“Give me your phone. I want to see who you’re constantly texting!” my mother-in-law demanded, holding out her hand toward me.
I stared at her for a few seconds, then held out my own hand. “Of course. Yours first. Let’s start with your messages.”
Carmen froze.
My husband, Javier, who was standing at the kitchen counter slicing bread, slowly raised his head.
“Excuse me?” my mother-in-law asked.
“You heard me perfectly well. You want to read my messages, so I assume you won’t have any problem showing me yours.”
Carmen pulled her hand back.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Elena. I’m your mother-in-law.”
“And I’m your daughter-in-law. I didn’t realize that gave you access to my phone.”
It was Sunday, shortly after one in the afternoon.
Like almost every week, Carmen had come over for lunch. Her daughter, Lucía, and Lucía’s husband, Andrés, were there too. I had made roast chicken, baked potatoes, and a large salad.
We were still in the kitchen when my phone buzzed on the table.
I read the message and quickly replied.
A few minutes later, another notification came through.
Carmen immediately frowned.
“You’ve been on your phone quite a lot today.”
I didn’t even look up.
“Not really.”
“That’s already the third time you’ve replied to someone.”
This time I looked at Javier.
He shrugged, looking just as confused as I was.
“Mom, why are you counting Elena’s messages?”
“I’m not counting anything. I’m just noticing.”
That should have been my first warning that this conversation was nowhere near over.
Ten minutes later, we were sitting at the table.
My phone was beside my glass, screen facing down.
Carmen seemed to look at it more often than she looked at her own plate.
When it buzzed again, she let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Again.” I picked up the phone and read the message.
It was from Marta, one of my coworkers. We were working together on a presentation for Monday morning, and she had just sent me the latest version of the document.
I simply replied:
“Perfect. I’ll look it over tonight.”
Then I put my phone back down.
Carmen stared at me.
“Who was that?”
“A coworker.”
“The same one who messaged you earlier?”
“Yes.”
“And what does she want from you on a Sunday?”
I put down my fork.
“We work together.”
“At one o’clock on a Sunday afternoon?”
Lucía cut in.
“Mom, some people work on weekends too.”
“I know perfectly well how work works,” Carmen snapped.
Then she turned to Javier.
“Doesn’t this bother you?”
Javier blinked.
“What?”
“Your wife constantly texting someone during lunch.”
“She replied to three work messages.”
“At least that’s what she says.” The table suddenly went silent.
I slowly raised my head.
“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”
Carmen took a sip of water.
“Nothing.”
“No, it clearly means something.”
“Elena, stop turning everything into drama.”
I gave a short laugh.
“You’re suggesting that I’m lying about who I’m talking to, and somehow I’m the one being dramatic?”
Javier put down his fork.
“Mom, stop.”
But Carmen clearly had no intention of stopping.
“I’m just saying there shouldn’t be secrets in a marriage.”
“There aren’t any in ours.”
“Then show me your phone.”
For a second, I thought I had misheard her.
“What?”
She held out her hand.
“Give me your phone. I want to see who you’re constantly texting!”
Even Andrés looked up from his plate, despite having carefully avoided getting involved until then.
I looked at Carmen’s outstretched hand.
Then at her face.
And suddenly, I wasn’t angry anymore.
I smiled.
Then I held out my own hand toward her.
“Of course. Yours first. Let’s start with your messages.”
Her expression changed instantly.
“My phone has nothing to do with this.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s private.” “Exactly.” Lucía lowered her head to hide a smile.
Carmen noticed.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, Mom.”
“Then stop smirking.”
I calmly continued.
“You just gave yourself the perfect answer. Your phone is private. So is mine.”
“That’s completely different.”
“Then explain the difference.”
She opened her mouth, but for once, no words came out.
Javier leaned back in his chair.
“Mom, Elena’s right.”
Carmen turned sharply toward him.
“Of course you’re defending her.”
“I’m not defending anyone. I’m explaining that you don’t get to go through her phone.”
“I don’t want to go through it!”
I glanced at her hand, which was still resting on the table.
“You literally just asked me to hand over my phone so you could read my messages.”
