"Oh, no. your father forbid it, remember Leon?" I said slapping my forehead.
"But dad won't find out, mom. I'll take my power surfboard. I'll just go up on the roof and come back with it. I won't be seen. Please." Leon pleaded. I didn't respond. I was still thinking.
Facing the confrontation my father was bound to give me, might be worse than dealing with the consequences. Heck, I hadn't talked to my father in years. And as soon as I did, my husband would find out, and I'd lose my nose for good.
"Mom, please say yes, I can't stand it anymore. I've been saving up for months. I can't live without her." Leon begged.
"Well, don't tell your father." I decided.
He smiled ear to ear and ran to get his board. "Thank you, mom! I knew you'd say yes! She's the most sophisticated cat-bot out there!"
"That's what I'm worried about." I said as we entered the mall. "The detail is sickening."
"Mom, you're just jealous." Leon said laughing.
"No, I'm not. Just because you have pimples, don't make me a Barbie doll." I said as we walked past the mannequins.
"I'll never get a woman like that. At least with a cat-bot I'll have a pretty wife." Leon laughed.
I walked up the stairs to the roof garden, where the main stores were located. It was one of those malls where you would lose your horse if it ever decided to go shopping. Leon followed me shortly after, looking determined.
We were the only two humans that day. All the other shoppers had been replaced by robots. The only thing that could possibly make me feel worse than this was if a robot was working at the mall. Maybe a female robot. The feeling of an empty purse would be more human.
"Jenny, look." Leon said pulling something out of his pocket. "I'm gonna give this to Carol." He showed me a ring. It was extremely tiny and had little gold hearts dangling from a gold chain. I frowned and started to question this so called Carol, who couldn't possibly be female.
"When did you get it?" I asked.
"A while ago. I haven't asked her, though, yet." Leon looked a little unsure.
"And you want your dad to keep her?" I asked, hoping to make a deal with Leon to not do it. He looked like he was about to jump up and down.
"Yeah. If he doesn't, I'm gonna just let her go. He won't want to do that. I could already tell." Leon explained.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I've always been good at sensing his feelings for me." Leon explained quickly.
"So what do you want me to do?" I asked.
"You and Tatiana should know what's going on. I probably shouldn't tell them. I know how they are." Leon started to pace.
"Oh. I don't even know what to say." I said.
Leon stopped pacing. "Just say 'thank you pal.'"
"Leon." I said, ignoring his suggestion, " this is your own father! It's taken me a hundred and twenty years to feel what I did just now, and you want me to say 'What the'?" I was beginning to get a headache.
"Oh mom, come on. Can't you just try and say it? I don't wanna ask him. It will be more fun if you do it." Leon begged. He was practically jumping up and down. I had never seen him quite like this.
"Okay, okay." I said. "I'll do it."
I walked inside the shop, while Leon went off to find his father. I walked up to the cashier line. Sure enough, there was Tatiana. She had a sunflower on her right ring finger. I looked around, but Leon wasn't there. I walked up to her. She gave me a nasty look.
"What do you want?" she asked, without looking at me.
"Leon wants you to come into the storeroom." I replied. She glared at me. "Why does he wanna talk to you?" she asked.
"He wants to tell you something." I responded. She looked a little shocked.
"Now, today?" she asked. I nodded. "Oh well. I gotta go to the bathroom anyway." She handed me her sunflower and walked off.
"Tatiana, come back." I said to her. She kept going, ignoring me. I decided it was the only time I could say what I just said to her. I didn't even know if she'd remember it.
