Above image made by KaylaKeifer

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Chapter 4

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Currently Unedited

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"I'm here!"

It felt like the entire room was shaking as the voice echoes through the atmosphere. I turn quickly to see where the sound was coming from. An elderly lady dressed in the perfect purple pant suit holds her hands next to her sides as if she was royalty. My body trembles as I think about the fact that I'm meeting Andrews parents.

His mother enters the room with style, her hips swaying as she sautes closer to her son. I could see the resemblance, her sharp jaw matching his. I tried to put a smile on my face as I watch her kiss Andrew's cheek before pulling him into a warm hug.

"Now who would this lovely lady be?" His mother turns to me, her arms spread wide as she closes the distance between us. When she pulls me in for a hug I awkwardly wrap my arms around her. She smells like fresh flowers, her voice ringing in my ears.

"I'm Erin Rose," I smile as I introduce myself. I pull away from her before holding my hand out to shake hers. She waves her hand through the air as she glances around the room.

"Put that away, ladies don't shake." She reprimands as she takes her seat next to Andrew. Immediately Andrew is by my side as he wraps his arm around my waist.

"Don't mind her, you're modern," he whispers as he leads me to my seat. What did she mean by I was modern? Was that a bad thing to be a business woman in this time? I shook my head as I sit down in my chair waiting for our food to arrive. Andrew's father wasn't nearly as loud as his mother. He seemed to already be in his seat, his napkin tucked neatly on his chest. He looked as if he was prepared for a feast of fried food at a fair. I chuckled to myself taking in his suit hidden behind the fresh napkin.

"Mother, this is my fiancee," Andrew smiles, searching his mother's face as she grabs her glass of water. Once the 'f' word exits his lips she freezes, her eyes staring at him as if he was crazy. She sputters on her water before swallowing hard.

"You're what? You didn't even tell us you were dating?" She exchanges looks with her husband before glancing at me. I felt small under her gaze. She seemed unhappy with the idea of Andrew and I getting married. What was so wrong with me though?

"Mother, Erin and I are going to get married, and I hope you and father will be there to support us," Andrew seemed unfaltered by his mother's worries. I looked to him for the strength I needed to get through this dinner. If only he would have given me a heads up to prepare more. Maybe it was good that he didn't, there was no way I would be this calm if I had weeks to fret about this moment. If I would have known I would have curled my hair differently, wore a better dress, changed my lipstick, put on some perfume, anything to look more put together.

Before anyone could respond Jimmy came rushing in with a few platters held high in the air.

"Dinner will be served in around forty minutes. For now here are the starters." Jimmy placed the plates on the table in an elegant design. One by one he took the lids off to reveal what was underneath. A couple bowls of salad that looked like it was made for a king and queen, and some soup that was steaming. Both looked amazing and the smell wafted through the room causing my mouth to water.

Katie had really outdone herself this time. I shook my head. I'm sure she outdoes herself every single meal she cooks. That was one thing I could get excited about was having world class food everyday, but she would have to let me get a little more involved in the prep. Especially if Clara was around. We loved to cook wonderful vegetarian food together.

I sat in my chair watching as everybodies stairs at each other. Were we going to eat our food or just sit looking at each other? Jimmy rushed over to Andrew's mother leaning close enough that he could speak in a soft voice.

"Soup or salad madam?" He questions, his voice soft and silky. The accent he possessed making the question sound even more appealing.

"Soup," Andrews mother responds leaning towards her husband whispering a few things to him. He nods his head before leaning forward on the table. His elbows used to prop him up. My eyes shoot open in shock as I watch his horrendous table manners. Glancing at Andrew I realized he was doing the same. Now I was confused. Why was Andrew's mother so stingy on the way she was served yet she wasn't bothered by the boys having their elbows on the table. To test the theory I place my own elbows on the table using my hands to balance my head.

"Erin," Andrews mother leans forward whispering towards me. "Ladies don't place their elbows on the table," she nods her head before leaning back in her seat. What did she even mean? I scoffed, pulling my elbows off the table. This must be a sick joke.

Jimmy rushed over to me, asking me which food item I would like. I glanced at the options once again. My mouth watering at the decision.

"Erin," Andrews mother starts again. I glance in her direction waiting for what she was going to correct me on this time. "A lady never makes someone wait for an answer," she nods, her hand gesturing towards the food. I shook my head.

