Haven't Seen You In Ages

Cute Lil Dates...

Rows after rows of different types of food from sushi to custard, from roast chicken and salad to chocolate covered strawberries. And this was only what was served for  dinner. 

After finally coming to a decision of what to take from the buffet, I found ourselves a five seater table in the back corner of the diner.

After seating myself on a chair, I looked up to check whether my parents had arrived yet or not, but, not to my surprise, they hadn't.

Hugh took the seat next to me, probably having sensed my parents uneasiness around him and not wanting to stuff up the seating arrangements.

As I watched waiters and waitresses bustling around to fulfil the needs of their customers, I thought about why my parents had something against my best friend.

I mean sure, they hadn't seen him for the same amount of time I hadn't, but they used to love him. They used to treat him like a son.

Needing a second opinion on the issue, I brought it up with Hugh who seemed to know nothing about it.

"Um, I-I don't know, why wouldn't- I mean they, what?" He stammered on, not knowing what to say.

"I don't know, just they seem as though they don't even like you anymore. Doesn't that seem a bit suspicious to you?" I questioned in a whisper, sensing  people's eyes on me. When I turned, my parents were heading towards us.

"Well yeah it's weird, but I have no idea why..." He looked away, picking up his cutlery and beginning to eat.

"Still, don't-" I began, but my mothers cheery tone in her voice cut me off mid sentence.

"Dawn, thanks for getting a table for us!" She sat down after pulling out her chair in one swift movement, her smile never leaving her face; the creases on the edges of her eyes never smoothing out.

"Um, you're welcome?" I said in a questioning tone, unsure about my mums sudden cheeriness.

"Honey, I don't know if you've realised, but we're on vacation! And I intend to enjoy it." She eyed my father and I made a vomiting motion to Hugh, making him laugh, which earned us both a condescending glare from my father.

This is going to be a great vacation, I thought, sarcastically.

***

Halfway through my second helping of food from the buffet, my dad decided to bring up the 'plans for the future' conversation, and I internally groaned, knowing where it was headed.

"So, Hugh," my dad began, emphasising the use of Hugh's name. "Still in school, or did you drop out like a lot of people and get into some useless trade?"

"Dad!" I exclaimed,  taken aback by his directness.

"Actually, with all due respect Mr  Mitchell's, without tradesmen, you wouldn't have such a nice house. Your electricity and plumbing would be poorly done and your house would be poorly built. So excuse me for saying that I don't think a trade is useless."

My jaw dropped to the floor.

Hugh dusted his hands off on his napkin, despite the fact that he used cutlery to eat, obviously proud of his little speech.

Just at that moment, Casey finally came to dinner, taking the last seat and eyeing us all with curiosity.

"What'd I miss?" She asked, helping herself to my chips, that I'd momentarily forgotten about due to Hugh's sudden outburst.

"Oh you know, Hugh just ripped into our dad after he gave him the whole, 'trades are useless' speech again," I explained, mocking my father right in front of him.

"Aha, nice one Hugh!" Casey replied, nudging him lightly on the shoulder. For an unidentified reason, when she did so, their eyes met and swear I could've seen a spark of electricity fly between them. Then they looked away as quickly as they had made eye contact.

Was Casey Hugh's mystery girl?

I vanished the horrendously disturbing thought from my mind and focused on finishing my meal. It was absolutely absurd the thought of them actually being attracted to one another, especially because Casey was my 21 year old sister, and Hugh was my best friend. Although the slight awkwardness and tension between us seemed to contradict that very idea.

I decided that I needed to just relax and  enjoy the three weeks I had with Hugh, until he had to return to  his home and I had to return to mine, miles apart from one another.

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Desi <3