When it Happens

Chapter 16

March 11, 1994

Walking into Nate's house with his arm through mine was thrilling. The party was exactly how I had imagined. Light, classical music filled the atmosphere and people chatting with wine glasses in their hands. He looked so dapper in his suit and bowtie, his golden hair combed and jelled back... 

"Wow," I whispered quietly, not only talking about this party.

Nate sighed, and I could feel his body tensing up against my arm. "I know. I hate these things with a passion. Do you see why I wanted to invite a friend?"

Before I could answer, somebody called out to him. "Ahh, Nathaniel, you're here," A woman I remembered to be his mother walked up to him. She was wearing this phenomenal black dress that hugged her figure nicely. She was a thin woman, and she was just as beautiful as Nate had described her. She honestly looked like she could be in her late thirties, even though Nate told me she had thrown herself a big 50th birthday gala before they left to move here at the end of last Summer. She grabbed the back of his neck and kissed his head. She took a glance at me and gives me a genuine smile. "And who is this?"

"This is Vivian, she's a good friend of mine."

She puts down her wine glass and gives me a warm embrace. "Well any friend of my son is a friend of mine. Welcome to our home. You look beautiful." She turns her attention towards Nate. "Your father's looking for you. He's by the bar."

I could see him visibly deflate at that and it wasn't hidden from his mom, either. She whispers something I couldn't understand in his ear and he looked a little more confident after it."

It made me feel good to see him and his mom's relationship up close. He had always spoken so highly of her. The father was a different story, though. I was hoping he would be in a good mood and not like how we was when I last met him over winter break.

Nate leads me to the living room where we see Mr. Remington chatting up some men dressed exactly like him, that same whiskey glass in his hand. When he notices Nate, he gives a friendly, "Son! Come meet Bart from work."

I watched them chat it up for a minute, unsure of what to do with myself. Thankfully, Nate's dad looked like he was in a great mood, a stark difference from last time. He turns to me when Nate and Bart's conversation dies and asks, "Well, Nathaniel, who do we have here?" 

I plaster a smile on my face and hold my hand out for a shake. "Nice to meet you Mr. Remington. My name is Vivian."

He takes my hand and gives me a weird smile as he holds onto me a bit longer than friendly, if you ask me. Nate notices straight away and tells them, "If you'll excuse us, we're going to grab drinks."

We turn and walk towards the kitchen, leaving the two old men to themselves and head to the bar, his hand placed on the small of my back. I wanted to ask Nate about what just happened, but I could tell he didn't want to talk about it. Instead, he slaps on a goofy grin and tells me, "Let's go get drunk, Ralphie."

Nate lead me to the kitchen which was bigger than your average school classroom. White counters and cabinets surrounded the room with a huge island in the middle, where a bartender was making drinks. God, this house was freaking beautiful. It was like the more I explored it, the prettier it got. 

"Hey, Tommy. Gimme a scotch. Viv, what would you like?" Nate turns to me.

"I don't know, what do I want? All I've ever had had is beer," I chuckled. It was true. Life of a cheap underaged teenager with no fake ID.

"We have beer?" Tommy offered, but I quickly turn him down.

"That's okay, I wanna try something new. Anything fruity?"