A/N Again the disclaimer. I do not know personally anyone mentioned. This is purely a fiction exercise. Also because English is not my native language you may have to excuse some mistakes I may write. That being said I hope you enjoy it. :)
Your parents showed up at your place unannounced and the meeting with Grant was a little awkward to say the least.
Your mother recognized him and she knew immediately what was going on, she figured you and Grant were probably hooking up.
You father, on the other hand, was being in denial at first, even though Grant presented himself with clothes that clearly said that he had just got out of bed. Your father first thought that Grant was Nate's boyfriend but when he realized that he was actually staying with you he just freaked and said he was 'going to kill him'.
Your mother laughs at his words. "Silly, don't say nonsense. You don't even know the boy. Seriously, you couldn't stop talking during Christmas on how she should get a boyfriend, even get married and have kids..." She laughs again. "Now that she apparently has a boyfriend you are pissed. Why?"
"I meant a decent boyfriend. Someone I would meet and approve before he starts to spend nights at her house and showing up at the door in his underwear!"
You mother bursts into laughter. "Oh god, I love you. You're so funny. Seriously, my dear, don't you think she's the one who has to approve him first? Besides, she's an adult. You've always wanted her to be independent, to grow up and all that, but every time something like this happens you treat her like she's just a child. Remember when she went to college and wanted to move out of our house? You didn't want to because her college was right here in LA, so she could keep living with us." She rolls her eyes.
"Ok, maybe I do that, but this is immorality. And about this boy... Grant... He's an actor... You and I know better than anyone how actors are...Short term relationships, always changing partners... AND, they work together, for Christ's sake! He's her client... They probably even have that clause in the contract that forbids any kind of relationship between them... I swear if he causes any problem to our daughter... I kill him, I do."
"Nah, you're not killing anyone. Relax. Sit down on the couch, I'm gonna see if I can find some tea in the kitchen for you."
"Bah, tea. I don't need tea." Your father says annoyed.
Meanwhile Grant has gone upstairs to call you. He doesn't find you in the bedroom and he hears the water running inside the bathroom.
"Babe?" He walks in.
"Yeah?" For a moment you think he probably decided to join you in the shower. Dirty thoughts start to fill your mind. You turn off the water and you peek through the curtain. You then see Grant's flushed and almost scared face. "Anything happened?" You ask worried.
Grant takes a deep breath. "The door... It was not Nate. It's your parents."
"WHAT?" You say in shock. "My parents?! My parents are here? Oh dear. Hang on." You turn on the tap again to remove the rest of the soap from your body and you quickly put on your bathrobe. "What are they doing here?"
"They said they wanted to wish you happy New Year and happy birthday because they didn't get to see you yesterday... I thought it was Nate so I opened the door without checking before who it was... Sorry."
"It's, ok, it's not your fault... I was supposed to meet them today for dinner but I guess they wanted to make a surprise..." You look at Grant from head to toe. "And they saw you like that... What did they say?"
"Your father is not very happy, he thinks I'm Nate's boyfriend or something but he's definitely not happy. Your mother is all nice, almost like she knows about us..."
"She doesn't but she can put two and two together, not like my father who always refuses to accept the obvious. So, what have you told them?"
"Not much, he didn't let me speak." Grant giggles. "I said I was going to get you and here I am. They are waiting downstairs."
"Oh dear, better go then." You go downstairs and Grant follows you, after dressing his jeans.
"Hello!" You smile widely to them. "Happy New Year."
Your mother stands up from the couch and smiles too. "Happy New Year, my dear!" She hugs you tight. "How was the birthday party yesterday?"
"Good, it was great. So, what a surprise, uh?" You look at your father who's casting deathly looks at Grant.
Your father groans. "You can bet on that. I'm greeted by this... boy here in his underwear while you're in the shower. What kind of depravity is going on here? Is he taking advantage of you? Is he? I swear I kill him."
"Oh calm down." Your mother says trying to soothe your father.
You shake your head rolling your eyes. You're already used to these episodes of overreaction from your father. He's the drama king of the family. You sit down in front of him "Dad, the boy here has a name. Grant. And I swear I didn't want you two to meet him like this but well, it's done. We've been dating for a month."
Your father looks at your eyes wide open. "Dating for a month? So, is he your boyfriend?"
You shrug. "Yeah..." You look at Grant smiling.
Grant sits next to you and holds your hand. "Yes, I am, Sir. Sorry for the underwear thing, we weren't expecting you..."
