Hamish

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HOW DOES ONE DRESS for a family dinner that is also a first date?

Well, the second, technically speaking. Dinner counts as a first date, right?

Hamish stood in front of his closet and stared at his clothing. He had all of it organised by use: work kit on the left, suits in the centre, casual to the right. A text from Nye cleared things right up for him: Don’t wear a tie or a jacket; you’ll look like a right wanker.

Helpful.

The encouraging texts continued to come in from all of his friends. Hamish ended up turning off his mobile to ignore them. Troublesome twats. Revenge could come later; first, he had to decide what to wear that wouldn’t make him “look like a right wanker.”

Jeans and a button-up shirt it is.

Because of the distance between Cardiff and Fowey, where Akash’s parents lived, they’d decided to meet for an early supper in Exeter. The city made a good halfway point for both groups. According to Nye, the three siblings usually travelled to their parents’ homes once a month to stay for the entire weekend.

Tonight would be special, but hopefully not catastrophically awful.

Nye, Shanti, Akash, Alice, Alex, and Hamish would all be travelling together in his Mercedes GLS. It comfortably fit the entire group. He pulled onto the M5 and sent up a prayer for everything to go well.

The drive passed uneventfully for the first forty minutes. They had another hour or so to go, if traffic played nice. Hamish hoped to show up early to make a good impression on the Robinsons.

Hamish caught the sound of snickering from both twins behind him. He glanced over at Akash, who shrugged. “What’s going on back there?”

“Oi. Stop snogging my sister.” Akash had twisted around to see what had the twins laughing. He’d obviously spotted Nye and Shanti kissing in the back. “He’s your employee—do something.”

Hamish raised an eyebrow when the baker smacked him on the arm. “She’s your sister.”

“The last time I told my baby sister what to do, she snuck dye into my shampoo bottle.” Akash grinned ruefully at him. “Purple hair doesn’t look brilliant on me.”

Hamish shifted his hand over to rest on the man’s knee. “Well, Nye’s a slightly better shot than I am—even with half an arm missing. Also, he’s as likely to listen to me as a brick wall.”

“You’ve a better chance with the wall.” Nye came up for air long enough to comment. “Don’t be jealous that you’re driving and can’t engage in your own snogging.”

The twins watched the banter between the four of them without comment. They appeared to find it all highly entertaining. Hamish let the conversation drop, though he kept his hand on Akash’s knee.

“About my parents.” Akash lowered his voice while the others continued nattering on in the back of the Mercedes. “They’re lovely, you know, but still—parents.”

Hamish gave the man’s knee a squeeze. “Right. Not sure if you’re trying to be encouraging or giving me a warning.”

“Both?”

“Right.”

Akash shook his head with an exasperated groan. “They want the best for their children in everything.”

“And I’m not it?”

“A family dinner as a first date was a daft idea. What the bloody hell was I thinking?” Akash covered his face with his hands. “Bugger.”

Hamish moved his hand from the baker’s knee to rest gently on his neck instead. He massaged the tight muscles while keeping his focus on the road ahead of them. “Dinner is only dinner with a few additions to the invitation list. Don’t put so much stress on yourself, your parents, and whatever this is between us.”

“Listen to him.” Alex shoved his head between the driver and passenger seats. “It’s just a bit of fun, right?”

“Right. I’m being irrationally dramatic.” Akash murmured more to himself than the others, though Hamish heard him perfectly. “Irrational. They love me. Stop being idiotic.”

The conversation drifted to lighter topics. Hamish allowed his stress about the meal to dissipate. He had some intense lust and definite interest in Akash invested into this connection thus far, but no deeper emotions.

If I repeat that to myself over and over, I won’t feel as if my heart is in my throat and my stomach at the same time.

Dinner would be whatever it turned out to be. If it went badly, they could simply walk away with little more than mild disappointment. Hamish found himself hoping it went well.

