Chris shifted in his seat and took a small sip of water. Holly and her parents were arriving any second now. Holly had text him less than a minute ago saying they were just parking the car. Chris rubbed his palms together nervously, he had never been this anxious when he met Sophie's parents, maybe because she was an actress too, they understood the complexities of life which were a part of his life, but with Albert and Brenda it was different, she had already warned him that her parents disapproved so he was on a mission to charm them.
He glanced Holly walk in, with her parents following. Her mother was short but slim, with blonde hair that reached her ears. He could already tell from the distance that her smile was exactly like Holly's. Her dad was tall, with full brown hair and brown eyes, like Holly. Chris quickly stood up as soon as he saw them approach. Holly hugged him awkwardly and introduced her parents, "Chris, this is my mom Brenda and my dad Albert". Chris flashed a smile, leaned down and hugged Brenda. "It's so nice to finally meet you Mrs Bennett", Chris said. "Oh please, call me Brenda, and you are certainly more handsome in person darling. The websites don't do you justice". "Mom!!", Holly said out loud, embarrassed by her mothers stalking. Chris softly laughed and said, "Thank you very much, and may I say, you look really lovely tonight", trying not to sound like he was trying too hard. "Mr. Bennett, I've heard so much about you", he said, firmly shaking his hand. Albert smiled back but said nothing. Chris waited for the ladies to get seated and then sat down himself, next to Holly and opposite Albert.
"So Holly tells me you're an architect", he said, trying to start a conversation with Albert. "Yes, I have my own firm in Chicago.", Albert said proudly. "Wow, two entrepreneurs in the family, you must be proud. Holly mentioned that you were a big influence on her choosing her career", he said, trying to pay him a subtle compliment. "Yes Hol has done really well for herself and we're both really proud. She deserves the best, she's worked very hard for it", Albert said. Holly and her other were having a conversation in French while the men spoke. The waiter came over to take their drink orders. They ordered a bottle of wine which Chris let Albert select. "So Chris, we heard that you are currently filming a new movie, how is it going?", Albert asked. "Oh, it's going well, I love it, it's not easy but I can't imagine doing anything else", Chris said, his eyes lighting up. "So, how many years is the shelf life of an actor, on average?", Albert said. Ouch, great, guess he wasn't going to wait to finish one glass of wine before he asked. Holly shot him a glare and placed her hand on Chris' knee under the table, expressing her support. "Um, I don't think there is an age limit sir, I work with Anthony Hopkins and he's still one of the best actors I've seen yet. I hope I have a fraction of his talent, and I certainly plan on working hard, so hopefully I'm not done yet", he replied honestly. "He is! You are! Extremely talented, Chris is a fantastic actor. He's done some really exceptional work so far and he's just getting started", Holly said, supporting him. "Thanks hun", Chris said softly, blushing in front of her parents. "Oh absolutely, I really loved Rush", Brenda added. "Thank you", Chris replied and sipped his wine. "Sorry to be indelicate but how much does a film like that pay? I mean I read that movie budgets are growing exponentially and I believe your movie made over a billion dollars right? I mean, is that true are is that just what the media prints", Albert asked curtly. "Dad!" Holly exclaimed. "You don't have to answer that, I'm sorry for that", Holly said. "No, it's ok, it's a fair question. The answer is, yes, movie budgets are quite large yet, given that there is a lot of advancements in equipments. Filming movies in 3D, processing them, editing, it requires teams of people, expensive technology, and also, with the world becoming a smaller place, global marketing is a huge cost. As for the Avengers, yes we did cross 1.5billion worldwide, it was a huge deal for us, so with that kind of budgets and grossing, actors do get paid quite well, for my last film I was paid 15million dollars.", Chris answered his questions in detail. Albert nodded, looking impressed. "Really?", Holly asked surprised. Chris nodded as he sipped his wine. "Wow, I never realized that. Let me know when you need to redecorate your place again", Holly said, making everyone at the table laugh.
