A Chance Meeting | Chris Evans

Chapter 85

Most of the washing and drying up was done in a companionable silence - his dad was a man of few words, unlike his mom.
'So, Becs seems nice.' His dad said eventually.
'Yeah.' Chris said with a smile. 'She is.'
'Are we going to be seeing a lot more of her?'
'I hope so.'
His dad nodded. 'Your mom's really glad she's here.'
'Yeah, me too.'
It seemed to be going really well. Becs appeared to be much more relaxed than he'd expected, and he still held out hopes of convincing her to stay over.
'Well, that's me done.' His dad said, after placing the last pot on the drainer.
'Can you hear a phone ringing?' Chris asked.
Bob listened. 'Yeah. Seems to be coming from outside. Maybe one of you left your phone out there.'
Chris followed the ringing, and there on the ground where Becs had been sitting was a phone. The picture on the home screen was of her with Ella and Viv.
Must have fallen out of her pocket when she sat down.
'It's Becs's phone.' He called to his dad.
The ringing stopped as soon as he picked it up, only to start again a few seconds later. The name on the screen said 'Mum and Dad'.
Should I answer it?
Can't just let it ring.
He answered it as he started walking back to the house.
'Hi, this is Becs's phone.'
'Oh.' Said a woman's voice, clearly surprised to hear someone else answer. 'This is Becca's mum, who's this?'
'It's Chris.'
'Oh, hello. I don't remember her ever mentioning a Chris. What are you doing with my daughter's phone?'
She hasn't mentioned me at all?
'I'm just taking it to her now - she left it outside.'
Becs came rushing into the kitchen - his dad had obviously passed on the message.
'She's here now, I'll just pass you over.' Chris said, handing her the phone. 'It's your mom.'
'Err...thanks.' She said, but he didn't miss the horrified look on her face.
'Hey mum.' Becca said. 'Hang on one minute, I'm just going to take you outside.'
Why doesn't she want to talk to her mum in front of me?
She walked out onto the patio and pulled the door to behind her, but it didn't fully close and Becs didn't seem to have noticed.
'Right, I'm outside now.' She said. 'How are you and dad doing?'
He should walk out of the kitchen. He shouldn't listen. She'd gone outside because she wanted privacy.
He took a step towards the lounge before he heard her say, 'oh, that? That was Chris.'
He couldn't help himself from stopping and turning back and listening to her side of the conversation.
'Haven't I? Oh well, I've not known him long.'
'Umm...I don't know, maybe a couple of months.'
'No, nothing like that.'
'How do I know him? Err...from the library.'
'Yeah, he...err...works there too, like me.'
Why'd she tell her mom that?
He didn't want to hear any more after that, so he turned and walked away.

Ten minutes later, Becca managed to get off the phone with her mother. She'd managed to steer the conversation away from Chris by implying that they were just friends, but she knew her mother and her mother's curiosity, so she'd need to warn Viv.

Group chat with Becca 💕 Ella 👑 and Viv 🦋

Becca 💕
Hey Viv - you there?

Viv 🦋
Yes

Viv 🦋
How's thanksgiving going?

Ella 👑
She's here, as am I 👋🏻

Becca 💕
It's going great, but my mum just called and Chris answered the phone 😱

Ella 👑
And this is so terrible, why?

Viv 🦋
You haven't told them yet, have you?

Becca 💕
No

Viv 🦋
Why not?

Ella 👑
Hang on, you hadn't told them that your mystery online Chris turned out to be Chris Evans?

Becca 💕
Err...they didn't even know that there was an online Chris

Ella 👑
Why not?

Becca 💕
Because they would have worried. If they knew that I'd met up with someone I'd met online they would have had a heart attack - back me up here Viv