Dinner at a girl's place? Sheesh

With a slight bit of nervousness that I hadn't felt in quite a long time, I finally pressed the bell.

It took a few seconds, but I did hear a voice.

"Coming!"

It was Gwen, I knew immediately.

Standing with the massive bouquet, pastries and the wrapped bottle of wine –I felt relieved as the door opened.

"Hey, Mich–" Her greeting stopped mid sentence as she saw me with all the things, "What are all these?"

"Nothing much," I said, hoping that she would take the things off of my hands. "Just things that I thought you might like."

They weren't heavy, but it was difficult walking with the massive bouquet in front of my face.

"Err… You know you didn't have to bring anything, right?" She said, finally taking the bouquet off of my hands.

But this was also when I heard a little kid's yell.

"MOM!" I didn't even notice the blonde boy standing near the doorway, "Gwen's boyfriend is here! He brought flowers."

"Simon!" Gwen shouted back, showing a bit of an embarrassed face, "I told you he is my friend."

This made me smile, "I did not know you had a brother."

"Three actually." She sighed, surprising me. "That is Simon, my youngest brother but also the most mischievous."

It can be quite hectic to handle kids.

"All younger?" It would be a nightmare to handle three kids.

"All young."

And that nightmare was a lifestyle for her. I almost feel bad.

She stared at me as if apologizing. "Try not to mind them, they can talk a lot of stupid stuff."

Chuckling, I assured her. "It's alright, at least you can stay entertained."

It was always better than a dull, monotonous life.

"You are overthinking it," She gave a smile, "They are more annoying than entertaining. Thankfully it is just Simon tonight."

As we were talking, I heard another voice –this time, a feminine one.

"Gwen, honey, invite your friend inside." I saw the woman walking towards us, "Why are you making him wait outside?"

"Oh sh– sorry!" It was funny seeing her instantly changing the words, "Please come inside."

Keeping my shoes in the rack, I slid the slippers on.

Her house was quite nice, aesthetically pleasing as most would describe.

Interesting paintings hung on the walls and the furniture was quite good, it matched the paint on the walls perfectly.

"You have a lovely house." I meant it.

"It's not that nice." She tried to downplay, but apparently someone shared the same thoughts as me.

"Thank you."

This voice came as a surprise, as I did not even notice that there was someone else in the room.

"I envisioned this design from a young age, so when I could finally build it." The man was possibly the oldest within the place, not elderly but definitely mature. "I believe I am allowed to take a little pride in it."

I knew who this was.

The eyes were the dead giveaway of his identity.

Immediately, putting on the most respectful voice, I greeted the man.

"Good evening, sir." It was clear that he was the man of the house, "I am grateful to be invited for dinner."

He was Gwen's father and possibly the man in front of whom I could not ruin my impression.

The man was of decent height, and a well built body that was visible even through his clothes. And considering all the people that I have hung out with, most that had such a frame had it built through their work and not simple body building.

His frame spoke of strength and experience and not of simple mass.

This does make me curious about his work though.

"It was Gwen who invited you," The man was definitely stern and could even come out as rude to many.

"Dad!" Gwen, realizing that I might take offense, tried to intervene.

Not that I mind.

"But it is also nice that she is comfortable with inviting her friends over." He wasn't rude, just a little straight forward. "So, I should thank you for not declining her invitation."

"It is always nice to be invited for a nice home cooked meal, sir." It truly was, "Considering how much people downplay a nice home cooked meal."

This drew his attention in an interesting way.

"You make it sound like you rarely get home cooked food." He asked, "You don't get it at home."

Even Gwen looked confused, mostly because I never revealed most of my private life to others.

"Well… I try to cook but with all the studying and work, I don't get time to cook often."

This made him even more curious, "What about your parents?" He asked, almost immediately realizing that he possibly shouldn't have asked that.

"They passed away when I was very young." As I said this, Gwen gasped.

"I am sorry, Michael." She said, "Dad, he is here for dinner. Let him rest a little."

He pretty much didn't even pay attention to Gwen's words, but he did seem to have felt a little guilty.

"I apologize for bringing up some sad memories." He said, "But I just wanted to know about my daughter's friend a little better."

Laughing it off, I assured. "It's alright, sir. I don't even recall much of my childhood and even their faces are a little hazy in my memory."

It was true, they died when I could barely talk after all.

"I grew up in the care of a distant relative, but had to move out once I turned sixteen."

"Oh, Michael…" Gwen felt sad, but probably didn't know what to say.

It was mostly made up as it wasn't a relative that took me in.

"That's…" His face turned to a frown, "I do have a few friends that deal in this matter. If I had known earlier, I could have helped." He suggested, "Even now, if you want to press charges, I can help with that. You were forced to move out even before you were a legal adult."

"That is a generous offer but I will have to decline." I said, "I do not want to interact or even hear of that man ever."

Gwen's father finally realized that we had been standing for a while.

"Ah, you should take a seat." He pointed towards the sofa, "And you can keep those things to the side, if it is not something important."

Oh shit!

"Ah, these…" I felt embarrassed. "I apologize, I should have given these to you earlier."

