Hearts on a Page ~ Enemies to Lovers

Chapter 16: Family Ties

"Joy-Bell, they're here!" Mom called from the kitchen.

"I'll be down in a second!" I screamed back, as I looked at myself in the mirror to examine my apparel. I'm dawning a cream-colored short-sleeved sweater, tucked into a ballerina pink skirt that cuts off right below my knees. My neck is hugged by a pearl necklace and my ears are kissed with a matching earring. Woven together, my honey brown hair cascaded down my back in a french braid. I felt beautiful.

As I sped down the stairs, I saw my parents taking Oliver and Mr. Bennett's coats and simply seeing his face filled me with nerves. A mix of butterflies and anger and confusion. Oliver slipped past our dads, who were laughing at some dumb joke my mom made about the cold weather, and smiled as he came to give me a hug. He was wearing a maroon sweater with a black-and-white flannel underneath. The deep wine shade looked good with his dark hair, and matched his black jeans nicely. While I found comfort in his arms being wrapped around me while his lips pressed against my forehead, her name just kept coming back into my head.

Who is Alexis? Who is Alexis? Who is Alexis? 

My thoughts are interrupted (but not forgotten) when Oliver pulls out a thin, paperback copy of The Great Gatsby.

"Thank you!" I said. While I was listening in on their conversation, it completely slipped my mind that I had an intent in entering the store in the first place. "I knew I forgot to do something today."

"It's alright," he said, pulling me in to whisper something in my ear. "Now, let the fun begin."

I nervously chuckled as we, along with our parents, migrated into the kitchen and took seats at our wooden table. We added a chair, for the table was only meant to seat four, so we were a bit close. Oliver sat next to me, as both of our dads sat on our sides with my mom across. The table was set and the food was placed. It was roast chicken with carrots and potatoes, Mom's staple dish. Dessert would be a chocolate cake from City Cakes that Mr. Bennett brought, if we made it that far into the meal without someone yelling.

Our parents exchange words as we all pile food on our plates. I'm gnawing on a carrot when my mom directs the conversation to my boyfriend.

"So, Oliver, Joy-Bell tells us your from Chicago. Did you just spend the week there?"

"Yeah, I did Thanksgiving with my mom. I call her all the time, but it was nice to see her and my sister and everyone since I haven't been there in about a month."

 "I bet it was good for you to see your friends and family," my dad chimed in.

"It really was, especially since I probably won't be going back until after the holidays."

Oliver would be here for Christmas! He'd be my very first New Year's Kiss!

"From what I heard, his friends really enjoyed seeing him," Mr. Bennett said, ensuring the word "friends" was emphasized.

"Did you and the Dancing Joints have a mini reunion?" I asked, referencing the band Oliver was in with his friends, trying not to think of the way Mr. Bennett spoke.

"We did," Oliver said, answering my question, but giving his dad a look. "We played a bit for some of our friends in Spencer's garage."

"Dancing what?" Dad asked.

"The Dancing Joints," I responded. "It's Oliver's band in Chicago."

"Well, it's not my band, but yeah, I play bass," Oliver laughs shyly, removing the glare that he was giving his dad and replacing it with a smile towards my parents.

"No kidding, I used to play-

"drums in the 80's rock band known throughout the Bronx area as The 4 Stooges!" my mom and I both said robotically, like this sentence was glued into our minds. It practically was.

Everyone laughed uncontrollably and the mood of the evening was saved.

...

"Keep the door open, Joy-Bell!" Dad called from the kitchen table, where the adults remained with their hot cups of decaf coffee, while I dragged Oliver towards the stairs.

"I know, I know," I replied, moving faster to exit the conversation.

We made it up to my room and left a crack of my door open to please my parents. I went over to my bay window area and opened my laptop, where a Spotify screen appeared and I clicked the space bar to allow the song that I was listening to earlier to continue.

As Hozier's "Like Real People Do" came from the speakers of my computer, Oliver grabbed my hand and pulled me close, letting my head rest on his shoulder as we slowly swayed to the music. I wanted to ask him about Alexis, or at least give him the chance to explain, but I suppose it could wait a bit. 

"Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips," Oliver sang in my ear, with a deep, raspy voice that I could listen to for the rest of my life. "We should just kiss like real people do."

"Clearly you've been holding out on me, Bennett. You're extremely talented, anything else you're keeping from me," I said, easing in to my concerns.

"Nearly every night for dinner, Tom puts brussel sprouts on my plate..." He started. "...but I put them in a napkin and throw them out."

"Thank you for informing me that you have the eating habits of a five year old, but that's not what I-"

"So I will not ask why you were creeping," he returned to the song quietly over my words. "In some sad way I already know."

I stopped myself from pestering, for the song lyrics spoke to my soul  in a slightly scary way.

"I will not ask you where you came from. I will not ask you and neither would you."

If there was really something Oliver needed to tell me about Alexis, he already would've. We've been honest to each other from an early point in our relationship and I really have no reason to suspect that he suddenly was being disloyal. Yes, I overheard a fight with his dad and it did worry me, but I was the one lurking when I shouldn't have.

Here I stand, resting in my boyfriend's arms and dancing on a beautiful, not so bad night. Things were going my way and I wasn't looking to ruin that anytime soon.