Your father smirks. "So, is this serious? Between you two?"
You and Grant nod. "Yeah."
Your father doesn't seem very convinced. "What about your work? I mean, you're his publicist. Also, clarify this for me: you said you've been dating for a month, did you know each other before you started working together?"
"No, dad. We didn't. I met him at work but we started dating almost immediately. Three or four days after we met."
"What does your contract say about this? I know they like to put that relationship clause in contracts..."
You look at Grant like you're asking him if you should tell your parents about that. Grants nods.
"Well, we do have that clause in the contract..."
"I knew it! So basically you're putting your job at risk for this... Are you out of your mind?"
"Why do you think we've been keeping our relationship a secret, dad?"
"Oh dear... You're insane. Both of you. You, young man, if you think I'm gonna stay here watching my daughter get fired because of you, you're very wrong. You two are gonna end your thing... affair, whatever, now."
You shake your head again, chuckling. "Seriously dad? Don't you think Grant and I have had that conversation over and over again? We are fixing it this week. Tomorrow we are going to see the lawyers..."
"Lawyers? Oh my god. Are you seriously risking your job, your whole career because of him?"
Your mother, who has been silent till now, finally speaks. "My dear, as much as I'd like to be happy for you, I think your father has a point..."
"Of course I have!" He exclaims smugly.
You roll your eyes and Grant speaks too. "Look, I know you're worried about your daughter and her job, like she said we've been discussing this almost till exhaustion to find a way to be together. And that's why we are seeing the lawyers. I love her, the last thing I want is to cause her any harm, let alone make her lose her job."
"You love her? Really?" He says ironically. "And yet you will cause her harm. Unless you get away from her this is not going to end well... And I swear I'm not gonna stay here and watch this happen."
You take a deep breath and you tell your parents how you've been keeping the whole relationship secret, your options to solve the problem and the most likely way you're gonna choose to solve this. Which is Grant breaking the contract on his own.
"And what do you think it will happen when your boss finds out that the whole reason Grant did that was because you were already together when the contract was still valid? She can still fire you legitimately for getting involved with a client. "
"We can pretend we only got together after that. As of now only very few people know about us, few close friends, you two now and Grant's mother."
Your father shakes his head. "You're both crazy."
"Look, Grant and I are together. It's a fact. I'm not gonna give up on him so we're trying the best we can here. As my parents, I'd rather have your full support on this. We already have enough stuff to deal with, I don't want to have to worry about you two not supporting us..."
Your mother wraps an arm around you. "You have my full support, dear. I'm sure you two will work this out and everything will be alright. Your father supports you too, it just takes him a little time to take this all in, you know how he is."
You father smirks. "Of course I support our daughter, that's why I don't want her to ruin her life. Hey, Grant boy, you've been very quiet, tell me, how serious are you about my daughter? I mean, she's risking her working career to be with you..."
Grant looks at you with a smile. "I'm as serious as I can be. We are serious. That's why I'm willing to do anything to be with her. I love her, I told you before. And I do mean that."
Your father smirks again like he's not very impressed but your mother is all smiles. "Oh, so cute. You two are adorable. By the way, how's your dog Jett?"
You laugh, saying to Grant, "oh, that's right, mom fell in love with Jett over Christmas."
Grant giggles. "I understand. He's a charmer. He's great, ma'am. I know he's been in very good hands while I was away." Grant smiles at you.
Your mother stands up and says with a grin, "well, I don't think we should bother you two anymore. We just wanted to wish a Happy New Year... Anyway, sweetheart, we'll see you at dinner tonight. And of course, Grant, you're invited too. It's gonna be at our place, just us and our son so we'll keep things private, ok?"
You nod. "Sure, mom, we'll be there, right Grant?"
Grant nods. "Sure, thank you for the invitation."
Your father stands up too. "In the meantime remember to keep a low profile." He shakes his head in a disapproving way.
You stand up and you kiss your father's cheek. "Cheer up, dad. It's gonna be fine. And you're gonna love Grant, if you give him a chance. Wait till you two start talking about sports..."
Grant giggles and your father squints his eyes. "Clippers?" He asks to Grant.
Grant nods with a smile. "Definitely."
"Ok, maybe you're not lost, boy." You all laugh and you father kisses your cheek. "Take care, sweetie. We'll see you tonight. And Grant, I'm on to you. By the way, call me if you need an agent."
"Oh dad!" You all laugh and they leave.