Disclaimer: Fox and Josh Schwartz own The O.C. not me...oh and this is a little show of my dedication yet again, I got up early this morning to write a chapter because I'm going home this weekend and I didn't want to leave you all without anything new for this whole weekend. haha
"Remind me again why I went shopping with you," Seth whined as they walked into the apartment.
Summer walked over to the flashing answering machine and pressed the button.
"Because I asked you to and you love doing whatever I ask because you're-," Summer paused as a woman's voice filled the room.
"Hi, honey. It's me, Christina…you know, your mother. I heard you've been nominated for an Oscar. I was just calling to congratulate you. I always knew you could do it. I was hoping we could meet up for dinner. I have so many things I'd like to discuss with you. We have a lot of catching up to do. Ciao."
"Sum," Seth said cautiously.
"We have a lot of catching up to do," Summer spat as she deleted the message. "Can you believe her? I mean the nerve of her! She thinks she can just call me and we'll go out to dinner and catch up. I swear!"
"So you're not going to call her back?"
"Hell no!"
"Ok."
"She always knew I could do it. Do what exactly? Be nominated for an Oscar, because last time I checked she did not support me being an actress and she stopped even calling after I graduated from high school. Yeah she always knew I could do it," Summer ranted. "Sometimes- I just…it's not even worth it."
Summer plopped down on the couch with a sigh.
"Are you okay?" Seth asked sitting down beside her.
"Huh…oh yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
"I wonder what she wanted to-," Seth started.
"Can we just not do this right now? I don't care what she wanted. Her daughter's getting special attention and now mom's back and wants in on it."
"Ok then….do you think she'll call back?"
"Cohen, just drop it. I don't care what she does. I don't want to see her."
Seth just nodded his head.
"That's all you're going to do? Nod your head? My mother just called for the first time in like five years and you're going to nod your head?" Summer asked in a panic.
"What would you like me to do?" Seth asked slowly.
"I don't know!" Summer exclaimed. "….should I try to call her back?"
"I thought you didn't want to see her or speak to her or whatever."
"I don't…well I mean I guess I do…she's my mom," Summer said in a small voice.
"I know…if you want, I'll come with you to dinner," Seth offered.
"I'm not going to dinner!" Summer vowed.
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"I can't believe I'm doing this. Why did you make me do this?" Summer asked.
"Summer," Seth said patiently.
"Oh God, I think I might be more nervous than I was for Letterman," Summer whined as they stood in front of the doors to a fancy restaurant in L.A.
"It will be fine. We'll just pop in, talk for a little bit, and leave," Seth assured her.
"Ok. I can do this."
"You can do this."
"I can."
"You can," Seth nodded.
"I can't," Summer pouted.
"Yes, you can. Now come on, the Summer Roberts I know doesn't back down from a challenge and this is clearly a challenge. Now let's open up these doors and walk in there and have a nice, pleasant dinner with your mother."
"Right. Nice, pleasant dinner," Summer took a deep breath and grabbed the door handle then stopped, "But what if she's like weird? Or what if she doesn't like you? Or worse, what if she doesn't like me?"
"She's your mother. She has to like you…and as for me, your dad doesn't so why should I care if your mom does," Seth grinned.
"So this will be fine?"
"It'll be better than fine."
"Ok."
With that, Summer opened the door to the restaurant and they walked inside.
"May I help you?" a man with a crisp black suit asked.
"Yes, we're here for-," Seth started to say.
"Summer Roberts, please come in. Allow me to get you our finest table," the man said anxiously. "Congratulations on your Oscar nomination."
"Thank you but actually our party's already-," Summer tried to explain.
"We'll get you a table with the best view of the city."
"Actually-," Seth cut in.
"Summer!" a mom in the far side of the room waved to them.
"Madam, please do not bother our guest," the man ordered.
"I'm her mother," Christina said walking up to them.
"Oh my! The resemblance is uncanny. I'm terribly sorry Mrs. Roberts."
"Fields, actually. Christina Fields."
"My apologies Mrs. Fields," the man said and backed away from them.
"Come have a seat," Christina smiled.
Summer nodded and grabbed Seth's hand for comfort.
"So aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Christina asked curiously.
"Aren't you going to tell me why your last name is Fields?" Summer said coldly.
"Summer."
"Christina," Summer countered.
Seth swallowed hard watching the two women size each other up. Finally Summer's mother's gaze seemed to soften.
"I planned on telling you," Christina explained.
"And what stopped you? Broken computer? Dead phone line? Long distance?" Summer asked icily.
