I gave up on the search of his deep dark secret when I realized I wasn’t in a movie. This was real life and he wasn’t going to have a deep dark secret. I had seen almost every room in his house, there was no dungeon or second family. I did meet his friends though and came to realize his cousin Chris was his right hand man and best friend. I’d sometimes catch Chris staring at me with a sad glint in his eyes, almost as if he was worried about something. But I ignored it telling myself it was nothing.
Tiff says that we haven’t been hanging out as much as we used to since James and I have been more serious about our relationship. I guess she was right. I showed up to yoga less and my gym schedule switched to early morning instead of late afternoon. So to make it up to her, we’re meeting at my new favorite coffee shop, Tea Bean.
“Hey Tiff.” I said hugging her hello.
“Hey Kar.” She said as met in front of the shop just in time. It was her first time here but I had been a couple times with James already since the owner was one of his good friends as well.
I was greeted by the smells of roasted coffee beans and vanilla just as we opened the door. Heaven.
I looked around as I waited for our order to be ready taking it in. “I think I like this place.” She said looking at the barista making our drinks. I smirked, “That’s Daniel. James’s friend. He owns the Tea Bean.”
“You know him?” she asked surprised.
“Yeah he’s a nice guy. I only met him briefly at one of the shows I went to with James.”
She nodded and brought her attention back to me, “So how’s everything?” She asked awkwardly. Has it really been that long that we’ve hung out? I guess I have been spending most of my free time with James but I didn’t realize it had been that long.
“Good. How about with you?”
“Great. I miss you though.” She said before getting interrupted by Daniel calling out our order. We walked over to the counter to pick up our drinks and I was surprised to see one of James’s friends behind the counter, Daniel. “Hey Daniel. How are you?.”
“Oh, I was wondering if you were the ‘Karina’.” He said referring to the order, “I’m good, how are you doing?”
“Great. This is my friend Tiffany. Tiffany this is Daniel, James’s friend.” I said as if she didn’t already know.
Tiffany had a huge smile as she greeted Daniel. “Hi.” She said shyly before picking up her coffee.
Daniel smiled equally as big as hers, “Hi nice to meet you Tiffany. What are you girls up to today?”
“Not much. Just catching up. Tiff thinks James has been keeping me all to himself.”
“He probably has been.” He laughed as we grabbed our drinks.
Tiffany nudged my side as we walked away and glared at me. “Why did you tell him I thought James keeps you all to himself? He’s going to think I’m clingy!” She whisper yelled.
I laughed, “Because you did say it. And no he won’t. He agreed.”
She quieted down just as Daniel walked to our table. He handed us two cupcakes, “Here you two go, on the house. It’s my way of apologizing that my friend hogs your friend.” He winked at Tiffany.
“Thank you.” We both said in unison as he went back to work.
“Well... Daniel is hot.” She giggled and looked back at Daniel who was now busy making another order. I looked back at him too and agreed. Daniel was the tall, dark, and handsome type. He had an intimidating look because of his intense yet warm brown eyes but he was a teddy bear. The fact that he could make a yummy cup of coffee or a fancy latte was icing on the cupcake.
After a moment of Tiffany ogling over Daniel, she finally turned her attention back to me, “We need to talk.” She said suddenly serious.
“About?” I asked as I fingered a bit of the white frosting off the cupcake.
“James.” She said putting her coffee down. “I think it’s great that you guys are so into each other, but, you’re spending a lot of time with him. So you two must be that serious. I feel like I don’t know anything about him. And as your best friend, and self-defense teacher, I think you need to catch me up on him.”
“Self-defense? You teach yoga.” I laughed.
“That’s not the point. I need to know more about him.”
“What’s there to know?”
“What’s he like? What’s his family like? Does he have any siblings?”
I felt sad as she mentioned his family, “I actually haven’t met his family yet. Besides Chris at least.”
“What? You’ve been dating for over four months and still haven’t met the family?”
“No… he’s really slow about everything. It’s almost like he’s hesitating moving forward…you know? At first I didn’t mind; I thought he was perfect because of it. But now it’s making me worry…” I admitted.
“So weird…”
“Yeah…” I said and took another sip of my latte.
“You think he doesn’t take the relationship as seriously as you do? Like he’s just using it to…you know. Get some.”
“First of all. I wouldn’t let a guy just use me to ‘get some’. And as weird as it is, we haven’t even gone past making out. And even that, I felt like I had to force it out of him. But he hasn’t met my family yet either…”
“Why not?”
“Because I want to meet his family first. You know my parents are old school and will ask about his parents and if I don’t know anything what am I going to say?” I loved my parents and we got along great, but I knew they were going to ask a million questions upon meeting James. I had to be prepared too. I barely told my mom I was seeing someone and she wanted to know every little detail.
She nodded understanding, “Or maybe you’re just avoiding him meeting your family as well.”
“I’m not!” I promised.
“Maybe you should bring it up then?”
“Maybe…”
***
I was finishing up an update of our latest project for my boss, Mr. Yang, when I got a text from James saying he wanted to meet with me after work for dinner at his house.
