A Dream, A Destiny

Soul mate

Ash POV

"What is this?" My dad growled over Hope's head as he stood up with his face changed from calm to anger in one second. His loud voice got some attention from other citizens across our table.

I let out a breath, my eyes shut closed then opened. "Dad, let's not do this right now," I said calmly, even though I felt anything but calm. The man had issues and I wanted to punch him out. "It's not a big deal."

Yeah right.

"Not a big deal?" Dad let out a bark of sarcastic laughter, pointing a finger at me. "I gave you one simple directive- find a suitable date for tonight." He gestured at a wide-eyed Sere, who was sitting so still I wasn't sure she was breathing. "You find a beautiful date that doesn't have two pennies to rub together! And you say it's not a big deal?" He barked the last part so loud it made both my ears screeched wanting them to bleed out.

Snidely, I said, "It could be coz I'm not a snob," even though I should have kept my mouth shut.

Dad looked at for a moment then turned his head back to Sere, glaring at her. "How'd you get into Lumiose?" he asked sternly in a serious mood.

Quietly, Sere replied in a low tone, "I'm on Financial Aid."

"Of course. I should have guessed." Dad looked disgusted. "What-."

Hope stepped in to save the day. Putting a hand on dad's arm, she spoke, "Giovanni, please. Not in front of Leaf." Dad shot a look at Leaf, who was staring with wide, scared eyes and subsided. "Let's try to have a nice, civil dinner."

Thumping on the table, dad muttered and sat down in his seat, "Where's the damn waiter, I need a fricken drink."

Later as time passes by. Our food arrived in time as waiters place them on table in front of us, getting a full view of our foods design and we ate quietly, Hope trying valiantly to keep the conversation flowing. Sere joined in and Leaf had a ton of stories about her teddy bears and Barbie's, but dad didn't say a single word. He just shovelled down his food, refilling his wine glass every few minutes, drinking it in one gulp without caring for the world. And I just pushed my food with a fork in hand around my messy plate, my appetite gone.

I felt so humiliated and embarrassed that I couldn't even look in Sere's direction beside me. Now that she knew exactly what my dad was like, there was no way she would want to help me with my list. Not that that was the most important thing. She wouldn't want to hang out with me either, which actually sucked, strangely enough. Or maybe not strangely enough since I had gotten quite used to Sere over the past few weeks.

When dinner was finally over which almost took like an hour-half, dad stood up from his seat and walks to podium to receive his award and give his speech out to all aged people around the room, I leaned over to Sere to whisper, "Sorry," in her ear.

And somehow managed to refrain from nibbling on it. There's just something about ears and Sere's looked made for nibbling. I pushed that disturbing thought out of my head as she smiled at me.

"It's okay," she whispered back but I shook my head adamantly.

"It's not okay. He's messed up. And I messed up." I sighed, dropping my head by looking down at my feet. "I should have warned you that he can be a dick."

Sere gently patted my right arm, her touch making my skin tingle through my shirt. "Relax, Ash," she said cheerfully. I looked up and stared at her. She didn't seem offended or unhappy. "I'm having fun."

Say what?

In disbelief, I asked with raised eyebrows, "Really?"

"Aren't you having fun?" She questioned.