A Jori Story: After The Platinum Awards

Chapter 15 - Parents and jealousy

"Dad... What are you doing here? And I thought you had to work mom!" Jade told her parents after a moment of silence.

"My assistant Amanda will be at the convention I was supposed to attend in Fresno, and your father was also able to take some time off his work to talk to you"

"Jade it's good to see you, it's been a long time" her dad started to say standing up from the couch and approaching his daughter. He tried to put an hand on her shoulder but she pulled back.

"Yeah, no shit dad... You prefer to talk to me at the phone, so if you are here now I guess mom already filled you in on everything" Jade said stepping closer to Tori and taking her hand. She noticed that her girlfriend was slightly shaking, which meant she was nervous so Jade squeezed her hand a little to reassure her.

"Yeah, actually... Your mother told me that you are seeing a girl" her father continued

"It's not just any girl, it's her, and I'm not just seeing her, I'm in love with her!" Jade said while turning to see Tori who had a shy but grateful smile on her face. Mr. West seemed to look at Tori better.

Tori was unsure of what to do during such a tense moment but in the end she decided to extend an hand and try to greet her girlfriend's dad "Nice to meet you Mr. West, I'm Victoria Vega. Tori if you want... I don't know if you remember me but I helped your daughter with the play you attended last year" she said. Mr. West looked at her hand for a second than took it and shook it. He had a firm grip. "I vaguely remember, I am Sean West, Jade's father" he said. Tori nodded at him.

"So why are you here? Let me guess, mom wanted your help to convince me that this is just a phase and that I made a wrong decision? Well spare me because..."

"No Jade, it's not like that, please let's all have a talk". Jade's mom interrupted her and stood up motioning them to follow her and her ex husband in the kitchen. Jade seemed surprised and looked at Tori who nodded at her.

After following Jade's parents in the kitchen they all sit at the table, Tori and Jade next to each other. Tori took Jade's hand under the table and Jade squeezed it again, feeling grateful to have her girlfriend by her side. They were all silent for several seconds when Jade started to speak "So why am I attending this family reunion?"

"Jade, the reason I called your dad is because in the past couple of days I thought a lot about you and Tori. And about what your... girlfriend said in particular" Emily told her. 

Tori released a surprised "Oh...?" with a low voice. 

Jade was still looking at her mom. Emily briefly smiled at Tori before she continued to talk with her daughter "She said that you want us to be part of your life and that's what your dad and I want too. You are right, we've been too distant from you while you were growing up. But we want to make up for that... So... our first step is accepting your relationship with Tori. She is very wise for her age considering the things she said the other day, so I have to say that you couldn't choose a better girl to be with" she said looking at Tori again.

"I... didn't realize I was so convincing... But thank you, it means a lot to me hmm..." Tori said shyly.

"Please feel free to call me Emily" Jade's mom said. Tori nodded smiling and trying to hold her tears back. She brushed Jade's hand with her thumb and looked at her. She had an indecipherable expression on her face. After a bit Emily started to look at her daughter too, but Jade was looking at her dad who was simply looking down thoughtful.

"If that's true, I want to hear it from dad too..." Jade finally said.

Mr. West lifted his eyes to look at his daughter and after a moment he started to speak "Well Jade... Your mother sure had more time to process all of this. I honestly can't say I'm not surprised. I mean I didn't even know you weren't with that Bobby guy anymore..."