Collateral Damage [SLOW UPDATES]

Collateral Damage - Friends?

ANNE'S POV

The driving went on for --I don’t know how long, but we soon pulled up to what I guessed was an Italian restaurant. Is this some form of bribery? My parents know I love Italian. Hopping out of the car I glanced at its name which read: ‘La Bella’. Entering the restaurant, I noticed it was styled elegantly and luxuriously with sleek granite walls and black and white marbled tiles. Looking around, I noticed everyone looked either wealthy or of high-class. So much for Italian.

My mom noticed the worried expression on my faced and squeezed my hand, giving me a small bit of encouragement.  She looked down at me and smiled before taking our orders -- of course-- she knew my favorite Italian dish was gnocchi. The cashier presented us with warm smiles before ushering us towards our table. Wow, everything was so magnificent—I was even intimidated to sit down!

The awkward tension resumed, but my dad soon broke the silence.

“So what do you guys think of this place?” he asked.

“It’s so uptight and you know—up there,” I said while motioning my hands so he would get the notion. He chuckled at this.

“You shouldn’t worry about that I thought we could use a little celebration for moving and this was the first thing that came to mind.”

“Sweetheart, you didn’t need to do this”, my mom chimed in.

“Well my paycheck is saying another thing”, he said grinning boyishly.

Both my mom and I looked at each other before bursting out laughing. This earned us some stares from other tables, which made the moment even funnier.  My dad could be so humorous--I liked this side of him. Not the strict-give-me-your-money-businessman side.

“Well does your paycheck insist that I can go shopping next week?” I asked still giggling. “Yeah, and does it promise me that new Marc Jacobs bag?” my mom added, grinning widely.

My dad looked down embarrassed. “No-“, but was interrupted as our food was being served.

The waitress stared at my dad for a little too long giving him a sickly, sweet smile. Ew! My dad was close to forty, she looked as if she was in her 20’s. Disgusting! My mom looked the most effected as she and the waitress were having a mental stare down. Mom? Jealous? No way!

After the waitress was gone, my dad started chuckling and stared at my mom, before she turned to look at him.

“What?” she asked annoyed.

“Nothing, it’s just—you’re a little funny when you’re jealous.”

My mom replied with silence before stabbing at her steak. I could tell she was a little angry, but it was pretty funny to watch.

“No more strip teases for you,” I muttered.