Howard Mansion.
06.47 PM. After her two-second hug, Faith naturally backed off with a smile on her face. Grace looked a bit grumpy, but her eyes were focused on Chris more than she wanted to.
"Let me call dad, you guys talk about your school or something."
Faith offered with a smile, and then grabbing the mac and cheese, she went upstairs. Grace stood there awkwardly, in her hand was the white coat Chris brought for her. Faith had handed this over when she was going upstairs.
"I thought you would throw those loud parties as usual. You should have texted me, I would have came earlier."
Chris smiled at Grace, then walked to the couch and sat down naturally, he was a bit nervous because he had to meet Robert Howard, a man even a Pennsylvanian state senator won't be able to meet this easily.
"I wanted to, but then I realized I was not allowed to."
Grace grumbled, then sat beside him and complained, she looked like she was wronged somehow.
"Well, I forbid it because you used to text me all the time, even your grades fell in the sophomore year because of this. You got addicted to that. You can text me important things, like today."
Chris said, then leaned back to relax a bit, seeing Grace gives him comfort and peace of mind. He doesn't know why. Then he took a nice big breath and tried to relax a bit more in her presence.
"I will text you then?"
Grace asked with a hopeful gaze, her mouth forming a curved smile. Chris nodded his head with a smile, they were almost done with high school anyway, and as of today she was an adult, so she could decide what's better for her.
"Christopher Harper!! It has been a while."
As Chris was leaning back relaxedly, a voice boomed from the stairs. Hearing the voice, Grace's back straightened up a bit, but Chris jumped from his relaxed position and stood up in one full motion.
"It has been a while since we last met, Sir."
Chris replied with a polite smile on his face. Robert Howard was walking down while attaching his suit buttons properly. Faith could be seen walking behind him, she was smiling as she felt amused at Chris's dramatical change.
Robert directly went to Chris and extended his hand. Chris took the hand and shook it as gently as he could.
"A man must have a firm grip and look at you, you're as tall as ever, like your dad."
Robert gripped Chris's hand tightly and shook it a few times with a familiar motion, then looked Chris in the eye. Robert was 169 cm, by no means a short person, but Chris was 195 cm.
"How is Mrs. Howard doing these days?"
Chris asked politely, and Robert nodded his head as he will answer the question later and motioned for Chris to sit down first.
"She's doing well, she's in New York for her routine checkup and to finalize a business deal. From there she will fly to Boston. As you know, Faith is currently a junior in Harvard's law department, Faith will have to fly there as well in a few days. They both will attend a event that requires a parent."
Robert said casually as he sat down and crossed his leg slowly. Faith walked across from Robert and sat down on a separate couch, she was still wearing the black coat Chris brought her.
"Oh! I didn't know she skipped her grades at Harvard as well, that feels like her "
Chris nodded his head. Faith was also his classmate before, but she was very intelligent and skipped grades like it was nothing and went to Harvard on a full scholarship.
"We were surprised as well, she's barely 18 now, so we had to go there to sign so many forms for her. Sigh! Now tell me about your dad, how is he doing?"
Robert proudly smiled at first because Faith was his pride, he brags about her every chance he gets. Then with a sigh, he changed the subject because Chris was Grace's boyfriend.
"He's doing fine nowadays, his alcohol addiction is coming down a lot."
Chris replied, and Grace simply patted his knee to show she was with him in this.
"Sigh! If we could have found out about your mom's cancer early, we could have prevented it. I am so sorry about that, I still feel regret. After what your family did for us, it just doesn't feel right. I feel like I could have done more."
Robert, with a face full of regret, looked at Chris, the air itself became heavy when Chris's mother got mentioned, and even Faith and Grace looked quiet.
"Sir, You did what you could, don't regret any of your effort. I have heard Mel say you even took Mom to Europe. That was as much as any man can do."
Grace closed up on Chris as he replied to her father, she was constantly tapping his knee gently to show her support somehow even though she didn't know how.
"Your mother was a kind one, I always saw her as my little sister. When Brenda needed bone marrow, I still remember little Becky volunteering herself, she was a treasure. Well, let's forget about sad moments. How long have you two been going out again, 5 years?"
Robert smiled after a brief moment of regret, sadness, and nostalgia, then asked, looking at Chris with a smile.
"Dad, it's six, I thought you remembered that."
Grace replied first, she looked fierce and almost angry at her dad for not remembering how long she has dated Chris.
"It's been six years, sir."
Chris reported with his lips holding back laughter, the atmosphere suddenly went from dark and gloomy to cheerful because Grace was still by his side.
"Six? I still remember how worried I was when she turned fifteen. Sigh! You're a very good kid."
Robert nodded with satisfaction, he was satisfied with Chris and his behaviors around his daughter. Not many young men can keep their hands off and guide a person along the way.
"Mr. Howard, the dinner is ready, should we prepare the table?"
A maid came in and, with a slight bow, asked, she was one of the kitchen staff in the Howard mansion.
"Of course, prepare the table."
Robert agreed in an instant, it was way past his dinner time, and Chris had to drive back home. The maid ran back inside after hearing the confirmation.
"Let us go and sit at the dining table."
All four of them walked to the table, Robert stood up first, Faith tactfully ran up to him then held his arm and started some small talk, Grace finally found her courage and held Chris's hand firmly, and Chris looked at her in the eyes and smiled.