In My Veins (5 page)

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 think.” 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.

Before James or I could even say
anything, she grabbed my hand and led me to the living room where everyone was.

“Karina! Hi!” Chris waved. I was glad to
see a familiar face amongst the not so familiar ones. I said hi to him as James
finally caught up to me. I briefly noticed his dad go the other direction and
he didn’t seem happy at all. He put his arm around my waist giving me some
comfort and bringing my attention back to him.

“Introduce her to everyone Jamie dear.”
his mother said sweetly. James introduced me to his family. He was almost more
nervous that I was as everyone said hello.

I met his two younger sisters, Jenny and
Ellie. Jenny was about my age and she was really sweet. She took me in quickly
as she complimented my shoes. But Ellie, his teenage sister, didn’t seem to
like me as much. They both resembled James a lot, but Jenny had dark blonde
hair. I met some of his cousins and his aunt and uncle who seemed to be in love
almost as much as his parents were.

And lastly, his cousin David, the reason
why we were there. He had long blond hair, slightly below his ears and it was
slightly styled back. But what stood out the most was his piercing blue eyes.
They were almost electric blue.

He kept staring at me. Like
really
staring at me and not even trying to hide it. I felt so uncomfortable that I
found myself pressing into James’s side.

We were sitting in the living room and
talking about things like jobs and how David enjoyed New York. He said he
didn’t find what he was looking for and came back a while ago. His family was
clearly mad at him for barely telling them now. But it seemed like something
David didn’t want to talk about.

I could feel David’s eyes on me the
whole time. I looked at him to see if I was just being paranoid but I was
right--- he was staring at me. I started feeling uncomfortable and nervous. He
smirked and I felt even more uncomfortable.

James’s arm that was loosely around my
waist was suddenly tight. I looked up at him and he was glaring at David. He
must have noticed. There was something different about James as he looked at
his cousin. I couldn’t figure it out but his eyes were different. Almost
possessive. If I didn’t know him I would probably be scared of him too but I
felt safe in his arms.

I scooted closer to him liking the
comfort I was getting from him. Not sure why I even needed to feel safe from
his cousin. He smiled and kissed the top of my head before our attention went
back to Jenny as she told us about one of her clients. I should have known she
had a job that involved beauty, she was so pretty and put together
effortlessly.  

I skimmed over everyone and felt like I
was being watched again. I figured it was David but he wasn’t the only one
staring at me. Almost everyone was at one point. He was just the only one being
creepy about it. Ellie looked as if she was threating me with her eyes. Chris
looked almost apologetic as he looked at me.

When James finally seemed to de-tense
and start talking to Chris about work, Jenny grabbed my hand and took me to the
backyard to help with the barbeque preparations. James glanced back and looked
worried as Jenny took me away from him but I smiled at him letting him know it
was okay. I had to let him know he could stop worrying so much.

The backyard was just as beautiful as
the rest of the house that I had seen so far. There was a large pool that
looked cool and inviting. The view of the mountains, that seemed to be the
backdrop everywhere in California, was even more gorgeous from their yard.

“So I think you and my brother look
really cute together. He said you guys have been dating for a while. How did
you two meet?” She said staring at me as we wrapped up the corn for the grill.