"It's so nice that we could do this." Cora smiled at the assembled guests. "It's been so long." She shared a look with Anthony's mother and father as they smiled in return.
"It's has." Tony's mother, Lucia, agreed.
"You act like we don't see each other regularly." Tony joked as he reached for the dish the butler just set down. His arm brushed against Mary's and she shied away from the contact. "We aren't in Siberia. Just university." He nudged Mary at his joke and she managed to smile briefly.
"Oh, Tony." His mother sighed.
"Boy's got a point dear." His father chuckled.
"Well, I always enjoy having my children home. Even if it's just for dinner." Cora added, looking over at Mary. Mary knew what Cora was leaving left unsaid and resisted the urge to say the retort that was on the tip of her tongue. Now was not the time to fight with her mother.
"Thank you, Mama." Mary said instead as she sipped at her wine.
"And to see you two together! It's just such a wonderful thing." Cora clapped her hands together and Lucia nodded her agreement.
"We had almost given up hope." Tony's father cut into his steak, his knife screeching against the fine china. The sound caused Mary's hair to stand on end and she cringed ever so slightly.
"Good things come to those that wait." Tony informed them, looking over at Mary. His gaze was filled with emotions that Mary didn't want to name so she looked away. He had been looking at her with that same exact expression more and more lately, ever since their first (and only, she always insisted when asked) date two weeks ago. They had been in each other's company since of course, but she wouldn't consider anything they did as dates. Whether Tony did, she honestly couldn't say. She didn't want to ask for fear of the answer.
"Here, here!" Tony's father cheered.
"Aren't they just adorable?" Cora placed her hand on Robert's arm, other fluttering over her heart.
"Yes dear." Robert eyed him from across the table. "I hope you treat her right. She deserves only the best." Mary suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.
"Absolutely sir." Tony agreed easily.
"Good." Robert nodded before returning to his food.
"So when can we expect the engagement?" Tony's father asked as he hacked into his meal. Mary frowned at the sight before registering his words. "I was thinking we could announce it at our anniversary party in two weeks."
"What?" She blurted out without thinking. Engagement? They weren't even truly dating!
"Come now, Mary. You aren't fooling us. We can read the tea leaves."
"Father." Tony squirmed in his seat. His father noticed Tony's panicked face and stopped himself from saying what he wanted to say.
"Fine, fine. I'll stop. But don't keep us waiting too long. I still want to be young enough to play with my grandchildren."
"Grandchildren?" Mary hid her hands in her lap. They were shaking. Whether that was from being upset or angry, she wasn't sure. Both emotions fought for dominance, with anger winning out in that moment.
"Honey, you are frightening them." Lucia chided with a smile before winking at them. "I'm sure that when Tony and Mary are ready, we will be the first to know."
"Of course, Mother." Tony agreed easily, reaching under the table to take Mary's hand. She shook it off. She couldn't deal with his touch at this moment. She couldn't deal with him period.
"Let's leave them be." Lucia continued. "Cora, I have been hearing wonderful things about Edith."
"Yes! She has been having a marvelous time…" Mary tuned the rest of the conversation out, focusing on her plate until this whole dinner disaster was over.
Lights pulsed in time with the music, which was way too loud in Matthew's opinion. The bass thumped the speakers and he could feel it reverberate in his chest with each and every beat. He was still nursing his first drink while everyone else was on to their third or fourth.
"You look like you could use some company." A blonde woman spoke up beside him as she slid into the seat next to him.
"I'm fine." Matthew wasn't overly interested in some random person's attempts to flirt with him. He was more than fine sitting by himself. If the debacle with Lavinia was anything to go by, he wasn't fit for company anyway. Tony had set them up. He should have known it would end horribly.
"I never understood Tony's fascination with this place. It's just too…much." The woman shuttered, sipping at her bright pink cocktail. "And this is atrocious." She stared down at her drink before setting it aside.
"It does look pretty terrible. Wait, you know Tony?" It had taken Matthew a moment to realize what she had said. Maybe he was more out of it than he thought he was. How much had he had to drink?
