Chapter 77: Mom Knows
Chapter 77: Mom Knows
Helen finished shortly from the kitchen and headed to the room where she and Charles slept.
Getting to the room, she heard Charles taking a shower in the bathroom. She excitedly pulled up her shirt over her head and pulled down her pants.
She was startled naked as she pulled the door open. Charles had his back turned against the door, the shower open on his head, so he hardly heard her when she walked in.
She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his cold torso from behind. He jumped up in fright and broke into laughter after on.
“Helen! Why did you do that? You scared the shit out of me!” He exclaimed in surprise, and she also broke into laughter.
“I’m sorry! I just didn’t want you to leave the bathroom without me taking a shower too.” She pouted.
He smiled widely and turned to look at her face. He wrapped his arms around her waist and yanked her closer to him.
He leaned forward and moved his right hand up to her face, making sure his hand never left her body. His hand brushed the side of her breasts, making her shiver.
He grabbed her face slightly and raised her head to meet his face. He stared at her lips, and then at her face again.
“What kept you so long in the kitchen?” He asked in a whisper and covered her lips with his afterwards.
He took her lower lip in swiftly and nibbled on it, not giving her a chance to give an answer to his question. She parted her lips enough to deepen the kiss.
As soon as their breathing began to grow intense, he broke the kiss and stared into her eyes.
“It’s been so long we’ve had a moment like this. It’s been so stressful lately.” He mumbled as he picked her sponge that was sitting not so far from him.
“I know, baby. Elena and I were still talking about that and that is why we spent quite some time in the kitchen.”
“Really? What were you talking about?”
“Well, I had to apologize to her for James’ behavior towards her lately. She has been receiving all the hate lately and I’m not so happy about it. She had been trying so hard to make him understand that she knows nothing about this.”
James heaved a sigh and poured little lotion soup on the sponge. He soaked it in water for a few seconds and made her turn her back to him. He began to scrub her back.
“I know this isn’t a good thing to say now, but we can’t really trust anyone right now. James is just trying not to let his guard down.”
“Yes, I do understand that. But he is hurting her in the process. He shouldn’t make it so obvious. What if she is truly innocent? He would feel bad at the end of the day.”
“Ahhhh… it’s all so crazy these days. I just want this to end as soon as possible. I want us to go back home and have the whole day together.”
Helen smiled and bounced her head. “I feel the same way too. Penelope and I haven’t even had a proper catch up since we’ve met. It’s so crazy!”
“Yes! And that reminds me. We had a talk this morning. I never knew we'd met before.”
“What? Really?” She turned to look at him, and he bounced his head.
“Yes. I was surprised too. She said we met about thirty years ago, in front of a mall.” All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
“In front of a mall? In Alabama?” She further asked.
“Yes. Why are you so curious about it? Did she mention it to you?”
“You bumped into her?”
“Yes. She said we didn’t have time to get to talk. I still can’t remember how it happened, it’s so long.”
“Wait… so you are the guy she told me about?”
She stepped back from him and looked at his face. “Told you? What did she tell you?”
“She said she met a handsome guy at the mall, you bumped into each other, and didn’t get time to talk. She told me this years ago, before we lost contact.”
“Really? That’s crazy. I still can't remember a thing about it. It’s been such a long time. Maybe I didn’t pay attention to her at all.”
“This is crazy.” She mumbled and slowly turned her back to him again, so he could continue scrubbing her back.
“It’s not such a big deal. It’s been so long.”
“So that is why she was moody at dinner?”
“What does that have to do with her mood? She probably must have remembered me from the first day we met. Why would it change anything now?”
“Maybe because you never paid attention to your visit, or maybe because we were all over each other today.”
Charles creased his brows and stopped rubbing her back for a second.
“I’m lost, baby. What are you trying to say?”
“Listen. Penelope is someone that hates to share her things or anything she calls hers. When she told me about the man she bumped into at the mall, it was like she wanted him to herself. Like she wanted to get married to him.”
“And…”
“Now I got married to you. Don’t you think she would be offended?”
“Offended? I didn’t even know her. Why would she be offended? I am confused as f**k.”
“She wanted you…”
“Thirty years ago! What are you talking about? She didn’t even get to know my name, right? Why do you even care if she wants me or not?”
“She always wanted whatever she wanted all to herself.”
