"Let's not meet up with my parents this weekend," I tried to say with a flippant, casual, breezy tone. If the overuse of adjectives didn't already tell you, it didn't go very well.
"What? Why not? We don't have plans and it's a short drive," replied my poor confused boyfriend.
"Yeah, but what if we just...didn't?"
"What aren't you telling me, Nicole? Do they know we're dating?"
I had to blink for a few moments before responding, which probably didn't help in convincing David of my sincerity, although it was genuine, "Of course they do, it has nothing to do with that."
"You not wanting me to meet your parents has nothing to do with me?" he repeated slowly so I could hear exactly how it'd sounded.
I ran my fingers through my hair, something I'd done so often lately that I'd cut up my scalp and the soothing effect had run off, "It's that I don't want you to meet them--"
"Oh, great, much better."
"Let me finish," I said, frustrated. "It's that I don't want you to meet them, not them to meet you."
"Oh," he said, his anger taken out of his sails.
"Yeah. It's just...I haven't told you everything and I don't know how it's going to go."
"What haven't you told me?" he asked as he gently took my legs from their scrunched and awkward position on the couch to carefully over his lap.
"Things aren't...great with them," I began, unsure of where to go.
"Okay, I expect your parents to be human, but I'd still like to meet them."
"Right now, they're talking about getting divorced which would honestly be a good thing, but it doesn't mean it's exactly pleasant to be around."
"I get that and we don't have to go this weekend, but I'd still like to go some weekend."
"Or we could just...not and we could stay in this fun bubble of our relationship being great and normal." I tried, looking at my fingernails and noticing how dirty they'd gotten.
"You talk to your parents every day."
"Yeah."
"So they're a big part of your life."
"Well yeah, but they kinda have to be part of mine."
"And I want to be a part of yours too, so is it so weird that I want to meet them."
"I never said it was weird that you wanted to meet them," I huffed, "I just said that things are bad right now."
"You said not great."
"Okay it's the same thing, you knew what I meant."
"No, I don't because I haven't met them. I don't have a gauge for how bad things are and this is the first you've even mentioned of there being a problem."
"You didn't wonder why I talked to them every day?" I asked looking him in the eye.
"I thought it was because you all were close," he mumbled, breaking the gaze.
"No, it's because they have so much going on and they expect that I'll fix it all. Pretty sure that's why they had me in the first place," I finished with a mutter.
David just sat there, with my legs across his lap and looked at me. He did this sometimes where he would just stare at me, appraising me, but not in a creepy 'male gaze' kind of way. He was looking at me as if he really wanted to see me.
(Prompt by Lisa McInerney)
Photo by Максим Барбухин
"What? Why not? We don't have plans and it's a short drive," replied my poor confused boyfriend.
"Yeah, but what if we just...didn't?"
"What aren't you telling me, Nicole? Do they know we're dating?"
I had to blink for a few moments before responding, which probably didn't help in convincing David of my sincerity, although it was genuine, "Of course they do, it has nothing to do with that."
"You not wanting me to meet your parents has nothing to do with me?" he repeated slowly so I could hear exactly how it'd sounded.
I ran my fingers through my hair, something I'd done so often lately that I'd cut up my scalp and the soothing effect had run off, "It's that I don't want you to meet them--"
"Oh, great, much better."
"Let me finish," I said, frustrated. "It's that I don't want you to meet them, not them to meet you."
"Oh," he said, his anger taken out of his sails.
"Yeah. It's just...I haven't told you everything and I don't know how it's going to go."
"What haven't you told me?" he asked as he gently took my legs from their scrunched and awkward position on the couch to carefully over his lap.
"Things aren't...great with them," I began, unsure of where to go.
"Okay, I expect your parents to be human, but I'd still like to meet them."
"Right now, they're talking about getting divorced which would honestly be a good thing, but it doesn't mean it's exactly pleasant to be around."
"I get that and we don't have to go this weekend, but I'd still like to go some weekend."
"Or we could just...not and we could stay in this fun bubble of our relationship being great and normal." I tried, looking at my fingernails and noticing how dirty they'd gotten.
"You talk to your parents every day."
"Yeah."
"So they're a big part of your life."
"Well yeah, but they kinda have to be part of mine."
"And I want to be a part of yours too, so is it so weird that I want to meet them."
"I never said it was weird that you wanted to meet them," I huffed, "I just said that things are bad right now."
"You said not great."
"Okay it's the same thing, you knew what I meant."
"No, I don't because I haven't met them. I don't have a gauge for how bad things are and this is the first you've even mentioned of there being a problem."
"You didn't wonder why I talked to them every day?" I asked looking him in the eye.
"I thought it was because you all were close," he mumbled, breaking the gaze.
"No, it's because they have so much going on and they expect that I'll fix it all. Pretty sure that's why they had me in the first place," I finished with a mutter.
David just sat there, with my legs across his lap and looked at me. He did this sometimes where he would just stare at me, appraising me, but not in a creepy 'male gaze' kind of way. He was looking at me as if he really wanted to see me.
(Prompt by Lisa McInerney)
Comments
Post a Comment