Meeting Mrs Garret

by Raquel De Leon

  She blinked as Mrs. Garret stepped back and continued, “Not from Brittney, mind you. She calls her father way more than she does me.”

  Natalie stuck her hands back into her pockets at the loss of Mrs. Garret’s (distracting) physical warmth, suddenly remembering the state of her nails.

  “Mooooom,” Brittney groaned as she covered her face with a hand.

  “Don’t ‘Mom’ me, you know it’s true.” Maddie perched her hands on her hips and shot Natalie a wink. “You know she’s a Daddy’s girl, right?”

  “I kind of figured it out,” Natalie admitted.

  “I like you,” Maddie declared with a smile before focusing again on her red-faced daughter. “See? She’s only seen you with your father for a few minutes and she already knows. At last, affirmation!”

  Adam examined Brittney’s reddening face. “Maddie, if you keep it up I think she might actually explode.” He rubbed his chin and then snapped his fingers. “If she does, you might have an interesting case to submit to a medical journal.”

  Brittney’s face got redder, and she cut in before her mother could speak again. “Oh my god, I hate you both. Natalie and I are going to go wash up for dinner.”

  Both parents chuckled as Natalie was unceremoniously dragged away.

  Adam moved to stand next to his wife and pursed his lips. “What do you think?”

  “Nailed it,” Maddie claimed proudly as she gently bumped her hip into his.

  They shared a smile.

  *****

  Natalie leaned against the wall and examined Brittney’s reflection in the mirror. Brittney was frowning down at her hands as she meticulously scrubbed them, prompting Natalie to clear her throat. “You’re not going to perform surgery you know, it’s just dinner.”

  Brittney glanced up and promptly rinsed. “Yeah, sorry.”

  “What’s up?” Natalie took her turn at the sink to carefully wash her own hands, her tongue poking out as she tried to get some of the stupid grease out from under her nails.

  “Nothing,” Brittney mumbled half-heartedly as she leaned back against the wall. In her grip, the hand towel had been crumpled up into a ball.

  The snort of disbelief escaped Natalie before she could think about stopping it. “That was convincing.”

  When there was no response, she stole the towel from Brittney. “No, seriously, what’s wrong? Your parents seem pretty cool, but it’s okay not to tell them.” She made a point to look at her hands as she dried them.

  Brittney fidgeted with the hem of her white top. “It’s not really anything about that. I just don’t get to see them much, especially not together.”

  Natalie hesitated. She and Brittney had talked a lot over the course of their relatively short friendship, and so she was aware that Brittney had spent a great deal of her life at boarding school, though Brittney had been home every weekend and holiday. “Is it really that bad?”

  “Yeah,” Brittney nibbled her lower lip. “My dad was joking, but they both really are workaholics. Especially my dad. With Mom, at least she’s here pretty much every night unless someone has a heart attack. But Dad? He’s always off somewhere having to deal with some client or emergency or something. I actually thought he would cancel on us this weekend.”

  The fragile look on Brittney’s face made Natalie’s heart ache in sympathy. She briefly hesitated before squeezing Brittney’s shoulder, wishing the tautness would ease.

  “Hey,” she said softly, “you know that means that he thought your visit home was important enough not to cancel.”

  Brittney nodded as she slowly looked back up. “You think so?”

  “I do,” Natalie confirmed with a nod. She hung the hand towel back up. “Now, come on. They’ll think you’ve actually spontaneously combusted.” She turned to open the door and paused. “Do you always get this embarrassed around your parents?”

  Brittney laughed and slapped her arm. “I hate you. Let’s go, I’m actually pretty hungry.”

  Natalie opened the door with a smile, glad she’d helped Brittney relax. She found Brittney to be overly serious, with only rare bouts of playful childishness. For someone half a year to nineteen, Brittney acted more like she was in her thirties. Since Natalie was closer to finishing her degree (and had started KTU late to begin with) she appreciated Brittney’s maturity.

  As Natalie pulled the door closed behind them, Brittney accidentally bumped into her side.

  “Sorry,” Brittney said with faintly pinkened cheeks.