"No you are correct, my apologies. Jimmy, I would like some salad please. May I grab it though?" I question. My eyes begging the butler to allow me to do it myself. Jimmy stutters as he stumbles backwards. My words were like bullet wounds leaving him weak.

"Of course you may," Andrew interjects waving towards Jimmy to cater to his father. Jimmy nods as he rushes over. Andrews mother stares at me in shock as I stand leaning over the table to grab my own food. She shakes her head in disgust as I grab the utensils.

Jimmy quickly grabs food for both the boys before disappearing into the kitchen. I'm sure he was relieved to be as far away from our dinner as possible. I knew I was going to have to apologize to him later.

"Andrew, how is the business going?" Andrews father pipes in, his voice lower than his son. I smile as I follow along the conversation.

"Numbers have been way up, I actually owe a lot of that to Erin," I smile as Andrew glances towards me. He places his hand on mine as he squeezes slightly. "I've been stuck in a rut and she has helped me look at things differently. Did you know she owns her own business?" He brags. I can feel the color forming in my cheeks and my skin starts to get hot.

"Your own business?" Andrews father mutters as he glances at me nodding his head. He takes a fork full of salad shoving it into his mouth. Andrews mother does the same as she rolls her eyes. My heart sinks a little further in my chest. Seriously, why was I not good enough for her son?

"Yeah, it's called Little White Dress, its a bridal shop in Manhattan." I smile, taking a bite of the croutons covering the top of my salad.

"A bridal shop, so you can get me a dress from Paris for when Tyler and I renew our vows?" Andrews mother questions, her eyes hostile under her perfect eyelashes. I nodded my head making sure to swallow my food before responding.

"Yeah, I can order anything from Paris, I work very closely with tons of designers there. I could give you a discount too, it can be pricey to order direct like that," Andrew's mother scoff as she takes another sip of her drink.

"Do I look like the sort of lady that wants a discount?" I chuckle as I couldn't seem to win in this situation. There was nothing I could say that was okay for her. It didn't matter that was I was doing well on my own, I had a job, better than that, I was my own boss with my own very successful business. I couldn't take this much longer.

"No sorry, full price will work," I mumble. If she didn't want my help with a discount for her anniversary so be it. I'm sure there was nothing nice enough on my sales floor to please her. Not because the dresses were horrible, because I had the best of the best. The top of the line. Simply because I was quickly finding out that nothing I do would ever be good enough for Andrew's mother.

It hadn't felt like forty minutes, but just as soon as I could grab another bite of my salad Jimmy was back. This time he brought the server from earlier. My heart sank once again. Great now there were two people in the room who just believed I couldn't do anything right. I could feel my palms get sweaty. Ricky swoops around the table as he grabs the plates quickly taking them back to the kitchen. Jimmy holds more silver platters, sitting them delicately on the table to replace the previous ones.

I watch with excitement as he slides each silver platter in front of the four of us. I glanced down the dining room table. This table could at least hold twenty people. There was no reason we needed a table this long for our little dinner.

Once all the platters were in their spot four more servers came rushing from the kitchen towards us. They each held their hand hovering over the lid of the plates.

"Tonight's dinner is a lovely pan seared chicken breast on a field of asparagus with roasted potatoes and shrimp. Please enjoy," He motions for the servers to lift the lids of the platters to reveal the beautiful food. This was something I would post on instagram if I was one of those people. Hell, this food looks so good I might become one of those people just this one time.

"Andrew, your staff really does outdo themselves every time. Your father and I really need to get the contact info for who you hire from," She smiles, patting her hand on his shoulder before she grabs her fresh utensils to dig into the chicken.

"They really do, Katie is amazing," Andrew thanks Jimmy before sending him back to the kitchen. I wanted to follow him. I wanted to run away from this lady that was impossible to please. Unless you were anyone other than me. Then it was easy to please her.

I could feel the tears welling up in the back of my eyes. I just wanted to curl up in a ball. I wasn't use to people not liking me and honestly this was somebody I really needed to like me. This was going to be my mother in law. I shook my head trying to hold the tears back as I slice into my chicken.

Plopping the meat into my mouth I chomp down as the juices explode in my mouth.

"Oh my god this is amazing," Andrew's foot thumps me under the table as I quickly cover my mouth with my hand. I hadn't meant to create a scene like that. I felt the temperature rising in my cheeks once again, this time from embarrassment instead of flattery. There was no winning for me tonight.

