With Hearts to Hear| ✔

|05|

The air around the dinner table was awkward, well at least Rachel thought it was. She didn't know if it was usually that way, or the addition of her presence that had made it that way; at least she was in a good mood, they couldn't take that from her.

"So Will, how's Law school going?" Mark turned to one of his two perfect son's.

Rachel fought the urge to roll her eyes, the three of them were so damn pretentious it made her sick. Maybe they could ruin her mood; she could feel it dampening as the dreary conversation drew on.

She ripped off another piece of paratha, deciding to zone out the conversation and focus on her mothers curry. She lost herself in the herbs and spices of the chicken and chana masala, almost moaning at the taste of it. She had missed her mother cooking Indian food, since she had married Mark it had become a less frequent occurrence.

"What about you Rachel?" Mark suddenly turned to her, probably done with grilling his sons. "How have you been?"

"Fine." Rachel answered with a simple shrug, she hoped it was enough to make him stop inquiring.

"Rachel has a date tonight." Anita supplied, hoping that it would ease the atmosphere and open Rachel up more to the conversation. Judging by the look Rachel threw her way, her daughter didn't seem to appreciate it.

"Who are you seeing tonight?" Mark between a forkful of food; Rachel had never seen anyone eat curry with paratha with a fork. She focused on that oddity rather than the look that said he practically expected this from Rachel.

"A guy I met at a pub." Rachel decided to bend the truth a little bit, she didn't want to know what her mother would say if she found out about the altercation with Tom the policeman the evening before. "We were actually planning to spend a few days together, y'know to see if we vibe."

"Now Rachel you can't stay with a man that you just met." Mark was quick to interject, he shot a look over to his wife but she shook her head as if telling him to leave it alone. Rachel wouldn't appreciate him trying to address this situation, especially not in front of his sons. "Have you thought any more about university?"

Rachel felt her skin heating up, not from embarrassment, but in anger. She was somewhat thankful that he had stopped prying into her romantic life; she didn't care to know what he thought, quite frankly it wasn't anyone else's business but her own. She knew exactly what his elite social circle thought of 'loose girls like her,' she had been to enough of his fancy work galas, heard enough of the sniggering and whispered insults behind her back. The worst part is those people didn't even know her, far less for if they did know how she liked to express herself, or how she liked to spend her time. The last thing she wanted was chauvinistic shit from a man she really didn't care to have in her life.

"I've already told you, I'm not going to university." Rachel grit her teeth. Why was it that every time they were in the same room for more than 5 minutes, he tried to convince her to do whatever he thought was best for her. "I'm writing music."

Rachel hadn't actually written anything in a couple weeks, but she was dedicated to her craft. She had been writing music since her father was still alive; it had been his dream to see her on a stage doing what she loved. She missed those days, when she would sing for him in his hot garage whilst he worked on cars.

She had to say something back to Mark though, because if it wasn't her romantic life it had to be something else. When would he stop butting himself into her life? It was her life and she would do whatever the fuck she wanted with it. She didn't care what he thought or what he wanted for her, he could shove it where the sun didn't shine.

"You've been 'writing' ever since I met your mother, maybe you should consider other options for a career." Mark began, hoping the carefulness of his tone ebbed the sting of his words. "Music can always be a hobby."