On My Way To Mr. Right

Chapter 41

I get home at almost six pm. My parents were probably in the kitchen cooking and preparing dinner. I don’t know where Alex is. I tiptoed to my room. I’m still apprehensive regarding the whole boyfriend's situation and my parents. In addition to that, dad was very particular about my class schedule. He knows my class ends at four pm and usually later with extracurricular activities. Winter break warranted no extracurricular activities. Hence, he expects me home at four.

“Charlotte, is that you?” Dad calls from the kitchen and I sigh at having been caught. “Come over here.”

“Hey, Dad,” I greeted him. “Sorry for being home late. I was finishing some homework.” I lied.

“Oh no, that’s fine. I just wanted you to taste this gumbo your mom is making for dinner,” He says, shoving a spoonful of gumbo liquid into my mouth. “Is it too salty?”

“No, it’s fine. Perfect, really.”

“Hear that, honey? Your daughter thinks your cooking is perfect,” he said to mom, who was stirring the pot full of gumbo. “I hope Alex will be home before dinner though. I’d love for everyone to taste this potful of goodness.”

So, Alex wasn’t home. That was good. Less pressure to lie and cover for James.

“Um, James is coming over tonight so he can catch up with the previous lessons he missed. Is that okay?” I shot my shot.

“Of course, Lottie. Your friends are always welcome here,” Dad answers, gently kissing my temple before resuming chopping veggies.

“Shirt,” I muttered under my breath.

I realized that if I was going to have James over frequently under the pretense of being my friend, it might disappoint my parents when they find out I’m lying. I wasn’t too worried about their disappointment. It was the untrusting and cautious bubble they put me through after that troubled me. Avoiding a confrontation now would only prolong my sentence.

So, I decided to do the most rational thing I could do to avoid any regrets.

“Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you,” I said, stepping into the kitchen. “James asked me to be his girlfriend last night and I said yes.”

They were left speechless. Mom held the wooden ladle in her hand, with red liquid dripping over the counter. She places a hand on her hip. Dad, on the other hand, looked blindsided. He took a hand to his chin as if thinking about how this could have happened.

“Since when has he been courting you?” He asked after some moments of silence.

“Um, he didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because he literally confessed to me last night and asked me this morning, and we’re going to the winter formal together, tomorrow.”

“You know, Lottie, your father courted me for five months, I think,” Mom joined in, cleaning the ladle and counter. “Courting means getting to know your suitor before committing to them in a relationship. You do know a relationship is a long and deep commitment, right? You can’t just back out every time you have a fight. And you will have fights if you don’t know the person that well enough.”

“I never knew your mom to be so thrifty and such a good cook, had I not courted her that long,” Dad continues. “We were friends for years. She had never cooked for me or our other friends, and she loved takeout food. I naturally assumed she preferred eating outside, and so that’s what we did for the first few weeks until I almost had to break my piggy bank because eating out twice a week was too ambitious for us, college kids. And she told me she was too shy to cook for her friends, and that she hated takeout food because it was always so oily but never complained once.”

“Well, we can get to know each other while in a relationship. That’s what it’s about, right? Knowing the other person and connecting with them?” I retorted.

“Well, yeah. But what if you find out some horrendous secret James is hiding? Or irritating behavior or his annoying antics? What if you find out mid-relationship that you think his loud chewing is just not something you’re willing to endure for the duration of your relationship? What then?” He continued to interrogate.

I felt cornered. Yes, I know there may be some aspect that James and I have not explored yet and along the way, we might find some disgusting habits the others have. But in a relationship, I always thought you either had to learn to accept it or leave because of it. It’s always been a question of happiness. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, you leave.

Wasn’t it?

“Listen, sweetie. We think James is a great kid, and we’ve always seen his adoration for you. But a relationship is a bigger commitment, even at your age. If you don’t want him courting you, that’s fine. But I won’t commit to treating him as your boyfriend unless he shows me that he can be a good one.”

“Your dad has a point, Charlotte. People in different kinds of relationships treat you differently. I’m sure you treat your friends differently, your parents differently, and your boyfriend differently. Am I right?”

“So, what are you implying? You want James to court you?” I asked my father, dumbfounded. I don’t even know how we got to this part of the conversation.

“Well, if that’s what it takes for us to know how good he’ll be to our daughter, yes,” he answers with a serious face.

“What?”

I was more than taken aback. It was more of a rhetorical question when I asked him that question.

“He’ll need to prove he’s good enough for my daughter. Otherwise, I will never put my trust in him and the relationship you’re trying to build.”

“You tell him that over dinner. I will not be asking my boyfriend to court my father the same day he became my boyfriend. What the hell,” I muttered as I trudged upstairs, sulkily.

I dreaded tonight’s dinner. After learning of my father’s plans, I’m not sure lying for years about another relationship was a worse alternative to this. I wasn’t even halfway through developing a relationship with James. Dad just had to butt in.

I change out of my uniform and freshen up. The bed became my solitude for the remainder of the evening. It wasn’t upsetting to the point of crying, but the day was definitely overwhelming. I went from confessing to a crush, having a boyfriend, skipping school, to my parents asking my boyfriend to court them.

James was going to arrive any minute now. I had texted him earlier to come before seven, and a list of the things I needed in the grand preparation of my menstruation. The anticipation of having blood rushing out of my uterus just made me drown in my emotions even further.

I had taken a hot bath and placed a hot bag on my lower abdomen to ease the pain from my cramps. It subsided. But now I had to deal with the cravings and an insane rollercoaster of emotions that came with the overthinking symptoms of menstruation.

“Knock, knock,” I heard mom’s voice emerge from behind me. She was holding a bunch of roses in her hand, with a sweet smile on her lips.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“James dropped these off for you,” She remarks, handing them over to me. “He said he forgot to pick up some stuff for you. He’ll be back soon and we can have dinner together.”

I gasped in awe.

“He did?”

Mom nods.

“Those are beautiful, sweetie,” She observes as I take a sniff of the beautiful red roses, that was simply tied with a red ribbon. “And your dad was surely impressed by the young man.”

“He was?”

“Yes, he thought it was thoughtful of him to bring something over for dinner and something for you. It definitely earned him some points to your father.”

“Was dad really serious about James having to prove himself to you guys? I mean, you know him so well. Dad literally barbecues with him every other Sunday. What more is there to know about him?”

“Lottie, I think your dad is just trying to protect his only daughter. And you should let him. Of course, we all know how mesmerizing of a person James is. He’s kind, good, and talented. Your dad knows that, too. He’s just trying to look out for you. Let him, and let James show him all over again how right he is for you.”

“Well,” I thought over her words. “You have a point, mom. Thank you.”

James will impress dad ten times over. It wasn’t a question. He did so even before dating me.

And he’ll do so again now.

I just needed to sit through this awful conversation.

“The rice is not yet cooked and James is not back yet. But we’ll have dinner soon, so please get dressed in something nice,” Mom instructed before leaving my room.

I get up to rinse myself of negative thoughts. Tonight’s dinner holds a lot of potential and may determine the course of our relationship. I won’t back down without a fight.