250wordsmith

“Let me interrupt you with gossip,” my mom jovially interjected, while my co-worker was giving her summary of the book she was reporting on, entitled “One Way Relationships” by Alfred Ells.

It is uncustomary of my mother to be this way since she

1. doesn’t do gossip.
2. isn’t usually this chatty.

So we indulged her, and so she said:

“I was with my friend Jane last night. She just came home from the United States and we might be going to Canada together next year. Anyway, this Jane is married to your father’s classmate’s brother and they belong to our neighborhood.” We nodded patiently with her introduction.

“Well, Jane said that M? - came home? He’s the _____ boy, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, what about?” I didn’t really do well with things like these.

“Well, Jane said that M is so much in love with you.”

Everything else has blurred after that.

If it weren’t my mother who bore this rumor/revelation, I’d be suspicious. But see, my mother isn’t the typical mother who pries into our personal lives. In fact, she wasn’t much of a comfort in many of my heartaches and heartbreaks. She was just not interested in love and romance… most especially mine. The most she would do is patiently listen with a bemused smile on her face which literally means that the information she gets goes in one ear and out of the next, forgotten in the next conversation between us about men which happens once every 5 years.

What was more embarrassing was that she said this in the presence of my co-workers who were gushing over the her news…

I, on the other hand, was incredulous. How could that be? Could he - M, ex (?) soulmate, have confessed to my mother’s friend, Jane, about me? Was this information a well passed speculation about his bachelorhood that it has developed into a quasi-truth? Were he and Jane’s husband together in their recovery program? Was this a joke?

Actions speak louder than words, I remind myself.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flattered. Of course I am. But still, I wish he’d be the one to say that in my face.

He still hasn’t re-added me on facebook, nor has he called me.

But the breaking news for the day (according to Mom who said according to Jane)

He is so much in love with me.

I don’t know what to make of that. What does that mean - being so much in love - between us, anyway?