Julie to look up at me with a knowing look, likely figuring out what I had been doing during her absence. "Oh, hey Layla," Julie greeted in return, then asked, "I saw you with a cute guy on the way back. Who's he?", revealing her curiosity and desire to know who this guy was, who had apparently caught my eye.

"Oh, you're stalking me now?" I joked as a response while smiling, revealing my playful nature. However, when I continued explaining how this guy had paid for my groceries after my card declined, Julie became intrigued and suggested, "He's cute, I like him." This surprised me, so I quickly said to Julie, "I can link you both." We both laughed and then entered the house, Julie likely looking forward to meeting this new friend of mine.