Christina sighed, "I should have guessed you wouldn't take this well."
"You getting remarried or you severing all ties for past, oh I don't know, five years?"
"I meant to call you."
"So why didn't you? I tried your number several times before it was eventually disconnected," Summer said angrily.
"I moved."
"Obviously."
"Look, sweetheart, let's not dwell on the past. I made some mistakes concerning our relationship and I'd like for us to get past that. I want to be a part of your life," Christina said in a sing-song tone, as if she were talking to a child.
"You want to be a part of my life? Why? So you can go to the Academy Awards?"
"Are you asking me to go?" Christina asked hopefully.
"I already have a date…and I already have a parent coming."
"So Neil-,"
"My father is coming. I don't really need any other parents there."
"Right. Of course."
"Plus Seth will be there. So I've really got all the support I need," Summer smiled at him.
Seth smiled back slightly.
"Seth, Seth Cohen. You really haven't changed a bit since…since…"
"High school. That would the last time you saw either of us," Summer cut in.
"Well you both look very good," Christina replied.
"So we have things to discuss?" Summer asked shortly, ignoring her compliment.
"I just wanted to catch up with my daughter."
"Yeah."
"So…I heard you might be engaged?" Christina asked, trying to see Summer's left hand.
It was under the table holding Seth's hand.
"Where'd you hear that? A reliable source?" Summer asked.
"Well…I…actually-," Christina mumbled.
"Read it in a magazine," Summer sighed.
Christina lowered her eyes.
"Do you actually want to catch up with your daughter? Or do you just want scoop on a celebrity?" Seth asked, speaking up.
"Well Mr. Cohen, it's nice to see you've grown back bone since high school," Christina laughed.
Summer rolled her eyes, "A lot of things that have happened since high school. I'm an actress. Did you know that? Oh wait yes, you always knew I could do it, even when you were telling me that I was making a huge mistake, that I should be in fashion or-or what was it? Oh yeah, that's right, I have a pretty face so I should just marry a doctor."
"Summer, you know that I-,"
"You know, I'm suddenly not that hungry anymore. Cohen?" Summer asked.
"Yeah. I think I've lost my appetite, too," Seth said as they stood up.
"It was great catching up with you, Mother," Summer said coolly as they left.
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"So that was interesting," Seth said while they were driving home.
Summer just stared out the window and nodded.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah….It's just, I knew she was going to do this. Well not actually knew as in having the slightest idea how it would really go…but I knew….she's like that. I should have realized that she wouldn't change….I knew she just wanted a slice of the attention but a part of me hoped…I just wanted her to actually care about what I do," Summer confessed.
"She called. She may not come off with the best of intentions but at least you got to see her and at least she made some effort to care, even if it was for the wrong reasons," Seth said softly.
"I guess nobody has a perfect life, not even movie stars."
"Yeah, but see now you have something dramatic to tell Oprah," Seth teased.
"What?" Summer laughed.
"Well every time some big celebrity goes on Oprah, they tell all of these sob stories. How they struggled and starved for their passion, which you didn't have to do. Or how they gave up their family, which you didn't have to do, I mean your dad's still around and he's still supportive. Or they talk about how their childhood was so hard, we both know yours was pretty privileged, everybody from Newport has been pretty privileged," Seth snorted. "So now you have a story to tell Oprah."
"You think?"
"Yeah, sure. Why not? If everybody else can whine about their lives, why can't you?" Seth teased.
"I guess you're right," Summer joked back. "Plus I can always rant about my life-altering love affair with Matt Evans."
"Or your life-altering love affair with Seth Cohen."
"Nah. That's not interesting. Nobody cares about that," Summer smirked.
"True. So when's the interview?"
"I'll have to have Jerry get on that," Summer giggled.
"Sounds like a plan."
"You are so weird."
"Yeah, but you love me for it."
Summer pretended to think about that, "I don't know…love you because you're weird? I don't know about that."
"That hurts, Summer, that hurts."
They both laughed as they arrived at their apartment.
(AN: This may not seem like an important chapter but it will play a part later. So I hoped you enjoyed it...and I hoped you all hated Christina as much as I did. But this is in no way a stab at Christina Aguilera...or Christina Applegate...or any other Christinas out there.. b/c I'm a fan of the previous two...and if your name is Christina, it's nothing personal. I was just listening to a little ofChristina Aguliera's "Stripped" cd the other day and so I used her name. lol...yeah so that little ramble of mine was pointless but it's what I do. haha. Keep on reading!)
