In My Desperate Time

Behind me, Mom whispers to Frances.

"What's wrong? Did you quarrel?"

I turn around and glare at Frances, my eyes speaking of death, deterring him from blabbering.

He looks at me dotingly and smiles at Mom, replying, "She warned me I should say no."

Damn it!

Why did he say that?

Mom rolls her eyes at me and pulls Frances' hand. "That's her. You must be more tolerant of her. Don't lower your opinion of her because of her flaws."

...

I feel embarrassed when she says that.

I don't understand why Mom has such a good impression of him on their first encounter.

Am I looking at the so-called bias from a woman toward her son-in-law?

Frances shakes his head and says something moving, his voice deep and melodious.

who she is. I

moment, I really want to throw

had been said by someone else, I

said that, it sounded particularly

finally find an excuse to

be trying to gain

all, Mom and Dad know how he used to

wouldn't have left for Prague, far away from

us. She somehow knows what Frances fancies and cooked his

keeps helping Frances with the

to take me

spend the night with him at all, so I say I want to catch up with my parents

also chooses to

only two rooms. I have no choice but to sleep on the same bed

all the traveling, I fall asleep in bed fast

comes out of the bathroom, but in

been ignoring him these past few days, and he hasn't forced himself on me.

have been pretending not to

is probably the unique tacit understanding between two people