Tea Parties in Boston

35 - The Willingness

November 4th, 2022

"Hey, what's for dinner?" Rory said as she waltzed into the dining room, finding her father, Em and Gigi already gathering behind the table. She'd just gotten home from checking out one of the more centrally-located schools for Em with Logan. They'd parted in front of the house friendlily with a brief hug, every time leaving this slightly awkward tension lingering between them - like there was supposed to be something more. But still, somewhat reluctantly, she'd pulled herself away and made her way inside, allowing Logan to carry on with his evening.

Logan had said he was catching up with some old buddy at some pub later, so she wasn't feeling very guilty for not inviting him in for dinner this time. Even his social life seemed to be coming together - Rory was glad to hear him speak of his friends, even if they probably were more like acquaintances, his new hobbies, his new work ideas and so forth. He was really settling in in Boston and Rory felt relieved that he was.

"Something called Slow-Roasted Sablefish with Caponata - according to the label," Christopher replied, reading it off the post-it Camilla had put on the food. None of them were the kind of cooks to have the energy for cooking something elaborate for friday night dinner, so when their housekeeper had been around, she generally put their food in the oven or slow cooker with a timer so it'd be ready just in time. She was also the kind that loved to surprise them with sometimes rather elaborate meals. Other times, they just settled for take-away or something less complicated, but if they were home - Friday night dinner was definitely one eaten at the dinner table not on the go or in front of the TV.

"And there's some baked pasta for Em," Gigi, who was just getting the plates, mouthed to Rory, all of them knowing Em was not a huge fan of fish, but they all wanted her to at least try the dish before succumbing to the easy options.

"Smells good," Rory said, washing her hands in the kitchen sink. "How was your day, sweetie?" she asked her daughter who was just climbing into the chair.

"Fine," Em replied. It wasn't terribly unusual she didn't feel like going to the lengths of her day, usually being pretty tired of her day.

"Gigi? How's Yale?" Rory asked, having pulled up the sleeves of her sweater dress, joining them to sit behind the table.

Christopher poured the adults around the table some white wine without asking, and filled Em's glass with some fancy berry water Camilla had made.

"Oh still in its place. Halloween was pretty cool. This one group dressed up as app icons and there was this contest on political costumes but honestly that really came down to the mannerisms and speech rather than the actual costumes," Gigi explained. Rory had seen from the selfie how Gigi had embraced the costume of Violet from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, her hair already being rather fitting and she having a blue sweatsuit that matched already. She'd painted her nose blue and went around blowing gum bubbles.

"And the classes?" Christopher inquired, clearly wondering if the girl did anything beyond the social activities.

"Midterms are done, things are calm... I think I'm getting the hang of things. I have an idea what is expected and the advisor said that things looked good. I might not be aiming for the top of my class but who knows, you know?" Gigi explained.

"Uh-huh," Christopher replied, having his signature sneaky, teasing, smile on his lips, and took a sip of his wine.

"So - where were you this late?" Gigi inquired, having not seen her half-sister for a few weeks. Rory and her often messaged each-other during the week, but mostly it was just observations, talk about dad, fun memes or tweets, wardrobe advice - nothing too deep.

"There was this open house for the school on Marlborough... I, we...," Rory began, picking her words a little, but conveniently put the first bite of food into her mouth just then, delaying her reply.