Offices and Orchards (A New Adult Sweet Romance)

Chapter 22

It was time for lunch as soon as they got back at the house. Some of the extended family had arrived: there were eleven people in total, each as welcoming as the last. Conversation remained light and cheerful. "My friend Amber does IT consulting even as an intern," Autumn explained, over a chocolate mousse, to one of Harvey's cousins who also worked in Information technology. "Not that I know anything about it, but I hear she's a phenomenal coder."
"I'm glad to hear that she is doing well," He said, as if he knew her. Graham, who sat across from Autumn, interjected: "Amber? Oh yeah, the team downstairs adore her."
"You've heard of her?"
"We've met her actually." Autumn froze as her heart skipped a beat: Amber had met them? Maybe they had ran into each other at work when Graham was visiting the office or something, but Kenneth had spoken as if he knew her too. She glanced at Harvey, who was chatting with an uncle, unaware of what had just been said.
"I guess you've bumped into her at the office?" Maybe she was getting the wrong idea.
"No I think was here at Easter I think. But I do keep my hand in at S and W. It's hard not to after a forty year career there... plus Amber's a real talent, I've heard just as good things about you too though Autumn, and not just from Harvey here," Autumn raised her eyebrows, and smiled meekly, her mind racing. Maybe I misunderstood. Or he misunderstood me. They could have met at the office I guess- Amber was doing a work placement thing internship then, wasn't she? She was trying to recall what Amber had said about Harvey but Iris' voice kept popping into her head: "Mack doesn't usually take home dates until they're past the three month mark". If Amber has been there at Easter, they would have gotten together at New Years, or January. Calm down, it's probably nothing, she reassured herself, just ask Harvey later. Graham brought her back to the present "Keep up what you're doing Autumn, you're gonna do just fine." The last of her mousse was gone now and Autumn stared down into the bowl. "Thank you for saying so." She said quietly.
Even though it was possible Graham was just being nice, Autumn had not received too much performance feedback since starting at S and W. This was of particular concern to her recently with the Australia announcement due to be made soon and she had no idea how she stood or what she needed to work on.
"it's nice to see my son with someone who has ambition and intelligence that matches his." A smile lit up her face, he was being genuine.
"Well, I think it's time for us to pack this up and get ready for tonight," Beatrice said once the last of the dessert dishes were taken away.
Later that afternoon, Autumn stepped into the most beautiful dress she had ever see let alone worn and breathed a sigh of relief that the Givenchy still fit beautifully after all the eating she had been doing in the last few days. "That dress is the best gift I've ever given, although I kind of feel like it was more a gift to myself," Harvey watched from the chair as Autumn slipped on her heels and then went to put in the pearl earrings. "Well in that case you can have it back after tonight," she teased.
"No seriously, you look beautiful, Autumn."
"You don't look too bad yourself," To her surprise, Harvey had showed up at her room in a suit.
"Come on, let's go meet everyone."
His fingers found their way into the crook of her elbow, the gentle pressure enough to make Autumn's heart start doing flips. "Can I just ask you something? I wanted to leave this until later but I need to know: you and Amber, your brother and dad have both met her."
"Yeah, she came here at Easter."
"She did? Why?"
"She hasn't told you?"
"No." her heart sank, fearing the worst.
"Yeah my dad met her randomly at the office one day, he invited her back for dinner. He thought I was dating her - that's the gossip mill grinding at work for you.'
"Oh." Autumn wasn't sure how to react; her thoughts were running wild. My boyfriend has hooked up with my friend!
"You're not the jealous type though, right?"
"No, it's not that, it's just that..." she trailed off.
"Actually, I was quite annoyed that he had invited her here at the time."
"Why?" her heart leapt up.
"We barely knew each other. We had been on one date. That's it, and we realised right away that we were never going to be compatible. So I was annoyed that he had invited her. It turned out to be a good thing though, I thought it would be awkward but you know her, she's easy to talk to. We got to know each other a bit better and I'd consider her a friend. Is that ok?"
