In the private room.
Olivia sat quietly and watched the broth in her hotpot bubbled. As Brenda had not arrived yet, Olivia placed a few pieces of vegetables and potatoes into the broth.
She also ordered a few bottles of beer.
The vegetables and potatoes were almost cooked. Olivia took them out of the broth and placed them onto her plate. Then she swirled smeat in the broth. When that was cooked too, she took the meat out and dipped it into sauce she mixed herself and ate it with the vegetables.
That was her favorite way of eating hotpot.
Then, she ate a piece of the potato, and opened a bottle of beer and drank it.
Ah, she missed the taste of such dishes. She hadn't eaten hotpot for over six months when she was abroad. Her nose felt slightly blocked, and her eyes watery. She reached out for a napkin and gently dabbed it at the corner of her eye.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtKnock, knock....
Someone knocked on the door. Olivia raised her head and figured that it might be her mother.
With the thought in mind, Olivia put down her cutleries, approached the door and opened it.
Brenda stood in front of Olivia, looking beautiful. She had dressed up specially, put on a nice dress and makeup just to meet Olivia.
Although Brenda liked to dress up in the past as well, ever since Ollie left, Brenda hadn't been in the mood to do so like before. For the longest time, she hadn't paid attention to her appearance and as a result, her skin no longer had the healthy glow that it once had.
As she was going to meet up with Ollie, Brenda had frantically applied skincare products and put on a face mask before putting on her makeup. She hoped that it would help her look healthier and younger. When the mother and daughter met, both of them were quiet. After a while, Olivia reluctantly smiled.
"Mom." Brenda walked carefully into the room.
Click! After the door of the private room was closed, only did Brenda see that Olivia was eating hotpot.
"I didn't know when you would arrive, so I began eating first and also drank sbeer." Suddenly, Olivia belched. The mother and daughter duo were stunned by that and couldn't help laughing at each other after a while.
As they continued to laugh at each other, their tears couldn't help but to stream down their faces. Soon, they were crying uncontrollably.
When they finally calmed down, both ladies had their make up ruined. However, none of them cared the least as they were a family, so they sat down and started eating the hotpot together without even touching up on their makeup.
Brenda looked at the hotpot and immediately said, "What kind of hotpot is this? If it's hotpot, you should make it hotter. Have you been abroad for so long that you couldn't eat spicy food anymore?" "Who said I can't eat spicy food anymore? I didn't add too much chilli because of you, okay?" "Oh, so it's my fault then?" Brenda teased Olivia, "Don't you know when I was pregnant with you, I ate nothing but spicy food? Do you think I'll lose to you?" "Mom, you are outdated. Haven't you heard of the saying 'the student surpasses the teacher'? Don't challenge me! I'll surely win." "Okay, should we get the waiter to add more chilli and compete?" "Okay, let's do it." Soon, they had the waiter cin and added chilli into the hotpot. The broth bubbled into a deep red color and the food they dipped it into turned as red as the broth. When et they took the food out and placed it onto their plate, steam could be seen rising from it. Neither of them hesitated as they popped the food into their mouth. The competition began.
The mother and daughter duo continued to eat without hesitation, and they sweated profusely. Their tongue and stomach burned and when they couldn't take it anymore, they finally stopped eating. Brenda cried as she glared at Olivia, "Child, I thought since you've been abroad for half a year, you wouldn't be able to tolerate spiciness anymore! I didn't know that you still can! Can't you have mercy onand give in?" Hearing that, Olivia blinked her beautiful eyes and said, "Mom, you are elderly, you should letwin. I'm your daughter, do you still want to compete with me?" "No, no, no!" Brenda waved her hand and gulped down a mouthful of beer, "If we continue to compete, my stomach is going to explode!" Actually Olivia was at the brim of giving up too. They were just competing, and it had beclike that.
Her stomach was burning, but she couldn't stomach any more drinks. Hence, Olivia stopped everything she was doing and lay down on the table and said, "Mom." Her voice was so gentle and it brought them back to the times of ten years ago.
Ollie was still a child then and she was particularly clingy towards Brenda. Whenever she wanted something, Ollie would lie on the table and look up at her with her beautiful big eyes pitifully. She would then call out to Brenda gently like that.
In Brenda's eyes, Ollie, who already had beca mother, seemed to suddenly turn back to the soft and lovely little girl from the past.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Mom, I miss him so much." Olivia was a little flushed after drinking too much beer. She seemed to be staring at Brenda in a daze and Brenda was sure Olivia was slightly drunk as she spoke.
"I miss him so much!" Olivia pouted her lips, and her eyes brimming with tears. "However, why didn't he cto look for me? He must still have the other woman in his heart, right? I knew shouldn't have cback. Six months have already passed but he didn't even sendone text message. He even said back then that he would wait forto cback, but coming to think if it, I think he must be glad that I've left!" Speaking of that, Olivia suddenly slammed her fist onto the table hard, "After my departure, he must have been able to visit her freely!" The more Olivia spoke, the angrier she became. Olivia's hand suddenly swept to the side and accidentally pushed the dishes off the table. The plates crashed onto the ground, making loud noises.
"Ah!" Olivia was shocked and she reached out to cover her chest. She
curled up on her chair and murmured, "That scared the wit out of me. Why isn't Sam, that b*stard here to protect me? He must hav have gone to see that woman. Every twhen things happen, he would choose her over me!" Olivia sobbed. "I'm his girlfriend! Yet, I can only look at him helplessly while he rush to save another woman and abandon me. Why?" Something fell from her eyes and onto the back of her hand. Olivia, who was drunk tried to reach out to grab it like a small child. After she got it in her palm, she stared at it quietly.
"What is this?" she held the tears in her hands and looked at Brenda, sitting opposite her.
Previously, Brenda was still feeling uncomfortable in her stomach due to m the burning sensation However, no sensation when she heard Olivia's words, she felt a hard lump in her heart which was way more uncomfortable. It was even making her hard to breathe. Glancing at the tears in Olivia's palm, Brenda took a deep breathe, calmed down and said.
"Silly child, those are your tears." "No!" Unexpectedly, Olivia cried out and shook her head hard. She looked very serious. "These are not tears!" She lowered her head and seemed to becself-deprecating with bitterness in her eyes, "This is my heart." Hearing that, Brenda's heart ached painfully as if it was being pricked by needles. She swallowed hard and whispered, "Ollie..."
"I have already given my heart to him, but why won't he love me?" Olivia om murmured in a low Volce. She made ssilly gestures that would made passers-by laughed, but to Brenda, it was just extremely painful to watch. She turned her back to Ollie and quickly wiped her tears away. Then, she walked towards Olivia and said, "We'll go to Sam now. He owed you an explanation on why he treated you this way!" X