So as to prepare for the arrival of Tom , Andrew went to the bathroom with an unpleasant expression. Turned on the shower and took his bath then returned back to his room where he found that the clothes he had picked were gone and replaced with his tuxedo.
He put on his regular clothes instead of the tix which his mother bought him during new year as a present. Sure he loved it but just wasn't in the mood for it. His regular was a black t-shirt,a pair of sweat pants which were also black coupled with a white hoodie which had a streak of red running through it from the upper left shoulder to his lower torso.
After that he went downstairs in which looking around saw nothing out of the ordinary. The was dining table to the far left, in the middle of the living room was a big beige sofa and a recliner to the side. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a small wooden platform on the ground. It had the regular, an oven, the sink,the cabinets for the crockery and cutlery e.t.c. Sure their house was compact but he didn't mind. He took a seat on the couch turning on the television.
His mother came from her room wearing a red dress wearing her mascara with red heels. Her hair was tied up in a bun as her jade amethyst eyes were brought out by her makeup. She immediately looked at Andrew and started complaining,"What did I tell you about your outfit Andrew ?" All Andrew did was turn off the TV and looked at her with an apologetic look and told her,"Well I feel more comfortable in these rather than that tux." She would have continued reprimanding him if the time would allow her to do so but it seemed to have other plans. "Ugh, fine you can wear it seeing that we'll be late if change. Come on let's go."
They left with his mother's SUV and dashed off into the city as they lived in the sub urbans. The sun was slowly setting in the distance leaving an orange and yellow hue in it's wake. The scene was quite beautiful from afar.As they approached the city there were a lot of glamorous advertisements and buildings under construction but Andrew drifted off to sleep before he could douse himself with the bustling lifestyle of the city.
As he was sleeping he was woken up by the blaring of noise and asked,"Not to sound immature but are we there yet?" His mother replied,"No but we sure are close." And sure enough they arrived at their destination which was rather impressive compared to their place. It was a three storey mansion in an enclosed estate.
After accessing entry at the gate his mother parked the car and got out. Andrew was still wondering,'Mom who did you hook up with' but he would shortly know the answer to that. He too got out of the car and walked up to the porch and his mother told him,"I know this is going to be rough for you but can you at least behave yourself this time for me."Andrew then replied,"Okay mom I'll try."
They were welcomed by a tall muscular man who seemed to be in his early forties. He had a round face with with a burly beard but lacked a mustache wearing a two piece suit of blue and black and a white shirt. He initiated the conversation with Lucy complimenting her looks and asked her shifting his gaze to Andrew,"So this is your son who you were talking about." Andrew just looked at him with a passive face but took a quick glance at his mother and wore a warm expression and said,"Yes I am and mom has told me a lot about you too. From surviving in the ghetto to the manager of the most successful company in the country. I do have to say I am impressed."
"Quite the informed, Andrew," Tom said and continued," Well it would be rude of me not to welcome my guests so do come in."He ushered them in while moving to the side giving them a way to pass. They walked in and sure from a guy whose status was that of a manager of the most successful in the country the placed was exceedingly well furnished with a lot of expensive furniture with fancy artwork decorating the walls. They made their way to the grand accommodating area signifying Tom's opulence and were warmly welcomed by the servants which were keeping the place in shape.
They took their seats and before long a slender yet beautiful young girl with a cute face who seemed to be a little younger than Andrew by a few years appeared. Her hair was pitch black and she wore a brown sweater which was obviously bigger than her body could allow. It was then coupled with a black dress making her look like unapproachable given her cold demeanor. She didn't seem bothered by the weather given it was quite cold and windy in late autumn. She made herself comfortable with the rest making the situation awkward.
Tom let out a small laugh and commented,"Don't mind my daughter's actions, she's quite easy going when you get to know her. " He turned his gaze to his daughter and said,"Come on Ashley we have guests so can you behave yourself and greet them." It seemed to have worked cause she finally stopped looking at her phone and said with a non cholant look on her doll face ,"Pardon my rude arrival. My name is Ashley as my father has already made clear. " She looked at Lucy and said,"So you must be Lucy. My dad goes on bragging about you and your job." Nervousness as it was written on Lucy's face replied,"Well I'm sure we can get along with each other pretty well given time that is." And then Ashley turned her head to Andrew and said,"And you must be Andrew. Dad tells me a lot about you including your perfect grades, your well mannered nature in your school."
