Baby be Mine

Chapter 20

[Lila]

"How's work going?" Mum asks. As we wander around another store. I had hopes for today, a morning shopping with mum to bond. Currently though, I am bored out of my mind. The chill in the shops going right to my bones. I'm finding myself stifling yawns as I follow mum.

"Yeah, I really enjoy it there. It's not the most glamourous of jobs but the staff are really great."

"That's good, I know Cal prefers the retail shifts."

"Yeah, he gets to talk to people all day. I prefer ushering. It's the dirty job but there is a lot of organisation needed."

"That's right up your street then. Always had to know where we were going, what the timings were. Always liked to know the details."

We share a smile before continuing on.

"Oh Lila, this throw would look great in your room." Mum says, picking up a purple throw, a smile on her face as she turns to me.

I try so hard to keep the horror off my face. "It's definitely purple." I say.

"I'll get it for you."

NO. "Thanks but I don't need it."

"Don't be silly. A throw would look great in your room. It makes a bed look professionally made and you can use it as a blanket when there's a slight nip in the air."

Ah. Time for a different tactic. "You know I'm technically in trouble. You shouldn't be buying me treats." I try with a cheeky smile.

"That's the best part of being a mother. I can make the rules up as I go along." She chuckles, patting me lightly on the cheek.

"I just don't want you wasting your money."

"Let me worry about that."

As I look at the joy in her eye's I know I can't fight this anymore. Looks like I'm going to be adding to the purple quota in my room.

"Okay, let's get the throw." I sigh in defeat.

Mum looks at me for a moment before putting the throw back down. "Let's go get lunch."

Confused as to what just happened, I follow her.

With the pizza in front of us. The two of us sharing a cheese and sweetcorn pizza. We start to tuck in.

"You didn't want the throw." Mum says out of the blue.

"What do you mean? I said let's get it." I say. What does she want from me a song and dance?

"No Lila. You clearly said that to appease me. Can you talk to me, tell me why you didn't like the throw?"

"There was nothing wrong with the purple throw." I mumble. Focusing on my food.

"I thought purple was your favourite colour." Mum asks confused.

Chuckling mirthlessly, I try to find a way to say this delicately. Of course, mum chooses today to be observant of me though.

"I hate the colour purple."

"But your whole room is purple."

"My favourite colour is bright orange."

"Then why did you want your room to be purple?" mum asks dramatically.

"Because you said a teenage girl should have a purple room." I sigh with force. "If you remember, I tried to show some of the colours I liked but you said they were too bright."

"They were. You would have needed sunglasses just to enter your room."

Rubbing my temples, I take a breath. I had it all planned out in my head. Yes, I prefer bright colours but the room wouldn't have been florescent. My plan was mainly grey walls with a bright border through the middle. It would have been a light space not the depressing cold room that it is.