Granting a Thief's Wishes

"What are you doing?" I asked when mom forced Kylie to come with her and make coffee.

"Having fun while I still can."

It was still playing over and over in my head when mom said, "leave the happy couple alone now, Kylie," and dragged a disappointed Kylie into the kitchen, leaving Nicholas and me sitting on the black leather sofa for a while now.

Our living room was painted red, with a small, black chandelier hanging on the ceiling. A divan was propped up against the wall to our left and the window sill was decorated with a vase of lavender (my mom love them. I didn't) and a couple of throw pillows of various colors. When I was in high school, I always sat there to do my homework or just to daydream.

I raised my hand up in a surrender motion and slapped them against my thighs. Nicholas looked amused as ever as I crossed my arms and shook my head. "Fine," I said, glaring at him. "Fine, if that's how you wanna play, my love."

He stretched and cracked his knuckles. "Let's play," he said. After a slight pause, he added an evil laughter for dramatic effects.

"So how did you two met?" Mom asked as I poured the coffee into the mugs. This was a 'game' of speed. Unfortunately, I was not a thief. I couldn't answer as fast as Nicholas could even if I wanted to. He probably lied to every person he met.

That wasn't a comforting thought.

He shot me an triumphant smile before turning his attention back to my mom. "I was working part-time as a bartender and there she was, her mascara running down her face and her hair all messy. She tried to say that she's already 21 years old and she deserves a drink. Practically threw herself on me."

My mom's eyes grew big as she stared at me, aghast. "Honey, I can't believe you!"

I handed my mom a mug and when I walked over to Nicholas to give his, I shoved it at him, making the hot coffee spilling out wildly onto his lap. He gave a startled yelp, before glaring at me. I giggled.

"Oh I'm sorry, sweetie. An accident."

He forced a stiff smile. "It's fine."

I took out a couple of tissues whilst replying to my mother. "I know, it was a mistake. But in my defense, he gave me a Bloody Mary, for free!"

"My, I never!" She stuttered, looking at Nicholas.

I jammed my hand on his thighs and it was evident that he was trying to stifle a groan. Better yet...

An evil thought came to my mind.

"Only because she begged me to. I didn't have any choice. But 3 drinks later she was already drunk."

"Way to go, Suze! I didn't know you had it in ya'!" I heard Kylie yelled from the kitchen. Damn that kid. Since when did she began to eavesdrop?

On the other hand, Nicholas was starting to panic when he saw the glint of mischief in my eyes. "No, I can handle it honey, you just sit quietly next to me and be a good girl now."

"Oh but what kind of a girlfriend would that make me?"

Gathering more tissues, I practically punched his groin quite discreetly, positioning myself in front of him and my back to my mom so she won't be able to see what was going on. He bit his lip.

"But anyway," I said, turning around to face my mom. "We parted ways and it wasn't until 2 months later that I realized he was a crack-addict--"

Wait a minute.

Something felt wrong.

Quickly, I turned around to face a very-much-in-pain-Nicholas-Peterson. But in the midst of his pants, he looked up at me with a pained expression...only to have him smirking at him. "Nicely played," I mouthed.

This wasn't a win-win situation. My mother didn't know who Nicholas Peterson was. It wasn't as if we were together for that long, as far as she know (and as far as our fake story goes). It wasn't as if he's my brother.

Him telling my mom these fake stories of me would make me look bad. That was the point. But if I badmouthed him as much as he did to me, my mom wouldn't care about him. She'll think that I was beginning to be a slut who chose a drug addicted, part-time bartender as a boyfriend.

I suddenly felt as if I was 16 again and I would be grounded for a whole year with no cellphone and laptop and TV...

Absent-mindedly, I patted my back pocket which had my cellphone in it.

I changed my story.

"Drug addict?" My mom said, her face growing pale as she looked at me questioningly. God, now I felt horrible for even lying to her.

"Um, no," I said. "I mean, he was helping a drug addict friend of his."

"Quite nobble," my mom said after a pause, looking approvingly towards Nicholas. He smiled, looking all shy and humble. I looked at him pleadingly when he started to say, "Susannah here though, she came to that friend of mine and..."

Our eyes met and we just stayed that way for a long time. My heart was beating rapidly. As much as I hated to beg, but I didn't want my mom to think I was some sort of a drug addict!

"Actually Mrs. Bell, I apologize but we haven't been completely honest with you," he said, taking my hand and making me sit next to him. He looked so apologetic that if I didn't know better, I would've believed him.

"We met at a coffee shop. Her mind flew off...somewhere, building castles in her clouds while she was in queue. She was making the other patrons a bit impatient so I offered to pay for her coffee."

My mom looked more confused. I leaned back against the chair, feeling miserable but thankful at the same time. "And things...kind of picked up from there."

"But...why did you...?"

"It's a little game we play," he said, smiling at me and ruffling my hair. "I'm sorry, it's becoming a habit."

"Well, I guess...it's all fine sweetheart," my mom said after a pregnant pause later, nodding towards his mug. "You two are going to stay for the night, right? No plans for the week?" She said, sounding hopeful.

I remained silent. This wasn't good. The hope in her voice made me realized how I didn't came to visit them often. Or even called!

"Um, well I have a couple of assignments to finish by the end of this semester break. But one night won't hurt, would it?" He said, looking at me for confirmation. I nodded and my mom face lit up.

"Perfect! Very splendid!" She said, getting up and hugging me.

"Hey mom," I whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't visit or called to even ask how you've been."

She patted my back. "It's okay Suzie. I know you're now busy with you're college life," she said.

That didn't make me feel any less guilty.

"Susannah, did you tell him? About...that?" she whispered.

"About that..." I trailed off.