"Yep." The woman's lips popped on the p as she crossed her legs and settled into the booth. "But I only came because Mary asked."
"Mary?" He was seriously confused. Finally, he hazard a glance at her and found that she looked familiar. "Do I know you?"
"No." She smiled like she knew something he didn't. "I'm Anna." The name sounded familiar to him but he couldn't place it. He searched his memory, finding it hazier than he expected. He knew that he had heard that name somewhere. Somewhere recently too. Tony, plus, Mary, and now Anna. So that meant that…
"You're Mary's flat mate." He didn't say it like a question since he knew it was the truth.
"I am." She confirmed anyway.
"I'm Matthew." He introduced himself.
"I know who you are." She smiled again, swaying slightly to the slower music that began to filter through the speakers. "I've heard all about you."
"Good things I hope." Matthew downed the rest of his drink. Anna just looked at him.
"Depends on who you ask." Anna hedged as she waved one of the servers down to order some new drinks. Her tone was arch and Matthew held back his sigh.
"I guess I deserve that." His eyes sought out Mary as she floated through the crowd at Tony's side. Mary looked fairly disinterested in whatever was going on, but her smile was still firmly in place. He had always been impressed when they were younger with her ability to feign interest in what was going on around her while being totally disengaged. Back when they were in school, he had been privy to her thoughts in those moments, sharing knowing looks with her as whomever they were with prattled on about something. Now he was only left to wonder.
Anna followed his gaze and sighed. "She doesn't love him." Matthew's eyes shot to hers.
"What are you talking about?" He didn't want to get his hopes up.
"Mary. And Tony." The server returned with their drinks and Matthew took whatever Anna handed to him. "It's ice water." She informed him at his look. "Look, what I am about to tell you, you don't repeat. And let me make it clear, I am not doing this for you but rather for her. For some reason Mary's got it in her head that she doesn't deserve to be happy. I don't know what happened to make her think that way…" Matthew looked away and Anna paused. "I assume you do. Good. But I want her to be happy. And for some reason, the happiest she seems to be is when she is with you. So this, this conversation, this is for her. Not you."
"Understood." Matthew nodded easily.
Anna took a fortifying drink of her noxious pink drink before continuing."She's with him because it's what her family, what his family wants. There's been talk of family rings and children." Matthew's eyes widened comically at that and he suddenly wished his drink held something stronger than water. "It's scaring her, but she won't admit it. If you want a shot, you're going to have to move fast. Because if he proposes, I think she'll say yes just to be over with it all."
"She can't." Matthew looked back at Mary.
"She will." Anna looked toward Mary as well. "So whatever you did back then, I suggest you do now. Before it's too late."
"I don't even know what it is that I did."
"Figure it out. From what I gather, you're a smart guy." Anna set her drink down when she heard Matthew sigh. "Listen, if I thought Tony would make her happy in the long run, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"You're a good friend." Matthew smiled grimly.
"She's my best friend. And I care about her happiness. But don't tell her that. Mary believes the concept of best friends is juvenile."
"Sounds like something she would say." Matthew agreed causing Anna to laugh.
"Yeah." Anna crossed her arms over her chest, regarding him closely. He sat their silently as she seemed to measure him up. He could only assume what Mary had told her about him so he wanted to make a good impression. "Gardenias?"
"She told you?" Matthew eased back in his seat.
"Just that it was a thing. Not the story."
"I assume that means you want me to tell you?"
"Well, considering the favor I just did you, it's only fair." Anna reasoned causing Matthew to laugh.
"It was Valentine's Day…"
One week later...
Tony was all smiles as he led Mary around the room. His hand had fallen to the small of her back in an attempt to keep her close and it was working. She wanted to push Tony's hand off of her, but she didn't want to deal with the fall out such an action would cause. Plus, it wasn't as if it was inappropriate. His hand didn't skirt lower, or try to reach the exposed skin the back of her dress provided. It stayed exactly where it should. Damn him, being a gentleman.