"So Brenda, Holly tells me your French. Although, isn't Brenda an American name?", Chris asked inquisitively. Brenda answered, "My mother named me in memory of an American friend she lost in World War 2". "That's really sweet, she must've been very close to your mother. So when did you move to the States?", he asked. "I moved here after my studies, it's been, what, 35 years I think", she said, surprised herself. "Oh wow, yeah, so you met Mr. Bennett here in the states then?", he asked. "No actually, in Paris, I was there to see my parents and he was there just visiting with some friends. We met at a cafe, I was helping him order his complicated coffee order since the barista didn't understand English. He bought me one too, to say thanks and here we are.", she said, smiling and placing her hand on Albert's over the table, just as Holly grabbed Chris' under the table. That's really cute", Chris said, gripping her hand tighter.
Some more chit chat and food later, Albert asked, "So, it must be hard for you, with all the media and everything, I hope it doesn't affect Holly too much". Chris looked her and smiled, turned back and said, "Well, it comes with the profession I have chosen but I would never let it affect her. I would never let anything hurt her sir, she means a lot to me". Holly immediately blushed and without sailing anything, she leaned her head on his shoulder. A few minutes later, she excused herself to use the ladies room. Chris sat in the awkward silence a few seconds and then Albert said, "You know, she has plans for her life and her business. She's a driven and hardworking girl, not the kind who would jet set around following you. She wants to get married one day, have children, and if that's not something you've planned for your life, you need to be clear about it with her". "Sir I respect her and her career and would never ask her or want her to give up something she loves. I don't expect her to join me in my travel, unless she wants to. Her priorities are my priorities. I have an older brother, who's married with three girls, they love in Australia. I understand the importance of a family, I am very close to mine and I want nothing more than to be married and have kids, hopefully with Holly, if it's something she wants in the future too, but if I'm being honest, I don't see that happening for at least a year or two, I would like to focus on my career right now", Chris said, feeling uncomfortable at the turn the conversation has taken. Holly returned from the restroom, finding her mother's shocked expression worrying. "What were you guys talking about?", she asked, quickly moving her eyes to each person, trying to get a hint from their expressions. "Nothing, I was saying that I have an older brother and three nieces", Chris said smoothly and grabbed her hand as she sat down.
After Chris paid, they all got up to leave, Albert and Brenda walked ahead as Holly and Chris followed, holding hands. He could tell she was uncomfortable with the PDA in front of her parents, and he respected that, half because he was slightly scared of her dad now. He walked them to their car and hugged Brenda goodbye and shook Albert's hand again. He went up to Holly and asked, "are you sure you want to drive?", knowing she'd had wine at dinner. "Yeah I'm ok, I had one glass like an hour and a half back and then a whole lot of food, don't worry", she replied, kissing him on the cheek, as her parents waited in the car. "Ok, drive safe and text me when you get home.", he said as he walked to his car, saying one last goodbye to her parents.
"Parents went to bed. I'm really sorry about my dad, he was quite rude x", Holly text. Chris replied, "Don't worry about it, he wasn't so bad. He's a good dad. Hey that rhymes!!! Missing you in my bed x". "Haha you are so cute. You were really great at dinner, my moms in love with you, possible as much as I am and my dad said, you were a man with your head on your shoulders. That's a huge deal!!! I miss u too. 3 more days, then I'm coming over ;)", Holly replied. "Haha! Your mom's really sweet. No he didn't! Your just saying that. 3 days feel like foreverr ;) come now, I'll drop you back home before they wake up", he said. "Haha are you crazy? What are we? Teenagers sneaking around? It's 3 days, not too bad, go hang out with your friends. And yes he did say that, very softly to my mom...but I heard it. :) gng to bed. Talk tomorrow. Goodnight, I love you x", Holly replied. "Goodnight babe. Love you too x and I'm gonna sneak you out tomorrow, it just sounds like a lot of fun ;)", he replied before he plugged his phone in and started reading his script.
Sorry it's a little shorter but I'm on a holiday. Back in 4 days and going to bring more drama between Holly and Chris. Comment x
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Love for a Lifetime (a Chris Hemsworth Fanfic)
FanfictionChris had been through a rough break-up and was just getting back on his feet when a magnetic connection comes into his life, leaving him more dependent than ever.
