A/N: I AM OVER MY LAZYSPELL. Congratulations to me.

Enjoy

Small levels of casual conversation swept throughout the rather large dining room with ease, the soft kisses of light from hundreds of candle–light fires flickering effortlessly along the granite walls as they illuminated the merry scenery before them. A long table seating approximately fifty people sat in the middle of an elegantly crafted French restaurant with marble counterfeits of the historic 'David' and 'Birth of Venus' near the back wall next to a towering twenty foot fountain. Each guest was given a silver plated dinner plate, a crystal goblet of wine, and diamond encrusted eating utensils that shone helplessly from the direct glare of light. The menu for the evening consisted of Broiled tenderloin with baby carrots and garlic herbed mashed potatoes as the side dishes, complementary Italian bread and butter given when asked for my the person in charge of the bill, with dessert being deliciously soft red-velvet cake topped with strawberry-lemon icing made my world-renowned French culinary chef, Revier Montanez. The dinner itself was enough to pay the rent of 1000 dollars plus for two months on a condo in one of America's most elite Downtown cities, the occasion, however, seemed priceless from the head man in charge, Tom Burgos.

The minor tapping of metal hitting one of the many disarrayed glass goblets caught the attention from the appointed guests who had their minds lost in miscellaneous conversation. Standing up while fixing the black suit jacket that completed his formal business attire, Tom gave a small smile to his wife and son, Elliot. Everything and everyone fell silent as they prepared for the anticipated speech. "Good evening all. As you know, we are here to celebrate the humble occasion of Burgos Inc. rising two-hundred points on the market this week despite a failing economy…" A small round of applause from the smiling and congratulating guests at the rectangular table followed suit in a proper fashion that caused the middle-aged man of about forty-two to nod his head in agreement and give silent thank-yous to all around him. "And" he continued, "…the most important occasion, the introduction of my son's girlfriend, Christie."

The clamor of harsh clapping from the prestige line of guest grew louder as the wide array of complements Tom had received got broader and more detailed to the point where they were enough to make the seventeen year old boy blush profusely due to their playful vulgarity. Christie found his crimson hues of family embarrassment quite charming and slightly adorable as he tried to cloak his anxiety with a condescending smile.

"Thanks, Dad. This means a lot to me."

"You bringing your girlfriend to meet the family- the ENTIRE family- means a lot." Tom regained his high authoritative position as the head of the table and smirked, "Now, with formalities and casual conversation out the way, let's meet this lovely woman you have glued to your hip."

Elliot turned to Christie slightly and saw his 'friend' Kokoro at the far end of the table grinning, hands folded atop of the silken covered long-table and her eyes read malicious initiatives. He suddenly got a bad feeling about this and drank a quick glass of champagne to soothe and rid him of any pressures. "This is Christie."

"Hi, Christie. I am Dianne, Elliot's mother, this is Tom, Elliot's father, and the rest of these lovely people are Elliot's close friends and family." She finished while pointing to the respected seated people, "What is it that you do for a living?"

Elliot's eyes widened and he downed another glass of champagne in seconds. His mother chuckled. "Elliot, dear, why so nervous?"

"Well…umm…Christie is a…uhhh…."

"Clinical psychologist." she finished with a sincere grin, "I have my M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and I am working to obtain my PhD within the next three years."

Elliot's mouth went agape as he witnessed his parents and elder family members nod and comment in genuine approval, overhearing Kokoro's scoffs and rude side-comments every once in a while. Elliot's mother went on. "Impressive. Do you have your own practice or do you work in an institution?"

"Institution, my own practice might be too much of an overload if I work and go to school."

Tom Burgos nodded in approval towards his wife and winked at Elliot. "Do you have any children?"

"No, sir."

"Do you want a family of your own?"

Christie paused for seconds end before answering 'someday' to the question. She never really thought of settling down and having a family with a man, and certainly knew that if she did have kids her priorities would drastically alter from centering on herself to around the little bundles of 'joy'. The thought of a family made the assassin cringe from minor fear, but at the same time, made her smile at the thought of little blonde or brunette two year olds running around and playing with an exhasuted Raja.

