No smut for the next 2 chapters.
Imogen prepared the table for dinner, it is not accustomed for Nathalie to set the table and have dinner at home considering her hectic schedule as a surgeon she just prefer to eat at the hospital's cafeteria or vending machine and Imogen is quite comfortable with that because when she was with her father, Luis, they used to eat food in the living room while watching TV or playing poker or they rather order burrito and ate it on their way home. Imogen meticulously arranged the utensils, plates, saucers and glass on the table to make it look elegant. The lower edges of the utensils were aligned with the bottom rim of the plate and an inch higher from the edge of the table. The salad fork was placed an inch away from the left of the service plate followed by the dinner fork and then the fish fork. On the right side of the plate, she placed the dinner knife also an inch away from the service plate, followed by the fish knife and then the soup spoon. The dessert spoon was placed on top of the service plate for the green tea ice cream Nathalie bought before she came home and a bottle of red wine wherein Imogen already placed the wine glass on top of the knives and spoon together with the water glass. Last stop is the butter plate on top of the forks and the butter knife was laid diagonally inside the butter plate. Imogen, being a quirky artist she is, bought multi-colour bouquet of roses in a flat square shaped basket with laces of green, orange and red on the side. She sprinkled some of the petals near the centrepiece with two candles on both sides placed inside an elongated glass a quarter filled with multi colour glass pebbles sufficient to hold the candle.
The bell rang and Imogen called out to her mother from the bottom of the stairs and went straight to the foyer leading to the front door. "I'll get it Nathalie. Who is it?" As she came running through the door to open it, she peek at the window and Anthony was standing outside with his back against the door. Imogen let out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes before she opened the door.
"Oh! Hey there Imogen." Anthony said as he turned around and waved his hand.
"What are you doing here?" Imogen asked in a stern tone.
"Can I come in, we need to talk."Anthony replied.
"No you can't come in." Natalie said in a more strict tone as she came from behind Imogen and approached them slowly with hands crossed. "I appreciate you taking my daughter to the prom but that just it, I don't think it will be good idea for you to see my daughter again." Nathalie said as she walked beside Imogen.
"Look Ms. Granger, I owe you an apology for my actions but..." Anthony tried to explain.
Natalie motioned to stop him. "I am very disappointed in you Anthony, you are not acting your age being a sophomore in college you completely went out of your way and joined some high school hockey players to get drunk, vandalize and damage properties. What are you thinking? I entrusted you with my daughter and what did you do?" Nathalie let out a huge sigh before she proceeded talking because her voice was getting forceful. "Out of respect to your mother, I will be calm enough to ask you to leave." She paused. "Please."
Imogen smirks the way her mother reprimanded Anthony who was now looking downwards, a bit embarrassed.
"I would appreciate it if we just forget all of this and go on with our lives, you may now leave Anthony I don't want you to see my daughter again. " Nathalie added.
Anthony never even had a chance to speak so he just said goodbye and then go back to his car and left while Nathalie and Imogen watched him until his tail lights disappeared from the corner.
"Well, that was awkward, but thanks Nathalie." Imogen said breaking the silence as she turned around and walked straight to the dining room to finish what she left.
"Why do I get that feeling that you had something to do with this incident?" Nathalie asked Imogen as she followed from behind.
"That is just a hunch Nathalie and most of the hunches are not even 50% accurate, just an imagination or wrong perception." Imogen tried to explain not looking at Nathalie because she was still busy setting up the table.
"Uhum.. So, is dinner ready?" Nathalie walked to the table and placed her arms on the edge.
"Oh! Sure, I'm almost done, I'll go get the dishes."
"Mmmm, I can smell the salsa baked fish from here." Nathalie said smelling the aroma of the dishes coming from the kitchen that Imogen cooked for the two of them.
"Gee! Thanks. Can we start eating? My stomach is kinda rumbling already."
"Ok, do you need some help with that?"
"No thanks, just take your seat and I'll go get the food."
"Don't get me use to this I may miss it when you go to college."
"What?" Imogen turned around as she opened the kitchen door.
