ADDISON
There seemed to be nothing fair or "exciting" about any of this. Mom said that it was a good idea to get to know Gustav's parents, so we were all going to dinner to meet them and get to know each other. I, on the other hand, did not want to sit at a table where my opinion meant little to anyone. I would rather be getting ice cream with Damian and Sarah; that's probably what they were doing now.
"Mother, do I have to go?" I asked her.
"Why wouldn't you?"
"I don't feel like I have much of a voice. Can't I just stay behind? This is kind of a "Celeste-problem"."
"But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be involved."
"I've literally never met his parents."
"Well, neither have I, so it's a surprise for both of us. Besides, why don't you want to go anyways?"
"Because my friends and I already planned to do something today."
"Since when did you become a social butterfly?"
"It was just Damian and Sarah Sahara," I muttered.
GUSTAV
"I know this is your first time meeting her mother..." I said.
"And? So? We meet hundreds of people, don't we, Marx?" The Director said.
"I know how you get around other people," I said.
"What? What do I do around other people?"
"You tend to be a little...repugnant...is all."
"I'm what?"
"Repugnant! Adjective. Extremely distasteful, unacceptable or in conflict with, incompatible," Marx said, reading from the dictionary.
"...or given to stubborn resistance," I added. "I read that page as well."
"I know what repugnant means."
"All I'm saying is try not to make Celeste feel terrible about herself."
"I'm just saying, you and Celeste should've been a h*lluva lot more careful."
"Yes, we should have."
"Do you even know what it's like raising a child?"
"I raised myself when you went on those long trips to France. Does that count?"
The Director muttered something then he said, "No."
"I like the girl. She's not that bad," Marx said. "You on the other hand..."
"What about me?!" I exclaimed.
"You've got a temper, and that spunk of yours needs to be controlled."
"What are you going to do? Send me to boarding school?"
"See, Adele?! That's what I was saying!"
"I like it. Keeps him out of trouble."
"It's going to get him into trouble."
"Gustav, tell your father to shut up."
"Are you going to fight like this in public?" I asked, embarrassed that they couldn't even keep it together at home.
"That depends on what he says."
ADDISON
"Have you met Gustav's parents?" I asked. Mother told me that if I had nothing to do, then I could always check on Celeste, which I decided to do—because I had nothing to do.
"Yes," she said, brushing her hair. "But he also tells me about them a lot."
"Of course, he does..." I said.
"I don't know what your problem is. Maybe you're jealous; maybe you're not-"
"-I could never be jealous. Technically, you're the unlucky one. I'm going to be the one getting a good night's sleep, while you're up 24/7 nursing a child."
Celeste grabbed a pillow and began hitting me in the face with it.
"What the heck do you have in there? Bricks?" I said, trying to deflect the blows.
"I hate you, Addison!" she shouted, throwing it to the side and leaving the room.
"I hope you two aren't fighting like that in front of them."
"It's Addison's fault," Celeste said, pointing at me. "He's always so infuriating!"
"I did nothing," I said, raising my hands. "She hit me with a pillow."
"That was after you said-"
"-You both need to stop fighting and come to an agreement. In five months, you're not going to be able to have these trivial disagreements. By then, I would've expected you to be responsible enough. Consider today to be a test."
I looked at Celeste and gave her a 'you-first' look.
"Let's go then."
GUSTAV
"What's she like? Besides being unnaturally clingy...?" The Director asked.
"She's actually very nice if you get to meet her," I said.
"She came to the house far too many times last summer."
"She likes some of your movies. What if I told you that?"
"She likes you."
"She likes most people."
"She likes you. Why don't you find a nice, friendly, hopefully introverted guy to compliment your obviously amazing personality?"
"Are you saying I'm unfriendly?"
"You are many things, Gustav. And unfriendly just happens to be one of them," Marx said.
"Ouch..." I noticed Celeste, Addison, and Ms. Chokshi were standing by the cafe. Addison still seemed to be furious with Celeste though.
"Try not to fight. For me please?" I told them both.
They looked at each other and then me. I didn't know what that response meant, so I carried on.
"Gustav !" Celeste said, running to hug me.
I kissed her on the forehead and turned to my parents. "You obviously know my parents—Marx; Director."
"Hi..."
The Director said nothing.
"Say something..." I muttered.
"Salut, fille stupide! Comme c'est gentil d'avoir couché avec mon fils."
Celeste gave me a confused look. I, knowing exactly what the director had said, glared at him.
"What did she say?" she asked me.
"He's very nice to meet you. He looks forward to getting to know you."
"Tell me she at least knows German."
"Actually, yes," Celeste said.
"That's something," The Director said, walking past us. "And who's this?" She pointed at Addison. "Did you clone the girl?"
"No, he's my twin brother," Celeste said, sounding unhappy to introduce him.
The Director smiled. "I like this one."
He finally turned to Latika.
"So you're their...guardian?"
"I'm their mother," She said.
"Seems we both have harum-scarum children."
"And impolitic."
Celeste and I both began complaining.
"It's true," Marx said. He turned to Celeste. "You two have a long journey ahead of you. I look forward to seeing it. Wait till your own kid is nineteen and using the same insults against you."
"I think he just hates me and likes you, and the other one likes me and hates you," I said to Celeste.
"Adison's the same. He's not really in a social mood right now. He never is."
"Have you ever experienced a crowd of fans taking pictures of you and asking for your autograph?"
"No..."
"Well, you're about to."
As soon as we walked through the doors, everyone got up from their seats and was rushing to take selfies, asking for autographs, trying to find a way to grab some sort of souvenir to remember the moment they met The Director. Demons mainly had a bad reputation, but the Director was one of the few who was heavily respected.
"Wow..." Celeste said, utterly speechless.
"Welcome to the life of a celebrity."
Marx stopped in front of the barista. "I need a table away from all these plebeians."
The Director shoved him aside. "Just get us something clean and in the back."
"Can I get a selfie?" he asked, phone shaking in hand.
"Make a decent black tea and get me an English muffin, and we'll see about that." The barista smiled and pointed to the room behind him and quickly got to work.
"I'll have an Earl Grey," I added before we left.
"You're so European," Celeste muttered.
I couldn't help but laugh after hearing her. We all sat on opposite ends of the table as if a family that had been divided by long centuries of fighting. We were very different though.
"Well, it's mid September. That's awfully late for us to meet up," Marx said.
"I blame myself," Lakita said. "I never thought to question her."
"Do you have a husband?" The Director asked.
"No, I raised them both by myself."
"What a trooper..." The Director gave me a side glance. She then looked at Lakita again. "What's your financial status?"
"Oh, uh...you know how it is. Teachers don't really get paid that well."
"I'll say!" Marx said. "Gustav, you never come home with a big enough paycheck."
"Shut up..." I muttered, embarrassed.
He sighed, "Reminds me of my brother, Fitch. I don't know whether to call him a disappointment or a success."
"What is his career?" Lakita asked.
"Not quite sure anymore. He could never hold a job, and we haven't spoken with each other in twenty years." He turned to me and Celeste. "So what is your genius plan to deal with this problem anyways?"
"I'll probably end up staying over at Celeste's house more-"
The Director carelessly interrupted, "-good. I need you out of the house for a few weeks. The filming process for The Caves is taking longer than I expected. By the way, I need to use your room. Hopefully Austin Kennedy doesn't screw it up too bad."
Celeste gave me a heartfelt look, clearly feeling apologetic that both Marx and The Director were incredibly random and incredibly indifferent.
"This is what my life is like..." I whispered to Celeste.
She smiled a little, trying to be supportive.
"Just two average unmarried European people trying not to act married."
She laughed.