"We're over here." Tony leaned in to whisper in her ear. The pressure of his hand on her back propelled her forward to a mostly empty table, empty except for Matthew. "Matt!" Tony sounded excited to see him.
At least one of them was.
"Hi." He stood as they approached, buttoning his jacket to try and look presentable.
"I didn't know you were coming." Mary turned to him, noting his appearance. Her fingers twitched with the desire to straighten out the little bit of his hair that had gone askew but she resisted. Best not to go down that rabbit hole.
"Um, yeah." Matthew shuffled his feet, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Well, I am glad that you could make it. Between the three of us, these things are always a bit of a bore. But now with you here, we can have some fun." Tony whispered conspiratorially while pulling a chair out for Mary and helping her into it. Matthew stared a bit helplessly before taking his own seat. Next to Mary. "So I was thinking, we wait until after all the toasts and then we make our escape."
"It's your parent's anniversary dinner." Mary's tone was reprimanding.
"And they have the same dinner every year. They won't mind. If anything, they'll want to join us."
"Are you sure? We shouldn't be rude?" Matthew played with the silverware on the table, making sure each one lined up straight with the one next to it. Mary's eyes watched his fingers fidget and she sighed. His nervous ticks were still the same apparently.
"You two are killjoys, you know that? It'll be fine. After the toasts." Tony fixed them both with a stare. Matthew shrugged. Mary just ignored him.
"Anthony! Mary! And you must be Matthew!" Matthew was startled at the exuberant greeting. "We are so glad you could come!" The greeter, a woman, placed a kiss on each of their cheeks.
"You look beautiful Mother." Tony said fondly, standing.
"Thank you dear." Her hand patted his cheek. "I hope you told your lovely date the same." Her attention turned to Mary, who moved to stand before the woman waved her off. "That dress looks fabulous on you my dear."
"Thank you." Mary smiled at the compliment. Matthew couldn't help but agree with Tony's mother. Mary really did look beautiful.
"And Matthew, I have heard so much about you."
"All good I hope." Matthew joked pulling laughs from Tony and his mother. Mary just smiled wanly.
"Of course." She patted Matthew shoulder fondly before turning back to her son. "I need to steal you. Some people would like to speak with you."
"Absolutely." Tony pressed a kiss to Mary's cheek before taking his mother's arm and leading her away.
"She seems nice." Matthew noted as he watched Tony greet his parents' friends. Mary turned to follow his gaze and smiled tightly.
"She is. They all are." Matthew heard the grimace in her voice, didn't need to see her expression to know that it was there.
"We wanted to thank you all for being here tonight." Tony's father stood before the room, microphone in his hand. He clapped causing the rest of the guests to follow his lead. "Before we let you continue on with your evening, there is something my lovely wife and myself want to do. Tony, my boy, would you join us?"
Tony looked at Mary and Matthew in confusion, which they both returned. He clearly didn't know what was happening which only fueled Matthew's curiosity. Never one to disappoint, Tony stood, fixing his appearance as he joined his parents at the front of the room.
"Now, son, you know that your mother's ring had been in the family for generations." Tony's father settled a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Your mother has worn it for all these years, but we believe it's time it finds a new home." Tony's mother slid the ring off her finger and placed it in Tony's outstretched palm. "To the next generation!" Tony's father toasted and the rest of the room held up their glasses.
Mary sat frozen in her seat. Matthew's eyes flitted between Mary and Tony, unsure what to do. His parents had just publicly announced their expectations of an engagement and Mary hadn't moved since Tony accepted the ring. Tony smiled brilliantly, posing for photos with his parents before indicating that he was going to return to his seat.
"Mary?" Matthew tried, reaching out to touch her arm before thinking better of it and withdrawing his hand. She looked at him briefly before throwing her napkin into her plate and hurrying from the room. By the time Tony was able to make it back to the table, Mary was long gone.
"Where did Mary go?" He asked as he reclaimed her seat.
"I don't know." Matthew said quietly as he stared off in the direction she had fled. "I don't know."
AN: Things are moving along quite quickly! I love reading all of your reviews and feedback and I just want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read and review. Until next time!