Alpha's Marriage With Benefits

Food Poisoned

After showing up for Tanya's restaurant opening, I have to go back home to visit my parents. It's a weekend and they always wanted me to visit them at least once a month. 

Taylor didn't join me to go to his parent's house. He said that he needs to do a live stream tonight. So I ended up just taking the bus ride home. I hate driving and I normally just call an Uber when I have to go somewhere.

Except when I'm with Taylor. He hated the commute and he usually brought me around the city or at home. But this is one of the days when he seems to need his space. He doesn't feel like hanging out with me today. 

I perfectly understand him since I also do the same thing to him when I have my period. It's always the first day when I don't want to hang out with a guy. I'm just curious if other men also have the same thing as Taylor's.

He started to change his habits and even his diet before we finished high school. My dad told me that it may probably be because of puberty. But a decade has already passed from that moment. He seems to adapt to whatever it is. 

I just ignore it and don't take it personally whenever it happens. But I continue to nag him about eating veggies during his normal days. He turned into a full-fledged carnivore overnight. He looks fine except for that one day every month. 

It only takes the bus to arrive at my destination. My parent's house is just a short walk from the highway. It's an exclusive village where the houses look like they are trying to outdo each other. But there's one mansion that stood out.

Taylor's parents just live across from my parent's place. His parents decided to have a mansion. They like to do it grandly like a typical aristocrat. But my parents are humble and settled for a five-bedroom house instead.

Even our house seems to be too much for just the three of us. Now that I moved out of there, it's only my parents and the maids who live there. Taylor's parents have a lot of servants in their house as they called them.

My parents have a humble beginning while Taylor's parents came from rich families. That's why they don't mind having a massive place to live. Taylor is the only heir of his family's wealth but he's also a disappointment to them.

His parents don't approve of his chosen career since they came from a family of business tycoons. Although I can also tell that my parents are disappointed in me. They are in the retail business while I became a writer.

Luckily, my parents are cool about what I wanted to do in my life. After all, they are looking forward to having a reliable son-in-law. But the problem is, I don't even have a boyfriend so I'm sure that they will be disappointed about it big time!

"My Bell, you're home!" My dad spotted me right away and entered the gate.

"Hey, dad! Where's mom?" I asked.

"I'm over here, sweetheart!" My mom replied from the garden.

My parents always greet me as if they are about to sell me something. I can't blame them since they are both salespeople before having their big break. 

My mom takes off her garden gloves and walks towards me and my dad. We sat on the bench and tried catching up for a bit. 

"Did you know that Nympha is getting married in June?" My mom asked.

As always, it's another update of who's getting married while I'm still single. 

"Yeah, she invited me," I replied.

"Where's Taylor?" My dad asked.

He never fails to ask about Taylor whenever I visit them. Maybe his parents are just waiting for some news about their son. He never visits them even if he drives her there.

"He's a little busy these days," I replied.

"We should visit his parents. You know that they are always happy to see you!" My mom suggested.

"Sure, let's do that!" I agreed since I feel sorry for them about not seeing their only son.

I'm also close to his parents since they are my godmother and godfather. Our families are very tight and I feel obligated to also visit his parents. He doesn't want to see them since they always try to force him to have an arranged marriage. 

I understand why he chooses to ignore his parents for a while. Although he hasn't dated anyone for almost two years now. Maybe he just gave up on the idea of finding someone he will marry someday. After all, his parents will still have the final say about that.

A simple feast was on the dining table when we entered our house. My mom cooked my favorite dish, baby back ribs, and different side dishes. But the sight of meat made my stomach turn for an unknown reason. 

Sure, I had a lot of meat from Tanya's restaurant earlier. But the sight of the oven baby back ribs never made me feel sick before. I tried to calm my stomach down as we took our seats. I can hear my parents talking about how handsome Taylor looks now.

I just keep on smiling at whatever they are talking about. My stomach is making me lose my focus and it causes ringing in my ears. I feel nauseous all of a sudden. The moment my mom put some ribs on my plate, I stood up and ran to the bathroom.

I thought I would vomit right there and then but luckily, I was able to manage to throw up in the sink. It feels like my stomach is trying to come out but it finally stops after about two minutes. I can hear my parents from outside of the bathroom.

"Bell, are you okay?" My mom asked in a very worried tone but I can't force myself to reply.