My Parents' Anniversary

"He has, hasn't he?"

"Yea, anyway, mom, I'm really craving for a smoke right now." I raised my hand and checked the time on my watch. "I'll meet up with you in about...ten to fifteen minutes."

"Nicholas, when are you gonna kick that nasty habit of yours?" Mom frowned.

"I know, I know. I'm a bad egg. Soon, I promise." I kissed her on the cheek and went off in my own direction.

My mind was in a frantic state as I walked around the large, slightly crowded mall, trying to think of a great gift idea. Why didn't I think about what I was gonna get her last night? My head turned left and right. How about a pair of shoes? Nah, mom's got about a thousand of those. Flowers? Nah, that's just weak. Chocolates? No, it's not Valentine's Day!

I let out a sigh and sat down on a long wide wooden bench, placed between two small palm trees and a large lit up map of the mall. Why am I the one who has to do this? She's not my wife. I shrugged. Maybe I'll come up with an idea after I get some nicotine into my system.

"Yea." I nodded, raised my head and saw the sight of the answer I'd been trying to find. A jewellery store! I sprung to my feet. Why didn't I think of it before? Mom loves jewellery.

I walked into the large, well lit, sparkling clean store and started browsing through the cased items on display. They had just about everything in there; chains, watches, rings, bracelets, earrings, pearl necklaces-jewellery of every kind. I was truly spoilt for choice.

"What you looking for, mister lovely-brown-eyes?" asked a woman, who looked like she was in her late forties, as I passed through the ring section. Moreover, she was dressed in the store's navy blue uniform and had short curly blonde hair. "An engagement ring for your girlfriend? Or should I say...soon to be fiancé." She winked.

"No." I chuckled. "I'm looking for an anniversary gift for my mom."

"You're married to your mom?" The saleswoman looked stunned!

"No. No. I'm...I'm doing it-"

"Relax. I'm only pulling your leg, dear." She giggled. "Trust a man to make his son buy an anniversary gift for him. How much are you looking to spend?"

"Well, he said 'money's no object'."

The saleswoman took me through all the pieces she thought my mom would die for. And I ended up choosing a beautiful diamond necklace-you know how the old adage goes; diamonds are a girl's best friend. So how could it have been a bad decision? In addition to the necklace, it came in a dark blue suede case.

And I paid for the pricey piece of jewellery by using the card which dad advised me to use the night before. Once I placed mom's gift into the bag it came with, I thanked the saleswoman for her services and made my exit. I would've given her a nice tip if she was a waitress, but that wasn't the case.

I headed for the parking lot and stuck mom's gift into the glove box of my car. I also grabbed my pack of smokes and a lighter before shutting the door and locking the vehicle. I felt like I deserved a smoke for what I had done for dad. I pulled one out and sparked it by the entrance of the parking lot.

Mom called me on my phone roughly halfway through that cigarette. She wanted to know why I was taking so long. She also told me she was in the food court section and had already ordered us a meal. I stepped onto my smoke not too long after the call and made my way back inside the mall.

Upon reaching the food court I discovered that mom had ordered me a burger which came with fries, a piece of fried chicken, a tub of gravy and a Coke. In addition, she'd ordered herself a plate of fish and chips and bottled water for a beverage.

The large eating area we were inside was surrounded by nothing but fast food franchises. It was also lit up by natural light and had a giant jumbotron like screen built in to it. Moreover, the screen was showing an EPL football match. But it wasn't my team playing, so I wasn't interested.

"Thanks for spending the day with me," mom said as we enjoyed our meals.

"You don't have to thank me, mom." I used a serviette to wipe my mouth. "It's a son's job to make his mother happy."

"Really now?" She smiled from ear to ear. "I'm gonna hold you to that. Wanna see the gift I got your father?"

"Mm-hmm." I nodded and took a sip of my Coke.

Mom bent over her chair and pulled out a black box from one of the bags she was carrying. As she opened it, I was expecting to see a Cartier wrist watch or a Hamilton or something along that line. But I was pleasantly surprised, because she'd bought dad a golden Tiffany & Co pocket watch. Which looked like it was an antique and something that dad would love to have in his vintage watch collection-without a doubt.

"Wow. That's a great gift, mom." I nodded.

"I thought you'd say that." She put the stunning piece away. "But it doesn't compare to the one he's gonna get later tonight." She grinned.

