Connected To Him (ManxMan)

Part 1: Chapter 25

"It's fine, Ethan." Chris told him warmly before turning back to his father. "Actually, I happen to be great at Monopoly. What time should I come over?"

Mr. Sterling wore the most triumphant smile imaginable, poking at Ethan's ego slightly. For some reason, Ethan was emotionally interpreting this as a loss, although he knew he'd love having Chris over for board games.

"Try to be here around noon on Saturday so we can have lunch." Mr. Sterling said confidently, making Ethan suspect that he'd been planning this all along. 'Maybe I can serve you one of my experiments."

At the mention of those odd flavour combinations, Ethan's face scrunched up in disgust.

"God help us all."

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It was several days later when Chris brought up these plans with his parents. The three of them had never been especially close. Most days, they didn't know where he went or who he went with and Chris just assumed that if he didn't see them, they were working. Now, they are having one of their usual dinners where they caught up with what everyone else had been doing.

" . . . so I'll be meeting with him next week and hopefully get him to sign on as a new client." Harvey Davis finished proudly. His thick eyebrows usually helped to close off his deep-set eyes, but his dark brown eyes were further hidden when he smiled. Currently, they were barely visible. The man kept his appearance professional with his beard and head constantly shaved since he had high-profile meetings every other day.

"That's amazing honey." Chris's mother, Deb, said with a smile. "Won't he help connect you to more companies in China?"

"That's the plan." Mr Davis agreed, hiding his grin behind his wine glass as he took a sip."

Deborah Davis had a pleased smile on her face as she looked down at her plate. Everything on it, from the pan-fried chicken to the collard greens, were things her mom had taught her to make. Sometimes, the older woman wondered if her mother would be proud of what she'd done with her life. She'd created the perfect family with a stable husband and a strong son. She had a well paying and respectable job and kept herself groomed to fit it. She'd taken to keeping her hair shaved to more easily switch between her wigs and only wore the most professional and conservative clothes, just as her mother taught her.

"If you want to be respected by white folk, you must make them forget that you aren't one of them." Her mother used to tell her. Now, Deb could only hope that she was making her mother proud.

Seeing that his wife wasn't fully present, Harvey decided to continue the conversation himself.

"So, Chris, has anything interesting happened to you this week? You're still keeping your grades up, right?"

"Yes, my grades are fine." Chris told them firstly. They wouldn't relax until Chris assured them of this, fearful that he was avoiding it on purpose. "My week has been pretty normal. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Chris purposely didn't mention his dinner with Ethan. His parents probably wouldn't think anything of it, but the thought of talking about their date like any other meal seemed wrong. So Chris didn't talk about it.

"Alright then." His mother muttered followed by a soft sigh. Chris knew the look she was now wearing on her face well. She was disappointed, assuming that his silence came from not wanting to let his parents into his life. The ensuing guilt came immediately. Chris racked his brain for something to say to lift her expression once more.