Chapter Four: A Dinner with the Family
"Crawley reservation? This way please." The chic young hostess led Mary and Sybil back through the restaurant towards a table tucked back into a quiet corner and half hidden from view by a decorative pillar. Mary steeled herself for what was bound to be an awkward second introduction to the speechwriter, but relaxed as they neared the table – her mother and father rose, smiling, to greet her and Sybil, while Edith glanced up at them from behind a menu. Matthew Grant was nowhere to be seen.
"Mary," her mother said warmly, pulling Mary into a quick hug, "you look just lovely, darling, that's such a fantastic color on you."
"Do you think so?" Mary said, smiling, looking down at herself with false modesty. She was well aware of the way the emerald green chiffon set off her pale skin and clear brown eyes. "And Sybil," Cora continued, pulling Sybil into an embrace as well. "I'm so glad you could make it tonight. You're always so busy at the hospital, I feel as if I haven't seen you for ages!" Sybil laughed.
"I was at breakfast just Monday," she reminded Cora. Mary left Sybil and Cora to catch up and crossed to the other side of the table by her father.
"Mary," Robert welcomed her, leaning down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "How've you been? How's work?"
"Busy," Mary replied simply. She was about to explain to her father the most recent project she had been working on when Edith interrupted her.
"I hope Matthew gets here soon," Edith said flatly. "I'm starved."
"And where is our guest of honor?" Mary said, not bothering to keep the sarcasm from creeping into her tone. "Late, I suppose." Robert flicked back the sleeve of his suit jacket and glanced at his watch.
"You and Sybil were just on time, so I expect he should be..." Robert's voice trailed off and looking up, he broke into a wide grin. "Ah yes, here he comes now, I think." They all turned their heads in the direction that Robert was gesturing, Edith finally getting out of her seat to stand by the table with the rest of the family.
He had not, in fact, shown up in jeans. Instead he was loping towards them in a black suit, the cut very plain but well-fitting. His jacket was unbuttoned to reveal a blue shirt with the top button undone and no tie. Mary smiled smugly a bit upon noticing the way his eyes widened as he took in the pressed waiters' outfits, the candle centerpieces on the crisp linen tablecloths, and the gleaming platters held aloft by passing waiters as he made his way through the restaurant. He shoved his hands into his pockets nervously, and Mary's smirk widened. He was probably more used to mom-and-pop diners. Or McDonald's.
"Matt!" Robert called, stepping towards Matthew as he approached. Matthew looked up, the corner of his mouth rising in an amiable sort of crooked grin. He pulled one hand out of his pocket to return Robert's almost comically enthusiastic handshake.
"So sorry if I'm a bit late," Matthew apologized. "I had the hardest time finding a parking spot." Mary raised her eyebrows. The restaurant had a valet service - had he just ignored them and driven right past?
"Oh, not at all, Mary and Sybil just arrived as well. Come, let me introduce you to everyone," Robert replied, clapping Matthew on the back and guiding him forwards to stand in front of Cora and the sisters.
"This is my wife, Cora; Cora, this is Matthew Grant."
"Just Matt," Matthew insisted, as Cora stepped forward to shake his hand.
"Matt," she repeated," it's so wonderful to finally meet you. We've heard so much about you already. You've made quite an impression on Robert," she teased.
"Have I? Well, that sounds a little ominous," he joked back. Robert laughed and gestured towards Sybil.
"And this is my youngest daughter, Sybil."
"Hello," Sybil said, grinning brightly and returning his handshake energetically.
"My daughter, Edith," Robert continued. Edith took Matthew's hand gently and smiled slowly, gazing rather intently back into Matthew's surprised blue eyes. Was she trying to be...seductive? Mary wondered, biting her lip to keep from erupting in laughter. Really, Edith could be so obvious sometimes. Hadn't she any shame? Mary's smile slid from her face, however, as Robert turned towards her.
"And this is my eldest daughter, Mary."
"Yes, we've met, actually," Mary said, raising her eyebrows and offering the obligatory brief, if insincere, smile.
"Have you?" Robert asked curiously.
"Uh, yes, actually," Matthew replied. Was that a blush Mary noticed creeping into his cheeks? "At the campaign offices on Monday, just briefly." Matthew looked as if he was going to reach out to shake Mary's hand, but on catching sight of her impassive face and slightly pursed lips, he instead paused awkwardly, shoving his hands back in his pockets and nodding slightly in her direction. Mary nodded crisply back.
