Starting Over.

Chapter 34 - Dinner Part 2

We sat at this grand table.

“Wow this is amazing.” I said as David pushed in my chair for me.

“Yes I love having dinner parties during the holidays. It calls for a large table.” Audra said.

“Do you have a lot of family visit for the holidays?” I asked.

“Well usually we do. Thankfully it’s spring and we don’t have to worry about about fun family gathering until Fourth of July.” Will said.

“Maybe we’ll go out of town that week.” David said and everyone laughed.

“Is it really that bad?” I asked.

“Worse then you would think. George is loud and opinionated, but our father is like George. Just a upgraded more opinionated version. Then there’s Harmony.” Will started.

“Will, she’s my friend need I remind you.” Audra said warningly.

“Audra she’s conceded. No, she’s the most conceded person we know. Last time she was here she talked about her pedicure for thirty minutes, thirty minutes!” Will complained.

“I don’t want to give Ryan a bad idea of everyone.” Audra said.

“It’s ok, David already told me.” I said and David chuckled.

“See! She already has a bad opinion. Make her prepared when they do meet.” Will said.

“Well I don’t plan on introducing them anytime soon.” David said.

“Too late. George wants us all to meet Monday for dinner and Harmony as asked Audra to invite Ryan.” Will said and David groaned.

“Good afternoon.” A woman came out with plates and started placing them around the table. I looked at a chicken dish with a side of scalloped potatoes and a green veggie of some sort.

“We talked to George about this.” David said.

“It’s a lemon chicken!” Audra said to me as I looked at it.

“Oh wonderful! I love lemon chicken!” I said with a smile.

“She isn’t going to be able to hide from either of them for much longer.” I heard Will say.

“I understand that.” David said annoyed.

“It’ll be ok David. They’ll be on their best behavior.” Audra said.

“Should I be worried?” I asked.

“No! They’re nice.” Audra said and Will snickered. David dropped his fork and stared at him.

“I’m sorry David, but nice isn’t how I would describe them.” Will said.

“I’ve heard stories of them being kinda full of themselves.” I said and everyone started to snicker.

“That’s one way to put it.” Will said.

“Angela and Sam told her about his high school nickname.” David said.

“Did they really call him the god?” I asked and Will burst out laughing.

“They did.” Will said composing himself.

“Ok, let’s eat alright?” Audra was the one getting annoyed now. Quiet fell upon the table as we all ate. We were quietly eating I noticed Will and David exchanging glances. It made me laugh and soon I noticed everyone looking at me.

“Oh sorry, you guys were making faces at each other.” I said and everyone started to chuckle.

“Guilty.” David said reaching over and taking my hand. After we were all done Audra looked over the table.

“Dessert?” She asked with a smile.

“Sure!” I said happily. Audra looked at Will and it was quiet for a moment.

“Ryan what’s your favorite dessert?” Audra said looking at me.

“Oh, it’s tiramisu. I’m a big coffee person so it’s the best of all worlds.” I said.

“I’ll remember that.” Audra smiled. The woman who served us our food came out with plates with chocolate cake on them. I looked at the cake and leaned over. I kissed David’s cheek and whispered into his ear.

“I would much rather have you.” I whispered and David froze. I turned back causally and started eating my dessert. I sipped from my wine and saw a noticeable smirk on Will’s face. I only had about half before I was finished.

“That was really good.” I said.

“Thank you. Our chef is amazing.” Audra said. We made some ideal chit chat as everyone finished.

“Should we retire back to the living room for coffee?” Audra asked.

“What about a tour? I would love to see the rest of your home!” I said and Audra lit up.

“Oh yes! How could I forget! I’ll show you around but, it’s a similar layout to David’s house.” Audra said getting up. She led me away and started showing me around.

“The living room you know. Then we have the sitting room.” Audra brought me to a room that looked exactly like the living room but without the tv.

“Oh so more of a formal living room.” I said and she nodded. I was already bored. We walked and she showed me a lot of rooms. She stopped mid hall way and turned to me.

“They probably can’t hear us from here.” Audra said.

“Oh ok.” I said feeling awkward.

“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about George and Harmony. They’re actually very nice, but they might say some weird things to you.” Audra said.

“Should I be worried?” I asked.

“No, they look scary but they’re nice I promise. You love David right?” Audra asked.

“L-love? I really like David. I don’t know about love. It hasn’t been long enough for love right!? Why what did he say? You know what, never mind.” I said and took a deep breath.

“I didn’t mean to fluster you.” Audra laughed. “I mean you really like him don’t you?” She asked.

“I do really really like him. He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever been with.” I said feeling weird taking about this conversation.

“If that’s so, don’t pay attention to anything they say. They’re going to try to possibly scare you away. David knows it.” Audra said.

“Can I be honest with you?” I asked.

“Of course.” She said.

“I really like David, but I can’t help that I can’t shake this feeling that something weird is going on.” I said and Audra looked confused.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“The marks, people making fun of things I said, everyone acts weird all the time.” I shook my head.

“Ryan. I promise soon, when you spend more time here. It will all make sense.” Audra smiled warmly. I felt more at ease and nodded.

“You’re right. This is a new place.” I said.

“Come on, let’s go back. I’m sure David is worried I’m telling you all his embarrassing stories.” Audra said.

“Do you have any?” I asked with a slight laugh.