"Mom, please. Can we not go there?"

"Oh, alright...spoilsport." She pouted.

"You said we'd wing it after you got done with shopping. Got any ideas?" I put some fries into my mouth.

"Hmm." Mom's eyes rolled upwards. "Wanna go ice-skating?"

I swallowed my mouthful before I said, "Sure."

"On second thought, I'm not about to go ice-skating in this dress." She thought about another activity for a few seconds. "How about seeing a movie?"

I titled my head as I mulled over her idea. "I don't see why not." I shrugged.

After we finished our meals I quickly took mom's bags to the car and we did exactly that. I was in the mood for the seventh Fast and Furious movie, which came out about a week earlier. But mom wanted to watch something a little more romantic. So guess what we watched? A chick flick, of course. It wasn't bad though. In fact, it was funny and I liked the plot.

By the time we exited the cinema it was roughly quarter to five, which meant dad's plane was scheduled to land in a little under two hours. Mom wanted to make sure she looked her supreme best before he arrived, so we decided to head back home. We got into the car and drove out of the mall. But about two-hundred yards down the road, as we got stopped by a traffic light, something caught mom's eye.

"Nick, pull in here." She pointed in the direction of a C shaped building that was made up of stores. I think it was a shopping centre. And if it was, then it was a dodgy looking shopping centre.

"What, what is it?"

"You'll see." Mom smiled mischievously and then looked through the passenger window.

I didn't like where this was going. But what can you do? After the light finally turned green I steered the car into the shopping centre and parked it into an empty space. We hopped out thereafter and mom led the way to whatever had grasped her interest.

She stopped at the entrance of a store which caused my jaw to drop and eyes to widen. Its windows were covered by black sheets and its name was written in big bold, illuminated, red and yellow letters. It was an adult's store! No wonder why she didn't want to tell me, because if she had I would've driven right past the shopping centre.

"Mom, there's no way I'm stepping into that store with you."

"Oh Nicky, please don't start with this childish behaviour again." Mom's hand was on the gate of the store's entrance. "I wanna see if I can get anything fun in here."

"Okay, first of all; stop calling me 'Nicky'. You know how much I hate it when you call me that. And secondly; haven't you bought enough stuff for today?"

"Please Nick." She pouted her lips and batted her eyes.

"It's not gonna work this time, mom." I folded my arms.

"Okay then, how about this." She removed her hand from the gate. "What was that thing you said to me during lunch?" Mom used an index finger to tap on her chin as her eyes rolled upwards. "Oh yea, 'it's a son's job to make his mother happy'. Well...this would make me very happy." She nodded like a kid hopped up on candy.

Aww man. Why did I have to open my big mouth? "Okay, fine. But can we please make this quick."

"Yay!" Mom smiled and pulled the gate of the store open once they buzzed us in.

In the centre of the small, purple carpeted store stood two large parallel shelves that held up rows and rows of hardcore porn DVDs. And its walls were mounted by all kinds of kinky merchandise; dildos, vibrators, whips, chains, collars, paddles, blow-up dolls, nurse uniforms, police officer uniforms, French-maid outfits, whip cream and...you see where I'm going with this, right? It was a circus!

Be that as it may, I felt a boner coming on as I walked past this one toy. I'm not sure what it was called, but it was of a girl's torso and lower region, which was pushing its ass cheeks apart and presenting an alluring looking asshole.

I shook my head and needed to find a way to suppress my imminent erection, because now for the second time in one day I was in danger of mom catching me with one. I quickly made my way over to the dildos' and vibrators' section. I figured there was no way on earth a fake cock could get me aroused. And I was right.

"Hey!" Mom came out of nowhere, startling me in the process. "I think I found something that might interest you." Her right arm came up with a DVD titled 'Anal Sluts #19'.

"Mom!" I'd never been so shocked in my life.

"What?" She laughed.

"I don't watch that stuff."

"Oh, please." Mom had a sly look on her face. "Do you think I've never been on your computer before? You really should think of something other than 'password' as a password. It's pretty cliché."

I was lost for words.

"Want me to get this for you or not?" She raised her eyebrows and tilted her head.

I let out a sigh and felt rather defeated. "No." I shook my head.

"Your loss." Mom shrugged and placed the movie on a shelf. "My stuff's already on the counter. Let's get out of here."

