The silence descended back upon the conversation again as the main course was set in front of us. Grilled chicken breasts stuffed with cheeses and an array of different types of apples with a honey-apple glaze. Roasted vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes donned the plate as well, and a glass of wine was promptly set in front of me. I grabbed the glass and chugged it down, raising it high in the air to signal I wanted another one. My parents stared at me for a moment, surely taking in the way I was acting, and then my mother did it.
She asked the fucking question.
“How’s Hailey? I half-expected her to be here with you this evening.”
“With the way you talked to her last time? Not a chance,” I said.
“Bryan,” my father warned.
“But it doesn’t matter because we aren’t seeing one another anymore,” I said.
“I was wondering. We met her back in July, and you hadn’t really talked about her since,” my mother said.
“Well, there’s your confirmation,” I said.
“What happened, son?” my father asked.
“Don’t act like you care, Dad. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s why I haven’t been talking about her.”
“You know we’re here for you if you need to talk,” my mother said.
“Like you were there for John when he needed to talk?” I asked.
“And here we go again,” my father said, sighing.
“Nope. That’s all I have to say on it, actually.”
I held my mother’s gaze, and I thought I saw tears brewing behind her eyes. She dipped her head and started eating, and I could feel my father’s gaze on the side of my face. But I wasn’t letting them have the victory this time. I was staying for this entire fucking meal, and whatever was said at this table would be said. I had the strength to fuck Hailey from my system, mostly, and that meant I had the strength and the maturity to say what I felt needed to be said to my parents, no matter what they thought of it.
“Well, I for one am glad you aren’t dating her anymore,” my father said. “She was definitely a different one.”
“She would’ve never fit in around here,” my mother said. “I’m glad our input helped you to come to your senses.”
“Oh, is that what you think happened? You mean she was different like I’m different?” I asked.
“No, no, no,” my mother said. “You just have those wretched things on your body and a job that makes you work too hard, but you aren’t different. She, on the other hand—”
“Was a free soul you couldn’t stand because she silenced you with her reasoning and put you in your place,” I said.
“Sounds like you’re not quite over this little girl,” my father said.
“She’s far from a little girl.”
What the hell was I doing? Why the fuck was I defending her to my parents?
“And I’m glad Drew’s thinking about leaving the company,” my mother said. “It seems like life is finally trying to push you in a direction you’ve refused to go for a long time. It parts you from all that rabble he caused in your life. I know he was the influence behind those wretched things on your skin.”
“You could even liquidate the business and use the money to look into something a bit more profitable for yourself. I could even help,” my father said.
“You mean like how you wanted to help John?” I asked. “You think you can assimilate me back into the world of social calendars and investment firms and gossip?” I asked.
“Oh, no. You’d never find your place there anymore,” my mother said. “But that doesn’t mean you still couldn’t attend a few of the functions with us.”
“No, thanks. I’d rather starve on the street,” I said.
“Don’t you dare say things like that to your mother,” my father said.
“Or what? You’ll cast me out?” I asked. “Good, because these dinners give me hernias anyway.”