Mrs. Hayes looked between Elle and Adam curiously, watching as he pulled her chair out for her, and as he encouraged her to take more food."How peculier." She thought to herself.
It wasn"t the first time Adam had brought home a woman, in his school days he had often brought Amelia and his other friends over. It was, however, the first time he had brought home a woman, and no one else.
"So," Mrs. Hayes said, initiating the conversation. "How are you Elle."
"I"m doing well. I"ve just been busy with work."
"Ah, yes. Models work odd hours often, it must be tiring."
"Ah, actually..." Elle trailed off looking at Adam with a guilty expression.
"She"s not a model." Adam helped her answer.
"What?" Mrs. Hayes blinked in surprise.
"I should say she"s not a professional model. She"s only done it twice for MK, as a favour to me."
Even Mr. Hayes looked up with interest. "You used a woman who wasn"t a professional model for such an important event?" He asked.
"Yes. She did very well didn"t she."
"Hmm." He agreed softly.
"So what do you do then Elle?" Mrs. Hayes asked.
"I"m the marketing director at Tae."
Mrs. Hayes put down her fork in surprise. "Tae is a well established, high-end firm. I wonder how a director came to become a model."
"It"s a long story." Elle said sheepishly.
"While we"re at it I should mention that she"s also the writer of the novel MK will be producing." Adam added.
Elle kicked Adam under the table, throwing him a distressed look. Mrs. Hayes was at a loss, she didn"t know what to make of this, but to the shock of all of them Mr. Hayes began to laugh.
"What an interesting young woman you"ve brought over Adam." He chuckled.
Adam smiled, as if he were being praised. "She is, isn"t she?"
"Tell me Elle, do you have any other secret professions?" Mr. Hayes said with good humour.
"Not yet, sir." Elle said with a smile, finally relaxing into the easy mood of the room. "Do you have any reccomendations?"
Mrs. Hayes also felt herself relax. It was odd, without a doubt, but it also provided her with an explination.
"Well I suppose that explains the mystery." She said to the room. "I was wondering at the situation. It"s rare of Adam to bring someone over but if she"s the author it makes much more sense."
"Ah, actually I brought her over for a different reason. Elle and I are dating. I came to introduce her to you both properly."
Elle almost chocked on her drink.
"Your what?!" Mrs. Hayes asked incredulously.
"My girlfriend. We"ve been seeing each other for just under a year now."
Elle looked between Adam and his parents nervously. She expected Adam"s mother to be shocked, and even a little angry. But instead of grilling both Elle and her son, Mrs. Hayes turned to her husband and let out a heavy sigh.
"This is all your fault you know. He"s just like you in this way, doing important things in secret, then telling us about it as casually as if he was talking about someone elses life." She accused, before turning to Elle with concern. "Elle how is the food? I didn"t think and prepared all of Adam"s favourites. Is there anything you don"t like? Let me know your preferences and I"ll prepare something better for you next time."
"Ah, no. Everything tastes delicious. Really." Elle rea.s.sured her before glancing at Adam with a confused expression.
"I told you." He whispered to her. "They"re normal, nothing for you to worry about."
"I"m beginning to think," She whispered back, "you have a skewed impression of the word normal."
But in the end Adam was right. As he often was. His parents spent the rest of dinner asking her questions back and forth. Mr. Hayes asked mostly about her work, while Mrs. Hayes asked her more about her interests.
While they seemed more shocked and curious than happy, they were perfectly nice to Elle all throughout dinner.
"Why don"t you guys wait in the living room. Mr. Hayes and I will bring out dessert." Mrs. Hayes instructed once they had all finished eating.
"Do you need any help?" Elle offered.
"No that"s fine dear. Go ahead and have a seat."
So Elle followed Adam to the living room and sat down next to him on a couch. Her fingers pinched and pulled at each other, fidgeting nervously as she waited.
"Are you worried?" Adam asked, looking at the tense expression on her face.
"Do you think your parents like me?" She asked softly. She was eager to make a good impression so of course it bothered her.
"I think they do." Adam said firmly. He took one of her hands in his, forcing it to keep still. "Besides, and I"ll say this only once, whether they like you or not it doesn"t really matter. So long as you say you love me no one can stop me from being with you."
Elle smiled softly and leaned her head against his shoulder rea.s.suringly. That"s right. She was already his so she had nothing to fear. She would just try her best, like she did with everything else.
~~~
Adam"s parents stood in the kitchen, gathering dessert, and spying on Adam and Elle from the kitchen entrance.
"What do you think?" Mrs. Hayes whispered worriedly as she eyed the kids sitting on the couch together.
"What do I think about what?" Mr. Hayes asked.
"About Elle. About them as a couple."
"Nothing at all."
"Come now." Mrs. Hayes said with a roll of her eyes. "You have an opinion on everything that boy does. Are you really going to tell me that you have no opinion on the girl he"s picked? This is the first time he"s actually introduced us to someone. I think this might be the first time he"s actually dated someone."
"He"s a smart and capable boy. There"s not really a need to interfere in his love life at this age is there?"
"You only say that because Elle is supporting MK." Mrs. Hayes snorted.
Though Elle was perfectly nice, Mrs. Hayes couldn"t get rid of the image of Amelia asking her for help earlier that afternoon. She looked back to the living room, at the way Adam firmly held Elle"s hand in his as they sat together.
"But I suppose you"re right." She conceeded.
Dessert went by smoothly. Mrs. Hayes spoke the most, telling stories with the encouragement of Elle. Adam only spoke to answer her questions, and Mr. Hayes barely said a word throughout the whole affair.
"At least now I know where Adam gets it from." Elle thought to herself.
Another hour or so pa.s.sed this way before Elle and Adam finally stood up to leave for the night.
"Are you sure you can"t stay longer?" Mrs. Hayes asked.
"It"s getting late. I"ll make sure to come again soon." Adam said.
"It was nice to meet you." Elle said, giving them both a smile.
The couple left, and were only a few steps out of the front door when Mrs. Hayes suddenly came out after them.
"Elle," She called out, "Can I have a moment?"
Elle looked to Adam. "I"ll go pull the car around. You guys talk." He said, excusing himself.
Adam parted ways with them and Elle followed Adam"s mother onto the porch where they sat together.
"It was a shock that Adam brought you tonight. He never tells us much, but we never expected him to have been keeping such a big secret."
"We never meant to keep it a secret from you." Elle said apologetically. "It"s my fault really. I was the one who didn"t want to be public about it, please don"t blame Adam."
Mrs. Hayes looked at Elle carefully. It seemed this young girl cared enough about her son to put his relationship with his parents above their own good opinion of her.
"Do you like him?" Mrs. Hayes asked.
"I love him." Elle said confidently. "I love him with all my heart."
Mrs. Hayes had a soft spot in her heart for Amelia. She had known her for many years, and knew her to be a kind and talented young woman. But when Amelia had confessed her feelings for Adam she had hesitated. She had hesitated, and Elle had not.
"I was shocked by the news, and I was upset to have not been told for so long." Mrs. Hayes admitted. "But I"m also happy, and even thankful. Please come over for dinner again soon. Let"s get to know each other better in the future."