Killian

The party

Killian

I gave Sidney a confused look when the flight attendant showed us to our seats.

"The fuck is this?" I said in her ear. "These seats are ten feet wide. Don't I get to be wedged up against you?"

"Wedge all you want," she said as we both sat down. "I booked us first class so we could have a row to ourselves. It's a long flight to the west coast and I thought this would be more comfortable for both of us."

"Nice. Mile-high club, maybe?"

"I'm not sure we'll have that much privacy."

"It'd be a great story to tell your parents at the party tonight, though."

Her laughter held a note of nervousness, and that made two of us. I was anxious as hell about meeting her parents and had been since she first invited me to come with her. I knew she came from money and privilege and I was pretty certain her parents would see right through my department store suit and know I wasn't good enough for their daughter.

Not to mention the fact that I'd never escorted any woman to a family event. I wanted to be that guy for Sid, but I wasn't sure I'd be any good at it. Small talk had never been one of my social skills. I could only rely on the manners my mom had drilled into me as a kid. I planned to be as polite and charming as I could. I wanted both Sid and my mom to be proud of me.

Besides, Sidney wanted me there—she'd told me that several times—and I had to believe her. I wanted to believe her. I kept reminding myself of that. She wanted the whole world to know about us, and I did, too. Meeting her parents and her family was a big step and I just wanted it to go well. It was at times like this that I wished I had someone for her to meet.

"So do your parents live in California full-time?" I asked.

"It's where they have their summer place and they usually spend three or four months there every year. They seem to have more California friends than New York friends these days. My mom spends a lot of time in California."

"So, is the party at their place?"

"No, it's going to be at a hotel. We're booked into a place quite close by so it will be convenient for us."

"So, what are they like? Help me out here. I don't know anything about them and I want a few pointers on what to talk to them about."

She took my hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry. My mom is very proper. She'll call you dear and brush invisible crumbs off your jacket for you. But she's pretty much always upbeat. And she's a pro at redirecting conversations."

"Redirecting?"

"Yes. Like if things start to get tense—say if someone says, 'Hey, I heard Bob's been cheating on Carol', Mom would say, 'Carol? I was on a fundraising committee with her. Did you know she knits scarves for charity?"

Sid's depiction of her mom made me smile. "She sounds like a sweet lady."

"She is. But she doesn't like to talk about anything uncomfortable, which is why I'm still a virgin in her mind. I probably always will be."

"What about your dad?"

Sidney raised a hand to get the attention of a passing flight attendant. "Can we order drinks yet?"

The flight attendant told her she'd be with us as soon as we were airborne.

"Does talking about your dad make you want to drink?" I asked, amused.