SHE'S MYSTIQUE

♀ Chapter 19 - F O R E W A R N I N G

We hurried home in a cab. Mom apparently knew we were at a club and gave us 15 minutes to get out asses back home. How did she know where we were? Probably had a tracking/location application on our phones. Ugh.

Not ten seconds after we reached home, the phone rang again.

I signalled to Jason to put it on speaker.

"Facetime right now." And I hear her muttering something along the lines of 'idiots' just before she hung up.

"Whoa. What's got her panties in a twist?"

"Jason!"

"What? It's true. You were thinking the sqme thing. I just said it out loud."

"Idiot." I muttered to myself just as I opened the door to my room. Jason unceremoniously plonked on the bed while I opened my Mac Book to start facetiming mommy dearest.

Soon, we saw the very annoyed face of our mother. Very annoyed. Not super pissed. Phew.

"Where were you two?"

"Just out. Sightseeing." Jason lied.
Very believable.

She gave us the don't-lie-to-me-I-am-your-mother-and-therefore-a-superior-being look.

I was thinking of a convincing lie when she interrupted my line of thought.

"Wherever you were, that's not important right now. I've got some news for you." She paused for dramatic effect.

"There are going to be some rules from now on which you need to follow.
Rule 1- Keep your phones on and with you at all times.
Rule 2- You both should always know each other's whereabouts.
Rule 3- No posting anything revealing your location on social media. Sending pictures on chat groups on whatsapp is okay.
Rule 4- If anything unusual or suspicious happens, call us immediately.
Rule 5- Under no circumstances are you two going to reveal ypur true identify to people.
And, Rule 6- No doing stupid things or pranking people now that you two troublemakers are together."

I glanced at Jay and he looked just as surprised as I did. And even, as worried.

"Mom. What's going on?" I was really worried.

"Mom. Tell us. You've been acting so weird lately. I know there's a problem. Just explain the situation. Are you safe?"

She smiled, probably from hearing our worried voices or looking at our baffled faces.

"Look guys, I've already told you both that things are a bit tense here among our company and two major rivals. We've received some threats."

"But.."

"We're okay for now. Nothing major to worry about. But better safe than sorry. We're okay your dad and I. He's just very busy. He works a lot. There's a big deal that we are going to finalise in a few days. We might go to England soon."

That was all mom was going to tell us. I knew that.

"Mom. I'm worried about you guys. We're both here and safe. But are you guys taking care of yourselves?"

"We've increased our security. Don't worry. We're fine."

"But what about the other things. Are you guys eating healthy? Don't skip your meals. And workout. And sleep. Don't work too much."

She laughed at that. "My babies. Always so caring. Sometimes it feels like you're the adults."

"Oh. Your dad's here.
Here, talk to him."

"Hey kiddos." My dad's face appeared on the screen. Although now in his late 40s, my dad looked so much younger. He was a fine looking man for his age. But he looked tired like he'd been working to hard and had dark circles around his eyes.

"Dad!" I simply adored my dad. He was the world's greatest father according to me and my role model. Unlike Jason, I'd always taken an interest in our business and my dad always supported my curiosity. Although I'd always wanted to be a doctor, this was something I wanted to do as well. I had to pick something soon, but I just couldn't decide. My thoughts were very conflicted. Okay, enough about my aspirations, back to the present.

"How are you kiddo? Jason you're here too good. Now I can talk to both my troublemakers."

We laughed.

"How's the soccer practise going dad?" Jason's favourite topic. Sports.

"Going quite good actually. I don't get much time, but whenever I play, the opponent team shudders. He's a fine player, your dad." He winked at us and I giggled.

"Sure.."

"Are you guys fine there? Like the apartment?"

"Love it." I squealed with enthusiasm while Jason on the other hand just mumbled, "It's alright."

"Good. I'm glad you like it. Me and your mom will visit soon."

"We will?" My mom looked at him in surprise.

"Oh, yeah. Didn't I tell you?"

"You must've forgotten to."

"Anyway, we're coming soon. So take care. Be safe. I have a meeting now. But I'll call soon. We've got a lot to catch up on. Love you kids. Stay out of trouble."

"Bye." My mom waved once.

"Love you guys too."

They must've forgotten to disconnect. We could hear them talking. Mom probably put her phone in her pocket.

"Did you tell them anything?" Dad inquired.

"Not much yet. But they're worried and they know we're hiding something." I heard mom say.

"They're our kids. They'll be fine. We'll tell them when the time's right or when we need to."

"Exactly, they're our kids. They'll find out." Mom was worried. I'm glad she didn't underestimate us.

"I just hope they stay safe." Mom continued. She sounded so tired and vulnerable in that moment that I wanted to hug her.

Apparently dad felt the same way, and soon their heart-to-heart changed into a inappropriate for kids situation. I hung up at once.

I looked at Jason and I knew what he was thinking.

Mom was right about one thing. We would find out.