"Yeah," Autumn managed a meek smile, still thinking about her friend lying to her. "Yeah, it's totally fine, just took me by surprise. That's all."
"So you're ready?"
"Wouldn't be Autumn Barnett if I wasn't ready!" It made her smile to think of her dad looking down on her in this dress, at her new boyfriend's family's house for dinner.
As with the day before, Graham and Beatrice had done a wonderful job of decorating the formal dining area. Harvey noticed his new girlfriend's eyes sweep over the thanksgiving and fall-themed wall decorations, before landing on the elegantly set tables. "It looks beautiful," she said, "There must be enough room in here for one hundred people." She exaggerated.
"When the tables are cleared, there nearly is."
"So where is everyone now?"
"Drinks and canapés, in the sitting room I guess."
Harvey guided her by the arm. They found the rest of the party guests scattered around the sitting room space, some spread out on plush couches and chairs in their formalwear.
"You look absolutely lovely," Beatrice came up to give each of them air kisses on each cheek, French style. She held Autumn at arm's length, eyes moving up and down. "Very Audrey Hepburn,"
"Thank you, I'm not really used to wearing formal dresses,"
"It's lovely on you," a kind looking young man presented them with flutes of something sparkling, champagne Autumn guessed..
"Working on Thanksgiving?" She asked Harvey, trying not to be overheard.
"Well, it's not actual Thanksgiving, is it?"
Harvey responded. "Oh right, I totally forgot! It's just so festive!"
"Just a regular Sunday, with slightly fancier clothes and food. They only work if they want to and in general, there is no shortage of high school students interested in working here."
"They are all high school students?" 
"Yep, they do it as a fundraiser for the high schools sports teams."
Autumn recognised a few of the family members: the aunts and uncles and cousins from lunch, but what took her by surprise was how many people from S and W were there. Staffordshire Junior, Derek Chan, Devon Porter, Thomas Braidwaithe, and Melora Cardiff, the latter two of which she had barely seen since her first day of orientation.
"Hope you don't mind that it's basically a work meeting,"
"Yeah seriously, talk about bringing work home,' 
Harvey turned to greet a man leaning against the couch. "Mr. Staffordshire, it's nice to see you again. Do you know Autumn Barnett?" He stood up straight to shake her hand, her mind racing to think of something to say. That was a stupid question, Autumn wanted to tell her boyfriend. Of course the Founder of S and W didn't know who she was!
"Ms. Barnett. One of our new interns, Derek Chan has nothing but good things to say about you," She smiled as they shook hands. Despite a stern appearance, Mr. Staffordshire had a kind voice. "I had the pleasure of reviewing your Carter model: very impressive for a junior advisor intern on a tight timeline."
"Thank you," Another surprise - her work seemed to have preceded her and she blushed with pride.
"There's great things being whispered about you too, Harvey, not just Ms. Barnett. I expect your arrangement won't hinder either one of you, will it?" Their arrangement? Did everyone know already? They had literally just made it official. Ok yes, I'm at his family's house for a major family event, but still: it could have been through work that I was invited, just as Amber had been at Easter. You've got to remember that S and W was a small world, and that people talk, she reminded herself. "Of course not," Both Autumn and Harvey said, a bit too loudly and eagerly in Autumn's opinion. Mr. Staffordshire just grinned, looking them over with an approving gaze which made Harvey and Autumn wonder if he had been joking. "That's what I like to hear and especially with Australia coming up," Autumn swore she saw him give Harvey a little look as he said those words. Staffordshire senior moved on, and Staffordshire junior and a beautiful woman Autumn could have sworn she knew took his place.
"Autumn, this is Adriana. Adriana, Autumn."
"What a beautiful name! It's lovely to meet you." Adriana gushed. How embarrassing to shake her hand while mine's so sweaty.
"Have we met before Adriana?"  Autumn enquired.
"I don't think I've had the pleasure," she replied, with an accent.
