Convenience and Compatibility (21 page)

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t know you came to the
apartment until this morning. I was sleeping.”

“Oh.”

“Listen Dean, I really need to get off the
phone. I’m tired and I need to get some sleep. I’ll call you
tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay… I love you Mallory. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

I hang up the phone and go to the guest
bedroom, knowing that I will more than likely cry myself to sleep.
I’m surprised how much I miss him – maybe I will go back tomorrow
instead of staying a few days. Turning off the light I lie in the
bed and stare at the ceiling, willing sleep to come. I don’t want
to think anymore. The longer I lay there the less I care about
Dean’s parents and his shitty behavior last night. I want him. I
want the immediate gratification of happiness that I feel when we
are together. Against my better judgment I decide to call him, not
sure what I want the outcome to be.

“Mallory?” Dean answers, breathless.

“Dean, I… I don’t know. I just... I miss
you.”

“Where are you? Give me the address.”

“Why?”

“Because I am coming there. I’m in the car
already. Give me the address Mallory.”

His tone is severe – he’s never spoken like
this to me before.

“No Dean. I don’t want to get into it
tonight.”

Dean clips me short. “We don’t have to talk
about anything, but I am coming there.”

“But my parents are asleep.”

“I’m almost to the bridge, I know how to get
to Edmonds. Baby, where are you?”

I’m silent for a moment, weighing my options.
I could let him in the side door and Mom and Dad wouldn’t know he
was here. But what if they hear him, how do I explain that?

Arghhh. “1821 Margaret, park down the street,
I’ll be watching for you.”

I press end and tidy up the guest room and my
appearance. I go into the bathroom – I look like shit. I have puffy
eyes and a red nose. I splash cold water on my face and go to the
foyer to wait for Dean.

I’m about to look out the front window when I
hear faint tapping from the door. How did he get here so quick?

As quietly as I can, I open the door and pull
him inside. I put my finger to my lips, motioning him to be quiet
as I latch the front door. I take Dean’s hand and lead him to the
guest room; pulling him inside and shutting the door.

Once we’re together, I’m at a loss what to
say. Instead of talking, I motion for him to sit on the bed and I
turn out the light. Dean lies down and I snuggle up against him,
resting my head on his arm. I feel overwhelming peace with him near
and feel myself starting to nod off. I sit up and pull the covers
up over me with Dean following my lead. He takes off his shirt and
sweats, leaving his boxer shorts. He pulls me close and puts his
chin on top of my head. We fall asleep like this, my last thought
praying that my mom won’t check on me tonight.

I wake up to Dean’s
light snoring and
the sounds of my parents moving about in the house. I reach over to
the nightstand and look at my phone. It’s only eight o’clock; why
do they have to wake up so early? I have a moment of panic that Mom
will walk in – I need to get Dean out of here unnoticed.

“Dean, Dean, wake up.” I whisper.

He opens his eyes and pulls me on top of
him.

“Dean, you need to leave. What if my mom
walks in?”

“I don’t care.” Dean pulls me close and
kisses my cheek. “I want to meet your parents.”

I pull my head up and shake it. “Not gonna
happen.”

“Why not?”

“I think another time would be more
appropriate.”

Dean frowns comically, trying to make me
laugh.

“I’m serious, I need to figure out how to get
you out of here unnoticed.”

“Okay, and then what? Are you coming home
today?”

It’s my turn to frown. “I don’t know. I sort
of told my mom that I would stay a couple of days.”

“Mallory. Come on. Stop trying to give
yourself an excuse to be away from me.”

“I’m not, really. I’m struggling with the
dichotomy of knowing that we probably aren’t going to stay together
and my desire to be with you.”

Dean pushes me away and sits up. “Why do you
say that?”

“Come on Dean, I think we are prolonging the
inevitable. Don’t you?”

“No.”

“Dean, do you really want to be in a
relationship where you can’t be with your family?”

“If it’s with you, then yes.” He says, matter
of factly.

I move over to the door and silently lock it.
I can hear Mom and Dad on the other side; I think they have the
news on. I can picture them sitting on the couch, drinking their
coffee, probably talking about me. I turn and sit across from Dean
on the bed. He’s leaning back against the headboard, his hair messy
from sleep, looking frustrated.

