A Dream, A Destiny 2

My way or highway

Serena POV

Ash was the first one to react. Eyes narrowed distrustfully as he turned to face his dad, who was a couple of steps away from our reach. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" he asked, the chilliness coming from his voice almost tangible. My ears burned with shame as I slipped down from the counter my boots touching the tiled floor, suddenly wishing I was somewhere else. My eyes darted around the kitchen and I cringed. Flour, splats of batter and frosting everywhere. We had made such a mess. And for what? A few minutes of fun, a little bit of pleasure? This isn't going to end well.

Mr. Ketchum rolled his eyes sardonically. "I decided to come home early." A patronizing note in his voice, he added, "Is that a crime?"

Brushing against me as he leaned against the counter Ash glowered at his dad and sullenly muttered, "No."

"And what a surprise I got." Mr. Ketchum grinned friendlily at in our direction, setting his laptop case on a relatively clean part of the kitchen table. "Two teenagers making out in my kitchen- that's actually pretty tame by your standards, Ash." The sarcasm in his voice grew as his eyes twinkled. "But by all means, carry on." He smiled and gestured his hands to proceed.

Running a hand through his hair, Ash said, "We were just wrapping – things up." His hands were clenched into tight fists and I could feel him stiffen as his body bumped up against my hip. Obviously, things still weren't going well between him and his dad. My heart went out to Ash as I stared at his smiling father. Does the man not have feelings, or what?

"Don't stop on my account," Mr. Ketchum said expansively, waving a hand at Ash. "In my day, I got caught doing things like that all the time." He winked at u . "It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Heaving a stressed sounding sigh, Ash shook his hair out of his eyes and said, "If you say so." He sounded mildly perplexed, like he wasn't too sure where his dad was going with this. I wasn't sure, either. Is he pissed off? It didn't look that way, due to the big grin on his face. But maybe the grin and gibing banter was just a prelude to his anger.

I bit my dry lip. I could say what I wanted about Alain, but at least I knew where he stood as far as mood swings were concerned. He went from civil to furious in less than 10 seconds. There was no in-between for him. As for Mr. Ketchum... It looked like Ash had to use a temper meter if he wanted to figure out where he stood with his dad, mood wise.

Gesturing towards me, Mr. Ketchum rumbled, "Now where are your manners? You're not going to introduce me to your friend?"

He grinned at me as, looking more confused than ever, Ash stared from me to him. Finally, after a short brain lag, he spoke, "You know her. Serena Yvonne. My gala date."

For a short period of time. Recognition lit up Mr. Ketchum's features as he nodded in affirmation, rubbing his hands together. "Ah, yes! Miss Yvonne from Vanville." He shot me a lopsided smile and clapped his hands together making an echo noise in the room we were in. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks, Mr. Ketchum," I said politely, playing with my own hands. I didn't want to be the one to rock the boat. He was being nice for the time being, so I was all for prolonging that as much as possible.

Mr. Ketchum perched himself onto the nearest barstool. "So... you guys were making cookies, eh?" he asked, raising one eyebrow as he glanced around the messy kitchen. Getting every bit of detail of our surroundings.

I looked at Ash, expecting him to answer, but he was just staring at his dad with a slightly unfocused look on his face. Like he was trying hard to figure out whether the real Mr. Ketchum's mind had been replaced. Guess it's up to me to make awkward small talk. Oh well, could be worse. He could be on that 'are you sure you're not a billionaire in disguise living in Vanville to prove a point' tip.