Remission [H.S. MATURE AU]

21.

4 YEARS LATER

SCARLETT

It's crazy how much you start missing things once they're far away from you. I didn't think I would miss Quantico or Washington, when I first left, but things change. I hadn't used my American passport in over 4 years. For the last 4 years, I had lived in Paris and I hadn't traveled around that much. I have found my balance, or at least I think so. There had been some bad months and then things started getting better. I hadn't missed America at all, maybe the people in it, but as the taxi moves between the streets of New York, I realize that I've actually missed it more than what I was expecting.

Celine and my father are getting married. Right here in New York and I really couldn't miss it. I didn't know how to feel, at first, at the idea of seeing everyone again. Or better; I felt particularly nervous. The knot of nerves in my stomach had been quite present since I had bought my flight ticket and I can still feel it now in the pit of my stomach.

Once I get to my destination, I pay the taxi and I get off. I'm supposed to meet my parents at the Ritz Carlton, where the guests invited will be staying. I immediately get the key to my room and I get, with the porter, to leave my luggage inside my room before meeting with my parents.

See you at the bar x

Celine sends me a text, as soon as I give the porter a tip. I refresh inside the bathroom and I take off my jacket, deciding that I won't need it to go downstairs.

As soon as I see my father, I immediately jump into his arms, holding him tight against me. I've just seen him some weeks ago last time but it's still a lot to me. He's definitely one I've missed the most while being in Paris. He came to visit often, but it's just not the same as seeing him every day.

"Hello, honey!" He whispers in my ear and then smiles at me, grabbing my hands when we break down the hold. "You look absolutely wonderful!" He compliments, observing me in my Chanel skin-tight black dress.

"Thank you, dad!" I greet my mother with a hug too right after. I've seen her last just a couple of days ago, in her case. "Can we sit down to eat something?" I ask them both. "I'm starving!" The food on the flight is never really of my taste and I had been dreaming of just sitting down to put something eatable between my teeth.

"Sure! We've booked a table at the hotel restaurant." My father tells me, starting to make its way, followed by us, to the restaurant. Luckily, the waitress is fast enough to make us sit and take our order.

"So, is the whole moving finished?" I ask my mother, as I sip on my chalice of wine. For the last four years she's been living in Paris with me but now she's rightfully decided to move in Quantico with my father.

"Thankfully, yes." She sighs, at the memory of the stress of the last months. Between moving and the wedding, the last months have been a living hell for her. She's been busy all the time, without even considering all the work stuff she's been managing. "I thought these incapables would have never finished in time." With incapables, she means the move workers, who she's got into multiple arguments with. I've been playing as the mediator and it hasn't been easy or funny at all, but someone had to make sure they wouldn't kill each other.

"Speaking of incapables... is the idiot coming?" My mother says, changing completely subject. I sigh, shaking my head at her. With idiot, she means my boyfriend. My father just giggles at her, without adding anything at all. I know that both of them don't really like him.

"Mom... his name is Luc." I roll my eyes at her and she does the same as me, taking a sip of her wine. "And yes, he's coming tomorrow. He had to work this morning." I and Luc have been together for 3 years now and despite my mother considering him an idiot, I really enjoy him. He's a lovely guy and he loves me. We have a stable relationship and I'm just fine with it.