"Adriana is a newsreader, recently she became anchor for the 6pm news on Channel 28- congratulations by the way." Harvey said. Oh! So that's how I know her! Harvey's friend is dating a successful journalist who looks like a model. Great.
"Thank you so much!" Adriana was polite and friendly, and took Autumn's mind off of the thoughts she had just had about Staffordshire's comments about Australia. Less than a minute later though, she spotted something that caught her by surprise: Amber and Brandon Gould entered the sitting room and were greeted immediately by Graham and Beatrice and Staffordshire Senior. Amber caught Autumn's eye and gave a smile and a wave. Autumn nodded back, debating what the best way to approach things with Amber was. When they finally got round to her, Harvey, Adriana and William, Amber greeted Adriana as if she knew her already. Autumn, not wanting to make a scene said  "Restroom?" Amber could tell something was up.
"Ladies room for us, please excuse us for a minute."
When they got there, Autumn started on her friend gently "What are you doing here?" Amber's defense was aggression.
"I was invited. Why the attitude?"
"I'm just asking a question Amber."
"I could ask the exact same question of you."
"Well, I'm Harvey's girlfriend, so I have a reason to be here."
"You're Harvey's girlfriend? You're joking right? Autumn, you cannot trust that man. Look, I wasn't going to tell you this, but I have to now- the other week, at work, I heard Harvey and Staffordshire. They were talking about something, some secret project, and that they had to be careful that the secret didn't get out at work."  Autumn eyed her suspiciously.
"That could have been anything. You're just saying that cause you're jealous that not all the attention is on you for once."
"What? Attention? You're the one who needs constant reassurance and attention. But you know what else? Staffordshire said that if Harvey wanted Australia, he just had to say the word. And anyway, I was invited to come, same as you."
"You're lying. You lied about being at Harvey's house, you lied about having dated him, and you're lying now. You've been here before, haven't you?"
"Yes, at Easter, why?"
"You came here with Harvey."
"No I didn't, his dad asked me."
"You went on a date with him."
"With Harvey's dad? What are you talking about?"
"With Harvey obviously. You went on a date with him, you've been to his family home and you lied to me about it all."
"Seriously Autumn?"
"Yes, serious."
"Ok," she sighed, "What have you heard?"
"What I just said."
"And you're mad that I went out with Harvey."
"No, I'm mad that you lied about it."
"I didn't lie about it. I haven't lied about anything. Not the conversation, not about Harvey. You're my friend, Autumn."
"You said nothing happened between you."
"Nothing did happen between us." Amber was more confused than angry now. "Autumn, what's going on? I don't understand."
Autumn, seeing that Amber was softening to her rather than hardening up, did the same. "I don't know! I just got so angry at you, thinking that you lied to me about him. But maybe I'm not really angry at you, I'm angry at myself, for getting involved with someone at work, and for everyone knowing about it before I even did, and because Staffordshire senior basically just told Harvey he's going to get Australia, even though he doesn't even want to go." Autumn fought back tears.
"Deep breaths. It's fine. It's all fine." Amber hugged her friend reassuringly. "Let's start again, your Harvey's girlfriend now?"
"See these?" She pointed to her earrings, "He asked me last night, and gave me these as a gift."
"See this?" Amber struck a pose in her dress. "Brandon asked me last night too, and gave me this as a gift. We are both officially off the market."
"We are sooo due for a catch up."
"Yep. Later. Ready to head back in?"
The two girls gave each other another hug and walked back in, just as Thanksgiving Dinner was about to be served.
Where did you guys run off to?" Harvey asked when she took her seat. "Nowhere."
"Everything ok?" Harvey asked autumn quietly. "Yep, all good." She said dismissively, mustering a smile.