Fuck, I need a cigarette. I looked at the ceiling. This day was becoming a little too much. I exited the store thereafter but didn't have enough time for a smoke, because not too long after I made my exit mom followed suit-with her handbag and bag of sex goods in hand-and smoking in her presence was something I never did.

Once she placed her second bag in the boot we got back into the car and drove back home. Mom thanked me again for spending the day with her as we entered the house, and, for putting up with her shenanigans. I let her know it was no big deal and that I would be leaving the house in roughly five minutes.

I wanted to get to Matt's place a good hour before the time we were scheduled to leave for the party he'd invited me to earlier on. That way I could enjoy the pre-party. Moreover to my reasoning, I wanted to give mom and dad some alone time. I figured I'd give him a proper greeting on the next day.

Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek and then headed off for her bedroom. I entered my bathroom to void my bladder. Then I stepped into my room, grabbed a black coat and headed back downstairs, where I grabbed a Red Bull from the fridge and jumped back into my car. "Oh yea," I muttered as I stuck my key into the ignition.

I knew I was forgetting something-mom's gift. I opened the glove box, pulled out the cased necklace and took it out of its bag. But then an unforeseen problem suddenly became apparent. How was I gonna get the gift to dad? Shit. I sat in my car and brainstormed as I sipped on my Red Bull.

Then a golden idea came to me. I'd simply go back upstairs, leave it in...let's say; my desk drawer. And when dad calls me looking for it, I'd simply tell him where he could find it. Brilliant. I grabbed the dark blue box and opened the car door. But before I could get out the sound of my ringtone went off.

"Hmm." I pulled out my smartphone, pressed the answer button and placed it against my ear. "Hello."

"Nick, it's me."

"Oh, hey dad." I recognized his voice. "Where are you? The airport? I've got mom's gift in my hand right now."

"Yea, that's what I'm calling you about, bud." He sighed. "I'm still in New York."

My heart felt like it dropped into my stomach. I couldn't believe my ears. "New York? Dad, you've gotta be kidding me." I shook my head.

"Yea, sadly...I'm not."

"You were supposed to get on your plane last night."

"I know, I know, son. But a problem came up in the stock market right before I could. And I needed to stay here, so I can weather the storm the company's about to go through."

Aww man. "Dad...mom's gonna be crushed."

"Yea, that's why I called you." He sighed. "I'm hoping that gift you bought her will cushion the blow."

I raised mom's gift with my left hand as I took a look at it. But then the subtext in dad's last sentence suddenly dawned on me. "Wait a minute. You want me to tell her?"

"Do me this favour, bud."

Aww man. Could this day become any more challenging? I sighed and dropped my head before I said, "Fine."

"That's my boy. I'll make this up to you. I promise."

"Cool."

"Hopefully, I'll see you in a month's time...when business is a little bit better. Oh yea and Nick, tell Rachel I said I'm sorry."

Once I said goodbye to dad and put my phone away, I pulled out a cigarette and sparked it in my car as I mulled over how I would break the news to mom. I also called Matt and told him I wouldn't be able to make it to the party. I thought it was a better idea if I spent the night with mom, instead of her having to sit at home alone on the night of her anniversary.

I felt so sorry for her. And right then and there I made myself a promise; I'd never do what dad was doing to mom, to whoever my future wife would be. I extinguished my cigarette, took a swing of my Red Bull and grabbed mom's gift before I climbed out of the car. Then I headed back upstairs, took a deep breath and exhaled before I knocked on mom's door.

"This is gonna suck," I muttered.

As soon as mom told me she was decent, I pushed the door open and stepped into her bedroom. I found her sitting at her dresser, dressed in a large light green robe. In addition, she was fixing her makeup in the mirror. I swallowed my spit and walked further into the room.

"What's that in your hand, hun?" Mom placed her blusher back inside her makeup kit as I took a seat on the edge of her king-sized bed.

"Umm."I rubbed the back of my neck. "...It's umm...it's a, it's...it's-"

"Honey, spit it out." She picked up her eyeliner and began applying it as I took a deep breath and cleared my throat.

"It's a necklace...a diamond necklace."

"A diamond necklace?" Mom continued to apply her eyeliner. "What are you doing with a diamond necklace? Planning on giving it to the girlfriend you never told me about?"

"No. It's...it's for you."

