Vince

Restaurant Restraint

It was clear Vince was really uncomfortable with the idea of us meeting his family along with seeing them himself. I couldn't blame him for feeling negatively, but I could force him to get the hell over it.

"I'll take off work tomorrow and you'll bring us to meet your sister."

Vince scrunched up his face in his discomfort, "I really think we shouldn't."

"I'll go without you." I crossed my arms over my chest.

Vince looked me over and laughed. His body relaxed and that damn smile of his radiated energy that was hard to ignore.

"I'll take you, but I'm nervous and I don't like being made fun of." Vince pout.

"Shut up."

I practically jumped out of my seat to go pack. I wasn't sure where we were going or how long we'd be gone, so I managed to pack my entire life into a bag. Vince was so reluctant to leave that I had to force my way into his house and pack for him.

He did insist on driving though which I was thankful for. Sure, I had a license and I could drive, I just didn't like to.

"My family is probably going to assume you're my girlfriend or something," Vince said.

"They cast you out. They can think I'm a clown for all I care," I said, distracted by watching the road pass under us.

Vince laughed. He managed to make his face look comfortable, but by the way he was gripping the wheel, I could tell he was nervous. The veins in his hands popped out with the pressure he was putting on that steering wheel.

"I can beat them all up if you want."

Vince smiled, "I don't think that would make anything better."

"It would make you feel better."

"Why are you so concerned with how I feel?" Vince asked.

"I'm not very close with my family either. Losing a kid has a tendency to tear everything apart. The woman who raised me died along with my brother and I'm pretty sure I'll never get her back, and this stranger never took the time to get to know me. Your family knows you and should love you anyway."

Vince nodded, deciding to allow the words to deep into the air. Eventually we pulled over to stay in a hotel for the night after Vince's eyelids started dropping. I claimed the shower before he could, which he didn't seem to protest to. I figured he would be fighting me a lot more than he had been.

The water pressure was nice but the water itself burned my skin like hot coals. I spent a solid fifteen minutes adjusting the knob and nothing changed. I left the shower resembling a lobster and carefully moving my clothes over my skin trying not to agitate it any more.

I spun in front of the mirror because I liked watching the material of my sundress spin. I felt younger when I wore it, probably because I had a similar one when I was nine. The yellow made me look happier.

"Pick a bed." Vince gestured between the two in the room.

I threw my bag on one and he moved his bags to the other.

"Want to get something to eat?" Vince offered.

I didn't say a word, I just dragged him out of the room. I didn't know where we were headed after this so I allowed him to lead me instead. He found some restaurant connected to the hotel and got us a table.

The host sat us and I scanned through the menu once and picked what I wanted. Vince took a lot longer to decide which was fine, but I was minutes away from ordering for him.