Chapter 55: What Does Your Family Do?
Then, they fell into silence for a while.
Clint decided to break the silence. “So, how has it been in recent years without Selene? Houston is quite far.”
“It’s been okay. Selene has always been very independent.” Suddenly, Harry thought of something. “I’m such a terrible host. I haven’t even offered you anything to drink. You must be thirsty.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m not.”
But Harry walked into the dining room as if he hadn’t heard Clint’s words.
Smash!
The sound of glass shattering into pieces reached Clint and Selene’s ears.
They both went to the dining room and found a smiling pile of shattered glass on the floor with Harry standing over it.
“The glass slipped out of my hand,” Harry explained.
“Just leave it there, Dad. I’ll clean it up.”
But Harry ignored his daughter and started picking up the glass shards. “It’s okay, Selene. I can do it.”
She saw Harry’s strange reaction. Selene took a glance at Clint, who stood by blankly. “You seem to be very excited after having met my boyfriend.”
“Not excited at all,” Harry answered embarrassedly.
But in the following hour, Harry became very absent-minded. During lunch, he even forgot to eat but just stared blankly.
After finishing their lunch, Harry found that there was some issue in the factory for him to deal with. So he left in a hurry. Clint and Selene were left behind.
Clint decided to help Selene wash the dishes in the kitchen.
“My father’s acting weird today. He seems to be at a loss. I haven’t seen him like this before.”
“Maybe because he knows that you will probably get married soon.”
“Who could I possibly marry?!” Selene sniffed.
“Don’t worry. We’ll still visit your father even after we’re married. He’s probably worried that he will see you less once you have a husband.” Clint said, then went silent for a few thoughtful moments. “But I don’t know if he will give us his blessing.”
“Of course, he will! He always supports my decisions. Besides, he doesn’t have high expectations for my future husband. But, if he doesn’t like you, I don’t think I’ll go through with the marriage.”
Clint smiled embarrassedly and said nothing.
In the afternoon, the two didn’t go out and stayed in Selene’s bedroom.
Clint was quite inquisitive about Selene’s childhood. He asked Selene to show him old pictures. She took out an album of photos, and they flipped the pages together.
Clint looked back and forth between the first few pages of the album, which contained photos of toddler Selene. “Why are there so few pictures of you at this age?”
“This is around the time my mother left. My grandma threw away all of her photos in case they would make me miss her.”
Clint froze slightly. “Do you still remember what she looks like?”
“Not really,” Selene replied. “I was only 2. Too young to remember.”
There was still one photo of her mom with her father, but Selene chose not to mention that.
“Did you miss her when you were young?”
“Maybe. I don’t really remember.” Selene shrugged.
Clint closed the album and suddenly took her hands in his and gave her a strange look.
“What’s wrong?” Selene asked in confusion.
“Nothing.” Clint shook his head.
When it was time for dinner, Harry was not home. But Dora, Austin’s mom, came to the house.
Selene invited her inside.
Dora looked excited. “I met your father. He told me that your new boyfriend is here.”
Selene smiled, and they walked into their room where Clint was.
Dora stared at his face and exclaimed. “Tall and handsome. And you look very familiar.”
“Really?” Clint smiled.
Selene happily introduced the two to each other. “This is Aunt Dora, and this is Clint.”
When Dora heard Clint’s name, the smile on her face froze suddenly; she became blank and asked after a while. “What’s your second name?”
After hearing his name, Aunt Dora’s eyes fixated on Clint as a look of realization dawned on her face. “Did you say, Clint Denovan?” Dora inquired.
”I guess.” Clint nodded, but his eyes evaded her.
“Dora, what’s wrong with his name?” Selene asked.
Dora recovered from her state of shock, and she shook her head, smiling. “Nothing. It just sounds familiar. Let’s go to the kitchen.” She said, looking at Selene. ”I brought some food.”
Dora and Selene went to the kitchen, and Clint stayed behind in the living room.
“He seems like a nice guy. Better than your last one.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” Dora nodded. ”Where’s he from, and what does he do for work?”
“He’s from Coastal City, and he owns his own business.”
“Wow.” Dora nodded with approval. ”Have you met his parents yet?”
“Not yet.”
“Oh, I see.” Dora dragged her tone.
“Why are you and dad so weird around Clint?”
“Your father was weird around him? What do you mean?”
“Not sure how to explain. He was somewhat absent-minded. Maybe he’s just worried about me.”
“Yes. You’re now a grown-up, and you might even get married soon.”
Selene laughed. “Don’t worry. I won’t be getting married any time soon.” She assured Dora.
During the dinner, the four of them sat together. Dora and Harry were still acting strange. They both seemed quite hesitant to speak.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
Clint tried to ignore the awkward silence and concentrated on eating.
After they finished eating, Clint received a phone call, and he answered it. After a brief conversation, he hung up the phone and gave the others an apologetic look. “I’d love to stay for longer, but unfortunately, there’s an urgent matter at my company that I need to deal with. I have to go. Sorry.”
“It’s all right. Your work is important.” Harry forced a smile.
“How urgent is it? It’s late.” Selene frowned, looking at her watch.
“It’s an international conference call. It will start as soon as I get there.”
Selene nodded and saw him off to the gate of the house.
When she got back to the room, she saw Dora and Harry sitting on the sofa with strange expressions on their faces. They both looked like they wanted to say something but were holding it back.