Meeting His Parents

A few months had passed since the “Crash Team Racing” game battle. It was a cold and snowy day in December, as the sky was a pure white, with the sun barely visible. There was a cold breeze that surrounded the entire city. It was now Charia von Hürlimann’s turn to meet Jeff’s parents.

Snow fell at a steady pace. The ground now mirrored the sky, as a blanket of white covered the concrete. However, the blanket acquired tears and holes, as the footprints of college students tainted the pure white and uniform winter wonderland.

Charia and Jeff finished classes. Jeff’s german skills were improving. The couple finally found each other and they decided to go to Jeff’s house. Suddenly, a wild Selina appeared.

“Hallo, Herr Jeff. How are you doing today?”, asked Selina.

“Mir sehr gut! (Very good)”, retorted Jeff.

“So... are you doing anything this... uhh, weekend?”, questioned Selina. She was clearly nervous, as her heart beat faster and her face began to blush, which made her look like a peach.

“Yeah. Uhh, you want to go to the arcade again?”, asked Jeff.

“Uhh, no, no... I… I just want to talk.”

“Ah, okay. I’ll see you then. Right now, I am going to go somewhere with Charia”, replied Jeff, as he walked off with Charia down the road. Jeff then raised his arm and waved goodbye to Selina.

The couple continued to travel down the sidewalk. Jeff slowly extended his hand to touch Charia’s palm; he then gently grasped her soft and feminine hand and kept ahold of it.

Jeff felt like his life was going perfect; his studies were going well, and he had a beautiful girlfriend that he could be romantic with, share his feelings with, and physically bond with; another human to contact without judgement.

LATER. . .

Jeff and Charia arrived in front of Jeff’s door. Immediately, the door flung open!

“Ahhh!”, screamed Jeff.

“Hello! You must be my son’s girlfriend. Charia von Hürlimann , was it? My name is Darcy”, informed Jeff’s mom, as she extended her hand out to give Charia a handshake.

“Wow, you are so beautiful!... ummm is he’s not paying you or anything, right? Hahaha... haaaaa.”, questioned Jeff’s mom.

Jeff could only sulk while standing. He was disheartened to notice that his mom thinks he can only get a girlfriend by paying for one. A streamline of tears almost ran down Jeff’s face.

Charia responded, “Lol, no, no, he has not paid for anything... maybe except for my meals 😎”, joked Charia, as she gave off a haughty laugh, while raising one hand to her mouth.

“I see. I see. Well, anyhows, come right on in! I have got some lunch ready. Jeff, I guess you’ll be paying for this one too! Haha!!”, revealed Jeff’s mom.

“Yeah, yeah, mom. Very funny.”

“...I’m not joking”, added Jeff’s mom, as she left Jeff with a stern facial expression.

The three entered the house. They then saw Jeff’s father, who was watching Soap Operas.

“Charia, that is my father, Edward, on the couch.”

“Uhh... Hallo, Jeff’s Dad...”, greeted Charia.

“Hmph.”

That was the only thing Jeff’s dad said. He went back to watching his Soap Operas.

Charia was a little confused.

“Ehhh... Don’t mind him. Sometimes, he just does not want to say something, while he is in the middle of his Soap Operas.”

The couple went into Jeff’s room.

A cat was in the room; the cat’s fur was a bright white, its eyes were a dark green and yellow, and its paws were a dark pink. The cat gave a quick “Nya~”, when it saw Jeff. The cat sniffed Charia, in order to become familiar with the new stranger.

“Oh, I did not know that you had a cat.”, mentioned Charia.

“Yeah, his name is Tomu (トム). He is 14 years old. It’s actually my older sister’s cat. Like you apparently, Tom puts a strain on my wallet too. I almost get sick of feeding the damn thing. 😒”

“And where is your sister?”

“She lives in another city with her new husband. We do not see her often that much”, explained Jeff.

Jeff remembered that Charia likes Crash Bandicoot games a lot, so he went out and bought a “Crash Bandicoot N’ Sane Trilogy” videogame for the Xcube Station One U from eBay.

Charia was happy that Jeff actually remembered that she loved Crash Bandicoot. She and Jeff played.

Soon enough, Charia realized that the way Crash jumped in the remastered version of the game was different, and as a result, she died over, over, over and over again!

Charia was very annoyed by seeing the game over screen repeatedly. “ARRRGGGHHHH! WARUM CRASH?? WARUM?? WARUM KANNST DU NICHT RECHT JUMP!? FI*K DIESEN SCHE*ßEN VIDEOSPIEL!” shouted Charia, as she threw the game controller down onto the bed; the controller almost fell onto the floor.

Jeff was left in horror by the coarse language used by Charia. And, that was the end of that.

After a couple of hours, Charia decided to take a break and went to the bathroom to cool off.

A sudden ring was heard.

“Oh... Charia left her phone. Seems like a text message. I guess it would not hurt to take a peek and see who it is.”

Jeff picked up the phone and looked at the messages that appeared on the phone’s locked screen.

„Wann wirst du von sein Haus ausgehen? Sofort will Ich dich.“ (When will you leave from his house? I want you right now)

„Ich warte auf dich auf meinem Bett. Gib es mir gut bitte.“ (I am waiting for you on my bed. Give it to me good)

Jeff’s heart sank into his chest, like a ship that is too heavy to bear its burden. He jumped up, and put Charia’s phone down in the same place he found it.

Then, he left his room.

Shortly, Charia returned to the from the bathroom. And right after, Jeff brought in some snacks like a Japanese Mom.

“Oh! Dankeschöne! This look really tasty. Did you make it yourself?”

“Nope, it’s not home delivery. It’s Digorno.”, answered Jeff.

“Wauuuuu. Well, I will take it to go.”

“You’re uhh, leaving already?” asked Jeff.

“Ja. I am going to work on a project with someone. We must uhh... make soundsuits.”

“Oh... okay. Charia...”

“Ja?”

“Uhh, see you lat—farewell.”

“Bye-bye!”, replied Charia.

After Charia left, Jeff closed his room door, laid on his cold bed, and then turned onto his side, so that if someone came in his room, they could not completely see him.

As, he stared at his wall, tears began to slide down his cheeks. Jeff remembered past events. IT ALL MADE SENSE NOW.

On the day that Jeff rescued Volker’s sister, Erika, Charia and Volker were together. From the very beginning, Charia acted strange around Jeff, when Volker first arrived. All of these played in Jeff’s brain 🧠 on a loop.

Jeff continued to lay on his bed in silence. He did not even go down for dinner. His salty tears were enough for his nutrition, as they traveled from his eyes to his cheeks, mouth and finally onto his pillow.

Once Jeff was finished sulking, he decided that it was time for him to confront Charia.

Jeff opened his eyes.

To Be Continued.