Saying goodbye

"Okay, thank you all for the lovely dinner, especially Gordon and his chefs." Linda states, standing up again and looking over at Gordon as she addressed him, before turning her attention back to you, "And thank you again to my beautiful daughter for coming here tonight."

Linda then sits back down and some of the members around the table stand up and make their way towards the door. You turn towards Linda and lean over the table.

"Mum!" You hiss, although it feels weird calling this woman who you hardly know your mother, you felt you probably should, "Stop embarrassing me!"

"Oh, come now. Are you not going to let me have my fun?" Linda asks rhetorically with a fake pout, before her face becomes more sincere, "I'm sorry honey, but you know it brings me joy. You'll understand if you ever have kids of your own. Now, why don't we head back to the living room for a bit?"

Linda then stands up, which appeared to signal to everyone else that dinner was officially over, as everyone else at the table stood shortly thereafter and followed her towards the door.

"You not coming, kiddo?" You dad asks, as he pushes his chair back in.

"Just give us a sec, we'll be out soon." You reply with a smile. He smiles back at you, one of those warm ones that just melts your heart.

"Alright, see you soon." He replies, before walking towards the door. You let out a sigh of relief once everyone else, except for Dove, Ivy and a few staff members who are cleaning the table, are gone. Ivy and Dove giggle and you look over to them.

"What?" You ask. Why are they laughing at you?

"It's alright, it was just your sigh. We know it must be hard having no memory of any of this." Dove explains, rubbing her hand along your thigh to comfort your apprehensions.

"You have no idea." You groan, leaning back in your chair, "Originally, I thought this was just going to be a nice dinner with us and my parents, I didn't expect so many other famous people, or for them to know me."

"That's alright." Dove states, pulling you in for a slight hug.

"Did you want to leave?" Ivy asks.

"Yes. Yes, I think I would." You reply, sitting upright and pushing your chair back, "But, we still need to say goodbye first."

"Well, you can always just say you want to leave because it's a long way home, and you don't want to get home too late." Ivy states as the three of you stand up and push your chairs in.

"Good idea, thank you." You reply before the three of you leave the room, heading back for the living room.

The three of you enter the living room and walk over to your parents.

"Hey, mum and dad, we want to get going, it's a long way home and we don't want to get home too late." You explain.

"You sure you don't want to stay the night?" Linda asks.

"No thank you. We'd like to just go." You state.

"Very well, just make sure you say goodbye to everyone." Linda says as she hugs you and you hug her back. You then turn to your dad and give him a strong hug, and you feel his arms wrap around you, making you feel safe. It's so nice to have him back. You break the hug.

"Thank you dad, goodbye." You state.

"See ya, kiddo. Remember, you're welcome here anytime." Your dad says before turning his attention to Dove and Ivy, giving each of them a hug as well. You turn to the room and start waving your arms.

"Bye everyone, we're heading home now." You state loudly. A few people just shout their goodbyes back at you, while some others come up and give you a hug. After a short time your parents take you to the back door and watch you as you walk back to your helicopter, waving at you up until you board. Once inside, you each buckle up and put on your headsets before you see your pilot flick some switches and you hear the roar of the rotors spinning. Moments later, your parents’ mansion fades into the night sky as your pilot flies you home.