Normally, he just kept looking at her like that until she broke. And she invariably did. Her parents didn't believe in corporal punishment, but sometimes she wished that they had. The sting of a slap was infinitely better than the guilt she felt under that glare, and the disappointed look that would follow when she finally revealed the truth. The aforementioned sting disappeared quickly, after all. The disappointment of a parent tended to linger.
"Dad..." she said.
He didn't respond. He was the expert at this, after all.
"This is ridiculous!" she continued. Still no break in his expression.
And it was ridiculous, she thought. Ridiculous that she was an adult, legally able to make her own decisions, decide her own destiny, tell all the lies she wanted, and yet still fall under the power of that particular stare.
She licked her lips, her eyes searching about the small kitchen, lighting on the baker's rack, on the microwave stand, on the stove, as though she might find a convincing lie in any of those places. But of course she couldn't.
She could feel herself crumbling, her willpower evaporating and melting like so much ice placed under a heat lamp.
And then someone knocked on the door. "I have to get that. It's important. I'll be right back, dad..." she said, rushing out of the kitchen, ready to kiss whoever waited on the other side, even if it was the hairy old superintendent.
"Gwen..." her father said as she rushed past him.
"Really, dad, I'll be right back. Hold that thought!"
Smiling broadly, the adrenaline of her escape leaving her a little shaky, Gwen reached the door and pulled it open.
Aiden stood on the other side. "Hey, Gwen..." he said, moving to step in.
She tried to close the door in his face, "Not now! Go away!" she said. He had to get out of here before her father saw.
"What?" he said. He stuck his foot against the door. The bottom of the jamb connected with the shiny toe of his shoe with a squeak. And she couldn't budge the door any nearer to the frame.
"Come back later, okay? Please?" Gwen said, sticking her face in the gap and doing her best to whisper. Her ears strained to hear any sound of her father's approach. Maybe he didn't hear anything, she thought.
"This is ridiculous," Aiden said, "It's also clearly against the guidelines we set up."
Gwen readied a torrent of insults and foul words concerning what she thought of the guidelines in this particular instance, but didn't get the chance to begin hurling any of them at him.
"Guidelines? Guidelines for what, Gwen?" her father said.
Gwen hunched her back up and flinched as though deflecting an attack. Aiden mouthed a Who is this? at her. She mouthed, Be cool, back at him. Which was a mistake, since he just shrugged at her. Did rich people not use cool or something?
It was a point that would have to wait until later for further study.
Gwen fixed a smile on her face. She grabbed Aiden and hauled him into the apartment. The three of them stood awkwardly in the cramped-feeling entrance hall. Aiden's shoulder kept brushing against the coat rack, the jacket he wore today touching the one he'd lent her last night.
"Guidelines for what?" her father said, glaring at the both of them. He saw the jacket on the rack. "Is that his? Gwen, are you seeing someone in secret or something?"
"Yes," Aiden said. Gwen said, "No," at the same time.
She glared at Aiden. "What we mean is that yes, we are seeing each other. No, it isn't a secret... Aiden, this is my father, David. Dad, this is Aiden, my... boyfriend." Was boyfriend even the right term anymore? Saying it made her feel like she was 15 again, introducing her date to her dad.
Things could have gotten quite awkward, then, if Aiden didn't go into business mode. He gave Gwen a sharp look, then smiled at her father.
"David! Nice to meet you; I've been looking forward to this..." he said, stepping forward and offering a hand. Her father reached out, and found his hand wrapped up in both of Aiden's and receiving an enthusiastic pumping.
"Nice to meet you, uh, Aiden? Look, can this wait until later? Gwen and I need to talk about getting her packed up and back home."
"Packed?" Aiden said, shooting a look of confusion so genuine and innocent back at Gwen that she almost believed it herself. He didn't let go of her father's hand, which confused the older, shorter man somewhat.
"Yes, she's been having some financial difficulties, I'm not sure if she's told you..." David said.
Again, that look of near-perfect confusion. And then an equally impressive widening of the eyes in realization. "Oh, that! Gwen, sweetie, you haven't told him yet?"
"Told me what?" David said, giving his hand an experimental tug and discovering that, yes, Aiden really wasn't letting go.