A Chance Meeting | Chris Evans

Chapter 81

There were lots of people in the hallway when they came through, all taking off shoes and hanging up coats. Becca could see Chris's mum taking the coat off one girl of about eight and Nick taking the boots off another who couldn't have been more than about two.
Becca steeled herself for more introductions.
Okay, here we go again.
'Oh hi Becs.' Nick said, looking up.
'Hi Nick.' Becca said, cringing a little because the greeting had directed everyone's attention towards her, not least a woman with brown hair who was looking at her with curiosity.
I'm guessing that's Chris's sister.
'Becs, this is my sister Carly and her husband Ryan.' Chris said, gesturing towards them.
'Hi.' Becca said awkwardly.
'Hello.' Carly said, smiling. 'It's nice to meet you - Chris managed to talk you into coming then?'
Chris laughed. 'No, she flat out said 'no' to me. Mom talked her into it.'
'Ah.' Carly said, nodding. 'Yeah, she's good at doing that.'
There was a pause in the conversation and Carly looked at her expectantly.
She's waiting for you to respond.
But Becca's brain was locking up and she couldn't think of anything to say. 'Err...'
Say something! Anything!
'I like your Mickey Mouse wreath!' Becca blurted out.
Oh God.
Carly blinked in surprise at the sudden change in topic. 'Umm, thanks.'
Urggh, Becca! Why? Why?
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.
Oh God, all Chris's family are standing in this hallway. They're probably all staring at me and thinking I'm an idiot!
Before she had a chance to spiral further into embarrassment, she felt Chris's fingers thread through hers and give her hand a squeeze.
'Carly, we don't want to miss the start of the parade.' He said, and Becca had never felt so grateful to anyone in her whole life.
'Of course.' Carly said, and with a smile and a slightly bemused look at Becca, she walked through to the lounge.
Once everyone had left the hallway, Becca realised that she was still holding onto Chris's fingers with a death grip. 'Sorry.' She said, letting go.
'No problem. I didn't need blood in those fingers anyway.' He joked.
'Oh God, what's wrong with me?' Becca said, rubbing her palm over her forehead. 'Your whole family probably think I've got some weird mental disorder now.'
Chris chuckled. 'Nah, you'll find they're pretty accepting of slightly odd behaviour - they've had to be.'
Becca snorted. 'Yeah.'
'Besides, it wasn't that bad.' Chris assured her.
She gave him a withering look.
'No, really. I'm sure it seemed that way to you, but it wasn't.' Chris said. 'If my anxiety flares up, I find that I blow it up in my head a lot, but it's usually nowhere near as bad as I think.'
She sighed. 'I suppose it could have been worse.'
'Exactly.' Chris said, and then added with a grin. 'You didn't point out the various ways that she could have murdered someone with the wreath.'
Becca laughed. 'True.'
'So how about we put your things in the cupboard and go and watch the parade?' Chris suggested, taking off his own jacket and hanging it up.
'Okay.' Becca said, handing over her jacket, boots and bag and then following him into the lounge.

The tv was on, and the parade was just kicking off when they went in. The children were all piled in front of the tv, so there was plenty of room on the sofas. With relief, Becca chose the usual end of sofa position to tuck herself into, and Chris sat next to her.
He'd mentioned that watching the parade was a family tradition, but it was obvious from how much they seemed to enjoy it - they laughed at the jokes, admired the costumes and the routines, commented on the floats and the balloons and compared them to previous years. The parade itself was great, but Becca got nearly as much pleasure from watching them all enjoy it. Obviously she had nothing to compare it to, but Chris kept her involved, frequently leaning over and telling her bits about previous times. And she gradually relaxed
'So Becs, what do you think of your first Thanksgiving parade?' Chris's mum asked about an hour later.
'It's great.' Becca said with a smile. 'I'm really enjoying it.'
'What do you mean her first parade?' Asked the eight year old, who'd come to sit with Nick and Lisa. 'You've never seen a parade before?' She said to Becca.
'Oh, this is Grace, one of Nick's nieces.' Chris said. 'Evie's over there.' He pointed to the small girl in front of the tv.
'Hi Grace.' Becca smiled at the girl. 'I've seen parades before, just not the Thanksgiving parade.'
'Why not?'
'Well, this time last year I was at home in England.' Becca explained.
'You don't watch the Thanksgiving parade at home?'
Becca laughed. 'We don't have Thanksgiving at home.'
The little girl looked shocked. 'Not at all?' She asked, sounding horrified.
'No. It's not a British holiday. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving.'
'So what do you do?'
'Well, it's just a normal day.' Becca said with a shrug. 'If I was at home now, I'd probably be at work.'
'That sucks!'
Becca smiled.