Their drive out to Exeter progressed smoothly. The twins sunk into a whispered conversation together. Nye and Shanti continued their questionable activities in the back, right up to their pulling up in front of the restaurant.

Hamish got out of his vehicle, and walked around it until he could bang on the window next to Nye. He smirked when the couple jumped apart. “Time to meet the parents, lovebirds.”

“Shouldn’t you be more anxious?” Nye grumbled at him while the others slowly tumbled out of the Mercedes.

“I suddenly realised of the two of us, you’ve got more to worry about than I do.” Hamish locked the vehicle and turned toward the restaurant. “I mean, I’m not dating their youngest daughter. Not sure this distraction will work out quite like you hoped.”

“Arsehole.” Nye shoved him in the back with his prosthetic arm. “Is this your idea of being supportive?”

“Parent alert. Mummy, Papa, meet Nye.” Shanti darted between them to grab her boyfriend by the hand and drag him over toward the older couple waiting nearby. Before either of her parents could respond, Shanti pointed them toward Akash. “He brought a date.”

Hamish snorted in amusement at the blatant attempt at distraction. He couldn’t deny it worked, since two matching intense glares switched over to him. He squared his shoulders instinctively at the scrutiny. “Mr and Mrs Robinson? It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Major Hamish Ross.”

“Major?” Akash’s dad held his hand out, taking Hamish’s in a hard, almost painful grasp. “Active duty?”

“Retired.” Hamish met the man’s grip with equal strength. “I understand you served as well.”

“A lifetime ago, before this rabble ruled my life.” Mr Robinson’s entire face lit up when he looked at his children. “How long have you known my son?”

Hamish almost blanched at the question. “A few weeks.”

“Ah.” James Robinson shook his head with a laugh before releasing Hamish’s hand. “Shanti enlisted you into her plan to distract us from the new man in her life.”

Akash stepped up to intervene. “Papa—”

He waved off his son’s attempt to distract him. “Your elder sister couldn’t help her interfering nature. She told us about Nye and Hamish two days ago.”

From Akash’s visible wince, Hamish got the idea his youngest sister wouldn’t be pleased with their eldest sibling. As an only child, he’d never had to worry about someone ratting him out to his parents. He hoped the evening wouldn’t devolve into arguing.

“You—come here.” Akash’s mother waved imperiously at Hamish to get his attention. She’d finished her interrogation of Nye, who had almost immediately disappeared into the restaurant with Shanti. “Well? Akash? Introduce us properly.”

What’s a sodding proper introduction?

Hamish found himself repeating his name and a slightly less intimidating handshake with the matriarch of the Robinson family. Her gaze pierced through his soul far more than her husband’s had. He could readily understand why Nye had begged him to help mitigate his own first introduction.

“He’ll do.” She nodded once to her son before taking her husband’s hand to walk up the path into the restaurant. “Akash, love, why do you let your sisters drag you into their messes? Really? Dinner with your parents doesn’t make for a romantic first date. And how could you think we’d be bothered by your new man?”

Akash appeared lost for words for a moment before rushing over to wrap his arms around his mother, who whispered something to him that Hamish couldn’t hear. “I love you.”

“Such a silly boy. We’ve known since you were young.” She patted his back while Akash’s father stepped over to join the hug. “If we’d ever known it bothered you so, we would’ve broached the subject ourselves. We wanted to wait for you to get the courage to do it yourself.”

“We’ll be inside.” Mr. Robinson squeezed his son’s shoulder before leading his wife away.

“Don’t be long and don’t kiss on the pavement,” she ordered sternly, though her eyes twinkled.

Hamish stared blankly at the couple disappearing into the restaurant. “Your mum could run the country.”

“Too much paperwork. Mummy doesn’t even like to write to-do lists.” Akash smiled, his eyes a bit watery, before turning a glare toward a gleaming red Porsche that had pulled up. Hamish could see that underneath everything else, his date was relieved at how his parents had accepted him. “Well, prepare yourself for fireworks. I’d wager Shanti’s going to have words with Padma before the pudding.”

