"Hi maa!" Sabrina greets her mother as soon as she opens the door to the apartment. Her mother looks her from up to down to her messed attire. She was half wet, sanded and smelled like salt, her hair seemed like they haven't been brushed since weeks. Sabrina moved inside before her mother bombards her with questions on the doorstep. "Where were you, young lady?"
"I think I'm back home on time?" she says, slipping out of her wet sneakers.
"No! You are ten minutes late."
"Maa, seriously?" She says, turning towards her mother with her hands on her hips.
"And where'd you go?"
"Well... Uh... I... Umm..."
"What's taking you so long to answer a simple question?" Doris asks, quirking up a brow. Sabrina huffs out a breath, giving up on the idea of hiding her little tour with David from her mother, knowing how persistent her mother is going to remain until she shares it with her and neither did she feel like hiding.
"He took me to meet his mother." Doris face changed, she had become suddenly pale and her eyes went wide, her mouth hangs open. "From your looks, I take that you already know about his mother?" Doris blinks her eyes and moves towards her daughter. She takes her face in her hands and observes her face closely.
"How could David do it so soon, did she say anything to you? Are you all right?" She searches her face.
"How could his mother say anything to me when she rests in peace?" Sabrina raises a brow, quizzically. "He didn't even tell me until we reached the cemetery." Sabrina looks down and smiles lightly as the memory crosses her mind.
"He didn't take you his home to meet his mother?"
"What do you mean? Don't you know about his mother?" She meets her mother's eyes while her mother removes her hands from her face and backs away a little.
"Oh, Umm... Don't mind me." She said, clearing her throat. Sabrina sensed something was up and her mother knew it but she was hiding it from her.
"What is it, mother? Are you hiding something?" Her mother shakes her head and turns but Sabrina holds her hand and stops her from moving. "I know when you are hiding something from me. Please maa, I need to know if there is something I should be concerned about." Doris turns and looks at Sabrina. She smiles, holding her cheek.
"He has a stepmother, a very scary one." Sabrina hadn't been much too shocked. It didn't really matter and it wouldn't until it's something about David himself. She was stronger than this and today she has learned quite a lot about David and she believed that he could be anyone but not a playboy and he's not going to hurt her in any way, he really cared about her. "He has a very difficult family..."
"I have been warned that much." Sabrina scoffs.
"It's better to hear from him." She pats her cheek before letting it go.
"I bet you know more than that."
"I just want to see you happy Sabrina... and `I have seen you since the day David showed up, he's not a bad kid but it's just his situation that I am concerned about and I don't want it to hurt you in any way."
"Maa, you know I don't really care about that considering how we have lived... He may have a big family and they might not be very nice and rich but I have come to understand him today... He misses his mom a lot and... craves for love." Sabrina sighs and shifts her eyes towards her mother "I just want to help him without return and thanks for telling me about his stepmother, I can make him realize that not only the blood related can make someone feel special." Sabrina's mother takes a deep breath before smiling. She squeezes her hands, reassuringly.
"Mother just wants the best for her daughter and I hope it is."