Secret Santa

14: Standing Up

Elliot's view

My mom forces everyone to sit down at the table in assigned seats. She made me sit next to Kevin. If it weren't for Max sitting across from me and Brooklyn sitting on my other side, I probably would have had a yelling match with my mom.

"Pass the mashed potatoes to dear Kevin please, Elliot, he likes them a lot," my mom says handing me the bowl.

"You should learn how to make mashed potatoes for the future, sweetie," my mom adds abruptly.

Before I can reply with a sarcastic comment, my brother speaks up. "Mom, she doesn't even like vegetables that much, there wouldn't be a point."

"The point was to make it for Kevin, duh," my mom replies.

"Why would I make mashed potatoes in the future for Kevin?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"For when you two have a nice dinner date at home I guess," my mom suggests.

My anger is rising like crazy and I can't help but say, "What makes you think I want to go out with Kevin?"

I turn to Kevin and add, "No offense."

Brooklyn tries to put a hand on my thigh to calm me down, but there's nothing that can reduce my anger right now. I'm furious.

"Why wouldn't you want to date Kevin? He's a very nice and successful man. He's an engineer and I'm good friends with his mother. He can help you get a secretary position at his job, you know," my mom tries to explain.

"Why would I want to work as a secretary. I'm happy where I am working and I earn more than a secretary," I hiss back.

"But a marketing company is no place for a women. Why would you want to work as an advertisement agent? That's not lady like," my mom counters.

"Actually, there are an equal amount of women working alongside men in the company. And also, Elliot is really good at her job. She's one of the best at work," Brooklyn interrupts.

"You're her friend, you're probably just trying to be nice with Elliot," my mom says.

"No, I'm actually the manager at the firm, I see all the reports at the end of the month. Elliot always finishes on time with excellent work ethic. She has a real future in the company if she stays. She's the hardest working person I've ever met. I admire her for that," Brooklyn adds making my anger subside.

Damn, how could I not love this woman. She's amazing. No one has ever stood up to my mom before. No one has ever really defended me against my mom.

"Well I know my daughter best, and she is wasting her life away at that company and staying single. She's almost thirty and if she doesn't find anyone by then, then she never will. So stop putting ridiculous ideas in her head, you childish girl," my mom argues.

I immediately stand up to defend Brooklyn. "That's enough, mom. I've had it with all this talk of my work and love life. Brooklyn is right, I'm doing good and work and I'm happy to be there. I don't ever want to wake up and regret what I do and that's exactly what would happen if I left the firm."

"Also, don't you dare ever talk to my girlfriend like that again," I add making my mom look at me in shock.

"Yeah, you heard right. She's my girlfriend and I absolutely love her. She's everything I could have asked for and more. I'm incredibly lucky if I get to spend the rest of my life with her," I continue.

I glance over at Brooklyn and she has the biggest smile on her face. She reaches over to grab my hand to intertwine our fingers.

"Alrighty, so I'm going to head out. Thank you for the dinner," Kevin says getting up and fast walking to the door.

My mom regains her composure and looks at me in disappointment. "I've only ever wanted to make sure you had the world and this is how you treat me in front of guests. How disrespectful."

"You know what, I've had enough of this as well," my dad says getting up and turning to my mom.

"Just let her live her life. So what if she wants to work at the advertisement and marketing company. So what if she's in love with a girl. At least, our Elliot is happy. That's all that matter," my dad says.

"But what if that's not the right choice? What if she ends up unhappy in the end. It's a mother's job to make sure her children are happy," my mom replies.

"Mom, this whole thing of trying to find me a husband and new job is making me unhappy. Can't you see this?" I ask her.

"I...I need...I need to think about this," my mom stutters and gets up from the table to go to her room.

I try to follow her, but my dad stops me, "Maybe you should give her some time. Maybe she comes around this time," he says.

"Well, this turned out much better than I initially expected," Max says.

"What could have been worse?" I ask him.

"The house could have burned down," Max suggests.

I smile and playfully punch his shoulder.

I turn to Brooklyn to see how she feels about me yelling I love her.

-------------------

Author note: I'm sorry that it took me so long to update. I had very bad writer's block.

I will try to update the next chapter next Thursday.