-No, not yet, the man answered with a small smile
- Don’t worry, you will find someone who loves you and you will see how happy you will be when you have children -I said with a broad smile.
- Do you think so? To tell the truth, I hope so, but because of my size, people tend to think that I am not easy to deal with and they almost flee from me.
That surprised me, I thought that he was the one who maintained a certain dis-tance towards others and instead he had a sociable and friendly character, wi-lling to have a conversation with anyone who would give him some minutes.
-If you would permit me some advice, you should change your way of dres-sing, I like blue or white for you -I said winking at him.
The lift got my floor, I stepped out saying goodbye to that neighbour whom I had never crossed a single word with and now seemed so nice to me. I opened the door and heard how my daughter was scolding my grandson and complai-ning about my unpunctuality.
- I am here, calm down, I will take care of everything - I said so she could know that I heard her.
-But have you seen what time is it? She reproached me nervously. Do you ha-ve any idea how late it is? If you’re not going to take care of the child, just tell me, and I’ll see how to drop him off at school. You know that I have to go to work and that I cannot take care of everything.
-Well, dear I got delayed a little bit with my friends, nothing else, I said in a conciliatory voice.
-Of course you are as idle as usual, but some of us have a job, she recriminated me.
- I have been thinking about looking for a job myself lately, I said thoughtfully, knowing that this could solve the delicate economic situation at home.
This remark made my daughter mute, since she expected me to apologise or start protesting about the many tasks I handled in the house which ultimately led us to engage in arguments that lasted hours.
I would reproach her for how much I had sacrificed for her when I was young so she could move forward, paying for studies that other people did not have.
While she would accuse me of being selfish, reminding me that her job paid the bills, which prevented her from attending to her child as much as she wan-ted without having the possibility of paying for someone to take care of him.
But something had changed in our argument, she had remained silent, like thoughtful, and after a while she said,
- It’s okay, don’t worry, I’ll do something quickly and we’ll fix it. By the way, forget that idea of working, you don’t have the age nor the need, while I am in this house I don’t want you to be worried about that.
That surprised me, she always recriminated me about how costly it was to keep up with all my monthly expenses and now it seemed she was apologising.
-Don’t worry my daughter, I am going to change and start working in the kit-chen immediately, where is my king by the way? I asked, looking for my grandson.
My grandson saw me being playful, he hid himself hoping to scare me off suddenly, but I knew him well and knew where he used to hide, I turned around and found him crouching behind a door and I said,
- I caught you
And so he ran towards his mother, laughing. It seemed unbelievable to me, for a long time I have not had this feeling, the feeling of living again as a family. Despite the fact that we have been living under the same roof for so many years, it was not the same as this moment.
- Do you want garlic? - my daughter asked.
- Only a few, you know they don’t make me feel very well, I replied while undressing.
When I returned to the dining room, the food was already served and my dau-ghter told me,
-Do you know what I’ve been thinking ?, I’m off this weekend, if you want, my son and I can go somewhere, and you can have the day off for whatever you want.
-I would rather spend it with you, it’s been long since we went out somewhere as a family, even if we just play at the park.
My daughter must have liked that, because she came closer and gave me a soft kiss on the head.
-I want to play with the ducks -said my grandson with a few words.
-But you must know, I answered. Ducks are very smart and they know who eat their food and who does not. Would you like them to know that you eat little?
-No, today I’ll eat it all, he said with a big smile.
That was wonderful because for the first time in a long time the three of us were at the table eating together, normally my daughter ate standing up or took her food in a lunch bag and ate on her way to work.
But today, even after stealing a part of her valuable time, she sat down and my grandson, who would always start a war in order to eat, was eating everything his mother had given him and even without protesting. Once we finished eating I went to clean the dishes and my daughter went to work.
I was already late, although I did not care, because I liked very much how the morning had been resolved, although I was quite angry at first, because when I arrived my son was alone at home when my mother supposed to be with him.
I asked him how he got home and he told me that he came with one of his friends, a neighbour of ours and that his mother had brought them both; al-though this was fine by me, because he arrived home, I did not like it very much, because if someone is responsible of a task, the person must comply and even more when it is about my son.
But strangely all that bad mood had vanished when she opened the door, it was as if a breath of fresh air had entered and had made me forget all my com-plaints.
Although I usually left my son doing his homework, today I barely had time to say goodbye and I went running to work. Luckily my place of work was next to the house, I just had to walk a little faster to be able to recover the extra time I spent more preparing the food.
I left the house in the direction to the supermarket in the neighbourhood and when I arrived I met the the supervisor who told me,
- Hello, miss, I see you are looking radiant today, I’m glad, that’s the attitude I want for my employees.
Radiant ?, I did not really know what he was talking about, he surely wanted me to do extra hours and that’s why he told me such a compliment. I did not give it more importance, I put on my apron and started charging in my box.
-Hello, it shows that today is a beautiful day, said an elderly man I always saw buying the same thing every day.
-You know, today I recommend an offer that we have, if you are interested in adding it to your diet.
-How do you know I’m on a diet? The strange man asked.
-I’m very observant, besides, you are ageing well, you must be doing so-mething.
-Oh, thank you, you’ve noticed, but it’s not just about the food, I walk about eight kilometres every day, can you believe it at my age?
- Well, if I may, I recommend some supplements that contain iron, it is good to replace the mineral salts that are lost - I replied with a smile.
- You know, I am very happy that you attended to me, whenever I come I will try to make it that way. And in confidence, if you think I need something else do not hesitate to tell me, because despite the saying “the older the wiser”, the truth is that my head is too small and sometimes I can not fix my eyes on everything.
-Why do you take care of yourself so much? -I asked wondering.
-You know, there’s a girl, I met the other day at a party, but I was shy to ask her for a dance. She also seemed somewhat demure and I want to look good for this Friday.
-Do you have a new party? I asked surprised.
-Yes, every Friday at eight in the social centre, you can come if you want, I’m sure you would have a good time.