"What is your current salary?"

"MOTHER!"

"I'm just curious." she defended herself with the raise of her palms, "Don't worry."

The platinum haired goddess chuckled lowly and dismissed her 'lovers' apprehension with a small flick of her delicate wrists. "I don't mind. I make approximately one hundred fifty thousand a year- without taxes of course."

Again, waves of elderly approval swept around the table as Elliot caught a glimpse of Kokoro rolleing her eyes and scoffing again. He could tell this charade was annoying her to her limits. He liked it and he liked that the questionnaire part of the evening was going steady.

"Wow, very impressive. Now, where are you from?"

" England."

"Have any siblings?"

"No, ma'am."

"Any ex-husbands?"

A small chuckle escaped the assassin's thin lips at that question. She never understood why people mistaken her for either being married or widowed. "No. I am not looking into marriage quite yet. I consider myself too young."

"How old are you exactly?" Tom butted in with a forked piece of steak in his hand, a glass of wine in another. "Just….curious."

"Dad!" Elliot shrieked and practically choked on his bread and butter, "I already told you!"

The aged man laughed out heartily as he patted the boy's tense shoulders to comfort him. "I just wanted to hear her say it, son."

"I don't see the point when I told you earlier…"

"I am twenty-two." Christie quickly cut-off the semi-argument between father and son. Elliot could sense her loss of interest in the question and answer session and knew it was only as matter of time before Christie got uninterested altogether. He couldn't wait for his parents to finish their inquisitions. He had to take matters into his own hands if he wanted to spend some amount of time with the callous assassin.

Gently pushing his empty plate and half-drunken champagne goblet back, Elliot smiled and began to take his assassin's hand to lead her to the doorway of the exclusive venue. "Okay, now that this Meeting the Fockers remake is over, Christie and I have other plans so we should really get…."

"Don't you think you are a bit too old for my son, Christie?" Elliot's mother asked unexpectedly with hints of a bitchy attitude. Elliot instantly fell silent as Kokoro mused happily from the end of the table. "Elliot is only seventeen and has yet to graduate. I don't feel comfortable with a grown woman having sexual relations with a boy his age."

"Mother! For the last time, CHRISTIE AND I did NOT have sex!"

"Oh posh!" the woman threw down her napkin and rested fully on the back of the wooden chair, "You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, and I expect for you to trust me as well!"

"Well I don't! I am not going to sit here and lie in front of this…CHILD MOLESTER!"

"Now wait just a damn minute…" Elliot rose to his feet to tower over his mother in a sadistic disposition that would have scared Adolf Hitler himself. He was getting fed up with the constant doubts and misreading of his relationship with the platinum haired woman and wished it all would stop. All he desired was for his family to accept his choice of a life-partner, enjoy her temporary company, and move on to better topics that revolved around politics or 'what's wrong with the world today?' He knew the dinner was a bad idea but did not want to persuade himself to believe it was. He thought he was clear from drama due to the way things were going, but apparently he was still struggling to get out of the woods. "Do not insult Christie!"

"Are you raising your tone at me young man!?"

"Now, let's just settle down now here you two." Tom mumbled in with a small peck on the lips to his agitated wife, patting Elliot on the shoulder again while nodding towards his direction. It must have been some secret male understanding they both shared. "Dianne, we discussed this."

"I know, but I don't like the fact that this woman is raping my child!"

"MOTHER!"

Small fits of hush-hush conversation amongst the long line of family and invited guest erupted from shielded backs and ear-to-ear gossip. Kokoro, however, was the only on who resumed eating as she watched the 'assumed' plan spiral out of complete and total control.

"Well she is! She is raping my child and I don't appreciate that!"

"Dianne, may I see you in the back for a little talk?" Tom whispered in an annoyed and, yet, defeated tone as he stood up from his chair, extending a single arm out to his hesitant wife who sighed and nodded.

"We will be back Elliot. Just eat and everything will be fine."

But everything was not alright because as soon as Elliot turned to try and apologize to Christie, he saw that she was gone.