Gwen was a bit surprised, "You brought more stuff?"

"You didn't have to," Her father said with a polite smile.

"I just couldn't come empty handed." It was quite rude after all. "To be honest, I was not sure what to bring so I just got a wine from my collection."

Collection was pushing it, but I did have others besides the three expensive ones.

"Wine?" The man was impressed, "For a boy as young as you to have a collection, I am both impressed and concerned."

This made me smile, "You don't have to worry, sir. I am not an alcoholic, it is mostly wines that I got from old friends and acquaintances of my parents."

The man nodded as he decided to remove the wrapping.

"This…" And immediately his eyes widened, "This is a 2004 Grand Cru Burgundy."

"Is that good wine?" Gwen asked, certainly not someone who was into wines.

"This is an expensive wine." Her father replied, "I won't ask about what those acquaintances do, but they are not people of a modest living."

Not sure if he meant modest as in middle class or people who dealt in shady business, but well he wasn't wrong.

The one who gifted me this was anything but average.

"I think you have enquired about him enough, honey." Gwen's mom finally decided to walk inside, "And thank you for coming, Michael. Gwen mentioned that you are helping her with a science fair project."

"It's more fair to say that she is helping me with it." I mean that was true, "Oh, and I got some pastries for everyone."

"How many things did you bring?" Gwen asked in awe.

"This is the last," I said as this was probably the most common gift. "I was not sure what sweets everyone liked, so I just got some macarons and a chocolate cake."

"Ah, Simon and Howard love macarons." Gwen's mother explained, "Unfortunately, Philip and Howard are both staying at their friend's house for tonight as they also have a group project. So, it is just Simon and Gwen with us tonight."

It must be quite hectic to look after 4 kids. And I know that Gwen was an adult, but for every parent their children were always kids no matter how old they got.

"And the dinner is ready." She said, "If you are hungry enough, we can start serving the dishes." She looked at Gwen, "Help me with it a little, honey."

At that moment, I did not expect just how much she had prepared.

My idea of a dinner was just a few dishes, maybe a pie as a dessert.

But I was wrong.

"This… this is a lot."

"Don't be shy, there are just four dishes which can be considered entrées, rest are just appetizers."

As Gwen's mom said that, I could barely hide my amusement.

"I wasn't sure how you might like your steak, so I decided to go for something simple and chose Scandinavian Steak with Potatoes in the end."

That was her version of simple apparently.

"Then we have macaroni with brie crab," She pointed at a bright and fragrant dish, "I made sure to add the most fresh herbs I could find."

Then she pointed towards the other two dishes, "Then there is also the red mullet with jeweled rice and finally John Dory cooked with brazil nuts."

"Oh, we also have mountain rose apple pie as a dessert." She showed the brightest smile, "I hope you like them."

"I… these look lovely."

I was at a loss for words, especially when she didn't even bother mentioning all the salads and fruits that were on the table.

"Please enjoy."

This was possibly the best dinner I had in a long time. And the best thing? It was all homemade.

"Michael," Gwen's father drew my attention, "Do you do any part time work?"

"Honey, let the boy eat in peace." His wife didn't like it, but the man's curiosity was greater.

"I work as a model designer for houses." I lied. I left that work around two months ago, "I make 3D models for the designs presented by architects."

"You said you were in Architecture, am I correct?"

I nodded at his question. "It was the only degree that I had any interest in."

This made him nod, "To be already working towards it with your part time job, that is respectable."

Seems like he liked it. And well, I might go back to it some time. But I was in no rush.

"I had an interest in architecture when I was younger."

His statement made me curious.

"So, what is your line of work, sir?" I asked, enjoying the red mullet quite a lot.

"I am responsible for making sure the gangs and thugs don't overtake the city with their violence and drugs."

The fish that I was enjoying nearly stuck to my throat hearing this.

"To put it simply, I am in the police force." He smiled, "Captain George Stacy of NYPD."

"Michael?!"

And this finally made me choke.

I felt my stomach churn.

What were the chances? What were the chances that the first person I visit has a cop for a father?

"Here!" Gwen rushed to pour me a glass of water, "Drink this!"

What she failed to understand was that it wasn't the stuck food that made me pale, but her father.

"Take smaller bites," George, her father suggested. "It helps to prevent bones from entering your esophagus."

Chugging down the glass of water, I tried nodding. "Sorry, I should have been more careful."

"Try some rice," Gwen's mother suggested, "Rice helps to get rid of any bones that might be stuck to your throat."

It wasn't the bones that got stuck, but I respected the suggestion.

I was just… amazed.

"So, what are your plans for the future?"

He truly was hammering me with the difficult yet important questions.

"I am hoping to be a proper architect, maybe extend my scope to not just houses but other visually appealing constructs." I explained, not really meaning it.

I did want to move beyond houses –which I already had in the past, but this was mostly why I started studying.

Houses.

'Simple' houses.

So, it was a little difficult to move away from it.

But well, we never know. I might end up in a totally different sector.

After all, the future is always unpredictable.

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[[A/N: Read 100+ Advanced Chapters (summation of all stories) ahead of WN on Patreon.

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