Chapter 7 Bad Examples

The atmosphere became a little tense, and Daniel simply looked away. He wanted her to leave immediately. In the date they had shared, he really disliked her attitude and was annoyed by the conversation topics she brought up; she constantly asked about his children. It was a vulgar way to show the interest she had in Daniel, using his children to get to him.

"I was telling Mary it was you, and she did not want to believe it. What would Daniel Crusher be doing with a young girl in a place like this?" And she turned to look at Deanna.

"Hello," Deanna told her, but she did not respond. She was waiting for Daniel to give an explanation.

"Is this your style now?" That was very rude of her.

"Excuse me, but I can hear you too," Lynda looked at her.

"And who are you?"

"I am Deanna, nice to meet you."

"Hello, and you are...?"

"Daniel's fiancée." Lynda laughed.

The situation was escalating. She was trying to belittle her with absolute shamelessness and being rude, she did not even know her. What kind of person was this woman?

"That is right," Daniel said.

"Is this a joke?"

"No," Deanna replied.

"Come on, Daniel. You do not 'do' these kinds of things."

"I am still here and I can hear you," Daniel hid a small smile.

"I am not talking to you."

"No, you are ignoring me to talk to my future husband. Do you not think that is a little out of line? He is an engaged man..."

People at the adjacent tables began to turn around to see what was happening. Although they spoke in a normal tone, the topic of conversation was still embarrassing, and Deanna was contributing her part. She had noticed Daniel's displeasure towards that woman, and his face openly expressed his desire for her to leave. She could help him out a little.

Lynda realized that she was being observed and questioned by the other people. She was imposing herself between a couple who were having a quiet dinner with inappropriate questions.

"I see... I did not know," she tried to apologize.

"Do not worry," Deanna dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

"Well, then I had better leave... Congratulations, Daniel."

He greeted her only with a nod, and Lynda finally left. They continued having dessert in silence; for Deanna, there was no need to add anything else. It was obvious that this woman had had something with him at some point, or she was just ill-mannered. She was sure that in the future she would have to face more of this type of questioning.

They were in the car on the way back to Deanna's home, but Daniel was still silent. He felt, for some reason, that he should give her explanations, but he did not understand why, and that annoyed him. It bothered him not to understand what was happening with him: nerves, anxiety, that knot in his stomach, and now the need to justify himself. It seemed as if Deanna was actually his fiancée.

"That woman from earlier..."

"Yes?"

"We only had one date, and it did not work out."

"I see."

"As you must have realized, she is a bit unpleasant."

"She is."

"Well..." Done, that explanation was enough.

Deanna was a little amused to see him try to explain something she never asked about. But she found it a good, thoughtful thing. Maybe Harry was right when he said he was cold but a good person.

"You handled the situation well."

"Well, thank you. It is not the first time I have run into people like that."

"What do you mean?"

"There are people who tend to look down on others. It used to happen to me the first year of university."

"I understand."

"Harry was a great help in those times."

"I am glad to hear that he behaves."

"He is a great friend and a great person."

The affection was genuine, and Daniel realized it. Apparently, Harry was something more than an irresponsible person with ridiculous ideas who put others in difficult situations.

When they arrived at her building, Deanna started to say goodbye, but Daniel stopped her.

"Tonight things went well. But at the family meeting, we will have eyes scrutinizing us all the time."

"I will do my best."

"I suppose Harry must have already told you about our mother. I suspect she is the one you will have to be most careful of, she thinks we are getting married because you are interested in my money."

"It is going to be difficult to convince her."

"Yes, but do not worry about that. Regardless of what she says, the wedding will happen anyway. But it is very likely that she will make strange or annoying comments, just ignore her as much as you can."

"It is good to know, I will be prepared."

"Good... And, please, no... No dresses like that! What? " He almost said it.

"Well... no dresses like that." He was being weird again.

Deanna said goodbye, thanked him for dinner, and went into her apartment. What had he meant? She felt satisfied that she had survived her test, but apparently, he was very conservative since he had complained about the dress. No knees and no back. Luckily, the outfit Laura had recommended for the meeting was more modest.

Daniel had one more task left, the most difficult of all: telling his children. He had never talked to them about anything like this, he had never brought a woman home, nor had he introduced anyone to them, and suddenly he had to announce that he was going to get married. The other problem would be explaining who he was going to do it with.

Ethan and Naomi might question it a little, everything was very sudden. But his children, apparently, each had their own life, although he himself was not very aware. In recent years, he had somewhat retreated into his shell, trying not to externalize his sadness so that it would not affect his children. Their mother was gone, and the last thing they needed was a father who would falter. But in trying to protect them, he ended up alienating them a bit.

They were a family that functioned based on rules and schedules, but they also shared moments of relaxation, such as on vacations. But Daniel did not know another way to make things work. The children relaxed more with their grandmother or their aunt, who were always hovering around them. He represented the figure of authority, and they rarely contradicted him. It was simply how the gears turned.

The one who worried him the most was Jonathan. After his mother died, he retreated into his own shell. He was so small that they did not know what had happened to him. Suddenly one day he stopped talking, and not because he could not, he simply decided not to do it anymore. Daniel had gone to every doctor and therapist he could find, but there was no medical reason for his condition, no pathology. The therapies did not help either, they only stressed the child more. The only thing he seemed to like a lot was music; he would dance around the house carrying a small toy recorder that played multimedia files.

That is why it was so important for Deanna to stay within the rules and routines they already had in the family. The less those customs were disturbed, the less harm his children would receive. The best thing was to maintain a certain cordial distance, although Deanna had proven to be a pleasant person, the truth was that she had also brought out her combative and rebellious side. He did not want his children to learn from those examples. But that was something he could not avoid.