“She has Hopper now. She is a mother with two children. If she wanted this, this was then, not now. We have all moved on. So stop giving me that worrying face and let’s enjoy the moment.”
Helen smiled faintly and bounced her head. She turned her back to him again, and he continued scrubbing. This time around, he moved down to her buttocks and legs.
While he washed her up, Helen was busy thinking about it all over again.
‘Why didn’t she mention it to me before? Why did she have to get him to be alone with her before she said it? Does she still want him? What if she is jealous and would do anything just to separate us?’
She exhaled loud and hard, and Charles raised his head to look at her.
“Stop thinking.” He muttered and turned on the shower again. The water flowed down her body, washing the foam away.
“I’m not thinking about it.” She responded and turned to face him this time.
“Of course you are. I have known you for years now, and you also do that whenever you’re overthinking. I told you not to do that again. This isn’t even worth it.”
She smiled faintly and bounced her head.
“True. It isn't worth it. I’ll stop thinking about it, okay? It’s been years now, and we both have moved on. She has a husband, and I have a husband. She has children, and I have a son. She must have moved on.”
“Definitely. So, let’s focus on ourselves and shun those thoughts, okay?”
“Hmm… okay!” She answered with great energy and a large grin.
“Great! Now, let’s continue from where he stopped.”
He pulled her closer to him again, making her pressed her chest against his very hard so that he could feel her n**ples harden.
“Where were we?” She asked in a whisper and bit her lips seductively.
“You know where we stopped.” He muttered.
“Yeah. I think I do.” She raised her head and kissed him very hard.
***
Elena stared at the ceiling as she laid on the bed. Next to her was Penelope, sleeping peacefully. Elena couldn’t stop thinking about Amelia and Alice.
‘It’s been more than a week since they left us. When are we going to see them for Christ’s sake? What if…’
“No!… they are not dead.” She uttered aloud.
She clenched her jaws and looked at Penelope to see if she had disturbed her sound sleep. Unfortunately, she didn’t.
Penelope was lost in her own world in the dream land. Elena heaved a sigh and wanted to look away when her eyes caught Penelope’s phone lying on the bed table next to Penelope.
She stared at the phone for a few minutes and remembered the phone call she had in the evening. She thought about it to the extent of picking up the phone and checking whoever she was talking to.
‘Should I do this? But why would I do that? Why do I have to sneak up on my mother’s phone?’
‘But she was acting so weird. She even had to hang up after I walked in. If it was just work, she wouldn’t do that. Is she cheating on dad?’
Her thoughts made her eyes pop wide open. She looked at Penelope’s face again and saw her eyes were still very much closed. She had the same facial expression that she had when she first looked at her.
She slowly yanked the duvet off her legs and got out of bed. She tiptoed to the other side of the bed where Penelope was. As she did this, she made sure she made no sound, and she kept her eyes on Penelope.
She picked up the phone and headed out of the room. Before she stepped out, she also took her phone along with her.
She got to the hallway and unlocked her mom’s phone. Her password has always been their birthdate. She had never for once changed it.
After unlocking her phone, she went to her call logs and saw the last number she had called. It wasn’t a saved number.
Before calling the number, she copied the number on her phone first.
She wanted to make sure she had it before her mother would wake up and realize that her phone was missing.
After copying the number, she put a call across to this phone number on her mother’s phone and waited for whosoever owned it to answer.
She looked at the time and saw it was 2am in the midnight. She ate her fingers nervously and threw her head backwards.
“What are you doing, Elena? Who would answer the phone at 2am?” She muttered to herself as she paced up and down the hallway.
She looked at the screen of the phone and wanted to disconnect when the owner picked up.
She placed it in her ear nervously and the first thing she heard was the loud, uncomfortable cry of a baby.
“Why did you call back now?! My ringtone woke her up, and she was beginning to sleep! Now Amelia won't rest too!” The man at the other end of the phone answered angrily.
Elena’s eyes widened in great shock, and she hurriedly disconnected the call. She fell backwards and her back hit the wall very hard. She was almost traumatized.
“Mom knows where they are?” She muttered in shock, ignoring the pain that proceeded from her back. She gulped hard as tears heated her eyes without notifying her.
“Elena?” She heard someone call.
She looked up and saw Penelope staring at her from the room door.