"The special treatment." Nathalie motioned her hands pointing at the table Imogen prepared for her.
"Don't worry it will only be for this night, just because you saved my ass." Imogen replied sarcastically and walked inside the kitchen.
Nathalie cross her arms upon hearing what Imogen uttered as she watched her daughter went to the kitchen to get the food. When Imogen entered the dining room with the dishes Nathalie responded. "Imogen, if you don't like the boys who are asking you for a date you can just say no, I don't intend to push you to anyone."
"Isn't it that you are doing this for me to break me up with Fiona?" Imogen asked somewhat confused.
"What? No. I will never do such a thing." Nathalie replied shaking her head and frowning a little as if denying Imogen's allegations.
"You are hooking me up with boys to break us up and now you are saying this. I'm confused Nathalie, will you mind explaining this to me." Imogen placed the dishes on the table and crossed her arms staring at her mother waiting for an explanation.
"This is exactly your problem Imogen, you try to assume that you understand everything and refuse to listen to the explanation, but the truth is your assumptions were wrong."
"My problem! I can't believe this." Imogen began pacing back and forth on her side of the table. "You precluded me from seeing Fiona, called the school for assistance to set us apart, you took my phone, grounded me and hooked me up with boys."
"Wooh! The last part is not true. It's not my fault that boys are drooling over you when you had that make over. Besides, you are very beautiful Imogen." Nathalie raised both her hands to stop Imogen from talking.
"Yeah! Whatever, spare me the flattery Nathalie."
"Look, I over reacted." Nathalie stood up and walked towards Imogen trying to calm her down.
"You didn't just over react. You basically ruined my life and happiness." Imogen tried to stop her mom from coming any closer from her.
"Will you listen?" Nathalie held on to Imogen's wrist.
"No, I am not listening to this." Imogen pulled her hands away from Nathalie and cautiously walked backwards to prevent Nathalie from coming any closer to her.
"Where are you going?"
"Out!" Imogen grabbed the car keys of her father on the counter and stormed out the house slamming the door from behind her.
"Imogen come back here! Imogen!" Nathalie followed Imogen and tried to stop from going out.
As Imogen reached her father's car she went inside immediately, locked the door and started the engine. She drove off the garage and left while Nathalie was trying to talk her out not to leave.
"Open the door so we could talk. Imogen! Nathalie tapped the window of the car. "Imogen!" Nathalie just stood in the middle of the road looking at the back of the car as Imogen drove off.
When she arrived at front door of the loft, Imogen leaned her forehead on the door and gasped before she unlocked it with Fiona's spare key. She entered the empty loft and looked around although it was dark she didn't bother to open the switch of the lights; she went straight to the living room leaving the door a bit open and laid on the couch in a fetal position and she cried herself to sleep.
She was suddenly awakened by the soft voice of Nathalie who held her face. "Mmmm." Imogen mumbled her eyes were still closed and it felt heavy from slumber and crying. "What are you doing here? And how did you know I'm here?"
"Well this is the only place I know that you will run to." Nathalie looked around for a sign of Fiona.
"She is not here; she went back to New York." Imogen rolled her eyes.
"By the sound of it, you and Fiona were sneaking behind my back."
"If you are here to have a fight will you please leave? You are not in your house anymore; I believe I am safe here." Imogen looked at her mother sternly trying to defend her ground.
"You are my daughter."
"I'm already 18."
"That will not change the fact that you are still my daughter."
"And what will you do this time? Grab me and drag me out of this place. You can try Nathalie."
"No, do you want to know the truth or not?"
"Ok what is the truth Nathalie?"
Nathalie looked at Imogen blankly.
"Please, I am dying for the truth. What is going on Nathalie? Before we went to Vegas you totally approved of Fiona for me and when we arrived home everything changed all of a sudden. What is it about you that when Fiona invited you in here you just suddenly walked out on us and the last thing I know is that you were setting us apart? I don't get it, I really don't." Imogen asked her mother shaking her head somewhat confused.
