Page 101 of Mr. Aster
“That’s a promising thing to know,” his mother responded.
“Darcy is easy to please. That’s what you’ll love most about her being your wife,” my dad said to include Sebastian, utterly oblivious that Margot was attempting to make me look like a piece of shit for not eating the special food she’d requested.
“If you are easy to please,” Sebastian’s father spoke as he looked directly at me, his eyes identical to good old El Diablo’s before we had a similar exchange in this dining room, “then why can’t you be bothered to enjoy the lamb? Perhaps this would be the one dish you would enjoy?”
I heard Sebastian stiffen beside me, and I smiled to reassure him that this wasn’t bothering me. It’s exactly what I expected from his disapproving parents.
“I don’t want to insult Antonio,” I said, “and I’m not gagging down something I do not like to please anyone. Antonio is an outstanding chef, and he doesn’t deserve to see me looking disgusted by his food in front of my parents’ important guests.”
“How very considerate of you, my dear,” Margot said.
“You don’t like lamb?” Sebastian finally broke through his parents’ bullshit with some humorous shock in his voice.
“Ihatelamb,” I said, wrinkling my nose at him with a smile as all the tension in the room faded. “That’s a far cry from grasshoppers in Mexico, eh?”
“Did Darcy have you try the chapulines, Sebastian?” my mother said with laughter.
“She did,” Sebastian answered, his dark expression broken up by the lighthearted humor of our memories in Mexico. “If that was on the menu tonight, I’d probably opt out the way Darcy did with the lamb.”
“No way,” I answered with a laugh. “You enjoyed them, especially when you dipped them in the guacamole like chips.”
“That’s the only way Darcy would eat them,” Billy laughed.
“Okay, enough about the food,” my mom interrupted, waving her hands. “I want to know exactlywhenyou two got engaged. Who asked who?”
“I’m curious to know as well,” Margot said, focusing solely on Sebastian.
“No one really asked anyone,” Sebastian spoke before I could since I was trying to think up a lie to cover forthatlie. “It just sort of happened.”
“Itsort of happened?” Mr. Aster practically seethed.
“Yes,” Sebastian confirmed, smiling humorously at me. “One moment, we were speaking about our sudden relationship, and the next moment, Darcy asked if we should take things to another level.”
“Interesting,” his mother said flatly.
“Yeah,” I said to Sebastian. “I was only testing you, you know?”
“And I matched your games, my love,” he smirked, then took another bite of his lamb.
“Testing and games,” Margot stated as if she were throwing up a bit in her mouth. “Entirely unlike you, Sebastian.”
“A lot of things have been entirely unlike me over the past year, as you well know,” Sebastian told her. “However, this version of me feels very alive and authentic.”
“Your authenticity has driven you to make thoughtless and spontaneous decisions,” Mr. Aster said. “While I appreciate you living with the Burkes and getting somewhat back to your old self before Melissa passed away, I also feel this family has rubbed off on you in a way that has the potential to be very hurtful to those who care about you.”
“How so?” I said, irritated this self-righteous fuck had so casually insulted my parents and me as if we weren’t present.
His gaze fell on me, and I returned it with as much disdain as I knew he felt for me.
“Simple. This entire business was failing when I invested in it. After numerous dinners with your father and learning his motivations when he purchased it, it was evident that it was done without a business plan or even an end game. As such, it failed, taking someone who makes thoroughly thought-out decisions, such as me, to save it. Nothing survives that is not driven with purpose.” He glanced back and forth between his son and me, “I assure you that if you’ve not taken the proper amount of time and care to plan your future, it will fail just the same. My son never does anything without carefully considering all angles before he makes decisions that affect himself and others’ well-being. I can only assume he has done so in this regard as well.”
“And I’m happier for it,” Sebastian said, but I couldn’t gauge his mood by the odd tone with which he’d just stated that.
“That’s all that matters,” my mother said. “That’s how love blossoms and grows, and I love that you two are just moving forward with your energies and accepting one another wholeheartedly.”
“I concur,” my dad said, his excitement matching my mom’s, whose energy was opposite of Sebastian’s parents’ energy. “Too many people waste away staying engaged for years or remaining miserable in marriages theyplanned and carefully considered. It’s why there are so many divorces.”
I had to cover my smile. My parents and their far-out way of thinking about loveand everything in between couldn’t have been farther from the Aster’s views.
