Every terrible scenario I could possibly think of ran through my head. Thoughts swirled around, each one worse than the last. Butterflies ran through my stomach as Mark took my arm as we left the car. He led me through the hotel’s lobby to the first floor. A man in a tuxedo at the door checked our names off a list and we were led into the Selzer Family Charity Dinner.
As soon as I walked in I found myself even more overwhelmed than I felt in the car. There were at least a hundred people in the enormous room, each one dressed in more expensive and elegant clothes and jewels than the last. I felt like a fraud. I didn’t belong here. What was going to happen when I didn’t know what fork to use with my salad? I was going to embarrass myself, and Mark.
My fear was so strong I almost forgot about the little egg inside of me. Oh God, I was never going to survive this night.
Before I had a chance to dwell on just how terrible I was going to be at this, an older woman came up to us. Dressed in black from head to toe, but with expensive gold jewellery lining her arms, ears and fingers, she had a shrewd face. Her body was frail, but it was obvious her eyes were still very full of life, gleaming blue, the exact same shade of blue as Mark’s. That’s why I wasn’t surprised when he introduced her:
“Caroline, I’d like you to meet my mother. Mother, this is Caroline, my girlfriend.”
“How do you do Mrs. Selzer, it’s lovely to meet you,” I told her, extending a hand out. She looked at my hand coldly for a minute, as though deciding whether or not it was clean enough to touch before briefly shaking it with her own hand. Her handshake was frail, but I had a feeling she made sure it seemed that way.
“Caroline. I suppose you’re not from a good family, are you? You don’t have money of your own?”
I was taken aback by the sudden brusque questioning, but I put on my sweetest smile.
“No, my family has no money. I’m afraid I may not live up to the standards you desire for your son.”
She made a noise that sounded a little bit like a “hrumph” as she looked me up and down.
“Alright, well, Mark’s a big boy, I’m sure he can make his own decisions.”
After couple of minutes of very unpleasant conversation later she was gone, slinking off like a snake to find another unsuspecting victim.
“You were definitely right about your mom, she’s a treat.”
“Yeah, when people complain to me about having to bring girls home for dinner, they have no idea how easy they have it. My dad will be nicer to you though. Oh, here he comes now.”
When I saw the man coming towards us, I almost did a double take. It was like looking at Mark thirty years in the future. Mark’s father’s hairline was a few inches further back, there were more lines on his face and his nose was just a little bit bigger, but apart from that he was the splitting image of his son. He greeted me with the same warm smile I’d become so accustomed to from his son.
“You must be Caroline, welcome, welcome!”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Selzer,” I replied as I shook his hand. His handshake was strong, confident, everything I would have imagined the family patriarch’s personality to be.
“Oh please, call me Anthony. Everybody else does, and you’re practically family now, from what Mark’s told me.”
If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Mark blushed next to me.
“You’re too kind, although I am honored that Mark thought to bring me here tonight.”
“Yes, we were starting to think he might swing the other way, he brought so few of his girlfriends to these things to meet his family,” Anthony joked, and I laughed along lightly with him. I could tell Mark wasn’t comfortable, although he was doing his best to hide it. Eventually, after a few more minutes of chit-chat, his father excused himself to go speak with someone else.
“Well, there you go. I told you, my father’s charming.”
“Yes. You’re absolutely right there. But I know people can be far different in private.”
Mark pressed his lips together and nodded, and I didn’t press. Instead, I took his hand and led him towards one of the waiters. I could use a glass of champagne after having met both my boyfriend’s parents in quick succession tonight.
“I’ll be right back, Caroline, if you don’t mind. I just need to go to the bathroom quickly,” Mark said, excusing himself. I moved over to the wall, where I could observe what was going on in the room without being noticed.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the egg I had practically forgotten about buzzed to life inside of me. I gasped and just about dropped the flute of champagne I was holding as my legs almost immediately turned to jelly. The vibrations were low, slow, but enough that my body immediately reacted. I could feel the juices inside of me building up and a small moan escaped my lips that I managed to kill almost immediately.
I knew I couldn’t let anyone notice what was happening to me. I looked around, half looking for Mark, to see where he was that he was doing this, half checking to see if anyone else around could hear. The buzzing felt so loud inside of me, I was sure everyone in this room knew what was happening to me.