chapter 37: marius's parents

~marius~

       Even though Fawn and I agreed to wait until we go to couple's therapy a few times to move in with each other, I still spend most of my time at Fawn's house. Maybe because I find it more comfortable to have someone near me instead of being home alone.

       We've even been talking about where we will move when we move in together. So far, we're leaning towards moving into a new house. I didn't really get attached to mine since I moved into it during the summer. As much as Fawn likes his house, he thinks a new one will be better for a fresh start, especially since Quentin knows he lives here. Maybe Quentin won't find out about our new house.

       On the bright side, we are friends with a realtor and we already told him about our plans, so Brent said he'll keep an eye out for any openings that he thinks we'll be interested in.

       As I work on one of my final school assignments for this semester, Fawn sits on the couch and plays the guitar softly. Part of me just wants to focus on him playing the music, but I also know that I need to focus on this assignment. I want to at least get most of it done today before taking a break and continuing another day.

       At least the music is a nice background noise so it's not completely quiet here. It's soft enough to not completely distract me as well, even though I would more than willing to be distracted by Fawn's music.

       I'm able to finish most of my assignment, so I do have the time to lounge around for the rest of the day. I close my laptop and get up from the kitchen table, where I normally work, before walking over to the living room and sitting beside Fawn. He immediately stops playing, so I say, "No, keep playing. I want to hear you."

       Fawn, however, just smiles and rests his guitar on the other side of the couch. "Maybe later. I'm a bit hungry and want to get something to eat. Want to come?"

       "Sure," I say.

       It's no surprise that Fawn wants to go to his aunt and uncle's cafe for dinner. There are quite a few unique places in town to choose from, only one fast food chain, so it's not like there isn't much of a choice. There's just something so comforting and welcoming about the cafe.

       I mean, it really helps that the food and drinks are delicious, and it's not really something you can get tired of.

       "The song you were playing," I say as we walk to the cafe. "Is it the one you're going to perform at the music festival?"

       Fawn shakes his head. "Nope, I'm not going to be playing an instruments. I'll be performing with a backing track."

       "So... Not by sitting on a stool like you always do at the cafe? Kind of like a performance at a concert?"

       "I guess."

       "That's going to be so hot."

        "Um... Thank you?"

       "No, but for real. I'll be watching you perform a song on stage and my only thought will be 'damn, that's my boyfriend'."

       Fawn no longer seems confused by my compliment and instead smiles at me. And God, I love seeing him smile. It's one of the most bright and contagious smiles I had ever seen. It makes me smile every single time I see Fawn smile.

       We get to the cafe and as soon as we walk inside, I notice a well-dressed couple at the front counter, talking to Cecelia and Winston. Even though I can only see the couple from the back of their heads, I recognize them almost immediately. It's hard to miss them when I almost always say them dresses to the tens, every single part of them neat and tidy.

       It's almost as if they sensed my presence because both my parents turn around and notice me by the door. They abandon whatever conversation they're having with Cecelia and Winston as they walk over to me. "There you are, Marius," Mom says. "We've been looking all over town for you. Robbie told us you live here now."

       "Cool," is all I have to say with them. Even though it has been months since I quit their company and moved out, I'm still not in the mood to talk to them. I'm still fed up at their clear favouritism towards Robbie.

       Mom sighs, but Dad seems more annoyed at me. "Marius, we're your parents," he says. "You can't ignore us forever."

       I feel like as I should just have one conversation with them so they hopefully know I have no interest on coming back to their company or whatever they want from me. I tell my parents we'll talk outside since I don't want to disturb the customers. Fawn heads to the front counter to get our food ordered as I walk outside with my parents.

       I'm not even to get a word out because the moment we're outside, Dad says, "I think you proved your point enough, Marius. You can come home now."

       I furrow my eyebrows. "This is my home now. I'm not going back to the city. Do you even know why I left to begin with?"

       "Yes," Dad says, though I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out he doesn't know the true reason. And sure enough, I'm right. "You were upset that you weren't being given many opportunities at work."

