Regarding Love

The Morning After

December 26, 2014 11AM

My eyes flutter open and I groan at the sunlight. Mrs. Smith got me drunk last night. That's all I remember. I pull myself out of bed and push my hair away from my face.

I trudge downstairs and into the kitchen where Mrs. Smith is pouring a cup of coffee. I plop down onto the bar stool and she sits the cup down in front of me.

"Good morning." She says sweetly.

"Hmm something like that." I say as I sip the coffee.

"Here take these." She says and hands me some pills.

"What are they Mrs. Smith?" I ask suspicious.

"Call me Kathy. The red pills are ibuprofen, the multi-color one is a vitamin B pill, and the gel one is an anti-nausea pill." She tells me.

"You tell me to call you Kathy every time you see me." I say with a smile before downing the pills.

"Well you drink too much eggnog and forget by morning." She smirks.

"Only because you use more alcohol in yours than anyone else I know." I say simply.

"And you always drink it like its going out of style every Christmas." She says as she sits across from me.

"I have a feeling a bit more than usual last night." I mutter.

"Well it seems like you had a lot to get off your chest." She says worried.

I remember yesterday and what happened. I rub my face and groan.

"So I know most of the story but a lot of its mixed up and out of order. So tell me what's been going on." She says before sipping her coffee.

"Leo's been really mean. I mean I know he's an asshole but it's like now he's not even tolerable. Like he purposefully made me ruin my brothers cupcakes. He threw a bag of presents at me yesterday. But he was being so sweet until yesterday. I'm confused myself." I say as my headache hurts worse.

"Give me a timeline. You know how I am. I'm a planner." She says.

"All year had been hectic. All he wanted was sex and he cussed me like a dog. He did awful things. Then on my brothers birthday he told me he was leaving town. He came back the 20th and was so sweet and I thought things were getting better. He was sweet until yesterday. We had an incident that morning and he left the house and turned back into his old self." I explain.

"Wait, he left town?" She asks.

"Yeah. He brought me back a new ring and said it was his grandmothers. I figured you would know." I tell her confused.

"Sweetheart his grandmother passed away before he was born. He never knew her." She says.

"Then whose ring did he give me?" I ask as I show her my ring.

She grabs my hand gently and looks at it. I watch her eyes fill with tears and she lets go of my hand.

"Kathy what's wrong?" I ask her softly.

"That is his grandmother's ring." She say as she closes her eyes.

"I thought he didn't know her." I say.

"He didn't. Do me a favor? Take it off and look at the inside of the band. It should say 'EDS'." She tells me. I pull the ring off slowly and look at the inside. I place the ring on the counter and slide it back to Kathy.

"I don't know how he got that but it belongs to you Kathy." I whisper as my own eyes fill with tears.

"Unless Mark gave it to him, then he had to of got it from my jewelry case I have put up." She says slowly.

"Regardless, I shouldn't have it." I say as a tear drops and hits the counter.

"Alice, you should end it with Leo. You deserve someone who will make you happy not someone you accept being with. Your settling for less than you deserve." She says and rubs my hand gently.

"I love him though Alice." I whisper.

"You can love him all day and night Alice but you'll never be in love with him. He's your complete opposite and you deserve someone who kisses the ground you walk on baby." She says and stands up.

"Kathy he's your son. You should defend him." I say confused.

"I can't defend someone who's hurting someone just because he's my son. I'll always love him Alice but I won't stand by and let him do these things. A lot of things are becoming clear to me now. So go home sweetie and tell him that you've had a change of heart. He'll be mad but isn't he always. Always know our door is open and if you ever need anything or just wanna say hi then we're here." She says and wraps me in a tight hug.

I hug her back and I try to comprehend what's all going on. It's like a jumble in my brain.

"I guess I'm gonna head on home. I have work tomorrow and I need lots of rest to get through this." I say with a feeble laugh an Kathy lets go of me.

"Okay sweetie. We'll see you soon. Call me when you get home." She says.