"You're sure Glenlivet is the Scotch your father drinks?" Joe asked Vicky anxiously, for about the 10th time that day.
"Yes...well that's the brand I've seen in the house," Vicky replied, rolling her eyes at being questioned again about this. "I'm telling you, it doesn't matter; that bottle cost you almost $100, I'm sure its fine."
"There's a difference, believe me," Joe answered. "If I got the wrong one, I'm pretty much screwed. He'll never like me."
"Stop being ridiculous," Vicky laughed. "My father is not going to dislike you because you bought the wrong bottle of Scotch." She didn't say that Henry Mullen had probably already thought of another hundred reasons to dislike Joe; what's one more to add to the list.
Joe had been like this all week leading up to his big first meeting with Vicky's parents. He wanted to make the best impression on them; Vicky tried to tamp down his expectations, knowing her parents. There likely wasn't anything Joe could do in this first get together to get them on board, short of revealing his secret blue blood upbringing and spitting out $100 bills from every orifice.
But Joe wanted their approval, he needed it. He still figured that it was the only way his relationship with Vicky was going to progress where he wanted it to; and by this point, that was everything. If all went well tonight, he could see himself proposing to her by the end of the year. He knew he was young, but he also strongly believed that you couldn't choose when in your life the right person came along. Vicky had come along now, in his mid-20's, and he wasn't about to let their age difference stop them.
For Vicky, she really just wanted to get through tonight without any disasters. She figured Henry and Caroline would have any number of snide remarks directed to her boyfriend; her goal was to keep her mouth shut as much as possible and not create any more damage. But if they did anything she felt was over the line, she wouldn't hesitate to put them in her place.
Vicky had never felt like this with any other guy; she now laughed over how upset she was when Richard left her. She couldn't even imagine why she ever wanted to marry Richard; him leaving was the biggest favor anyone ever did her. Vicky had even thought of looking up Richard and thanking him for having the courage to do what he did, but she knew he was probably knee deep in wedding plans and didn't want to get in the way.
"Come on, baby," Vicky said to Joe, as they prepared to leave their apartment. "Time to go and get this over with."
They drove the 25 minutes to her parents' house on the Main Line. It was certainly the biggest house Joe had ever seen, the biggest one even in this posh neighborhood. He fiddled with his tie (it was his idea to dress in a suit) as Vicky punched in the security code at the front gate and drove up toward the main house.
"Breathe, baby," Vicky consoled, as she thought Joe was going to have a panic attack. "They're not monsters, well most of the time they're not anyway."
"Yeah, thanks for that," Joe said sarcastically as Vicky laughed. But it broke his tension somewhat; they were just people after all. He talked to all different types when he was bartending; it shouldn't be any different than that. Except he felt strongly his chance at happiness depended on the two people in this house approving of him.
They rang the bell, and the Mullens' housekeeper answered. She was thrilled to see Vicky, and vice versa; Vicky honestly had a much better relationship with Luisa than either her parents. They were shown to the living room where Caroline and Henry Mullen were waiting.
Caroline was a spitting image of Vicky, if only about 30 years older. Even in her mid-60's she still turned heads, and it was her distinguished beauty that helped raise so much money for the charities she was passionate about (it was about the only thing she was passionate about nowadays, thought her daughter.)
Henry Mullen was also a handsome man, quite tall and striking with his grey hair and cool blue eyes. Joe saw where Vicky got her looks; they looked on paper to be the perfect example of a successful, wealthy American couple.
"Vicky, dear, good to see you," her mother said upon their entrance, stiffly greeting Vicky with air kisses to both cheeks.
"Mother, always good to see you," Vicky replied, equally stiffly. It was quite honestly a little painful to watch for Joe. He could never imagine him and his mother greeting each other that way. But then again, even though Vicky had told him much about her contentious relationship with her mother, he figured they had only scratched the surface of those bad feelings.
"Vicky darling, great to have you back home," her father greeted her with a warmer embrace. "This must be the man who has captured your eye, Joe right?" he offered his hand to Joe with a smile. Maybe this will be OK, thought Joe in the moment.
"Yes sir, Joe Chambers," Joe replied reaching for his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, sir. And pleasure to meet you Mrs. Mullen."
"Likewise," was Caroline's only reply. She quickly turned all her attention to Vicky.
"You should come to the club dear, everyone is asking for you," Caroline started.
"I doubt it, haven't been there in years," Vicky said dismissively. She had no interest in hob-nobbing with those stiffs. Mostly, she didn't want Joe to see the kinds of places she grew up in. In a reverse logic, she thought he might think less of her if he saw firsthand how privileged she was as a child.
"Everyone is asking for you, Trip, Robert, Marcus..." of course Caroline rattled off three male names in front of Joe. The sabotage had already begun, and we weren't even served drinks yet, thought Vicky angrily.
"Well tell them I said hi, even if I haven't seen any of them in 20 years," Vicky replied with a glare.
"Why don't I take Joe into my study, so we can learn more about each other," Henry said. "I think you two have some catching up to do as well."
"You'll have to excuse my wife," Henry started to Joe as they entered his study. "She's always had impossibly high standards for Vicky."
"I understand, sir," Joe replied. "I know I'm probably not who she pictured dating Vicky. But I do love your daughter, sir, I want you to know that."
"Terrific," Henry replied, blowing right past Joe's expression of love. "Now, tell me about yourself. You're getting ready to work for the DA, Vicky said."
"Yes, well I need to pass the bar obviously," Joe replied. "But if I do I start in a month."
"And where do you see yourself going from there?" Henry pressed. "The DA's office is a nice start, but no one who wants to make it as a lawyer stays for more than a few years."
"I haven't really thought about that yet, sir," Joe replied. As soon as it came out, he knew he already made error #1, so he tried to cover. "Well, I mean, I'm sure I'd like to try my hand at a big firm after that."
"OK, well what area of the law interests you?" Henry asked.
"Well, I've always want to make a difference, so along with criminal law I've always had an interest in working on social issues, the environment especially."
