I hadn’t heard from my stepdaughter Hyacinth in ages, so when she invited me to dinner, I thought that maybe this was the moment when we would finally bond. But nothing could have prepared me for the surprise that awaited me at the restaurant.
My name is Rufus, I’m 50 years old, and over the years I’ve learnt to put up with a lot. My life has been pretty stable, perhaps even too stable. I work a quiet office job, live in a modest house and spend most of my evenings with a book or the news on TV.
Nothing particularly interesting, but that’s always been fine with me. The one thing I’ve never figured out is my relationship with my stepdaughter Hyacinth.
For a year – maybe more – I hadn’t heard from her. We’d never gotten together since I married her mother, Lilith, when she was still a teenager.
She always kept her distance, and I guess over time I stopped trying too. But I was surprised when she called me out of the blue and, oddly enough, with a cheery voice.
‘Hey, Rufus,’ she said, her voice almost too cheerful, ’how about we go out to dinner? There’s this new restaurant I want to try.’
At first I didn’t know what to answer. Hyacinth hadn’t made contact in ages. Could this be her way of reconciling? An attempt to bridge the gap between us? If so, I was all for it. For years, I’d wanted this. I wanted to feel like we’d become one family.
‘Sure,’ I replied, hoping to get a fresh start. ‘Just tell me where and when.’
The restaurant was posh – much more posh than I was used to. Dark wood tables, soft lighting, waiters in clean white shirts. When I arrived, Hyacintha was already there and looked… different. She smiled at me, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
‘Hey, Rufus! You made it!’ – she greeted me, and there was some strange energy emanating from her. It was like she was trying her best to appear relaxed. I sat down across from her, trying to figure out what was going on in the room.
‘So, how’s it going?’ I asked, hoping for a real conversation.
‘Good, good,’ she replied quickly, looking over the menu. ‘How about you? Are you doing well?’ Her tone was polite but detached.
‘Same old, same old,’ I replied, but she wasn’t listening to me. Before I could ask anything else, she waved to the waiter.
‘We’ll have the lobster,’ she said, giving me a quick smile, ’and maybe the steak too. What do you say?’
I blinked, a little caught off guard. I hadn’t even looked at the menu yet, and she was already ordering the most expensive dishes. I shrugged. ‘Yeah, sure, whatever you want.’
But the whole situation seemed odd. She was nervous, pacing in her seat, glancing at her phone every now and then and giving me curt responses.
As the meal went on, I tried to steer the conversation to something deeper, something meaningful. ‘It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I’ve missed hanging out with you so much.’
‘Yeah,’ she muttered, barely looking up from her lobster. ‘Been busy, you know?’
‘Busy enough to disappear for a whole year?’ I asked, half-jokingly, but the sadness in my voice was hard to hide.
She looked at me for a second, then back at her plate. ‘You know how it is. Work, life…’
Her eyes kept darting around, like she was waiting for someone or something. I tried to ask her about work, friends, anything to keep the conversation going, but she gave me nothing. Short answers, no eye contact.
The longer we sat there, the more I felt like I was intruding on something I shouldn’t be a part of.
Then the bill arrived. I automatically reached for it, pulled out my card, and prepared to pay as I’d planned. But just as I was about to hand it over, Hyacintha leaned over to the waiter and whispered something. I couldn’t catch it.
Before I could ask, she gave me a quick smile and stood up. ‘I’ll be right back,’ she said, ’I just need to use the loo.’
I watched her walk away and my stomach ached. Something wasn’t right. The waiter handed me the bill, and my heart twinged when I saw the amount. It was outrageous – much more than I’d expected.
I cast a glance towards the bathroom, half expecting Hyacintha to return, but she wasn’t there.
The minutes ticked by. The waiter hovered, staring at me expectantly. Sighing, I handed him my card, swallowing my disappointment. What had just happened? Had she really just… left?
I paid, feeling a knot tighten in my chest. As I walked towards the exit, a wave of disappointment and sadness swept over me. All I wanted was a chance to reconnect, to talk like we’d never talked before. And now I felt like I was just being used for a free dinner.
But just as I reached the door, ready to leave, I heard some sound behind me.
I slowly turned around, not knowing what I was facing. My stomach was still twisted into a knot, but when I saw Hyacinth standing there, it took my breath away.