He runs his hands through his hair. “Mallory,
a part of me fell in love with you the moment I saw you. I’d like
to think you feel the same way as I do – that we are meant to be
together.” He takes my hand. “Something magical happened when we
met.”

I sit looking at him, not knowing what to
say. I know he’s right; I felt the same way and still do - that we
are supposed to be together. It’s just the being together part that
is not working out so great.

“What are we going to do Dean?”

“Be happy! Come home with me and let’s forget
about everyone else.”

“But that’s not real life.”

“Reality is what you make of it. I love you,
stop being obstinate.”

“Don’t you have to work today?”

Dean pulls me close. “Don’t change the
subject. I’ll work later.”

He takes my left hand and I try to pull it
back. Whoops.

“Where’s your engagement ring?”

I pull the necklace out from under my
T-shirt. Dean frowns when he sees the ring. “Why aren’t you wearing
the ring?”

I see the hurt in his eyes and it breaks my
heart. I promise myself to never take it off again. I wordlessly
take the ring off the necklace and slip in on my finger.

“I’m sorry.” I kiss him, hoping it removes
the disappointment from his face.

Dean pulls away and holds me by the arms.
“Listen to me. I know you must feel confused by my mother’s
behavior, but that’s her feelings, not mine. Please don’t break my
heart by pulling away from me.”

“I’m so sorry.” His words touch me and I feel
bad for my behavior. I know now that I would do anything not to
lose Dean. “Come on, let’s go meet my parents.”

Dean smiles and starts throwing on his
clothes.

“What should I say about last night?”

Dean shrugs, “Just tell them the truth.”

We walk into the kitchen
; Mom is
making oatmeal at the island and Dad is reading the paper at the
kitchen table. They look up when I enter the room; my father with
confusion, my mother with happy anticipation.

“Mom and Dad, this is Dean.”

“Hi Dean, nice to meet you.” Mom walks around
the island and shakes his hand. “Please call me Gloria.”

Dad gets up from his paper and follows Mom’s
suit. “Hi Dean, I’m Frank. Want some breakfast?”

“I’d love some breakfast, thank you.”

Dean sits at the kitchen table and Mom raises
an eyebrow at me. I know I will have to explain some things to her
later. If I’m lucky, over a glass of wine.

I sit next to Dean as Mom puts oatmeal
condiments on the table: brown sugar, walnuts, milk, raisins, and
diced apples.

Dean whispers to me, “I see where you learned
how to make oatmeal.”

I smile shyly back to him and steal a glance
at Dad. Hopefully he wasn’t paying attention and didn’t hear Dean’s
comment. I don’t want him thinking that I was in a situation where
I stayed for breakfast with Dean. If Dad heard then he’s not
letting on. I kick Dean under the table, hoping he gets the hint to
keep his mouth shut. My parents are old-school. I’m sure they know
that I sleep with my boyfriends, but it’s not something that I
flaunt in front of them out of respect.

Mom serves the oatmeal and sits down. She
looks from Dean to me, and I know she’s waiting for more
information.

“Dean and I met at work in September; I
administered first aid to his knee.”

“Oh.” I hear the surprise in Mom’s voice;
she’s probably wondering why I never mentioned him before.

When I don’t offer anymore information Mom
starts eating and I wonder how I’m going to tell them we are
engaged.

I decide to just come out and say it. I
squeeze Dean’s hand tightly and pull my left hand up from under the
table. I hold it up for Mom and Dad to see.

“Dean and I are engaged.”

Mom squeals and walks around to hug me and
then Dean. Dad seems happy, but takes the more subdued approach,
hugging me and shaking Dean’s hand.

“Do you have a date set?”

“No Mom, we haven’t really talked about that
yet.”

I look to Dean and can’t help but smile. It
suddenly seems incredibly real. Dean mirrors my smile and I’m happy
that I have made him happy.

Mom ogles over the ring and Dean tells her
the history. This is the kind of romantic crap that Mom can’t get
enough of. It probably reminds her of the romance novels she loves
reading. Dad is more concerned with logistics and embarrassingly
asks Dean what he does for a living.

