What The Heart Wants (BWWM)

Fifty Nine: Dinner

"Ah, good. Everyone is here." Jeremy walked into the room with Elizabeth and smiled at Simone and Justin.

"Hello, Jeremy." Simone said. "Thanks for inviting me."

"You know you're always welcome here."

She smiled.

"Son." Jeremy said.

"Dad."

"Thank you for coming."

Justin said nothing.

Jeremy smiled anyway and pulled a chair out for his wife before sitting down himself.

"Okay," Elizabeth cut the awkward silence. "bon apetite, everyone."

The table was full of food for them to help themselves to.

Justin wasn't hungry though, just being at a table with all these people made him want to zone out. His dad kept trying to contol his life, his stepmom never actually stood up for him and his ex girlfriend was there. Need we say more?

"How's school going, Justin?" Elizabeth asked as she dished up some vegetables for herself.

"Fine, I guess." Justin shrugged.

"Grades improving?" Jeremy asked.

"I guess. All I know is that I'm graduating from my architectural class soon... you know what that means, right, dad?"

Jeremy said nothing, making Justin grin.

"Simone, how have you been since we last saw you?" Elizabeth asked.

"I've been great." She smiled, "My mom and I just got back from Milan."

"Oh, what did you get up to?"

"Shopping." Simone giggled.

Elizabeth laughed too.

Justin rolled his eyes and poured himself some juice as the ladies went on about current fashion trends and all of that junk about Fashion Week.

"Aren't you going to dish up for yourself, son?" Jeremy looked at Justin's empty plate.

"I'm not hungry."

"Elizabeth cooked."

"I said I'm not hungry."

"It's okay." Elizabeth said, smiling.

"Why are we even here?" Justin asked, sitting up straight.

"I just thought it would be nice to have the family together." Jeremy said.

"Since when is Simone part of the family?"

"You haven't seen her in a while. I just thought--"

"That you should try hook us up? Not happening. Like I told Simone a moment ago, I'm happy with Skylar, thank you very much."

Simone sipped her juice.

"You know that Simone's a better catch than that girl you're with." Jeremy said.

"She is? How would you know? Did you date her?" Justin smiled, suddenly feeling sassy.

"Justin!" Simone cringed.

"What? He seems to know you really well and you're not afraid to hide the fact that you're always after the rich guys. It's known facts that he's richer than me."

"Watch your mouth, young man." Jeremy said.

"I wouldn't put it past you, dad. How long after mom's death did you remarry?" He smiled at his dad. "You were having an affair before mom died, weren't you?"