Dinner went the same way all night. I would try my best to impress everyone and every time it seemed to fall flat. I found myself fumbling over my words and thoughts. I didn't feel like myself and it wasn't a good feeling. I've never had a problem pleasing the mothers of my friends, boyfriends, whatever it is. Usually I was a welcome surprise to parents, better than what their boys had been bringing home. For some reason though tonight was different. I felt awful.

I couldn't wait for dinner to end and lucky for me once we were done with our meals Andrews parents didn't stick around long. This was so strange to me, my family would hang out for hours after we would meet for dinner. Dinner was just the warm up to the party. The pre party so to speak.

I was finally able to breathe once his parents left. Everything felt better. Andrew seemed more like himself and everything seemed happier. I had found out his mother's name was Esmeralda, which I couldn't help but chuckle at. Esmeralda and Tyler. Those didn't go together at all. One was so elegant, unique, exotic, the other just a simple ordinary name. It was perfect though, it fit their personalities. She was high matinence and he was content with himself.

"That wasn't so bad," Andrew chuckles as he removes his tie. I cough on my own spit as he says that. Wasn't so bad? It was god awful. What was his idea of horrible? I never wanted to experience anything like tonight ever in my life. I wasn't excited about having to deal with his mother ever again, and I secretly hoped she would go to a different bridal shop for her wedding dress needs. That was saying something, because it didn't matter how much I disliked somebody I was always willing to help to the best of my ability to help the shop.

"Not that bad? Really, your mother hates me," I scoffed as I curl myself into the sheets. I glanced at the clock, it was just barely after nine. I was eager to get to bed though since there was lots of work to be done the next week. I would need to pack up my things so we could move clara into my apartment and my things into my new home.

Andrew stands in the bathroom as he continues to strip his suit. I watch carefully as he pulls his jacket off to reveal his toned back muscles. My eyes dancing over the creases. How did he have a body like that, he never worked out?

"She doesn't hate you. She just really loved my ex," He whispers just loud enough for me to hear. I shake my head. That was supposed to make me feel better?

"Andrew, dont lie to me. I didn't make a good impression tonight," I grip the sheets pulling them closer to my chest. The comfortable bed relieving me of today's stress.

"You think getting your own salad was a good idea? Because that was embarrassing," Andrew grabs his toothbrush placing some toothpaste on it before going to work on his teeth. I immediately fling the blankets away from my body.

"I embarrassed you?" I fold my arms over my chest as I storm towards him. Andrew was embarrassed by me wanting to get my own salad. How is Jimmy supposed to know how much I want? Why is it his job to get it for me anyways? I was a grown adult who can serve my own salad.

"Kind of," Andrew mutters after he spits the toothpaste into the sink. "My mother would never do something like that," he shrugs placing his toothbrush back in its holder.

"So I'm not enough like your mother?" This time I pop my hip, adding even more dramatics to my response.

"No, and that's a good thing. But you do need to work on your manners, it's Jimmy's job," Andrew shrugs making his way towards the bed.

"You are being ridiculous! All I did was get my salad myself!" I could feel the anger bowling in my body. Was Andrew really this clueless?

"Well you also placed your elbows on the table..." Andrew places his reading glasses on as he starts searching through a few papers for work. He usually did this at the end of the day to see what he needed to prep for tomorrow.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I fling my hands down by my side as I stomp my foot like a child throwing a tantrum over not getting enough cake. Andrew peers at me from above the rim on his glasses.

"Why are you acting like this?" He sets the papers down on his lap pulling the glasses off his face. This only frustrated me more. How could he not see what I was so frustrated about?

"Because you just don't get it! Im sleeping somewhere else!" I shout turning on my heel heading out of the bedroom. I slam the door behind me as I storm through the hallways. I needed to find a guest room. Would Andrew chase me? Would he care about where I was going? I felt bad I haven't thanked Jimmy earlier but unfortunately he would be gone by now. I cursed under my breath as I travel down the hallway opening every door possible. Did I really want to stay in the same hallways as Andrew? Was that far enough away from his inconsiderate mindset?

It felt like it took forever but finally I was able to find a room that felt far enough away from my fiance. I just needed to sleep, maybe I would feel better about everything in the morning.

Dragging myself into the sheet I pulled them over my head engulfing myself in a pit of darkness. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I knew I needed to hold them back. There was no reason to cry tonight. It wouldn't fix anything.

So with that in mind I allowed myself to drift slowly to sleep, the stress from dinner soothing me until I melted into my dreams.