Situationship

1. Mary's drama

It was two hours during which Mary had not budged. Her strengths were exhausted. She was feeling that her life was a complete failure. She was unemployed and alone. She couldn't even afford the house in which she was staying. All the bills were paid by her father. Her only income came from baby-sitting, only when needed. One of the kids Mary baby-sat was Angelica, her cousin Eftyhia's daughter, when the latter was committed and had to leave the house. The hours Mary worked were not long and the money she made was barely enough to cover the cost of her food and entertainment. It could not ensure a comfortable and decent life. Fortunately, her father, who doted on her, had offered to help her financially whenever she had difficulties paying her debts. The negative point was that, because of that, Mary was totally dependent and she obviously didn't like that feeling.

To make matters worse, her boyfriend dumped her. Mary was really hurt.

"Why again? Why?" she murmured to herself. "This isn't possible. How many times am I gonna relive this?"

She had never managed to keep a relationship longer than eight to nine months so far. All of her ex relationships had ended up in a fiasco and, paradoxically, the break-up was always coming in a different way. If nothing else, there was a variety! Every time she was feeling that things were going well, suddenly something broke down. She must have been cursed; there was no other explanation. She had already thought so; she didn't want to be a fatalist though.

Mary's way of living was common for a millennial. She was a good-looking twenty-seven-year-old woman who wanted badly to fall in love with her other half. She was not ungrateful; on the contrary, she appreciated everything she had: her health, her family and her friends. Yet she just didn't feel complete. She wanted to commit to someone, to have her man. She had met a lot of guys, but it was quite common for her to turn them down just because they weren't handsome or rich enough. Eventually it backfired on her, as she was still alone. But no one can schedule love. Who's able to predict whom they will fall in love with or when?

Mary was not ugly at all. Any straight man could possibly desire her. Her problem was that she was very insecure about her appearance. She had lost her self-confidence due to her hitherto fruitless efforts to find a man for a serious relationship. So, as the years went by, she was becoming more and more pessimistic and melancholic. The bad thing about Mary was that she fell for men with whom she didn't actually match. Her last boyfriend, Babis, was an extreme longhaired bearded and tattooed rocker with lots of earrings. He was the leader and main singer of the band 'The Wild Rockers', which gave live appearances in various rock clubs in Thessaloniki. As a man, he wasn't affectionate enough, but his intense masculinity was satisfactory for Mary. Their relationship was mainly based on sex and hanging out at rock bars until Babis dumped her for Cleo, the new singer of the band. The worst thing about their breaking-up was the fact that Babis didn't even talk to Mary about his intentions; he just kissed Cleo in front of her (why not?), which the woman regarded as exceptionally disrespectful.

Suddenly Mary's cogitation was interrupted by the sound of her ringing mobile. She decided that she had already cried for her fate long enough so she got up to find it. Besides, she'd better talk to someone, no matter who was calling her. She followed the ringtone volume and spotted the device on the table. The screen was illuminated and revealed the caller. It was Eftyhia. Mary drew the green button on the screen, still somewhat distraught.

"Hello?"

"Mary!" she heard her cousin's voice from the other line. "I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Hello, Eftyhia! No, you aren't." Mary responded.

"Why did it take you so long to pick up the phone?" asked Eftyhia.

"I was in the other room and couldn't find it..." Mary apologised wondering why the hell she was obliged to do so.

"Anyway, I need you to come tomorrow."

"Okay. What time should I be there?"

"Around ten. I'm going shopping for the little one."

"Wouldn't it be more practical if the little one came along with you to try out the clothes?"

"Get away!" answered Eftyhia fretfully. "But I can't stand her nagging. She'll want to leave before even half an hour passes. Fortunately, I'm her mother and I know exactly what size she is", she added ironically.

Mary didn't like Eftyhia at all. As long as she could remember, she had the bad habit of belittling people by always making rude remarks upon them. Even now that she was a mother and supposedly more mature, she still behaved like an arrogant bitch. Nevertheless, Mary didn't oppose her because she needed her, or at least she needed her money.

"Nice..." she replied. "You'll be back by two, I reckon?"

"Yes, I think so. The stores will be closed after two either way. Well, bye now. See you tomorrow!"

"Yes", sighed Mary, but Eftyhia had already ended the call. "From ten to two... Four hours... Twenty euros," she estimated.

The young woman had always wondered why the bad people had it all while the good people suffered. As you can see, Eftyhia had a husband and a child plus her own house and a lot of money. "Big fish eat little fish," she concluded.