The McIntosh hosts, Beatrice, Graham, Harvey and Kenneth served all of the guests. For some reason, being served by the homeowners gave a much more casual and intimate feeling to the meal, even in such a grand room and house. In fact, it felt just like a very large family meal, and as soon as Autumn thought that, she realised, it was a very large family meal. Not the pretentious, networking, friends to further your cause event she had been expecting. It was a typical, home-cooked, country-style Thanksgiving dinner, with Turkey, presented to a chorus of 'oohs' and 'ahs', stuffing, cranberry sauce, roast vegetables and lots of gravy. Beatrice and Graham were superb hosts, quick to refill empty wine glasses, and fill empty plates with second helpings. "Do you want more mashed potatoes?" Beatrice asked Autumn, who had been busy trying to find the best way to shovel food into her mouth without looking like she'd been raised in the wild. Before she could nod, another creamy helping of garlic mash was spooned onto her plate, reminding her of all the false assumptions about Harvey and the family: there was nothing condescending about them.
After the main course had been finished, Kenneth caught Autumn's eyes from across the table. "So, you and Adam?"
"I'm sorry?" Autumn asked in response.
"I mean Harvey of course, I used to call him by his middle name when we were kids, and he used to call me by mine. We thought it meant we had like a secret way to communicate to each other, not realising that our parents also knew our middle names. So as I said, you and Adam, huh? Even though you pushed him down the stairs during orientation?"
"I never!" Autumn dropped her fork in favor of covering her reddening face with her hands. "I didn't push him," She began, "We had to get some files to the top floor and he was just standing in the middle of the staircase, and I...I just moved past him, perhaps with a little bit too much of accidental force." Kenneth laughed and she turned to see a smiling Harvey, leaning across her to better hear his brother. "I almost died. I bet if I had tumbled down four flights of stairs, she wouldn't have even looked back,"
"It wasn't personal, Harvey, just business," Autumn said, and Mr. Staffordshire, who must have been listening, started laughing. "She's a keeper, Harvey."
"She sure is," he gave her a kiss on the cheek. After a delicious pumpkin pie, sweetened with Canadian maple syrup from Quebec, Mr. Staffordshire rose from his seat to thank the hosts, patting his belly. "Beatrice, Graham, as always that was delicious," Some of the others stood up with him to grab some drinks from the side table as Beatrice started to clear the table with Kenneth's help. Shaunna, Kenneth's wife tried to help too, but at seven months pregnant, Beatrice chided her for doing so. When Autumn rose to help as well, Beatrice chided her also, "This is your first time with us, please do sit and relax and enjoy yourself, Autumn."

Autumn leaned back in her seat, Harvey's hand on her leg. Their moment was interrupted by Staffordshire Junior, who approached them cradling crystal glasses filled with brandy in his hands, handing another one over to Harvey. Thinking of what Amber had just told her, she stiffened up a bit. "Autumn, you're coming to the wedding, right?" He asked casually, as if Autumn knew what in the world he was talking about. "I hadn't asked her yet, Staff. Didn't want to scare her off."
"Well, ask. You're my best man..." Harvey turned to Autumn, "Staff is getting married at the beginning of November," he nodded his head toward Adrianna. "Would you like to go with me?" his voice went quiet, "I was going to ask when we got back because I think it might interfere with some of the plans we made the other week," He was referring to the date Autumn was supposed to plan.
"I would love to. Congratulations," she added to Staffordshire, who smiled in thanks. "Where is it going to be held?"
"Martha's Vineyard, my family has a place there,"
"Well, I appreciate the invite."
"Great, actually..." he started, "Do you mind doing me a favor? Adriana doesn't have many friends in Harvest Hills, and most of them aren't flying in until the end of the month. Could you keep her company when we get back home? I know you work, but she's beginning to get stressed out with all the wedding planning." He snorted, "Though how you can be stressed when you have the world's most expensive wedding planner is beyond me..."
"It would be my pleasure. I'll give her my number before we leave. Amber teaches crossfit and I know a good running route, if she's into that."
"Thanks very much," He said to Autumn, clapping Harvey on the back, "Nice work here Macky." But there was something in his voice which Autumn didn't trust.