"Well, now that everyone's here, let's have a seat, shall we? Edith was just saying how hungry she was," Robert exclaimed jovially. Mary hardly noticed Edith's mortified expression; instead, Mary was looking around the table quickly, wondering if she could manage to finagle a seat next to Sybil. But there was no hope of that - everyone was already halfway into their chairs and she had no choice but to pull out the empty seat between Matthew and Edith, sighing under her breath as she slid into it, tucking the skirt of her dress beneath her. It was going to be a long night.
"Did you forget to bring your glasses, Robert?" Cora chided, as Robert set his menu before him to pat his suit jacket pockets. "He's always forgetting to bring them to dinner when we go out," Cora explained to Matthew. "So then, of course, I always have to read him the menu out loud."
"Aha!" Robert said finally, reaching into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulling out his reading glasses. "See, I'm not quite as helpless as my wife makes me out to be," he joked, nudging Cora affectionately and slipping his glasses on to peer down at the menu.
Matthew picked up his own menu, his brow furrowing as he scanned the elegant scroll text. Half of it was in French and the other half listed exotic, fancy foods with which he was completely unfamiliar. Mary already knew what she was going to order but glanced down at her menu anyways in boredom. Her mother and father were making small talk with Sybil about the wine list and on her other side was Edith, who kept stealing glances not-so-surreptitiously across Mary at Matthew. Matthew himself didn't seem to notice but rather, glancing first at Robert and Cora who were still conversing with Sybil, leaned towards Mary slightly.
"I've never been here before – what's good?" he asked lightly. Mary looked up at him. His face was so friendly and earnest...her dark eyes glimmered mischievously. She might as well entertain herself. Usually Edith was the victim of her boredom, but perhaps tonight Matthew would do.
"Well," she answered sweetly, "it is a five-star restaurant, so...everything." She watched him for a moment, his earnest smile falling a bit in confusion from her sugary tone but completely unhelpful response. He was rescued from Mary's mocking gaze by Robert, who had noticed his hesitation.
"Now, Matt," he said jovially, "of course, feel free to get whatever you would like, but I gotta tell you, the steaks here are excellent. Don't tell Sybil I told you so, though. She's always telling me I should eat less red meat, trying to get me to go vegan or some such nonsense."
"Vegetarian, Dad," Sybil corrected, chuckling. "Not vegan. Even I wouldn't go vegan. And you shouldn't eat so much red meat, it's bad for your cholesterol."
"Well you're not a board-certified doctor yet, so I get to keep my steaks for now," Robert joked.
"Sybil's a surgical intern," Cora explained to Matthew.
"Are you?" Matthew replied interestedly, nodding towards Sybil, "that's very impressive. My mother was a nurse, a few of our family friends growing up were surgeons. Do you know what specialty you want to go into, or is it too early for that?"
"I'm thinking trauma," Sybil answered, "but this is only my first year, so I don't have to commit to a specialty quite yet." Robert's chest swelled a bit, like it always did, as Sybil talked about her plans, while Cora's expression was somewhat more strained. Sybil glanced at her.
"Mom doesn't approve, though," she said lightly, taking a sip of wine. "She would rather I give up on surgery and go into general practice."
"I just know how demanding those surgical programs are," Cora said defensively, "and surgeons have such long hours and they're always on call...it's just so stressful, Sybil, I worry about you."
"I like it. It's what I want," Sybil said simply, shrugging. Mary studied Sybil quietly from across the table. She wondered how Sybil could care so little about what other people thought. Some of Sybil's decisions drove Mary absolutely crazy – her new mechanic boyfriend, for instance, and her ratty old sneakers and rusty, sputtering, useless car –but beneath it all, Mary was terribly envious. Sybil was brave; she didn't need anyone's approval. Mary couldn't imagine feeling like that.
Cora looked somewhat put out by Sybil's flippancy but decided not to push the issue further. Not at dinner, at least.
"So your mother was a nurse?" Cora said, instead, turning back towards Matthew, and changing the subject. "Was that at a hospital in Boston, then? I can't recall where Robert said you were from."