“I work with numbers, play the stock
market.”

Dad looks confused. “You make money doing
that?”

“Yes. I do pretty well actually. I don’t have
a private jet or anything, but I own my own house and car
outright.”

Dad nods slightly and I can tell he is
impressed. Mom embarrassingly gives me a look like I’ve won the
jackpot.

“So, what are you two doing today?” Mom
asks.

I open my mouth but Dean answers. “If you
wouldn’t mind, we’ve been apart for a couple of days and I was
hoping to spend some time with Mallory.”

I hope Mom doesn’t get that this is code for,
‘I want to take your daughter home and fuck the living daylight out
of her.’ Mom seems oblivious, thank God.

“Of course! Go!”

“Thank you Gloria.”

“Please, call me Mom.”

Dean smiles, “Okay Mom.”

“Well, I guess you can call me Dad as
well.”

“Okay Dad. Thank you both for being so
gracious. I want you to know that I love your daughter very much
and I promise to always strive to make her happy.”

I can tell that Mom approves. She’s
practically swooning while she’s cleaning up the breakfast dishes.
Dad, on the other hand, is more reserved; sipping his coffee, but
smiling at Dean.

Dean squeezes my hand. “I’m going to take
off. I’ll see you soon?”

“Yes. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Great. Mom, Dad, it was wonderful meeting
you. Now that we’ve met, let’s get together soon. Maybe at the
house?” Dean raises his eyebrows and looks to me.

“Yes. Dean has a house not too far from my
apartment.” I explain.

“We would love to, just let us know.” Mom
says and Dad nods in agreement.

Dean hugs Mom and surprisingly Dad instigates
a hug with Dean as well. I walk him to the door and give him a hug.
I’m too uncomfortable to kiss him in front of my parents.

Dean pulls me tight, squeezing the air out of
me a little. He leans down and whispers in my ear, “Hurry.”

Dean lets go and I see his face is all
serious until he winks at me. My knees go a little weak and I open
the door for him, shaking my head. He walks down the drive and I
shut the door. I head to the guest room and throw on a dress that I
had packed and some leggings underneath to keep me warm. I forgo
the makeup and stuff the rest of my belongings into my bag.

Mom and Dad are still sitting at the kitchen
table when I walk in to say goodbye. They’re drinking coffee and
talking quietly. I can only guess about what. I put my bag down and
make myself a cup of tea, wanting to get the inevitable over
with.

I sit down opposite them. “Tell me.” I’m sure
they already have an opinion.

“He seems really nice Mallory.”

Dad nods in agreement. “You can tell he loves
you.”

“He does.”

“Did he spend the night here?” Dad is all
serious now. He has put down his coffee cup and gives me the ‘don’t
you fucking lie to me’ stare.

“Um… ya.” I look to him, then Mom, who is
equally staring. “But nothing happened. We got in a fight, er,
disagreement and he wanted to see me.” I give them a little smile
and look down at my tea.

“And when did you get engaged Mallory? I
didn’t even know that you were going out with this boy. What
happened to what’s-his-name… Greg?” Mom asks.

“Mom, you know Greg and I broke up a long
time ago. Dean and I have only been engaged a couple of days and we
just started going out.”

“Well I hope it’s a long engagement.” Dad
adds flippantly.

I look to Dad, my mouth still open, and close
it as I’ve already forgotten my next argument.

“So, what was the disagreement about?” Mom
can read between the lines and I know there is no point to keep the
truth from her.

“His parents don’t approve.”

“Of you?” Dad guffaws.

I nod, not knowing how much I should say. On
the one hand I want my parents to understand the situation and give
me advice. On the other, I don’t want them to have preconceived
opinions that could outlast hurt feelings.

“Honey, they’ll get to know you better and
everything will work out. How could they not love you?” Mom
says.

I nod and look at down at my ring. I’m not
ready to tell Mom and Dad that I don’t think they will ever accept
me, but I know that at least Dean loves me.

“Thank you so much for being nice to him,
even though you are mad at me for not telling you sooner. I can
tell it really meant a lot to him.”

“Of course.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I’d better get going.” I give them each a
kiss and head to Dean’s house.