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‘A suit twice in the space of a few weeks - and a tie this time. I could get used to this.’
‘Yeah, well don’t. It won’t be a regular occurrence. First time meeting your parents. I have to make a good impression. How about some grub? I hear it’s pretty amazing.’
∞
Tate can’t keep his eyes off Chloe as dinner is served. He thought organising a surprise dinner might not have gone down well but after having a chat with her gran who then put him in touch with her parents, they assured him she would love it. Seems he was right to trust them.
It looks like the venue is a hit too. She mentioned she likes these old-style buildings with beams and monstrous fireplaces, and he can’t argue with her. Give him something like this any day over the sterile hotels he’s spent quite a few nights in. That’s part of the reason the band decided to do self-catering. They couldn’t relax, couldn’t switch off being cooped up in a featureless white room.
He smiles as she runs her hand over his leg under the table moving dangerously close to something she’ll be getting a whole lot of later. He’s a little ticked off that she felt she couldn’t tell him about her birthday, but he has a fair idea why she didn’t.
He had been pretty absorbed in his own issues lately. Getting into a drunken stupor hadn’t helped and that’s not sitting well with him. She’s his girlfriend. She shouldn’t be keeping things to herself because she’s scared about overloading him.
She pulls her hand away as the main course is served and Tate spends the next hour answering numerous questions from her parents. He’d spoken to them briefly on the phone and they’d seemed happy enough about him being with their daughter, but he was still nervous as hell meeting them earlier this evening.
After a thorough visual drilling, they warmed to him. Well, he hopes they did and aren’t just being polite. He’s just glad he made the effort and wore the suit. He catches her mother looking at his hands a few times during the meal but he doesn’t mind. If his tattoos are their main issue that’s more than fine with him.
Chloe’s father wipes his mouth with his napkin as he looks across the table at him. ‘So, Tate. Do you mind me asking how you started in this career?’
‘I guess I sort of fell into it. I was teaching and the uncle of one of my students heard me singing during the lesson. He knew someone who was in the industry and put him in touch with me. It grew from there.’
Her mother looks from Chloe to Tate. ‘Teaching? You’re a teacher too?’
He nods. ‘Music. I taught guitar and piano mainly.’
‘And you’re qualified?’
‘Dad!’ hisses Chloe. ‘Please.’
‘It’s fine,’ Tate says, smiling at her. If they want to quiz him he can’t really complain. ‘Yeah. I’m a classically trained piano and guitar player and I’ve got a master degree in music education.’ That shuts them up for a minute. It’s not something he mentions often but whenever he does it surprises people. He still hasn’t quite worked out if he should be offended by that reaction or not.
Chloe lowers her glass onto the table with a thump. ‘You have? You never told me that.’
Tate shrugs. ‘It never really came up in conversation.’
‘And you’ve no regrets about not using your qualifications?’
Chloe glares at her father again.
‘Well believe it or not, I still use everything I studied to this day. It’s like riding a horse or learning how to drive a car. When you get the foundation right from the start everything else falls into place a lot easier. I write everything we perform so it’s absolutely not going to waste. Well, I guess that could be a matter of opinion depending on whether people like what I write or not.’
‘From what I hear, quite a few people do.’ Chloe’s father raises his glass. ‘Congratulations, Tate. Very impressive indeed.’
Tate taps his glass against her father’s and glances over at Chloe. She raises her eyebrows and shrugs. He may just have moved from his daughter’s potential problem boyfriend to one with a little bit of sense.
∞
As the dessert is being cleared away, Bria walks over to their table and leans on Tate’s shoulders. ‘Sorry to interrupt but I need to steal my brother for a few minutes.’
Tate apologises and walks away with Bria. Chloe waits until they’ve gone before she faces her family again. ‘Well? What do you think?’
Steph nods and raises her champagne glass. ‘Well done, Sis. He’s hot.’
‘Right, well no thinking of him like that if you don’t mind.’
‘Just saying I acknowledge what attracted you to him. He’s a lot more impressive in the flesh.’
‘Okay, moving on from you. Mum and Dad? Do you like him?’
