AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Thirty-Three
‘Lorenzo, can we talk in the bedroom, please?Now.’
He told his mum he’d be back in a minute, followed me into the room, then closed the door.
‘Don’t you think we should have discussed this first?’
‘It was not planned…’
‘I know what happened wasn’t intentional and I’m glad Marta’s okay and everything because it could have been alotworse, but you could have called to let me know or something instead of just springing this on me.’
‘There was no time. When I heard it had happened, I left work straight away and I try to calm Mamma down, then speak to firemen about the damage. And when they said it was safe to get some things from her bedroom, I help her pack. After that, we came straight here.’
Fair point. I could imagine it was full-on. Must have been a big shock for both of them, but did she really have to come here?
‘Can’t she stay with a friend? She must know a lot of people in this town.’
‘Sophia. She is mymother. If the same thing happened to your mum, would you think it is right for me to ask her to stay with friends? Mamma can sleep in Leo’s room. It will only be for a few days.’
I know I’d said to Bella and Roxy that I was learning to tolerate Marta more, but this was different. It was hard enough when she came to visit for a few hours. A few days living with Marta would feel like a life sentence.
Lorenzo was right, though. If the shoe was on the other foot, there was no way I would let my mum stay with friends. As irritating as she could be, I’d have to put my feelings to one side and suck it up.
‘Okay,’ I huffed. ‘I suppose it’s fine if it’s only for a few days.’
‘Grazie!’ He hugged me. ‘And she can help with Leo and with the cooking. It will be good for you, no? With the deal.’
That was true. As the deal got closer, there was probably going to be even more to-ing and fro-ing with the lawyer and Rhonda. It would be easier to manage everything with an extra pair of hands. But one thing was for sure: if Marta was going to be living here, I wasn’t going to pander and tiptoe around her like I did before. Although I was grateful for Marta’s help and recognised the benefits of that support, I would no longer allow her to keep walking all over me. My perspective had changed on a lot of things lately, and just because she was Lorenzo’s mum and would be helping out with Leo didn’t mean I was going to put up with any more shit.
When I thought about all the sucking up I’d done in the beginning, trying to impress Marta with cooking that she never appreciated and biting my tongue whenever she was rude, it made me sick.Yes, Marta, no, Marta, three bags full, Marta.No. Those days were gone. I had never been a people pleaser before. I knew that I couldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But when I’d come here, somehow I’d been so desperate to make her like me and think I was a good mum and good for Lorenzo that I’d lost my backbone. It had returned now, thank God, so although I’d be civil and polite, I was done kissing her feet. Whilst Marta was staying under our roof, she’d have to live byourrules.
Lorenzo and I walked back out to the living room, where Marta was still standing.
‘I will go and prepare the bed in Leo’s room,’ he said before translating it for his mum and leaving. Now I was regretting having a bed in there. We’d added one so that I could sit on it to breastfeed Leo in the middle of the night, or so that if he wasn’t well, I could try and soothe him without having to wake up Lorenzo.
It was just me and Marta here. In silence.
Although she wasn’t my favourite person in the world, I still had a heart. It must have been scary to see her kitchen on fire, so she must be pretty shaken up.
‘Siediti,’I said, remembering the Italian and gesturing towards the sofa for her to sit down.
Marta snarled and shook her head violently. Pretty sure I heard her mumblesporca,which I think meantdirty.
Oh, I see. It seemed like Spunkgate was still at the front of her mind. She obviously thought it was soiled from my sexcapades with Lorenzo…
There I was trying to be nice and she had to get all uppity.
Fuck it. I was tired of her looking down on me.
‘Yeah, you’re right.’ I smirked. ‘Maybe it’s best you don’t sit there. That’s where me and Lorenzo hadwildsex last night, so maybe this armchair would be better…’ I know it was bad and a little childish, but I couldn’t resist, especially knowing that Marta didn’t have a clue what I was saying. This wasourhouse. Why shouldn’t we have sex on the sofa if we wanted to? And so what if I gave my boyfriend a BJ and he came all over me? There was nothing wrong with me giving him pleasure. I’d spent too long feeling embarrassed about her catching us in the act, but not anymore. Now I found it funny. Maybe Marta should get a sense of humour about it too. Shit happens, for Christ’s sake. Move on.
Marta huffed, picked up a bag which looked like it was filled with pots and pans and walked into the kitchen.How did she rescue those from the fire?
Suddenly she started shouting in Italian, and as I went to see what was wrong, I saw her throwing her hands up in the air. She was saying it was a mess. Good thing Geli taught us the useful phrases in the home as I wouldn’t have understood otherwise. She continued moaning about the dishes.Hold on. Did she say this house was a disaster and we needed her?
See?This was exactly what I was talking about. She’d barely been here five minutes and already she’d called the sofas dirty and started criticising the state of the kitchen. I was going to wash up tonight but ran out of time, so had planned to do it in the morning. How was I to know that she was going to come round at ten at night to do a bloody hygiene inspection?
Grrr.