  There was a long pause of silence. “So, should I just follow my nose?” Natalie asked.

  “Oh, no.” Brittney shook her head as if clearing her thoughts. “This way. I wonder what Mom made. It smells great.”

  Amused by Brittney’s sudden preoccupation with food, Natalie followed at a slower pace. Another side effect of Brittney’s seriousness was her ability to get lost in thought.

  Natalie looked around at the interior of the house again. It wasn’t extravagant, but it was large and furnished very well. Natalie felt out of place.

  She tried to shake the feeling off. Despite their apparent affluence, Adam and Madeline seemed nice and down-to-earth. Determined, she decided to do her best to enjoy dinner.

  Chapter Two

  The dining room was spacious but not overly so, with a long mahogany table running lengthwise along the room. The solid ladderback chairs encircling it matched the shade of the table perfectly. The last of Natalie’s tenseness dissipated as she crossed the threshold, the warm lighting and tasteful decor as comforting as the low burr of chatter between the three waiting Garrets.

  She picked the seat adjacent to Brittney, smiling politely as they all sat. Brittney’s parents were together on one side of the table and, to no one’s surprise, Brittney had elected to sit across from Adam. Natalie smiled when Mrs. Garret feigned exasperation.

  In the center of the table were a few ceramic dishes of food; Natalie refused to stare at them for fear of seeming rude. Having never sat at a formal table with matching place settings, Natalie was watchful as Adam began serving himself. She decided to emulate him as the dishes began to be passed around.

  The closest Natalie had ever come to a similar dinner was Thanksgiving with the Holders, but only in the last couple of years had that changed from crowding into a diner to sitting scattered in the kitchen with loaded plates. Pops, Steven’s dad, liked to keep things casual.

  Her stomach quietly rumbled as she accepted the small tray of rolls from Brittney. A waft of buttery goodness had her gladly adding one to her plate.

  Crisp green beans, what Adam informed her were mashed sweet potatoes with carrots, and a seared chicken breast with an apricot garnish awaited her attention. She hadn’t eaten since she’d stolen half of Steven’s meatball sub at lunch, and though the dinner wasn’t something she’d tried before, the smell was more than enticing enough for her to want to.

  As soon as Adam began to cut into his chicken, Natalie followed suit. The first bite was nothing like she’d expected, and she couldn’t withhold a low moan of appreciation.

  Across from her, Brittney’s mom looked up with a pleased grin, chewing and swallowing the bite of her own as the fine lines around her eyes crinkled her delight. “You like it, Natalie?”

  Natalie hurriedly finished chewing her mouthful of green beans. “Totally, Mrs. Garret. This is amazing. My roommates and I never take the time to cook like this because we’re always busy.”

  Brittney scoffed to her left. “You guys are the worst, and it’s not because you’re busy. Well, you’re busy, but Steven and Reeve have enough time to make something decent most of the time and they never do.”

  “Hey, they barbecue during the warmer months.” She toyed with her mashed sweet potatoes, her voice dropping. “Although, last time Stevie might have accidentally set Reeve’s pants on fire.”

  The table around her erupted into laughter.

  Adam offered her a large grin. “Ah, nothing like living the bachelor life. Frozen piz
za and burritos, I’m guessing?”

  She nodded along, a stiff smile on her face. “We mix in sandwiches and stuff, but none of us are particularly good with the cooking thing.”

  The mutually amused expressions on Adam and Brittney’s faces made her shift uncomfortably in her seat.

  “Well I’m glad that we could provide you with a change of pace,” Mrs. Garret graciously interjected before Adam or Brittney could tease her.

  Natalie managed a small smile. She could handle teasing but the cooking thing was a bit of a sensitive issue.

  Between the three of them they only had one parent who, until recently, had been just as hopeless in the kitchen. They’d all lost their mothers at varying ages to varying causes. Reeve’s dad had been deported back to the Philippines when he was young and Natalie hadn’t seen hers in years.

  Steven’s dad had been trying, though, and his food had finally graduated from ‘not bad’ to ‘usually good’ on those weekends or holidays any of them found their way out to his home.

