Shaun answers wearing a simple white button-down shirt tucked into suit pants. “Come in,” he says. “You look good. I like that dress.”
“Thanks.” I look down at myself. I’m in a simple sundress, a little longer than I normally wear, higher neckline than usual, but still cute. “This was the only thing I could find.”
“You look good.” He kisses my cheek and I feel a strange tingle down my spine. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
I sigh. “You inspire so much confidence in me, you know that, right?”
“That’s what I’m here for.” He takes my hand and leads me forward. My heart’s beating so fast, I can barely breathe.
His mother is sitting in his kitchen at the table, a glass of wine in front of her. She’s an attractive woman in her sixties with short hair and bright eyes. She smiles, but ever so slightly, and stands. I can see some hints of Shaun in her, but she moves with a stiffness that seems like his total opposite.
“Mother, this is Klara,” he says. “Klara, this is Sylvia Lofthouse.”
“Charmed, dear,” she says, and shakes my offered hand. “My son here keeps saying nice things about you. I hope you can live up to my expectations.”
“I hope so too, Mrs. Lofthouse.”
She smiles. “Call me Sylvia.”
Shaun frowns and looks a little surprised but I nod once. “Okay, thank you, Sylvia.”
“Now, dear,” she says, taking me by the arm and leading me to the table. “Do you want to know how many women Shaun here has brought home over the years?”
“Mother,” he says.
“Aren’t you curious?” she asks.
“Of course,” I admit.
“None.” She sits back down and I sit beside her. She offers me wine, but I turn it down, which makes her smile. “Not a single woman in his entire life. You’re the first one I’ve met.”
“Really?” I ask. “That’s actually really surprising.”
“I learned not to bring women around my mother,” Shaun said.
“That, or you’re not capable of staying in a romantic relationship.” She smiles at me and I feel a strange tingle down my spine, like she’s weighing my reaction. “What do you think, dear?”
“Oh, I don’t know. He was a young man back then. I’m sure he’s settling down.”
“You think he’s settling down for you?”
“Mother,” Shaun says, getting annoyed. “This is inappropriate. Also annoying as hell.”
“Oh, sorry, dear. I’m just talking to you.” She smiles and tilts her head. “What do you do, Klara?”
“I help run a production company with my father,” I say.
“Ah, interesting. Which one?”
I glance at Shaun and he gives me the slightest of nods. “It’s called Truth Hurts Productions.”
She frowns. “Do I know that name?”
“I planned on buying it,” Shaun says.
“Ah.” Sylvia’s eyes go wide. “You’re the daughter.”
“That’s me.”
“And Aldo Funk is your father.”
“I’m Klara Funk.”
“Ah.” She picks up her wine and sips it.
“Mother,” Shaun says.
“What? I’m just trying to understand who my son is dating.”
“We’re not dating,” he says.
I glance at him. That’s something we’ll have to discuss later, apparently.
“Then why am I meeting this girl again?” she asks.
“Because… ah, shit, fine. We’re dating.”
“See, Klara. He resorts to his old tricks as soon as I’m in the picture. Can’t help himself.”
I smile. “That happens to all of us. We revert to our former childhood selves around our parents.”
“Must be hard for you then, working with your father.”
“Well,” I say, “he’s not much of a father.”
“So I hear.”
I shift uncomfortably as she studies me. Shaun stands up. “Okay,” he says. “This has been fun. But I think—”
“Klara, dear, how would you like to go shopping with me?”
My eyes go wide. This was supposed to be just a quick meeting, nothing more. Maybe we’d have lunch, but he said probably not.
Shopping wasn’t meant to be a part of this. I look at Shaun, but he’s no help. He looks like he’s panicking just as much as I am.
“Come on, dear,” Sylvia says. “It’ll be fun, just us girls. Did Shaun tell you I’m going in for surgery tomorrow?”
“He didn’t,” I say, blinking.
“Of course he wouldn’t.” She smiles at him. “Thank you for keeping that to yourself.”
He looks pained. “Of course.”
“What are you having done?”
“Nothing major.” She stands. “Come, dear. Let’s go. Is your car still outside?”
“I told him to wait,” Shaun says. “Are you sure you want to go? Or maybe I can come with you. We all can—”
His mother gives him a look that could stop an onrushing train. “I’m going shopping with this lovely young lady, dear. Unless you aren’t serious about her, and you wish to keep her from me further.”
He clenches his jaw and looks at me. He looks me right in the eye when he speaks. “I’m very serious about her.”
His mother pats his cheek. “Good boy. Come along, Klara, dear.”
She walks ahead and out the door.
I stare at him and he stares back.
“Fuck,” he says.