       I stare mindlessly at my dad. Did the last argument I have with him not clue into him or something. "I left for many reasons, but the final straw was Robbie causing my car to break down just so he can take over my presentation, and then having you blame me for it for what? Not checking my car before I leave? He messed inside the hood of my car. No one looks under the hood of their car before they drive somewhere."

       "Marius, in the world of business, you're always going to need a plan B if you have an important meeting or presentation," Dad says.

       "See? You're still blaming me," I say. "Did you even tell Robbie that he shouldn't mess with my car?"

       "Look, Robbie's young," Dad says. "He started at the company after you and saw how much work you did. He wanted to do more work too."

       "Okay, one, Robbie is twenty-two," I say. "He should know now to mess with my car at that age. And two, if he wanted more work, he should have asked for me work, not mess with my opportunities. And you definitely shouldn't be rewarding him for it. If he did that at any other company, there would have been consequences. But no, he gets a pass because he's your favourite."

       "Marius, that isn't true," Mom says. "We love the both of you equally."

       "Oh, sure," I say. "So why does Robbie get away with things you would have scolded me for?" Before either of my parents could try to deny or even justify it, I continue. "Forget it. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm not going back to the city. I'm happy with my life here now."

       "You couldn't possibly be happy here," Dad says. "It's a boring town."

       "Well, I am happy here," I say. "And nothing you say is going to change my mind so just please... Give it a rest."

       I head back to the cafe but before I can even walk in, Mom says, "We miss you, Marius."

       I hesitate. Do I miss my parents too? Sure. I think mixing my family life with work life is what caused a strain between us. They're not bad parents, but they have a lot to work on if they want to mend the relationship between us because right now, it still seems like all they care about it Robbie.

       At least, Robbie is all my dad cares about considering he's still trying to excuse Robbie's actions.

       "There's going to be a music festival here soon," I say, my back still facing them. "I'm sure you can find a flyer about it. If you attend it, maybe you can see why I'm happy here and why I really like this town." 

       "A music festival?" Dad asks. "I don't want to waste my time with one."

       "Of course you don't," I say before I walk back into the cafe. Part of me is worried they'll follow me to try to continue the conversation, but they don't.

       Fawn is still at the front counter, sitting on one of the stools, so I sit beside him. He looks at me and asks, "How'd it go?"

       I sigh. "Not good, but not bad. I'm still not in the mood to talk to them, and my dad is still trying to justify Robbie's actions. My mom... Well, my parents always had a 'traditional' marriage, I guess you can call it. He's the man of the house and she must do whatever he says. She doesn't argue with him so if she thinks otherwise, she won't say it. Needless to say, my dad isn't happy I'm continuing to live here because he thinks it's a boring town."

       "I don't know why he would want to buy the cafe, then," Winston says. "If he thinks this town is so boring, surely it can't be a good place to run a business."

       "Hold on," Fawn says. "He what?"

       "He and his wife wanted to buy the cafe," Winston says. "He said this is a perfect location to run a business."

       "How come you didn't tell me?" Fawn asks.

       "Because he just offered it right before you got here," Winston says. "Besides, we turned them down. We still have enough money for now to keep the cafe running."

       "For now?" I ask. "That doesn't sound good."

       Winston shakes his head. "You're reading too much into my words."

       "No, Marius is right," Fawn says. "You wouldn't have said 'for now' if there wasn't a problem. Is there a problem?"

       Cecelia is the one who sighs and says, "The building is old so with the constant renovations we have, we haven't been making much of a profit lately. We still have enough money saved to keep it running but... We're not sure how long that will last."

       "Why didn't you tell me?" Fawn asks.

       "Because it isn't your problem," Cecelia says. "Fawn, we love you and we love all the help you constantly do for us, but you wouldn't have taken care of yourself properly until you find a solution. I promise, things are still going okay for us. If it does start to get really bad and we can't figure things out, we'll ask for your help, okay?"

       "Okay..." Fawn says uncertainly. "Just... promise me things are still okay now."

       "They are, and I promise they are," Cecelia says.

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i'm keeping this author's note short since i should have been getting ready for bed by now lol. idk why but i got distracted way too much while writing this chapter and i was even hoping to get to bed early :(