Smoke on the Water

“Dad I need to talk to you,” Brody said to his father as he walked into his study.

Peter Hutchinson was enveloped in his work; he always was. This was the type of man that he was. He always tried to provide for his family, trying desperately to give Brody a better future than he had. It was a wonderful example from Brody to live by. Peter taught his son humility, honor, dignity, respect, and perseverance to do great things.

“Sure, son,” he said as he took off his glasses and put them on top of his piles of blueprints of hotel structures, contracts, pictures of building sites, and other miscellaneous papers needed to run his business. “What is it?”

“I was wondering if you and mom would be willing to come over to Natasha’s house tomorrow morning so we could all talk together about what is going to happen between us.”

Peter looked at his son quizzically, “Where is this coming from?”

“It’s just that it’s already July, and Natasha and I better get started on moving to Philadelphia pretty soon but her parents are giving her a really hard time excepting the fact that Natasha doesn’t want to do what they want her.”

“And you think by holding this meeting that would change something?”

“I don’t know but I’m willing to try,” Brody replied. “Natasha is already set on going to Temple University but she is really scared about what her parents are thinking and Mom isn’t making it any easier on our relationship…. I think that if we all sat down together and discussed everything that needs to be discussed, it would be beneficial for our relationship and also put everyone’s mind to peace.”

“You’ve grown up to be a good man, Brody. I’m proud that you are thinking ahead of your future with Natasha and even though I think you might be too young to start a serious relationship with her, I admire the fact that you can admit to having problems in your relationship and facing them head on.”

“Thanks dad,” Brody smiled. “So do you think you could get mom to come with us to Natasha’s house?”

“I’ll certainly try,” his father replied. “Where is she anyway?”

“Uhh… I think she went out shopping with a couple of her girlfriends,” Brody replied.

“Right, of course she did,” he replied with a bit of resentment in his voice.

Brody’s father worked round the clock sometimes, he worked until his head hurt, and he worked through holidays and birthdays all to provide a better life for his family. They were well off up until Brody went to Private School. It wasn’t that the Baxter’s couldn’t afford it; it was just that they had to make considerable changes in their lifestyle, changes that his wife, Jeanine refused to accept.

Even with the countless bills piling up on Peter’s desk, she still went to the high-end shops in New York and bought the most expensive clothes, shoes, make-up, etc. Why? Because she was materialistic. She thought that the most important thing you had to have was money, and if you didn’t have money, you had to look like you had money; even though your husband is working his hands to the bone to try to support your outlandish gifts to yourself.

About ten minutes later, Jeanine Baxter walked through the front door of their Manhattan home. “Peter, I’m home,” Jeanine yelled through the mud room.

Brody and Peter were still in the study talking about Peter’s upcoming business trip. He was going with a group of ten colleagues to Atlantic City, New Jersey to try to start a project of five hotels in the metropolitan area. They are planning on starting the project in May of 2013 and ending sometime in the summer of 2014. It’s a long-term project but it all hangs down on this business trip to see if the investors will sign the checks.

“Mom’s home,” Brody noted. “Do you want me to come with you when you talk to her about tomorrow, or no?”

“I think it’ll be best if you come with me.”

“Hi honey,” Jeanine said with a coy smile on her face as she went up to her husband and kissed him on the cheek. “You will never believe what shoes I got down on Fifth Avenue today. They are to die for!”

“That’s great, Jeanine,” Peter interrupted. “But we have to talk to you about tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” she asked. “What’s tomorrow? I don’t have anything planned.”

“Brody wants us to go together to Natasha Hutchinson’s house to have a meeting and discuss the future of Brody and Natasha’s relationship.”

Jeanine looked at her husband, then at Brody. “You want me to go to the Hutchinson’s tomorrow? Why?”

“Because Natasha and I are going to Philadelphia in September, and we need to discuss how are relationship is going to go,” Brody explained calmly.

“Wait a second, what do you mean, you and Natasha are going to Philadelphia,” Jeanine asked shocked. “You told me that you were going by yourself.”

“I never said that,” Brody said. “Natasha is coming with me to Temple University and she is going to be studying Forensic Science, and like it or not, Natasha and I have a good, healthy relationship and we want you to be a part of it.”

Jeanine looked at her son with cold eyes, she dropped the shopping bags and looked directly at him. “You listen to me, young man. You may think that you may have a ‘good, healthy relationship’ with Natasha but if you think for one moment that I want to be any part of that girl’s life, then you are sadly mistaken.”

Peter looked at his wife and furrowed his brows. “What’s your problem with her, anyway. Natasha gets good grades, she’s a good girl with morals and a strong future ahead of her, what you’re problem with her.”

Jeanine looked at Peter with a shocked expression, “Oh now you’re okay for them to start a long-term relationship at eighteen! How dare you!”

“I’m not for or against anything, Jeanine. I just want to know why you are so against Brody dating Natasha. Obviously, they are a good match for each other if they had been going out for over three years now.”

Jeanine looked at the two men and took a seat at the breakfast table.

“It’s not Natasha, it’s her family,” she said exasperatedly.

“The Hutchinson’s?” Brody inquired. “What do you have against them? They have a nice house, Mr. Hutchinson’s a successful lawyer, they give money to charity….”

“That’s exactly it. They’re rich and look down on us!”

“That’s your problem with them? The fact that they are rich?” Brody said to his mother. “You know that they don’t look down on us, Natasha never acts spoiled, she even gets mad at me when I buy her expensive gifts!”

“Oh please, you remember the last time we visited their house. The way they had their maids and butlers everywhere and how they had their famous paintings on the walls and their beautiful house in tip-top shape….”

“So you’re jealous of them?” Brody got to the point.

“No,” Jeanine denied. “It’s just that….”

“Listen Jeanine,” Peter interrupted. “Brody and Natasha both want to talk to us about their relationship. They at least deserve an hour of our time together.”

It took some persuading but Jeanine finally gave in and agreed to come the next morning to the Hutchinson house. When Brody made the phone call to Natasha, she was immensely relieved that now they could at least tell both sets of parents together like that somehow was supposed to make things even better.