“You going to be okay?”

“Definitely.” Akash rubbed his eyes roughly with his shirtsleeve. “I should’ve talked to them about this in private ages ago and not by bringing a date to dinner. I was afraid, and now it’s over, I’m not even sure why I was so terrified. I should’ve told them, though. There never seemed to be a perfect time.”

Hamish wrapped an arm around Akash’s shoulders and gave a comforting squeeze. “Life is never perfect.”

All of his assumptions regarding Akash’s parents proved to be entirely false. Hamish found the entire family to be rather lively. His mum and dad had been far more reserved.

Indira and James Robinson wore their hearts on their sleeves, and they’d apparently passed down this trait to their two youngest children. Padma, the eldest, appeared to be the most serious of the family. Hamish got the feeling she had a slight chip on her shoulder as a result.

The fireworks between the sisters waited until their entrees had been served. Shanti carefully set her knife and fork to the side. She glared across the table at her sister, while Akash cautiously reached out to pick up his glass of wine and leant away from the table with it in hand.

“Bombs away?” Hamish whispered to the man, who nodded with a wry smile. “Should I have worn Kevlar?”

Padma glanced absently down at her nails as if she didn’t care about what her sister was saying. “Just because you can’t be bothered to talk about anything important with our parents, doesn’t mean I don’t. They deserved to know about this man you’re trying to saddle yourself with.”

“You had no right.” Shanti practically vibrated with anger in her chair. “You’re always shoving your nose in my business. You’ve never met Nye. What gave you the right to tell anyone about him? He’s my boyfriend. You always do this.”

“Always? Hardly.” Padma scoffed at her younger sister. “What about you? Throwing a tantrum because I’m honest with our parents?”

“Honest? Honest. You’re joking, right? You’re not being honest with Mummy and Papa. You’re using a little bit of knowledge to needle me in front of them.” Shanti shot to her feet, and only a quick movement from Nye kept her chair from falling over. “It’s what you always do. You pick at Aki and me whenever you get it into your mind that we might have something you don’t. Jealous cow.”

Mrs Robinson rapped her knuckles on the table. “No name calling, Shanti. You can use your words without resorting to childish insults.”

“Yes, Mummy.” Shanti turned her head to the side to stick her tongue out at her sister. “It’s still true. She’s just jealous.”

Hamish tuned out the argument briefly to watch the reaction of the elder Robinsons. The parents appeared content to allow their children to settle the fight amongst themselves. He’d thought they would’ve intervened by now, if only because of the relative strangers present.

Padma’s voice rose with each word. “Jealous? Of what? You’re banking on your looks and a passing knowledge of design to—”

“Padma.” Akash spoke softly, but his voice held an impressive amount of weight. “Is now the time?”

“And you—” She quickly turned her ire toward him.

Akash folded his arms across his chest and relaxed into the chair. His manner surprised Hamish. “Yes? Share your vaunted wisdom about how my life could be going so much better. Never mind my successful bakery; never mind the attractive man sitting beside me. What am I doing wrong this week? Why can you never be proud of your own accomplishments without also deriding mine and Shanti’s at the same time?”

His son stepping into the arena apparently signalled to James Robinson that the time had come to an end the argument. Akash’s father smoothly interrupted his children by lifting his glass to offer a toast to the newcomers at the table. Hamish and Nye exchanged wry smiles before graciously acknowledging the kind gesture.

“Are your parents always so keen to allow their children to battle it out?” Hamish waited until the rest of the table had moved on to turn to his date. “Mine would likely have squashed it immediately.”

“They enjoy a healthy debate.” Akash sipped his own drink, and glanced apologetically over at Hamish. “Not a boring first date, is it?”

Hamish chuckled at the sheepish-sounding man who’d so confidently berated his sister moments earlier. “Most interesting one I’ve ever had.”

“Well, that’s something.”