Just The 2 Of Us

Chapter 23: Just a Dinner

"You and your sister have always been close. Care to tell me what is going on between you two? I know you're fighting, and that's very unusual. I am your mother and I know you better than anyone else. I can clearly see when something is seriously wrong in my household. I need to know what exactly is making my children behave like strangers towards each other." Ning stated as her eyes travelled from her youngest to her oldest child. They were mostly silent at the table. Nonnie wouldn't raise her eyes from her soup, and Nanon was disturbingly monosyllabic.

"We just had a mild disagreement, mom." Nanon uttered in a small voice. He was relieved to know that Nonnie hadn't ratted him out, but he wasn't used to lying to his mother, and he felt like the worst son in the world for making her worry about them.

"Oh, he speaks!" She huffed. "Nanon, you don't really think I will allow you to leave for your next schedule before you tell me what this disagreement is all about, do you?" Nanon's mother put her chopsticks down, gave him an impatient stare and folded her arms. "I'm waiting."

"Mother, I'm gonna be late." Nanon averted his eyes from her and tried to leave the table, but she held his arm firmly.

"Does this have anything to do with that unfortunate boy lying in a hospital bed?" Ning's question had a certainty to it. Nanon's eyes grew wide as he faced his mother again. The tension in the Kirdpans' living room suddenly became so tense that it could be cut with a knife. Nanon's muteness was deafening, as two pairs of eyes fixed on him. He was like a deer caught in the headlights. His heart raced, as he wondered how his mother could guess that their fall out had to do with Mark Pakin. He swiftly glanced at his sister, but an uneasy Nonnie immediately stood up from her seat and ran up to her room. He swallowed and blinked a few times before he locked eyes with his mother again. She still had a strong hold on his arm, and he didn't dare to brush her off. So he sat down again and took a deep breath.

He tried to open his mouth to say something less damaging than the truth, but he couldn't, he was unable to. When his silence became too uncomfortable, Ning spoke for him. "I know about your sister's involvement with that friend of yours. And I know you're mad at both of them for hiding their relationship from you. At first, I thought it was weird the fact that you didn't even pay the boy a visit at the hospital even though you two were so close, and then when I went there myself, I was even more puzzled to find your sister crying her eyes out in front of his room. Believe me, Nonnie didn't want to tell me what was going on, but when I threatened to tell her father she was skipping school to see Mark, she finally opened up to me. She told me you weren't happy to find out that one of your best friends was dating your sister. She also told me you fought with Mark and forbade her from seeing him. And that the two broke up one day before his car accident." She paused for a second, as she studied her son's shocked face. "That's her version of the story of course. What's yours?"

"She's telling the truth." He said nervously. Unable to deny, or correct a few details his sister made up in that story. His mother sighed in frustration.

"Listen, I was once livid when I heard that a few of your actor friends hit on your little sister a couple of times. The fact that they were your friends, and still dared to do that is really worrisome. Having a relationship with a celebrity is not ideal. She's still too young, and I really don't want that kind of life for my daughter. I married a person in this industry before, and I know what it's like, so I don't recommend it." Ning's tone became softer as the firm hold she had on her son's arm loosened, and it slowly turned into gentle caresses. "I've always tried to protect both of you the best I could, Non. But there's only so much a mother can do for a child. I can guide and instruct my children to do the right thing, but I'll never keep them from following their hearts. I know that since your dad and I parted ways, you feel that it is your responsibility to watch over Nonnie like a father. I really praise you for that. But as much as we still see her as a little girl, your sister is already a woman, and she can make her own decisions."