"No, I grew up in Lowell, actually. So she worked in a hospital there as a nurse, and then she moved into the administrative side of medicine ten years ago, and she's been doing that since," Matthew explained.
"That's right, I remember now. Lowell. I've been there a few times with Robert during campaigns, but I'm afraid I don't know much about the city," Cora said apologetically.
"What is there to know about Lowell?" Mary scoffed, laughing coldly as everyone's heads turned to stare at her. "It's a bunch of old factories." Matthew frowned a bit.
"I really like it there, actually. It's a great city – very historical," Matthew replied, his tone slightly defensive.
"Oh, I'm sure. Child labor and factory fires and union riots. Lovely," Mary agreed sarcastically.
"I remember Lowell," Edith broke in eagerly. "I thought it was a fascinating city. I'd love to visit again." Mary didn't even attempt to hide her dramatic eye-roll. Edith hated campaigning, and if she was forced to go, she spent all her time watching premium cable in the hotel room. If she had been to Lowell, the most she had seen of it was whatever was visible from a hotel window. Mary was about to say as much when Cora, who had seen enough of Mary and Edith's fights to know what was coming, quickly changed the subject.
"It must be quite a change for you then, Matt, moving to Boston so quickly," Cora interjected. "You'll have to come over often so we can introduce you to everyone and help get you settled. Do you have any friends or family in the city at all?"
"I don't," Matthew replied, "but my mother got a job at a nursing home in the city, so she'll be moving here just as soon as she finds an apartment near her work. We're pretty close, so it'll be nice to have her around."
"You're bringing your mother with you?" Mary asked scornfully, her eyebrows arching sharply above her brown eyes. Robert's and Cora's heads spun sharply in Mary's direction, both of them shooting angry, reprimanding glares towards Mary, who, chastened, smiled thinly. "How sweet," she added.
"But of course you understand how it is to want to stay near family," Matthew replied, meeting Mary's gaze directly. The earnestness was gone from his face now, replaced by a challenging defiance, his blue eyes blazing. "Robert mentioned you two work together quite often. It's so helpful, isn't it, to have family close by?" Mary's eyes narrowed a bit, and she tilted her head slightly, her sharp gaze still locked on his. What exactly was he trying to say? True, it was perhapsa bit hypocritical of her to make fun of him for having his mother move into the city with him when she lived barely twenty minutes from her own parents and worked in an office technically overseen by her father. But still. She remembered the comment he had made in the campaign offices: "we can't all be the governor's daughter."
Whatever he meant, Mary had no chance to respond. The waiter had arrived and their conversation ended as the family ordered. Matthew did indeed end up ordering the filet mignon – probably the only two French words he even knew how to pronounce, Mary thought as he handed the waiter the menu – and the rest of the evening passed in a forgettable blur of small talk. Matthew looked a bit confused when the food arrived by the array of silverware surrounding his plate, but Sybil discreetly held up the correct utensil so that only she and Mary seemed to notice Matthew's hesitation.
Mary largely ignored Matthew for the rest of the evening and barely glanced at him again until they had left the restaurant. He held the door open for Cora and the sisters, then followed them out into the brisk night air.
"Thanks again for the dinner, Robert, I've never had a steak half that good," Matthew said as Robert and Mary handed the valet their keys.
"My pleasure, Matt, I'm glad you finally got to meet the family," Robert insisted. Matthew smiled and turned to bid the rest of the family farewell.
"Such a pleasure to meet you," he said, his genuine earnestness returning to his expression as he shook Cora's hand. She clasped his hand in both of hers warmly.
"Now you be sure to come over to the house for dinner soon, Matt," Cora instructed. "And bring your mother, I'd love to meet her."
"She'd love that," Matthew agreed. After shaking Sybil and Edith's hands and wishing them a good night, he finally reached towards Mary. She took his hand quickly, both of them avoiding eye contact, then let go almost immediately, stepping back.
"Good night, Mary," he said politely. She nodded.
"Good night," she repeated, turning away to peer down the street for the valet.
"See you at work on Monday, then, sir," Matthew said finally, as Robert clapped him once more on the back. Mary watched out of the corner of her eye as Matthew crossed the street, shoving his hands back into his pockets, his dark suit blending into the dark night but his blonde hair bright and visible until he turned the corner at the end of the block.