The Price of Love

19-Parent's Evening

   "Alright," Anna said, clenching her fist tightly to her side as the five stood outside of her childhood home. Alex slipped his hand into hers, breaking the tension, and smiled at her. She smiled back. Matt pushed the doorbell, and they all waited impatiently for the door to open, wanting to get on with the night.

"Hi everyone," Mr. James Walken greeted. Anna smiled and wrapped her arms around him. He stepped inside and opened the door wider, leading everyone in. Alex looked around at the house, seeing fake flowers, old antique objects, and pictures from all stages of life of his girlfriend and her sister.

   "Nice to meet you sir. I'm Alex Keaton," Alex introduced, shaking his hand with a firm grip.

   "Very nice to meet you young man," he replied. They turned around at the sound of another door opening. Anna linked her arm in Alex's at the sight of her mother.

   "Well hello, everyone," Brenda Walken said. She was wearing a long dress and high heels. It was clear that she had just gotten her hair done.

"Hi mom," Chloe said, stepping forward and giving her mom a quick hug. Matt hugged her next, complimenting her hair. He knew how to get on her good side.

"He's a kiss up," Anna whispered to Alex, fidgeting with her hands nervously.

"You're just nervous," he whispered back. He then walked towards the woman, shaking her hand as a greeting.

"Alex P Keaton. Thank you for having us over," he greeted. The lady looked him over, and he felt slightly less confident at the judgmental stare. Ignoring the feeling, the group moved to the kitchen, sitting down and catching up on awkward small talk. Chloe took most of the conversation in her stride, knowing that they would interrogate Alex to no end if he said the wrong thing.

"So Alex. What do you do?" James asked kindly. Alex smiled.

"I actually work with Anna. I'm the bank's investment banking analyst," he informed the man, happy to be talking about something he knew about. There was no way he could mess that up.

"Well isn't that nice," Brenda said, and Alex couldn't tell if she meant it or if she was trying to form the conversation in a way she saw fit. He once again, attempted to shake off the feeling.

"It's really great," Anna said as an afterthought. They made it through the dinner, attempting to mediate anything that could turn into an argument. It wasn't until the dinner was almost ready that anything mildly unfortunate happened.

   "Anna, do you remember Mrs. Robert's daughter? The one you went to high school with? She just finished law school," Brenda said in a condescending voice.

   "That's great mom," Anna said, not remembering the girl, and not overly caring about her accomplishment.

   "You could have been a lawyer. Or a doctor," her mom said. Anna rolled her eyes.

   "Why isn't what I'm doing enough for you? I love my job," Anna said.

   "Does anyone want another drink?" James asked, hoping to avoid the argument. Anna stood up, walking outside. Alex closed his eyes, leaning back into his chair.

"Chloe, Matt, we'll be in the car when you're ready," Alex said. "Mr. and Mrs. Walken, it was great meeting you." He stood up and followed Anna's path, walking outside to see his girlfriend, sitting on the hood of the car.

"Hi," she said, not looking away from the sky, feeling his presence. Alex gave her a small smile, sitting next to her and setting his jacket on her shoulders.

"Hi," he replied.

   "That didn't go as planned, huh?" She said. Alex kissed her head.

   "Maybe not. But it could have been much worse," he said. "We can go back in there."

"I'm good," she replied. "She'll just give me a lecture on being polite and using my manners."

"Okay then," he said.

They then saw Chloe and Matt walking out the door, Millie sitting high up on Matt's shoulders.

   "Alright. Let's go home," Chloe said, and the group sat in the car.

   "So what'd you think?" Chloe asked Alex. The group looked at each other, before bursting into laughter.

   "Oh that was rough," Anna said, laughing. They pulled into their house, walking in. "But we've had worse."

   "I'll put Millie in her room," Alex said, picking the sleeping child up and walking into her room.

   "At least you did it," Chloe told Anna. "That's half the battle."

   "I could have gone my entire life without that happening, and would have been better off for it," Anna replied. Alex walked back into the room, sitting next to his girlfriend and letting her fall into his body, knowing that she was thinking about the night.

   "Thanks for taking me tonight guys," Alex said gratefully. "I really appreciate it."

   "Anytime Alex," Matt replied. They all talked through the night, laughing.