  She hadn’t really spoken to Brittney about her feelings on the subject—and she was glad she hadn’t. Having caught a glimpse of the life her friend must have had growing up, she was glad that Brittney had no idea what it was like to lack two loving, devoted parents.

  Her eyes traveled from the older couple to Brittney.

  It was a good indicator that, no matter what happened with the older Garretts when Brittney came out, Brittney had a solid foundation to succeed with.

  “Oh, by the way, Natalie—honey, please don’t call me Mrs. Garret,” Mrs. Garret said, breaking the slightly awkward silence.

  “Sorry.” Natalie paused. “Earlier I meant to say ‘this is totally awesome, Brittney’s Mom’.” She grinned when Maddie narrowed her eyes.

  Adam frowned and grunted. “House rule, Natalie. If you want us to like you, you can’t make us feel so old!”

  Brittney took one look at his faux-outraged expression and laughed.

  “Aw, I wouldn’t think that would be possible, Adam. You seem so young.” Natalie blinked innocently and appended, “in spirit, at least.”

  Adam paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, putting it down and looking directly at her. He shot her a dramatically pained look. “In my own house.”

  Another bout of chuckling erupted at the table, the atmosphere congenial as they continued eating and enjoyed some casual conversation.

  *****

  Nearly half an hour later Natalie pushed back from her cleared plate with a sigh. The meal had been pretty great, and she had to admit that the Garrets were a pretty cool bunch. She blinked and noticed Maddie stand to begin clearing the table, and so Natalie immediately followed suit.

  “Let me help you, Maddie,” she said as she pushed up from her seat. Using the first name made her feel slightly self-conscious. She pushed past the feeling.

  Maddie canted her head, her lips pursed in amusement. “You’re offering to help? Well, isn’t that nice.” The last was accompanied with pointed looks at both Brittney and Adam.

  Father and daughter merely ducked their heads.

  When Maddie turned back to Natalie, her eyes were glimmering with amusement. “They loathe doing dishes. If you really want to, you can help.” Maddie gathered the plates on her side of the table. Natalie hurried to do the same.

  It wasn’t until Natalie was following Maddie to the kitchen that she heard an added, “That way I can pick your brain about Brittney’s student life.”

  Natalie swallowed nervously as she followed her to the kitchen. The room was light, with ceramic tile and creamy marble countertops, making the room seem larger. The impressive space was bisected by a lacquered wood counter, and off to the side was a small table surely meant for informal meals.

  Adam and Brittney suddenly appeared with the remnants of their dinner and empty glasses but quickly departed before they could be roped into helping.

  She glared at their backs and was once again left alone with Maddie. Why was she friends with Brittney again, exactly? When she turned back to find Brittney’s mom pulling an apron over her head, Natalie did a poor job of suppressing laughter.

  “Find something amusing, Natalie?”

  Natalie forced a cough into her fist in an effort to hide a smile. She bit her lip as her eyes trailed down to openly admire the white apron—and, coincidentally, the figure underneath it.

  Rather than say it out loud, she coughed again and pointed to the phrase gaily embroidered on the front of the apron. Feel safe at night and sleep with a doctor, the fancy lettering read.

  Maddie blinked and glanced down, her cheeks flushing as she laughed. “Adam got this for me after I completed my residency. I haven’t thought about what it says for a long time.”

  Natalie rubbed the back of her neck and looked anywhere but at Mrs. Garret. She stepped forward to the sink and cleared her throat as her mind floundered for a safe topic. “You’re a doctor?”

  “Brittney didn’t tell you?” Maddie sounded more entertained than surprised, and perhaps a bit grateful for the subject change. “Don’t answer that.” Maddie shook her head and smiled. “I bet she told you all about her father’s work. He’s the reason she wants to be an engineer. An architectural one, but it still counts.”

  Her hands smoothed over the apron before she picked up a plate, scraping remnants of food into the trash. She smiled when Natalie picked up another plate and did the same.

  A couple of minutes later when the dishes were emptied of scraps as best as possible, Maddie hummed and got the dishwater running. As she waited for the sink to fill, she transferred the leftovers to Pyrex containers, which were promptly put away in the refrigerator.

