Yeah, it had been a pretty incredible night.
Chapter 6
When Sebastian arrived at his parents’ house on Saturday morning, there was already a box of food by the door. No doubt this was for him to take home.
Half the fridge was likely also full of food for him, even though he’d seen them just two days ago. He’d barely had to do any grocery shopping in the last month—except for the time he’d run into Amber.
“Sebastian,” Dad said, coming up the stairs from the basement. He was carrying a giant package of toilet paper. “This is for you, too.” He placed the toilet paper beside the box. “There was a sale.”
Mom hurried to the door. “Don’t take off your boots yet!”
Sebastian, unfortunately, had already removed a boot.
“Aiyah.” She clucked her tongue. “Okay, put it back on. You need to buy some lightbulbs.” She gestured to the light fixture in the front hall. “It is burnt out, and your father bought the wrong ones.”
There was a small hardware store on Main Street. Sebastian headed there right away. When he walked out of the store, purchase in hand, his phone buzzed and he reached for it.
The text was from Amber. Sonata.
His blood pumped quickly as he pictured her wearing that sexy little vest and pearl earrings...and nothing else. He’d never been turned on by the word “sonata” before.
But.
He was in Ashton Corners visiting his parents. He could not do this right now.
He was about to type out a quick reply when someone said, “Sebastian?”
Sebastian glanced up. There was a middle-aged man coming toward him, and he was the last person on earth Sebastian wanted to see.
“Hello,” Stuart said.
I’m fucking your daughter.
Of course, Sebastian didn’t actually say that—thankfully, he had better control of his mouth—but stood there speechless.
Sebastian had called his man “Uncle Stuart” when he was younger, but the “uncle” part had been dropped over the years.
Suddenly, the fact that he was sleeping with Amber seemed incredibly wrong, even if they were consenting adults who had a good time together.
Your daughter wants to sext me right now.
“Hi,” Sebastian managed instead. “Good to see you.”
Stuart chuckled. “You certainly don’t sound happy to see me.”
Oh, no.
“Uh, just running some errands for my parents, trying to get back in time for lunch!” Sebastian was rattled and his voice sounded weird to his ears.
He talked to Stuart for a minute before hurrying down Main Street.
When he returned to his parents’ house, he changed the lightbulb in the hall light fixture. Both his mom and dad found it necessary to supervise, much to his annoyance.
Then he sent Amber a text. Sorry, I can’t. Maybe tonight.
He was sitting at the kitchen table while his mother finished cooking lunch when she said, “Who is this friend?”
“What are you talking about?” Sebastian asked, tensing. She hadn’t seen him texting Amber, had she?
“You know. The friend you were having bubble tea with when I called on Wednesday.”
Ah. Sebastian would have to make something up, and making shit up on the spot was not one of his strengths. But his mother wanted details, so he’d give her details.
“His name is Shane,” Sebastian said. “A friend from med school. He, uh, lives in Toronto—that’s where he’s from—but he was in Waterloo for the day and wanted to meet up.”
“What is he doing now?” Mom asked. “Residency? Or is he finished?”
“He’s doing his residency in internal medicine.”
“Is he married?”
What was with this inquisition?
“Yes,” Sebastian decided.
“Did you go to his wedding?”
“No.”
“Why not? If you are good enough friends to meet for bubble tea a few years after you have finished med school, why weren’t you good enough friends to go to his wedding?
“He got married before med school. Before I met him.”
“He must have been very young,” Mom said.
“Twenty-three.”
“Too young. But you are thirty and have no girlfriend!”
An image of Amber in her vest popped into Sebastian’s head again, but he pushed it aside. She wasn’t his girlfriend.
“I just got out of a relationship,” he said.
“You wasted so many years on Lucinda.”
“Wasted” was a bit strong. Though at least they were talking about something real now, rather than Sebastian’s imaginary friend named Shane.
This was not what he’d expected adulthood to be like.
“Now you should be in high demand,” his mother said. “You are a doctor. You are handsome. Maybe I should start looking for someone for you.”
Sebastian sighed. He didn’t need his mother involved in his dating life.
Wasn’t running into Stuart right after Amber had tried to sext him bad enough?
“Please don’t do that, Mom,” he said.
“Stuart and Rosemary set their children up with dates for Thanksgiving,” Dad said. “Diana went as Zach’s date.”
“I’m guessing that didn’t turn out well or I’d have heard about it before.”
Mom lifted the lid on the rice cooker. “Zach did not tell you about this?”
Sebastian felt a stab of guilt at the mention of his friend.
Yes, he really did need to call Zach sometime. He had no social life at present, aside from visiting his parents and having bubble tea with his imaginary friend Shane.
And seeing Amber, of course.
* * *
“I want one of those,” Ah Ma pointed at a cocktail on the waiter’s tray.
“I think it’s a piña colada,” Amber said.
“What is in that? Is there alcohol?”
“Yes. Rum, plus pineapple juice and coconut cream, I believe.”
“It looks so cute, with the little umbrella and pineapple slice. Today I am going to be wild and fun like my granddaughter.”
Amber’s father was working today, and she was having a “girls’ day” in London with her mother and grandmother. Ah Ma had seen this on a TV show and decided it needed to happen.
Before driving to London, Amber had attempted to sext Sebastian, thinking that might relieve some of her stress, but unfortunately, he’d been busy.
And now, here she was.
They were at a new restaurant in downtown London, Ontario, and afterward they’d go shopping at Masonville.
“You should have one with me,” Ah Ma said to Amber.
“Okay. But just one. I’m driving.”
“You, too,” Ah Ma said to her daughter-in-law.
Mom