I smiled at the thought and replied before I put my phone away before Mr. Yang could see I was texting. He doesn’t really care, but I was competing with Jennifer to get the promotion he’s rumored to be giving someone soon.
From my peripheral view I saw that someone passed by my cubical and stopped. I prayed that it wasn’t my boss or Jennifer and whoever it was would just go away so I could leave sooner but they didn’t go. I turned to see who it was and had to force myself not to groan when I saw that it was Jennifer.
“Well don’t you look lively.” she said sarcastically.
Ever since I started working at W&D Ads, Jennifer has been competing with me as if I purposefully got this job to take her place. Naturally I started competing with her too so we both try to one up each other with every accomplishment. Which kind of sucked because I was never confrontational or competitive before working at W&D.
“But seriously. You look horrible. Haven’t been sleeping?” She asked.
Jennifer was gorgeous. But her coldness and jealousy made her beauty pointless. She was definitely the definition of an ice princess. She had spotless alabaster skin and long dirty blond hair with piercing blue eyes. She arched her eyebrow as she passed me when I didn’t answer.
“Hi Mr. Yang.” I smiled as he walked by. Aside from Jennifer, working for Mr. Yang has been great. He’s the ideal boss. She fluttered her eyelashes and said hello to him as well. He doesn’t fall for Jennifer’s kissing ass tricks. She thinks it helps because she’s always out on her sick days and should be getting fired for it. But she comes up with great ideas so that kept her around.
He smiled, “Hello Karina. How’s the Banana Coffee campaign going?”
“As good as Banana Coffee campaign can go,” I laughed. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something else though.”
“Great, come to my office.” He said passing Jennifer.
It felt like
just yesterday that I had my interview in his small office. It was my first out of college real interview and I wasn’t expecting to actually get it. I had many other interviews after and I was convinced I’d never get a call back weeks later. I was prepared to start looking for jobs outside of the L.A. area when I got the call from Mr. Yang saying I got it.
“So what is it? Good news I hope.”
I smiled, “Very. I got in contact with a makeup company that’s eager to work with us. We worked with one of their affiliates, Elodie, a while back and they liked the concept we came up with.”
“Who?”
“Adela Français. Their part of Elodie Beauty. We did the hair dye magazine ad for them.”
“Didn’t you do that one?”
“Yes.” I said trying not to sound too eager.
“Wonderful. If you can come up with something for Adela that they approve of, I might have some good news for you.” he said with a wink.
As I made my way out of the office Jennifer happened to be nearby. She glared at me, pretending to make copies. I smiled knowing she heard every word.
Chapter Five
It wasn’t my first time at his upscale home in Hollywood Hills, but I felt nervous every time I did. I grabbed dessert on the way knowing it was his guilty pleasure, even though he’d never admit it.
His house was gorgeous. It was towards the end of the glamorous gated community. It was mostly made of glass and the little parts that weren’t were rendered white. It was modern and chic. Trees added to some privacy practically covering the view of the windows from people around, but it wasn’t necessary since the houses were pretty far apart for L.A.
“Hi beautiful.” He said opening his door for me.
“Hi handsome. I brought dessert.” I said after he gave me a quick kiss on my lips hello. He stood in front of me not moving as he looked past me. I looked back but could only see my car parked in his driveway. His eyebrows were furrowed before he looked back at me and smiled.
I smiled back and slipped under his arm that was placed on the side of the doorway and walked to his kitchen to place the dessert in the fridge.
I looked back at him and he was staring at me with a nervous smile. I waved for him to come in, confused by his mysteriousness.
“Smells good.” I said as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“I wanted to show off my culinary skills.”
“What did you make?” I asked as he brought his lips to my neck.
“I did make steak. But I burned them… so I ordered Chinese.”
I laughed, “You’re too cute.”
He groaned, “Cute?”
I shrugged, “What? You are.”
“Guys don’t want to hear that they’re cute.” He mumbled.
“Fine then; You’re so manly and tough.”
He laughed, “Much better.”
He was noticeably quiet during our dinner of Kung Pao chicken and fried rice. His nervousness was hard to hide and it was starting to make me feel anxious too. I watched him for any signs of what he might be nervous about but had no idea. Whatever e called me here for was the reason why he was being nervous.
“James...” I practically squeaked. He looked up at me wide eyed as if he wasn’t expecting me to say anything.
“Yeah baby?”
“James what’s wrong? You’re more quiet than usual.”
“I was just thinking about something...”
“What are you thinking about?” I pressed, trying not to show my fear. He was quiet as he watched my every move. I set my chopsticks down and gave him all my attention, “James...”
“I’m sorry. I was just... my family is having a barbeque get together thing this Saturday because my cousin is coming back from his move to New York. My mom suggested that maybe it would be a good idea for you to come meet the family then….if you want to.”
“Your mom did?” I hesitated saying yes right away; I had to know he wanted me to meet them and wasn’t asking just because his mom suggested it.