  Natalie stood beside her, unsure what to do. Maddie smiled and gently nudged her to the side to open up the door to the dishwasher.

  “I’ll wash, honey. You can rinse and put them in the dishwasher,” Maddie instructed.

  Natalie bobbed her head in agreement, slightly uncomfortable with Maddie’s proximity.

  “So, Natalie, how did you and Brittney meet?”

  She forced herself to relax.

  “It’s actually kinda funny,” Natalie said as she accepted the first plate. “You would think that since we go to the same school that we met on campus, right? Nope. One night in town her car wouldn’t start and so she called her roommate. Well, her roommate is actually Reeve’s sister Victoria. So she called me.”

  Maddie smiled and nodded once, prompting Natalie to continue as they worked.

  “Even though I was completely exhausted after finishing my shift at the garage, I went to help. It took a little bit to figure out that Brittney had left her car door slightly ajar and killed her battery. I couldn’t help teasing her a bit. She rolled with it.” She shrugged and absently noted they were nearly done with the plates. “We hit it off, and here I am.”

  “Here you are,” Maddie confirmed as she handed Natalie the last plate. “Brittney’s always been such a serious girl. I’m glad she met you. Are you a freshman as well?”

  Natalie adjusted the plates in the dishwasher. She turned back as they began to work through the glasses and silverware. “Nah, I’m a junior. Brittney and I probably would have had a hard time meeting if it wasn’t for Victoria.”

  “Well, I’m a firm believer in the sentiment that everything happens for a reason.” Maddie paused and glanced at Natalie as she finished. “I’ll get to the big dishes later, honey. They can’t go in the dishwasher. So, you’re a mechanic. What is it you’re studying at KTU?”

  “You’d never guess! Mechanical Engineering.” Natalie accepted a towel from Maddie and dried her hands. She briefly admired their finished work. “You sure I can’t help with the rest?”

  Maddie chuckled and shook her head no. “Mechanical engineering? I didn’t want to assume.”

  “Speaking of not assuming… I have to ask. Why wash the dishes and then put them in the dishwasher?” Natalie quirked a brow and waited as Maddie removed her apron, which was
quickly hung back up on its small metal hook near the pantry.

  Maddie shrugged, her expression thoughtful. “What can I say? I just like to be thorough.”

  Natalie ignored the goosebumps that prickled to life on her skin. It wasn’t Mrs. Garret’s fault that her voice was so sinfully rich, or that Natalie’s mind had immediately wanted to fall into the gutter.

  “Must be a doctor thing,” Natalie politely said as she internally screamed at herself.

  *****

  Natalie yawned as she got out of Brittney’s car, waving one last time as her friend pulled away. She heaved a tired sigh as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. She dug out her keys and unlocked the door, groaning as she entered.

  It took her a moment to set the locks back into place. She noticed the TV on in the living room and opted to follow the sound.

  Steven and Reeve were on both couches, the former stretched out lengthwise and the latter slumped back and still in his campus security uniform.

  “Navarro!” Steven loudly greeted her, his eyes glazed over and his red hair mussed.

  “Stevie!” she replied with far less energy. “I hope that wasn’t my last six pack you helped yourself to.”

  “Nah,” Reeve calmy interjected. “I brought a fresh twelve from the store on my way home.” He lifted his hand to show off the shiny can.

  He leaned back into the couch and let out a deep sigh. His dark hair was mussed, as if he’d run his hands through it several times. “For a nerd school, King Tech is full of annoying idiots determined to make my life way fucking harder than it has to be.”

  Natalie ambled her way over to sit next to him. “That bad, eh?”

  The light from the TV flickered and reflected over his eyes. “Victoria is lucky I love her so damn much.”

  He offered her a drink from his can, but she shook her head. He shrugged and took another long drink. “How’d things go with Brittney’s parents?”

  “Pretty alright,” she admitted. “They’re nice people. Brittney ended up not coming out but I got a good feeling from ‘em. The food was pretty good, too.”