School ReYOUnion

Chapter Twenty Six

Just as I expected, Mitch's father's house is quite a largish one. Set back within a no through road in the village of South Cerney, I look at it with casual curiosity. As first impressions go, it looks like a rather nice period property. However, it just seems to lack something in order for it to welcome in its visitors. There are no shrubs or pretty flowers outside, only a smart looking lawn and an asphalt driveway can be seen with the too-bright outside light that glares down upon them. The frontage of this house serves its purpose, I guess, but for me, it just looks dull and uninspiring.

As we are walking towards the front door, Mitch has his hand lovingly resting on my lower back. "Okay, let's do this." He mutters to me, eyeing the door with unfaltering determination. Pressing the doorbell, I feel Mitch begin to gently rub me, probably just to keep at least one of his hands busy while he's uneasily waiting for it to be answered.

"It's going to be okay." I quietly assure him with affectionate calmness.

Bringing my cool-to-the-touch hand up to the warmth of his down-turned mouth, his reply is rough with anxiety. "Maybe."

That's when the door swings open and what is to come now finally begins. "Mitch, how nice of you to take the time from out of your A list lifestyle to be here with us lesser-known mortals for dad's birthday." There in front of us, stands a man with nothing but sarcastic delight all over his face. "I'm just kidding, please, please do come in." In an instant, this guy is cheerfully backtracking. "Good to see you, Mitch." He mellowly says, holding out his hand to greet him with.

"You too, Marcus." Says Mitch, still looking and sounding a little on edge. He then leans slightly against me, tilting his face towards mine. "This is my girlfriend Rebecca." It's only then do I see the uneasiness temporarily slip from off Mitch's features. "Rebecca, this is my brother."

Stepping forwards, I address him with impartial warmth. "Lovely to meet you, Marcus."

"You too. Shall I take your coat?" He charmingly asks.

Turning, I allow him to help me remove my coat from off my shoulders, and I am quietly now intrigued by Marcus Heston while he carefully hooks it onto the Victorian hall stand before politely taking his brother's coat as well. You can certainly tell that he's from the Heston bloodline, for sure. Only, his hair is darker than Mitch's, as are his blue eyes; those are more of a steel shade of blue. But he has the same generous mouth and the same Roman nose as his brother. Much more mature looking, yet still classically handsome like Mitch so appealingly is.

"Thank you so much." Is what I gratefully say. I'll admit, when Marcus first opened the door to myself and Mitch, his sarcastic little dig about 'making A list time for lesser-mortals' did have me inwardly arming myself for the possibility of a tongue-lashing with him, but now that he's backtracked, I'm going to give him the benefit of my doubt. Besides, I'm here to keep Mitch calm and comfortable. So tongue-lashings of any kind are strictly not allowed.

"Father and his friends are in the drawing room." Marcus gestures for us to follow him, so with Mitch slipping his one arm around my waist, we do.

While we walk through the house, I am soaking in what I can see—exposed beams, a darkly lit hallway and staircase, lots of dark paintings on the walls and some ageing furniture—it truly has an old fashioned feel to it. As we approach the drawing room, music and people talking can clearly be heard. The music is classical, of the moody and morose kind. On occasion, I quite like the uplifting and energetic symphonic style, not the sullen sounds that I unfortunately now can hear. But for Mitch, I shall walk into that room with a wide and non-judgemental smile...despite the shite that's being depressingly played in the background.