“Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, of course.” She grabbed her clutch and jacket, and we headed out.
We walked down to the car in silence, as I was lost in my own thoughts. I opened up the passenger door and made sure she got inside the car safely, and then closed it. I headed over to my own door and slid inside the car. As I was starting up the car Natalie asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I don't know. You seem a little off ... really quiet.”
“Sorry. No, I'm fine. Just have a few things on my mind, and to be honest, my dad isn't the easiest person to have dinner with these days. I've literally been avoiding it for months.”
“Oh ...” And there was the elephant in the room. She must have been wondering why I hadn't seen my dad in months, but I wasn't about to get into it before dinner. It would only upset me, and again, I didn't want to start dinner off on a bad vibe.
I parked in front of a nice Italian restaurant, and went to open the door for Natalie. She smiled up at me as she got out of the car. She really did look beautiful, and I was proud to be walking into the restaurant with her on my arm.
Everyone was already waiting for us when we were shown to our table by the maître d’. My brother had brought his girlfriend, and he had a look of surprise on his face when he saw Natalie. My father also had brought his girlfriend, and I felt my blood pressure rise. The girl looked not that much older than my brother and I. I knew she was older, but I felt like she had probably graduated from college before she got the job as his secretary, so if I had to guess, she may have been five to seven years older than I was.
My father stood up when we got to the table, and so did my brother.
“Dad ... Craig, this is my girlfriend, Natalie. Natalie, this is my dad, his ... girlfriend, my brother, Craig, and his girlfriend, Ashley.”
Everyone said hello, and Natalie didn’t even blink an eye when I introduced her as my girlfriend, another thing I was grateful for.
“It's nice to meet you, Natalie. No one knew that Jet had a girlfriend.” He left that hanging in the air as we sat down.
My dad ordered a few bottles of wine for the table, and everyone started looking at their menus. I turned to Natalie, who smiled over at me. “Everything okay?” I asked.
“Of course. What are you thinking of getting to eat?”
“Probably the lobster ravioli. I love it; I always get it every time I come here.” I watched as she scanned the menu for my choice, and read it over.
“What about you?”
“I like the chicken dishes. The chicken and mushroom penne looks delicious, and I can get it with blush sauce.” She smiled happily at me, and I told her I thought it was a great choice.
The waiter came b
ack with the wine and poured everyone a glass. We ordered our meals with salads, and settled in to wait.
I took a sip of my wine and thought things weren't going too badly. That was, until my father started talking.
“You have quite a face on you to come to dinner with. Do you mind explaining to us why you look the way you do?”
Natalie looked startled, but I just laughed. “Well, Dad, had you attended my fight like Mom did.” I looked at his girlfriend when I said Mom. “You would know why I look the way I do.”
“I have attended those fights, son, but I have been busy lately. Not to mention if you can't seem to come to a simple dinner, I don't know why it's a big deal that I miss your little scraps.”
I bristled. “They aren't scraps, Dad, they’re sport. I think you know that.”
He looked up at me and looked me over again. I could tell that his girlfriend was starting to get very uncomfortable. “How is it that you manage to go to work looking like that?”
“Dad, I don't have a part-time job. I can barely manage my schoolwork with my training. I'm a professional MMA fighter; I get paid for the fights I do. That's how I make money. That’s on top of the sports scholarships I've attained, so I do pretty well for myself.”
Craig broke into the conversation. “You should have seen Jet, Dad. He took on this monster, and he did so well ... you would have been so proud.” He left that hanging in the air, and silence fell over the table. When the salads arrived, dinner conversation led to Craig and Ashley and what plans they had for the rest of the year. I was grateful that the limelight was off of me for the moment, as things had begun to get a little heated.
It wasn't long, however, before the conversation swung back my way. His new girlfriend had the nerve to speak in my direction.
“So, Jet, how long have you and Natalie been dating? We've never heard of her.”