"It has nothing to do with Fiona, Imogen." Nathalie replied looking down and avoiding Imogen's stare.
"Then what? Tell me." Imogen insisted.
Nathalie took a deep breath and looked at Imogen deep in the eyes but she suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in front of her daughter.
"Mom?" Imogen softly asked breaking the silence as she waited patiently for Nathalie's answer. "Please, what is it?"
"It's Laura." Nathalie immediately answered
"Mrs. Coyne? You never even met her." Imogen asked as her eye brows met.
"We knew each other, way back in high school."Nathalie answered back a bit uneasy of her response.
"Wooh, Nathalie! What has Mrs. Coyne possibly done to you?"
Nathalie turned her back trying to organize her thoughts on how to explain things to Imogen. "She made my life miserable." Nathalie suddenly answered breaking the silence between them.
"How? Why? Oh no." Imogen stood up as realization suddenly dawned her.
Nathalie turned to face Imogen, her face became pale. "Imogen look." Nathalie tried to explain.
"I get it, she used to bully you or you either fight over some guy. Hope it's not dad." Imogen said as she walked behind the counter.
"Yeah right, I mean the bullying not the fighting over some guy. She was such a pain in the ass and so mean." Nathalie answered in approval of Imogen's assumptions.
"Mom! You never got over that. Gosh, that was like a gazillion years ago." Imogen said smiling and somewhat amused of her mother's dilemma.
"I know, I'm terrible." Nathalie said covering her face with the palm of both her hands.
"Very terrible if you ask me. You cannot imagine the trouble we did to drive away the suitors and sneak around just to see each other." Imogen agreed.
"So you do have something to do with Anthony getting locked up." Nathalie said.
"He got out didn't he?" Both of them chuckled.
"How about the others, you know Adrian and Mark?" Nathalie asked about the other two suitors of Imogen.
"Oh, Adrian is a homophobic that when he knew about me and Fiona he just suddenly walked away and Mark was afraid of Eli when my good friend pretended to have a manic episode when we went out for a double date with his girlfriend Clare."
"I can't believe you." Nathalie laughed while shaking her head at Imogen's story.
"I can't believe you that you had to put Fiona and me into trouble just because you hate her mom." Imogen countered cocking her eye brow.
"I'm sorry honey, I know I over reacted. I was just trying to protect you." Nathalie said apologetically.
"From what exactly?" Imogen asked confusedly.
"From Fiona's evil mother who may make life miserable to you."
"Mom, I already met her, she is a very sweet lady and I don't think that her actions in high school are still the same as she gets old, people grow up you know and obviously you don't. Hello! A bit disappointed here for thinking I'm the only childish person around the house. Girls can be mean to each other sometimes and bullying is part of high school. I know believe me." Imogen tried to defend her point.
"You know, sometimes you are way brighter than me." Nathalie walked toward Imogen from behind the counter and tapped her shoulder.
"Oki Doki. You think I didn't know that." Imogen grinned.
"Don't push your luck I am still your mother." Upon saying that, Nathalie sat back to the sofa motioning for her daughter to sit with her.
The mother and daughter were chatting with one another on how Laura and Nathalie used to fight in high school and Imogen related in details on how they drove away her suitors and how Fiona and her devised a plan to see each other sans mentioning their secret rendezvous. It's been a long time since the two actually spoken to each other about their personal life and Fiona since Nathalie precluded them from seeing each other. They miss how they casually talk about everything from the day that Fiona tried to get them together before the spring break.
"There is something you have to know Nathalie." Imogen said a bit nervous while trying to compose herself to break the bigger news.
"What?" Nathalie asked.
"Uhhh, how will I break this to you?" Imogen mumbled to herself while fidgeting at her hands.
"What Imogen? The suspense is killing me." Nathalie insistently asked.
Meanwhile, inside the bus that is going to New York, Fiona and Holly J were still awake talking to one another when Holly J suddenly shouted in surprise. "You were married!" All the passengers in the bus looked at their way and Fiona became anxious of the people around them.
There will be more surprises to come. After all, this is an AU.
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