DIVE [1; CHRIS EVANS]

XXXVII.

37. REAL LIFE

With soft smiles and a tone full of more warmth than Matthew Clayton had ever heard from his daughter before, Minnie explained to her father everything that she saw in Chris.

Matt would have been the first to admit that he didn't entirely understand the appeal of fame, but he'd supported his eldest child in her pursuit of acting nonetheless. And given how far she'd come, he couldn't have been more proud of her if he'd tried. It was brilliant for him to hear how excited she was for him to be able to see the films that she'd been working so hard on since her career had truly taken off over the past 12 months or so, but that wasn't what he'd enjoyed hearing her talk about the most.

To him, Minnie seemed unbelievably happy. She'd always been a happy child, in general, and growing up that had continued. But ever since she'd started to talk about Chris with such a soft look in her eyes, he'd realised how much further that had escalated recently. And that was better than any talk of her new-found celebrity status; there was something so extraordinarily pure and simple that came with how fondly she spoke of her relationship.

It was obvious to him that she'd fallen fast and hard for Chris, and that was confirmed when she admitted that she'd almost said as much to him the day beforehand. Matthew knew that this was something real, and good. He was beyond pleased for his daughter; the way that she'd spoken about him, with so much adoration filling everything she uttered, reminded Matthew so much of the way that he'd felt about his late wife.

"I think we're gonna take a step back though," Minnie mumbled, running a hand through her hair to pull it back away from his face.

"You do?" He questioned, sensing that she wasn't entirely pleased with whatever plan they were about to put into action.

"There are rumours that we've broken up. Our publicists think we should use them to our advantage." Her phone went off, sidetracking her thoughts for a moment. She checked the notification and then chose to put it on silent, tossing it beneath a cushion.

"There's an advantage to be taken from that?" He questioned; he didn't think he'd ever understand the intricacies of the industry that Minnie worked within.

"Apparently," The brunette shrugged, scrunching up her nose slightly as she thought. "We're gonna reclaim some privacy. Stop posting so much online. It'll make things easier on us so early on."

"You don't sound too convinced." Matthew pushed slightly, sensing that there was more that his daughter wanted to say.

"I like being open about me and him," Her fingers tapped out an irregular rhythm on her thigh, "But to me, it's all new and exciting. Chris has done this before, lived out a relationship in the spotlight, and he didn't like it all that much."

"You both get a say, Jazz."

"I know," She smiled at him, her whole expression softening as she did so. "We reached a compromise, don't worry. We're only stepping back for a little while, to give ourselves a chance to settle into this."

"But?"

"But once the press starts for Civil War we're gonna hit the ground running, dad." There it was. The spark in her eye that he'd been waiting for.

Honestly, Matt didn't think he had any true concerns about Chris Evans; his daughter was successful, happy, a little in love, and had a promising future ahead of her. Was there anything more to ask for than that?