Finally, she pulled her hand back.
“I only wanted to make sure nothing strange was going on.”
My smile disappeared.
“You wanted to make sure?”
“Yes.”
“And since when is it your job to supervise our marriage?”
“I’m his mother.”
“Exactly. His mother. Not his wife.”
Carmen’s expression hardened.
“Watch how you speak to me.”
“I’m speaking to you exactly the way I’d speak to anyone who demanded access to my private messages.”
Javier sighed.
“Mom, why are you even doing this?”
She turned toward him.
“Because I’m worried about you.”
“About what?” “I don’t know! She’s constantly looking at her phone. She keeps getting messages. Sometimes she even smiles when she reads them…”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“I smile at a message and suddenly I’m suspicious?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“That’s exactly what you’ve been saying for the last twenty minutes.”
Lucía carefully set down her glass.
“Mom, seriously… stop.”
Carmen shot her an irritated look.
“Stay out of this.”
Lucía gave a quiet laugh.
“That’s coming from you?”
This time, even Javier couldn’t hide his smile.
Carmen’s face turned red. “Fine. If you all think this is so incredibly funny…”
She reached for the handbag lying on the chair beside her.
I thought she was leaving.
But at that moment, her phone slipped out of the bag and landed on the table.
The screen lit up.
A notification appeared.
I had absolutely no intention of reading it.
But Carmen grabbed the phone and flipped it face down so quickly that everyone immediately noticed.
Lucía frowned.
“Why are you hiding your screen?”
“I’m not hiding anything.”
“You literally just turned it over.”
I folded my arms.
“Now I’m starting to get curious.”
Carmen gave me an icy look.
“It’s none of your business.”
“Of course it isn’t. It’s your phone.”
I paused.
“See? That wasn’t so difficult.”
Javier burst out laughing.
Carmen stood up. “I’m not going to sit here and let all of you humiliate me.”
“No one is humiliating you,” I replied. “But you can’t demand openness from other people that you’re unwilling to give yourself.”
She shoved her phone back into her handbag.
“In a normal family, people have nothing to hide.”
I looked at her.
“Then unlock your phone.”
Silence.
Carmen stood beside the table.
“Why are you suddenly so desperate to see my phone?”
“I don’t want to see it at all. That’s exactly the point.” I picked up my own phone and placed it on the table in front of me.
“I could show you every single message. You’d find Marta talking about the presentation, my sister sending me a recipe, and Javier texting me yesterday to remind me to buy coffee.”
Javier nodded.
“True. We were out of coffee.”
I continued.
“But I’m still not showing you anything.”
Carmen narrowed her eyes.
“Why, if you have nothing to hide?”
“Because privacy is not proof of guilt.”
This time, nobody said anything.
Then Javier turned to his mother.
“And most importantly, Mom, never demand her phone again.”
Carmen went slightly pale.
“So now you’re giving me orders?”
“I’m setting a boundary in my own home.”
She stared at him for several seconds.
Then she picked up her coat.
“Fine. I can see I’m the enemy here now.”
“Nobody said that,” Javier replied.
“You don’t have to.”
She headed toward the front door.
Lucía sighed and stood up too.
“Mom, wait.”
But before leaving the kitchen, Carmen turned back toward me one last time.
“One day Javier will understand that I was only trying to protect him.”
I looked at her calmly. “Maybe. But today he mostly understood why you shouldn’t have access to my phone.”
She didn’t answer.
A few seconds later, the front door slammed shut.
A strange silence remained in the kitchen.
Andrés stared down at his plate.
“So… the chicken really is fantastic.”
Lucía burst out laughing.
So did Javier.
Finally, I picked up my fork again.
At that moment, my phone buzzed. Everyone went silent.
I looked at the screen. Javier grinned. “Marta?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
I turned the phone toward him.
It was Carmen.
She had just texted me from the stairwell:
“Keep this conversation between us. You don’t need to tell anyone else about it.”
I looked at Javier.
Then at Lucía.
Then at Andrés.
And I couldn’t help laughing.
“Looks like,” Javier said, “Mom suddenly cares a lot about the privacy of her own messages.”