My mother’s boss, Louie Vergara, called home looking for my mother. It was nine in the evening and my younger sister had just fallen asleep. My father who works night shift in one of the posh hotels in our city had left earlier in the evening.
So it was only me and Mother who were still up and awake in the house. I was zipping the back of her gown when the phone rang. Father usually calls home to check on us. But it would be much later.
Lately, Mother has been attending business meetings with her boss, she told me one time when I was putting away her make up kit, that I would often think she must be a very good employee.
Mother shooed me to pick up the phone.
“Tell him I’m coming!” Mother shouted as she slipped her right foot in the soft material of her red stiletto. “Tell him I’m coming!”
Her boss must have heard her because only a loud beep was audible on the other end when I held the receiver to my ears.
Mother hurriedly dabbed her lipstick and made a popping sound as she rubbed her lips. She looked good in her gown. She always does in anything she wears. Her friends often remarked how identical we are. Maybe that is what keeps me to her every night before she leaves. I always wanted to wear the gowns and shoes she had—maybe someday. But for now, I could only look down at the red stilettos, which perfectly fit her tiny feet.
“It’s a gift.” Mother said, a smile forming her lips.
“Missy, I have to go. I don’t want our boss waiting. Don’t wait up.” She kissed my forehead then strutted towards the door of our living room. A car honked outside our house.
The house was silent after Mother closed the door behind her. It was nine thirty in the evening and I was feeling tired. I dragged myself back to the bedroom I shared with my younger sister. But it seemed that my mother forgot to close their bedroom door just across ours.
I stepped inside and saw a Louis Vuitton shoe box on their bed.
On the floor, I picked up a small card signed: Baby, wear this for me tonight. Louie V.
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Teresa May A. Mundiz has a degree in Creative Writing from UP Mindanao. She is currently teaching Humanities and Literature in Ateneo de Davao University. She writes whenever the ‘urge’ comes.