"Honey," Celine squinted in surprise at her mother's soft voice. She had been there for some time in the corner of the living room. "M-Mom ... you surprised me," Celine stammered, wondering if her mother had overheard her conversation with Leo or not."Are you alright, Dear?" the usually chatty mother asked gently as if she knew her daughter was struggling to contain her inner turmoil.Celine let out a weak sigh. Her mother must have heard her argument with Leo just now. There was no point in denying it, she thought.Wordlessly, Celine slammed into her mother and burst into tears in the warm embrace of the middle-aged woman. She shed the tears that had been welling in her eyes since she saw her mother's worried face.Mrs. Maggie stroked her back and also stroked her long black hair, trying to give her peace. She let Celine cry contentedly so that she could be relieved and lose the burden in her heart."It's okay, just keep crying until you're satisfied," she said wisely. Usually, sh
Mrs. Maggie, sitting next to Celine, immediately poured water from the teapot into a glass and held it out to her. Celine immediately drank in one gulp."Oh, I'm so satiated. I go to the room first," she excused herself, trying to avoid Gina, who was starting to bug her. She thought she would let her mother explain it to her father and Gina later. She didn't want to bring it up or hear about it again.She continued collecting items and photos of her memories with Leo in her room. After blocking Leo's number and account, he deleted digital traces from his cell phone and social media accounts.As soon as possible, she had to move on. Life must go on. She will find other happiness out there. The family she loves, the job she loves, and the achievements she is striving for all deserve more attention than just remembering the past with her cheating ex.After collecting all the prints, Celine put them in a cardboard box to be taken to the back storeroom."Well, now this room is clean from t
Celine spent the next few days focusing on her work. Some of the sneering and dismissive looks she received from fellow employees who seemed to feel envious or rivaled, she considered as self-encouragement to further improve her achievements.The important thing is to give the best, and then the best results will follow. That is an undeniable law of nature.To forget the pain of losing the love of her life for the umpteenth time, she devoted all her energy and attention to work. Kylie, who witnessed how hard Celine worked, sometimes asked her curious questions,"What did you have for breakfast? How come humans don't seem to get tired?"Celine just laughed at her friend's joke. She has grown closer to Kylie since working on jobs together. Little did she know that the giggly girl was quite understanding and caring. She often checked Celine's desk drawer to see if the lunch box was there or not. She said she was worried that Celine would eat late and that she would get sick if her energ
Gina was very upset with herself. She had spoken a sentence that might have been very hurtful to her sister. What could she do? She got angry because her sister didn't want to share her story with her. They are sisters who are women; the age difference is not so far; they should be able to talk to each other without playing secrets, she thought.She had just heard from her mother about Celine breaking up with her boyfriend. The mother also did not tell the exact reason, only saying that they were not yet a match. Gina's curious soul, of course, immediately thrashed. In addition, she was also furious with her sister's habit of changing boyfriends. She didn't know that it wasn't Celine's wish. If only they could open up to each other, Gina would have felt sorry for her sister's bad experiences in romance. Celine's introverted nature was so dominant that even her sister had no idea what she had been through. She preferred to keep her feelings and heartaches to herself. Finally, with Le
Without feeling guilty, Kylie walked on backward. She didn't care about her friend, who was groaning in pain from her arm jab."Who told you to make fun of people?" she chirped.Kylie was pleased that day. It was like she had made a new friend. In the past, she thought Celine was an arrogant girl. After almost a week, she realized that Celine was a fun friend. Indeed, people shouldn't judge someone's personality by their outward appearance. Make sure to refrain from judging a book by its cover. Get to know her better and then you'll see whether she's good or bad.Celine, trailing behind her, was stunned by the back garden Kylie was referring to. She wandered around the yard. The rows of potted ornamental plants in neat rows looked beautiful and organized. The pots were arranged by size from the smallest to the largest. The various types of flowers emitted a fragrant fragrance even to the surroundings. The presence of several butterflies and beetles added to the beauty of the scene th
When Celine finally returned home from Kylie's house, she stopped by the convenience store to buy a bottled orange drink like the one she had drunk earlier. Once home, there was an unfamiliar motorcycle parked on the porch. The metallic blue CBR motorcycle slightly blocked the access to the driveway, so Celine was forced to park her bike in front of the fence. Then, a guy seemed to rush out of the living room and greeted Celine,"Sorry. Let me move it for a moment," said the man while moving forward and directing it more to the side of the CBR motorcycle."Please ..." He invited Celine to enter. Celine also smiled friendly at the guy while muttering a thank you.Celine's curiosity about the male guest was answered when Gina came out and pretended to scold him,"You parked in the middle of the road. You know the motorcycle is a big body, it just fills up the road.""Yes, sorry...," said the boy, feeling bad.He’s Gina's friend. Or her boyfriend, Celine thought later. She then put her
That night, Celine did not sleep well. She had several nightmares and cried bitterly for no reason. The images of her dreams were hazy, and she couldn't remember them clearly.The following day, she woke up with a heavy head. She wanted to call in sick if it wasn't for the enormous responsibility waiting for her at work. Unfortunately, the job entrusted to her was on a deadline. At breakfast in the dining room, Celine only drank her chocolate milk with a slice of jam bread. Her mother, who doesn't like family members who don't eat breakfast, immediately reprimanded her,"Come on, eat the rice first, Celine! You can't go if you don't have breakfast!" "So sorry, Mom. Just this once I had bread and milk for breakfast. I have to arrive early in the morning. Something must be done quickly," Celine replied while putting in her lunch box that her mother always prepared at the dining table during breakfast. Not because Celine was too lazy to prepare it herself. Indeed, Mrs. Maggie wanted t
"Five o'clock, Mom, two hours overtime. What's going on?" Celine asked, surprised when Ms. Maggie didn't usually call at this time of the day to ask what time she would be home."Oh, that means no more overtime until night, huh?" Her mother's voice from the other side asked back."No. I worked overtime until 8 o'clock yesterday because the materials were still piling up. Now it's just finishing, so the overtime is only until the afternoon," Celine replied, trying to explain."Alright, you continue eating, finish it! Drink more too, so you don't get back pain ...," "Okay, boss!" said Celine, interrupting her mother's sentence, which could be a long-time, wide-time high."Unch unch, mama's kiddo...," Kylie, who was eating next to Celine, commented."It's so strange! I don't know, my mom doesn't usually call me just to ask when I'm home.""Does she has planning to go with family, maybe?""But she haven’t said so."They continued to eat their lunches while chatting about everything. Celi