Inside The House

I

My mother has always been crazy, but after my father left us she went completely insane. Although I urged her to find a new boyfriend, I never expected that her relationship would change my life forever. Traveling to Europe sounds fun for anyone, but moving? In fact, I don't even know when my mom's online relationship suddenly turned into something serious enough to break away from life in the United States. And for who? Well, actually, I don't even know who this guy is. Of course, for the past few months my mom's mouth hasn't shut and she's only been talking about it, but we all know how it is - one ear falls in and the other falls out. What can I say? I didn't expect a relationship at such a great distance to have a raison d'etre. It was probably my biggest mistake in life, ignoring my mother's desperation. And here I am now, an almost 18-year-old guy sitting on the floor with suitcases in an airport in some central European country. We lived in a big city, I went to dance school... and now? I don't know what now. It's the tenth of January and my mom decided that we're flying out right after the new year. Her decision came so quickly that, sarcastically speaking, I didn't have time to sober up after New Year's Eve. The saying "new year new me" took on a whole different meaning for me after that.

- I just got off the phone with Gregory. - I heard back from my mother, who immediately booted up her phone after getting off the plane and started talking to her boyfriend. - He's almost there, isn't that exciting? I'm so excited!

- Mhm

- Oh don't be like that. - My mother responded to my murmur with clear disapproval. - Gregory is delighted to finally be able to meet you. You'll see for yourself, he's very nervous about meeting you because he's anxious for you to like him...please just be nice.

- Mom, I'm always polite to strangers - I emphasized this last word to finally make her understand that what she was doing was completely crazy. Unfortunately, it did not work.

Mom combed her fingers through her long, light hair and looked at me with her blue eyes. I saw a hint of sadness in her gaze, or maybe uncertainty?

- I know him. - She said. - You know yourself that I have already seen Gregory and not once or twice. - I immediately thought that this was probably not true, but I did not want to interrupt her anymore. Let her say what she has to say and let's get it over with. - You'll see for yourself that you'll like it there. Just give it a chance. Gregory said that you would be able to choose any spare room in the house and furnish it as you wish. - Mother was grinning from ear to ear as she finished her fascinating speech, unlike me.

I didn't feel like talking to her, let alone arguing about subjects I had no say in anyway.

I looked at my phone which indicated seven o'clock in the morning, although it was still dark. Through the large panoramic windows of the airport hangar, it seemed that winter in this country was a kind of Antarctica. I opened Messenger to check the latest messages. My old school friends were wishing me luck in my new home. The messages were filled with sad and crying emoticons they sent me. Unfortunately, no one was online. There seemed to be an eight hour difference in time zones between me and my old home. However, I didn't dare to ask my mom about it. First of all, as I already mentioned, I didn't feel like talking to her, and secondly,
I would have interrupted her monologue about Gregory's greatness and that would have been very rude. I leave aside the fact that I'm tired. Flying by plane, I woke up once, fell asleep afterwards and separated both activities by reading the theory of modern dance for probably the thousandth time.

- Oh God - My mother spoke up looking towards the large front doors of the airport with dozens of people walking through.

I looked in the same direction and saw him. He stood there dressed in a perfectly tailored gray suit with a bouquet full of roses in his paw. He was a tall, stocky though with a prominent belly German Shepherd. The closer he came the more details could be seen. An expensive watch,
a majestic gait, a velvet tie. Now I was beginning to understand why mother was in such a hurry to leave the United States.