Dinner

When they finished their lunch, Anthony paid the bill and they left the restaurant. They decided to walk around the nearby park, which was only about five minutes away. They passed a small lake in which snow-white swans floated freely. They looked extremely majestic and beautiful. The first one was the mother, followed by five little ducklings, pushing each other and swaying in the water. However, few seconds later, they were disturbed by Caroline's ring tone.

'Where are you about, Carrie?' There was uneasiness in her voice. No matter how hard she was trying to hide her anxiety, she always failed. Despite the fact that Caroline was an adult now, she remained her little girl and Rebecca was going crazy even if Caroline is only ten minutes late.

'We're at the park, mum. Sorry, I forgot to call. We decided to enjoy the good weather and go for a little walk.

'Oh, okay, darling, no problem. As long as I know you're okay.'

'See you soon, mum.' Caroline hung up, and they tossed some food to the swans. It was being sold in a small booth right by the lake. After that they continued walking.

A little further there was a mini garden called the Rose Garden. Only roses were planted in there. A variety of colours. Starting from the white and getting to the black ones as they walked on. They decided to take some pictures using the yellow roses as a background. These were Caroline's favourites. She hurried to use several filters to improve the lightning and posted them in her social media profiles. Anthony frowned.

'We can print this one' She swiped a few times until she finds it 'and I can put it in my purse. What do you think?' She asked excitedly.

'You already have some photos of us in your wallet. It will soon look like an album, not a gadget, originally designed to contain banknotes and coins.' Anthony said, laughing so hard at his own joke that made one of the people passing jump. He looked at Caroline and they both burst out laughing uncontrollably, as if something huge had happened.

That was one of the reasons the two of them got along so well. They had the same perspective. They didn't care what people would say or think. They just minded their own business and tried to be the best versions of themselves. They inspired each other to be better and do better. Made one another happy even when things weren't OK. They laughed at silly things. They were just real.

They continued their walk, enjoying the sun. Unfortunately about an hour later, it became cloudy and the sky turned grey. They both decided it will be best to go home now. It was 5:00pm and it would have been dinner time soon anyway. Caroline didn't live very far from the park. Maybe about twenty minutes walk. She loved walking and had even forbidden Anthony to come by car.

It was real pleasure watching them. Walking side to side. Holding hands, throwing them back and forwards gently. Kissing each other from time to time. Discussing their future. It looked like a romantic movie scene was just being filmed.

'That nasty black cloud, hanged over us, worries me a little bit.' Caroline looked up. 'I think a storm is forming. We better hurry. We may be able to get ahead of it.'

'What if we don't? We will just get a little wet. It is not a big deal. Don't be so dramatic, we will be fine.' Anthony nudged her gently and giggle.

'Oh, you men are so careless for the weather changes. You don't think about us women at all and our problems with hair, make-up and everything else.' Caroline grumbled and brushed her hair back, like a model on set.

'Well, lucky me. I guess? Not having to deal with these problems.' Anthony said, raising his eyebrows smugly. Caroline laughed and raised her hand menacingly. They both knew he was messing with her. She didn't even care if her hair was sloppy or her make-up was spread all over her face. These were insignificant things to her.

She always paid more attention to her inner side, rather than how she looked outside. And she thought the same about the people around her as well. As long as they had a good heart, she didn't care if they were skinny, chubby, tall, short, with big noses or small lips. It didn't matter to her. She believed that if a person feels healthy and happy then, they will look the same way too. If people believed more in themselves and remember how beautiful and special they are, they would be much happier and the world would be a better place.

As they walked, messing around with each other, Caroline dropped a folder. She took two steps back and bent down to pick it up. As she stood back up, she saw a man, no more than a few steps away. He wore a black tuxedo and dark sunglasses (despite the upcoming storm).

"How weird." Caroline thought. He was standing on the opposite sidewalk, but he wasn't crossing.

Looking up, Caroline noticed that the traffic light was green. What a freak. She stopped for a minute and stood there. Motionless. She remembered the black Mercedes she had spotted a few hours ago in front of the diner. Suddenly the smile on her face froze. She didn't want to make Anthony worry again, so she just turned around and continued walking.

'Come on, let's hurry. I really don't want to get wet.' She said with a serious voice.

'Is everything alright?' Anthony asked, raising his left eyebrow, confused.

'Yes.'

'You don't sound very convincing? What happened?'

'Can you stop with these questions, please? I told you. I just don't want to get wet. That's all. Can we go now?

'God. Who are you and what did you do with my girlfriend?' Anthony said playfully, shrugging Caroline gently in the ribs with his elbow. She ignored the joke. Instead, she quickened her pace even more, looking over her shoulder at every meter passed.

Anthony turned, visibly suspecting that something must have happened to frighten her, but saw nothing. There was no one. The street was empty. There was only one little puppy, slowly crossing the street. There was no one at the traffic light either. Whoever Caroline saw, was gone now.

- - - - -

They arrived at the huge house with a white porch, and Caroline hurried to take the keys out from the front small pocket on her backpack. The key ring got stuck on a torn thread and she mumbled something angrily. She pulled the keys aggressively, ripping the pocket. Then unlocked the door and they went in.

Anthony was still a little bit confused, trying to figure out what happened to change his girlfriend's mood that quick.

- - - - -

'Mum! We're home.' Caroline shouted as she slipped her sneakers off her feet. 'We're going upstairs.'