Realizing what he said he was wide eyed, “She suggested it, but I wanted you to anyway. I just couldn’t figure out the perfect moment…”
“I’d love to meet them if you really want me to…”
“I do baby, trust me I do.”
“Is that why you were so quiet? I was worried it would be something bad…”
“Why would you think it’s something bad?”
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip and wondered if I should really open up to him and not sound cliché girlfriend. “Sometimes I feel like you don’t really let me into your life. Like... really into it. Even now I feel like the only reason you asked was because your mother suggested it. It’s as if you’re keeping something from me.” I said quietly before looking back at him. When he said nothing I quickly regretted it. “Forget I even said that....”
“No. That’s not even close to what I want.” He admitted, “I’m honestly worried about you meeting my family because of them. They can be a little…weird.”
I laughed, “Aren’t all families a little weird? My family is not exactly the perfect; I’m not expecting yours to be.”
He smiled, “Then will you come with me on Saturday? I would like you to meet my family.”
“It’s a plan.” I smiled.
***
That Saturday morning I got ready to go to James’s family barbeque. I wore a cute jeans and a cardigan, making sure it was somewhat conservative because I’ll be meeting his parents. Not sure how they will be but I figured the conservative route would be the safest considering James told me his dad was a lawyer.
“You look beautiful as always.” He said and gave me a quick kiss hello. I felt my face heat up as I wrapped my arms around his neck and replied, “Thank you. You look cute--- handsome.” I laughed when he glared at my mistake.
The ride to Calabasas couldn’t be shorter for me. Considering the traffic, it was actually long drive, but the closer we got the more I wanted him to turn around so I could run back home. I was super nervous to meet his family. What if his parents hate me? I think he said something about having two sisters; what if they hate me too?
“So...how far are they again?” I asked even though I knew.
“Usually a half hour drive. Depends on traffic though.” He smiled knowingly. He was nervous but hiding it well enough that my nervousness was purely me and not because of him.
He looked over at me and smiled again, “Don’t be so nervous baby.”
“How did you know I was nervous?” I asked, he looked surprised that I would even ask.
“You look nervous. You always attack your thumbs when you are.” He laughed nervously. I looked at my hands and saw that he was right. My other fingers were currently holding my thumb hostage in my palm and whenever it was set free I flicked it’s nail. I spread my fingers apart and placed them on my legs.
“You sound nervous too.”
“I am,” he admitted. And surprisingly that helped ease my nervousness a bit. He reached for my hand and held it in an attempt to comfort me for the remainder of the ride.
We finally reached the house. It was a rather large house. But what else would one expect from Calabasas. It was the typical California Mediterranean villa style home. However, unlike it's sunny architecture that was usually paired with palm trees, the walls were covered in vines making it look darker. He put his hand on the small of my back and led me up the path to the house.
“Don’t be nervous. There’s nothing to be scared about. My parents are pretty easy going.” he smiled.
“I know… I’m just nervous they won’t like me.” I whispered.
“They’ll love you.” he said smiling. “I’m the hard one to please in my family and I already do.” He said surprising me. He turned around to knock but stopped. He turned to face me with realization to what he said. But stayed quiet. Now he was the one who looked like he wanted to run.
“Are you backing out already? It’s a little too late don’t you thi
nk.” I said trying to act as if I didn’t catch what he had said.
“No I’m not backing out. I just… please---” he was struggling with whatever he wanted to say.
I took his hand and looked him in the eye, “James… you could have a pet dinosaur in there for all I care. In the end of the day you’re still going to be you. I’m not going anywhere.”
He hesitated knowing I did catch his confession. But eventually he gave in too.
The door flew open soon almost as soon as he was done knocking, “Jamie, figlio mio! I missed you!!” His, I’m assuming, mother exclaimed. She hugged James tightly and kissed his cheeks. James playfully glared at me and I knew he knew I thought he looked so cute being squeezed and kissed by his mother.
She laughed and looked at me. “And this must be Karina?” She said with a hint of an Italian accent. She cringed and looked back at James upon realization, “I’m sorry sweetie! I already embarrassed you in front of her didn’t I?” She teased him.
His mother was a beautiful woman. Her eyes were more grey green than like James and here were no features that were exactly like his, but something about her was clearly ‘James’s mother’. I think it might have been her smile. She had curly caramel brown hair that was loosely braided to the side and complimented her sun kissed skin I could only wish for. I never could get a good tan without burning first so I just accepted being pale for the rest of my life.
She turned to me and took my hands, “Hi sweetie, I’m James’s mother Gina. And this,” she nudged towards the man behind her that I didn’t notice before, “is James’s father William.” The resemblance with his father was very obvious. His eyes were bluer than James’s but they were the same. They had the same bone structure but his hair was slightly lighter and aged. He was an extremely handsome man.
I smiled at them both and shyly said hello before James handed his mother the cookies I had made. His mother looked thrilled and hugged me. I was shocked by the sudden acceptance but thankful. I was expecting the mother to hate me. This was the first time I was meeting the family of a guy I was dating so I could only compare with movies thinking it would be the mother hating the son’s girlfriend.
In My Veins Page 4