And with that she resumed her posture of looking endlessly at her phone while Tom tried to bring the conversation back on point,"Haha,well since we all know each other let's get on with this night. Gerald if you don't mind we would like to start dinner." And with that dinner was served with the servants who were quick and precise with their work in arranging the table using fancy cutlery and laid the food. The atmosphere was dead silent everyone enjoying their meals but Lucy quickly tried to lighten up the mood by commenting on the food but to no avail. After everyone was done with their meals Ashley excused herself off and Andrew remained donning his black laced with red stripes headphones trying to ignore the silent awkwardness. It seemed that Tom and Lucy finally sparked their conversation and trying not to ruin the mood Andrew excused himself in the name of fresh air.
He started walking down the halls looking at the various rooms which mostly looked official or leisure purposes but he ignored them so he continued until he came across a room which was quite different from the others. It had a direct access to the balcony overseeing the vibrant city,there were pictures mounted but what intrigued Andrew was the grand white vintage piano in the room. He took off his headphones and his wore his hoodie wearing a small smile. He made his way to the piano and started to lightly press the keys then cracked his knuckles and said,"Okay let's have a taste of this." He started to play a work of Mozart. After playing a ground breaking performance with both timing and rhythm matching both the melancholy and sadness of the beauty of the song he got up and took off his hoodie started leaving when he noticed that he had an audience awaiting him at the door. It was none other than Ashley who had an intrigued face on. She then initiated,"I didn't know that you could play the piano." Andrew responded,"Something I like to do to drown the horrible reality that surrounds me." Then Ashley inquired,"You wouldn't mind giving me some lessons, would you?" In a cute but sassy voice.
"Sure, I don't generally mind. Though you wouldn't mind me asking whose piano is this?" Ashley then answered,"It's my dad's but he doesn't usually use it so he tried to make me learn to play it but I never had the motives or the will to do so." Ashley then approached Andrew and sat on his lap which made her blush for a second and looked at Andrew to see his reaction but he just gave her his signature cold stare and asked her," Are you comfortable or should I stand." Ashley replied,"Let's just continue." Ashley put her delicate yet soft fingers on the keys which were overlapped with Andrew's fingers and started to play Bassthoven.
The melody sure was out of this world as their play was overhead by their parents who were downstairs and suddenly remembered that their kids were existent thus they rushed off to see them realizing that they had lost track of time. They both arrived at the scene and were quite stupefied by the sight of Andrew and Ashley playing the keyboard together but it seemed they were a little too close for their parents comfort. After they were done both their parents congratulated both of them for their performance in which they were startled to realize that their parents were watching. Ashley just let out a small squeal and blushed leaving the room in a hurry while Andrew brushed off the praises he got with a simple thank you. "Andrew I do have to say that surely was an impressive performance.I' ve tried to get Ashley into playing the piano for quite some time but she would always refuse saying that it would be too much work for her.'' Tom claimed while Lucy said,'' Well it's nice to see the both of you two getting along with each other. Would you look at the time it's already 10 pm. It was nice of you Tom for having us but we must be on our way.''
So they went downstairs and Tom went to Ashley's room trying to get her to escort his guests but she wouldn't budge so he left her be and took the Andrew family out and took them all the way to their car. ''Well it was nice of you to grace us Lucy and have a safe journey along with your son.'' Lucy responded with a similar exchange and as this was happening Andrew looked up at the piano room's balcony and noticed Ashley was there waving at him so he did the same with a small smile on his face. Andrew bid Tom good bye and before they took off Tom insisted ,''Andrew you should come over tomorrow to hang out with Ashley given that you are on holiday.'' And his mother agreed to this so as to remove the tension between her family and Tom's so Andrew eventually agreed. ''Sorry Andrew you know that I'll be at work tomorrow but you are old enough to bring your self here,right?'' Andrew replied with a nod looking once more at the balcony seeing Ashley gone then going in the car zooming off to their home. Once they arrived Lucy got a phone call from Tom and before heading to her room she told Andrew,'' Since Tom too will be at work it seems that you will have will have to keep Ashley busy tomorrow.'' And closed her room leaving Andrew on the recliner watching TV before he headed to his room to get some shut eye.