hospitality ❥ h.s

eleven

"Rowan sweetie, could you pass the peas please?" Rowan's mother asked her from halfway across the large dining table. Rowan obeyed, awarding her mum with the plate of peas. Her hands were shaking slightly, but I was sure no one cared enough to notice. "Thank you."

Her family was engaged in a conversation regarding plans for summer vacation, which was approaching in about a month or so. They talked about the possibility of travelling to places like Europe, Australia, and even Los Angeles. I wondered if Rowan would be included in their voyages, but I refrained myself from asking after seeing the lack of words coming out of Rowan's lips.

I could see the pain in her eyes, caused by her exclusion in the conversation. I could tell she really wanted to go, to fix things with her family, to make them love her like they've never had before. But she didn't do anything about it, she was simply too scared to do so.

"And maybe afterwards, we could go to Paris!" Sydney suggested excitedly. Her parents nodded before going back to their meal.

Rowan's eyes went wide as she heard her sister's statement and she almost choked on the steak she was eating. At first I thought she was actually choking, almost getting up to perform the Heimlich on her. But then I remembered; during the best day of my life, before Rowan began her story-telling, she told me one thing that she's always wanted to do was to go to Paris.

Tears began to form in her eyes the more her family talked about going to France, for she knew she probably wasn't invited to tag along.

That was when I took a step forward and said, "Will Rowan be joining you guys?"

The entire table went silent for a brief time. Everyone looked at me except for Rowan, she was looking down at her plate, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Rowan's father coughed and eyed Rowan as he spoke, "Well, if she wants to tag along with us, she certainly can."

"Of course!" Her mum joined in, smiling. I couldn't tell if the smile was fake or not, but if it was, she was a better actress than I thought. She turned to Rowan. "Sweetie, if you wanted to come with us all you had to do was ask."

Rowan smiled grimly as a response, but still refused to speak. She was definitely thinking, it was as if you could almost hear the thoughts going through her mind. You could tell she wasn't satisfied with her parents' responses to my question, and neither was I.

"But why didn't you ask her if she wanted to go?" I asked, and the table became quiet once again.

"Oh well, I guess we really don't know what people want unless they speak up for themselves. We can't just jump to conclusions like that, you know," her mum explained, giving me a fake smile.

Still unsatisfied with them, I scoffed. "Wow, you guys are one shitty pair of parents."

The echoing sounds of forks hitting the edges of plates was the only thing we could hear once the table went dead-silent again. My eyes widened once I realized what I had just blurted out, and I could hear a few faint gasps across the table from me.

I looked at Rowan. She had a look of slight shock in her face. She wasn't angry though, so that was good.

"Excuse me?" Rowan's mum asked, rather appalled by my outburst.

"I said," I began, my voice getting louder with each nanosecond, "that you guys are a shitty pair of parents. I mean, look at you guys! Talking about travelling across the world without even inviting your own daughter. Don't you see that Rowan is suffering from the constant neglect you guys are giving her? Believe, I've been through the same thing, and it's truly one of the worst things you could ever experience. You guys are making Rowan feel like shit. Shit. So I suggest you look harder and think more about the people around you and what they're feeling, because believe me, you'll make a difference if you do."