My Rockstar's World

Chapter 20

I grab his hand and start leading him to the door. "Hold on. I need to grab something," he says going around to the passenger door up by the driver. He pulls out a huge bouquet of some of the most gorgeous flowers that I've ever seen and a bottle of whiskey that costs at least half of my month's worth of rent.

"Oh, you didn't have to bring them anything."

"You said to make a good impression, so here I am." I don't want to deflate his beaming smile by telling him that my mom is crazy about home growing fruits, vegetables, and flowers. She doesn't understand why people would pay for something that the Earth gives us for free. I've also only seen my dad drink a couple times, and I'm sure he has no clue the value of that bottle. Not like he'd care regardless.

My family isn't impressed by fancy gestures, but I hope that they see the good intention. But what if they wonder why I didn't tell him beforehand more about them, so he would have known that these presents aren't their style.

My time for contemplation ends when their front door opens.

"Gianna, hi, sweetie!" My mom steps towards me to give me a hug.

"Hey, mom, this is Will," I say as she pulls back from the hug. It feels weird to say Will almost. I know it's his name, but it's just gotten stuck in my head that he's Bawdy. Will seems too casual for someone as special as him. I could tell my mom that most people call him by his stage name, but she's never even heard of his music, so she would just have a million questions about it. And not the good kind of questions.

The more normal that I make him seem to them, the better.

My mom's smile drops just by a hair before she catches it and fully opens her smile as she looks him up and down. She could at least be subtle about it. "Hello, Will. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Spieler. These are for you," he says while handing her over the flowers.

"Oh, wow, these are... very large." My mom says with large eyes. "And beautiful, thank you," she adds quickly after. "And please, call me Louise. Now, come inside! Everyone is already here waiting."

At least she's trying to be nice to Bawdy, but I know her acting too well. And of course she had to slip in that others are waiting on us.

I start to take off my shoes as we enter, and Bawdy follows my lead, revealing his socks with skulls on them.

We follow my mom into the dining room where everyone is already sitting at a table snacking on appetizers. Apparently they couldn't wait for us.

"Hey," I say walking in and motioning towards Bawdy. "This is Will. And that's my dad and my sister Jeanne and her fiancé Scott."

"Nice to meet everyone." He steps towards my dad to shake his hand. "And I brought this for you, Mr. Spieler." Bawdy says as he passes the bottle over to my dad.

"Why, thank you." My dad picks up the bottle to examine it. "And, just Melvin is fine." He stands up and goes to place the bottle in the kitchen. If Bawdy thought we'd be doing any more drinking in here, then he thought wrong. My family only ever drinks on holidays or special occasions. Our monthly dinners don't make it into that category apparently. I've really never minded, especially since I usually have to drive when I come by myself.

"I'll get the salads!" My mom says with too much enthusiasm over lettuce.

I sit down and make sure to keep a smile on my face. I can tell that the three others are all staring at Bawdy. Does anyone in this family not realize how awkward that is? I guess he is used to getting stared at by fans, but that's not why they're staring.