'Okay, honey.' She said. 'Dinner will be ready in an hour!' She called after them, but Caroline had already closed her room's door. Rebecca smiled and shook her head.

'Okay, I have something to read for the math test tomorrow. After that, we can watch a movie. You in?' She asked, pursing her lips slightly in a mischievous smile.

'Do I have a choice?' Anthony laughed and pulled out his phone to see if there was any new information about the case he was working on recently.

It wasn't more than five minutes before Caroline got bored and distracted. She walked over to Anthony, who had laid down on her bed, and started kissing him. First on his cheeks, then down his neck and then finally their lips met in a passionate kiss.

'Hey..' He was too pleased to tell her to stop, but he knew it was important for her to be prepared for tomorrow, so he tried to control his emotions. 'You said you had to study, didn't you?' He tilted his head. 'Come on, get to work.' He slapped her shoulder playfully and straightened his back resting his head on the wall. 'Chop-chop!'

'Hmm…' She put a finger on her chin, pretending to be thinking about something. 'As far as I remember,' She tried to look serious. 'last time you didn't care much about my homework nor my exams..'

'Yes, that is correct. And then I paid for it. You complained the whole day that you get a B++ and not an A and blamed me for that... Am I right?' Now he put a finger on his chin. Caroline ignored him and kept kissing him. 'So,' Anthony went on, 'as hard as it is for me to say it, I'm not going to make the same mistake again, I'm going to have to tell you to stop this time.'

'Excuse me?' She raised her finger. 'So you call this a mistake? You will pay for your words, Mr Naughty.' Caroline laughed and hit him with the pillow. Anthony returned the punch and that was followed by a pillow fight. Childish pillow fight. Caroline laughed out loud for several minutes until her stomach hurt.

After the fight was over, Anthony finally convinced her that she really had to finish her studying. When she was done, it was already time for dinner and they went down to join her parents.

- - - - - - -

'Good evening, Mr. Clark.' Anthony politely greeted Caroline's father, but received no response. 'Mrs Clark.' He lowered his head, respectfully.

'Come, come.' She invited them, waving her hand toward the empty chairs. 'Sit down, dear children.'

She continued talking, trying to avoid the awkward situation. 'I have prepared delicate pork ribs. The salad is in the middle of the table, and next to it - the barbecue sauce.' She pointed the little dish with brown sauce in it. 'Here are some fresh breads.' Se picked up the small bread basket to demonstrate.' Don't forget to leave room for dessert!'

Caroline's father didn't like Anthony. He never did and he never tried to hide it so he had no intention of doing so now either. He thought Anthony is unhealthy for his daughter. He is distracting her. He also fills her head with stupid things she doesn't have time to think about and this leads to lower grades in school sometimes (grades that have never been lower than B's).

Although she was one of the best graduates, it didn't seem to be enough for him to accept Anthony and understand that he doesn't affect Caroline in any bad way, but on the contrary, he encouraged her to keep fighting for her dreams.

It just seemed that he was a very concerned and strict father. To him, Caroline was still a little girl, and she would probably never grow up in his eyes. He refused to understand that she has imperceptibly become a young and beautiful woman and it was time for him to let her go.

'How was school today? Did you submit your project?' He asked Caroline without even looking at Anthony.

'Yes, dad, it went great. I couldn't wait to tell you.' Caroline set the fork aside on the table and began to talk enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, Anthony reached out and put two ribs in his plate, poured some salad and grabbed one of Rebecca's freshly baked breads as a token of respect.

- - - - - -

By the end of the evening, the two men had barely said a word to each other. And even when they did, it was part of the main conversation going at this particular moment and their words just met in the middle unintentionally.

Anthony felt awkwardly embarrassed the whole evening and once again, regretted coming. But if he hadn't, Clark would probably have considered it as disrespect, which was also a black spot for him. He had to come to terms with the fact that gaining his trust would not be an easy task.

When the dinner was over, Anthony thanked them for the hospitality and for the warm welcoming (looking particularly at Rebecca) and said it was time for him to leave. Caroline got up to accompany him to the door.

'Tomorrow at the same time?' She asked.

'Yes. I'll pick you up from school and we will figure out what we are going to do the rest of the day. Sounds good?'

'Good.' She smiled.

'Good night. I love you.' He kissed her on the cheek.

'Love you more.' Caroline kissed Anthony goodbye and closed the door. Two seconds passed and she opened it again and shouted out loud.

'Good night! I love you!'

Anthony laughed. He was thrilled, but at the same time ashamed because he was worried that his father might hear her.

Caroline then went back to the kitchen to help her mother clean up. She has never tried to escape from her responsibilities. She didn't mind helping her mum with the chores, and whenever she had that chance, she did.

After everything was clean and tidy, Caroline kissed her mother and father goodnight and went up to her room. Wiped off her make up and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

After drying her soft delicate skin, she applied at least three different types of lotion on her entire body and sprayed herself with something high scented that could be smelled downstairs in the living room and then put on her light purple pyjamas. She threw her pink robe over her back and sat comfortably in bed with her legs crossed. Then grabbed her laptop and opened all the social media she had signed in. She did this every night before going to bed. Like any young lady, Caroline was quite vain, and as much as she denied it, she was excited about how many people liked or commented her photos.

This subject was like taboo, when talking to Anthony though. He became very irritated every time she uploaded a photo, and it almost always became a reason for a fight between them. At times she thought it was sweet - the fact that he was so jealous of her, only showed how much she meant to him. But at other times, it seemed too much. Worrying. Even scary.