"For me?" She put her eyeliner down as she turned to face me. She was smiling in a subtle manner. "Since when has it been customary for a son to buy his mother an anniversary gift?"

Aww man. I hated having to do this with all my heart. "I didn't buy it for you. Well, technically I did, but...it's not from me." I shook my head.

Mom grew a confused facial expression. Then it turned into one that looked like a light bulb had suddenly switched on in her head. "No," she started shaking her head, "no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...tell me...your father did not cancel on me."

I opened my mouth to confirm that he did exactly that. But I couldn't bring myself to say it, so I just dropped my face into my hand. The room seemed to grow more silent with each long second that went by. You could hear a pin drop.

"That motherfucker!"

I raised my head and watched mom storm over to her bedside table. She reached into her handbag, pulled out her phone and started pressing buttons like she was trying to break its screen with her thumb. Then she placed it against her ear and folded her arms.

The look in mom's eyes would've sent a shiver down the spine of Charlie Manson. I could hear each breath that passed through her nose. And her foot tapped at least three times per second. I'd never seen her so irritated. And there was a time I got suspended for being intoxicated in school.

"This bastard switched off his phone!" She turned her attention to me.

I dropped my head again.

"Peter! How dare you do this to me?" I presumed she was leaving him a voice message. "Isn't it bad enough that you pulled this shit on me last year? Now you're doing the same fucking thing again this year! Peter, what kind of a marriage is this!?" mom's voice sounded like she wanted to cry. "It's a farce of a marriage, that's what it is.

And to top it all off, you don't even have the balls to tell me you're not coming yourself! Like the coward you are! You have your son do your dirty work for you! Nick." She started snapping her fingers, making me raise my head. "Bring that thing here, whatever it is." Mom walked up to me and snatched it from my hand before I could even get up.

"I've got your so called gift in my hand right now, buddy." She walked over to her window. "Well guess what? I don't want it!" Mom tossed it through her open window, sending it into our backyard. "Uhhnngg, I can't believe you would do this to me! Peter, you're such a fucking pig!"

The pitch of mom's voice kept rising as she stomped, waved her arm and insulted dad for what felt like an hour. I'm pretty sure it was only a couple of minutes though.

"And don't ever bother coming back home, because you've fucked me for the last time! Literally and figuratively, motherfucker!" Her phone was the next thing that was flung into the backyard.

"Uuhhh!! That bastard!"

Mom stood still for a few seconds, looking at the floor with her arms folded and was panting like she'd just won the hundred meter sprint in the Olympics. I didn't know what to do or what to say. What could I do or say?

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, Nick." In a twitchy manner, she began moving her hand over her bright red forehead and cheeks. "And for throwing the gift you bought me out the window like that."

"It's okay, mom."

"No, it's not okay." She shook her head. "But, could you...could you please give me a few minutes to compose myself?"

"No problem, mom." I got up and walked out of the room.

Man, that was intense! I thought after closing the door behind me. I mean, I knew she wasn't going to take the news very well. But here's the thing, I wasn't expecting to see that reaction, because it wasn't customary for mom to go off at dad like that. In fact, it was the first time I'd ever seen it.

But I guess it was only a matter of time before she vented her feelings. A woman can only take so much neglect, right? I walked down the hallway and entered my bedroom, where I took a seat by my PC. I put my headphones on and played some music as I played a few games of chess against the computer.

I was also trying to think of a way I could make this a better night for mom. I didn't want her sitting around in her room sulking the whole night. As the PC took out one of my pawns with a rook, an idea came to me. I got up, fished out my almost empty pack of smokes from my desk drawer, and then made my way onto my balcony.

The sun had already fallen and I had a great view of the lit up city in the horizon from up there. I took out my fourth last cigarette and sparked it to mull over my idea. Mom was applying her makeup when I walked into her room, because she was planning on going out for the night.

I didn't see the point in wasting a perfectly good dinner reservation, so what I needed to do was get changed and take dad's place. "Yea." I shrugged and exhaled a cloud of smoke. Hopefully that'll make her feel a little better.

Upon exhaling my last cloud, I crushed my cigarette into the ashtray which I'd placed on the table that was up there. Then I stepped back into my room, stripped out of my shirt, jeans and sneakers, and then walked over to my wardrobe. I got dressed up by putting on a long sleeved white shirt, a black suit, dark blue tie, and a pair of black shoes.