Family Ties

Part 51

Raymond stood inside the Dealer's house, holding Skye's hand as they waited for Jackson's parents to arrive. The house felt cold and looked unused. He could understand why Skye was quieter than usual. He looked over at Jackson who looked slightly nervous. He prepared himself for the worst, because if Jackson was nervous, then this meeting could get ugly.

"Mother, "Jackson greeted Beatrice with an awkward kiss and shook his father's hand. "Eh, this is Raymond Cook and his son Skye." He smiled at the two before turning to his mother with her narrowed eyes.

"Mr and Mrs Dealer, it's a pleasure to meet you." Raymond thought he might as well try and charm them, although from the stares that he was currently receiving, the charm wasn't going to be enough. From her intense gaze, it felt like she wouldn't be happier with anything less than a pound of flesh.

"We've met before, haven't we?" She asked, briefly taking Raymond's hand and motioning for them to sit.

"Ah, yes. I was working as Jackson's assistant then." He laughed but stopped when he saw her mouth turn down and a severe frown appeared on her face.

"So, I take it you're not his assistant anymore. So what is that you do exactly" She asked shrewdly.

"I'm a freelance contractor at the moment." 

"Interesting." Her mouth was still turned down at the corners. "Well, when you said you were coming over, you never said what it was all about." She turned to Jackson.

"Right," he suddenly felt nervous. As long as he did nothing to harm the company, they'd left him alone, but he had to admit that now it felt like he was about to step into a minefield. Maybe he should have given them some type of warning.

"I wanted to introduce my partner and Skye to both of you." He placed his arm around Skye's shoulders, giving him a warm smile, sure that he could pick up on the tension in the room.

"I don't think we need to know everything that goes on in your personal life Jackson." She snapped. "I've got a headache," she gently touched her temple, "we will have to postpone lunch until another date." 

"Are you serious?!" Jackson nearly jumped out of his chair. " I introduce the two most important people in my life to you and you have a headache?" He looked to his father who looked uncomfortable with the situation. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

When his mother got up and left, Jackson swiftly followed her. Raymond could hear raised voices coming from the back of the house. From the sounds of things, another relationship was being brutally butchered to death.

"Come on Cook, we're leaving!" Jackson strode into the room and picked up Skye. "If I have to stay another moment in this house, I'm likely to do something I shouldn't!" He snapped in his father's direction.

Slamming the door to the car, Jackson took a few deep breaths before he started the car.

"Sorry about that." He briefly looked over at Raymond. "I didn't think it was going to turn out that way."

"It's okay Jackson. You need to take some time to work through this. It's a lot for your parents to take in." He tried to reason with him, by giving his parents the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, he didn't think he was wrong in that relationship was broken forever. Beatrice Dealer didn't look like the type of mother who was warm, welcoming and understanding under the best of circumstances.

"There's no point in trying to stick up for them. She's made her opinion quite clear. I mean, she couldn't be decent enough to sit down for a meal with us! What type of mother does that?" He asked in disbelief. He knew his mother was cold, but even this was too far for him.