‘So, we didn’t really get the chance to talk the other day,’ he began. ‘I guess we can make up for that this evening.’
‘Without our parents listening in,’ she agreed, still looking unsure of herself.
‘Absolutely! Are you really pleased to be back? I know people can feel a little lost after finishing education.’
‘Oh, I know what you mean,’ she agreed, responding well to his hint of compassion. ‘There are a lot of decisions to take and my dad’s talking of a job in his office, but…’
‘But you’re not sure about accepting an easy route via your parents.’
‘Yes, but–’
‘Ha! It’s OK,’ he said, reading her mind. ‘You can’t offend me. I love life on the ocean so joining the family business was an easy decision for me. But each to their own, if you want to follow your own path I’d say go for it.’
‘You’re right. The problem is I’m not completely sure about what I want to do, it’s just that…’
‘That you don’t want to be railroaded by your parents.’
‘I worry if I make the wrong decision I’ll be stuck there, or else I would have accepted by now. What do you think?’
‘No one should feel trapped. Do you have any idea what else you’d prefer?’
‘Only vaguely. I think I’d prefer something more expansive. More… adventurous, I guess. Like what you do – but I’m not sure my parents will be very supportive about that.’
Kurt loved that she had used the word ‘adventurous’, suggesting there was something inside her yearning to break free. The evening was getting better by the minute, as his earlier summations of her character were being proven sound (he had been guilty of imagining such things before).
‘Are they a little overprotective of you?’ he asked.
‘In a sense,’ she admitted. ‘They’ve never been outwardly strict but I get a lot of silent pressure from them.’
‘Because they know you can read their minds?’
‘They’re pretty good at that,’ she nodded, acknowledging the weight of expectation upon her never to do anything that brought shame upon their orthodox ways. Presumably sneaking off with a young gentleman without getting their approval for whom he was came under that banner, but Kurt resisted saying anything to cause her further dilemma. Darlene was rebelling against her parents later than most but he was not about to be playing Devil’s advocate. He might be the temptation, but the risk was all hers to take.
There was something he was dying to ask about though and, feeling he could not do so directly, he used the context of her parents to give her the opportunity.
‘Were they supportive when you were with that guy at college?’ he asked, wondering if she would reveal more about why that had not worked out.
‘Erm… well, that was a little funny,’ was her curious reply and he sensed both a reticence to discuss the subject and also a need to explain something.
‘You mean they didn’t come round to the idea?’
‘No, I mean the circumstances were… untypical.’
‘Untypical?’
‘Yes, because it was his mother who masterminded the whole thing,’ she revealed.
‘Oh, really! How does that work?’
‘It’s weird, but I think she was on the lookout for a good Christian to be wed to her… to her precious son.’
‘That does sound weird.’
‘It was. Looking back, I can see that when he first asked me over to dinner it was at his mother’s suggestion. It was then that she urged me to tell my parents and invited them over – of course they got right on a plane and came round to stay.’
‘No kidding?’
‘Before we had even… before we really knew each other properly, our parents were organizing things.’