Brave Enough To Love Again

Chapter 23

Eden

"I was hot and drunk last night, remember? Will you do it? Please?" I begged. "Three wishes are so not enough for what you are expecting me to do. We will discuss the exact number of my wishes at a later time," he said. "Ready?" I asked one last time before opening the door. "Ready."

He opened the door and motioned for me to walk through it first, which I did. I embraced and kissed my parents in greeting, "Sorry to have kept you waiting, mom, dad! But it was one heck of a surprise. What are you doing here anyway?"

"We came here to see you, of course! Since you haven't invited us to come over to see your new place, we decided to invite ourselves as we were in the neighborhood," said my mother smilingly, "We even called you, but you didn't pick up. So I phoned Megan to ask if she knew where you were, and she said that today was your day off." She looked at Keane with sheer curiosity. I was sure she couldn't wait to find out who he was.

"We just went into the building when we saw someone enter it and knocked at your door for minutes. We were about to leave when you came out of the other door. I was confused for a second, I thought we had been knocking at the wrong door. I mean, this is your apartment, right?" She asked while pointing at my door.

Slowly backing away from my parents to get closer to Keane, I wrapped one arm around his waist and said, "Yes, mom! That's my place," I clarified, and prepared myself for the coming introduction, "Mom, dad! This is Keane, my, uhumm, boyfriend and he conveniently lives just across the hall," I said with my hand resting at his tummy, "Keane, this is my mom, Emily and my dad, David."

I hated the fact that I had to clear my throat while introducing him, but I couldn't help it, my body was going through a lot at that moment. My heart was racing and my face was heating up, I was sure I was as red as a tomato. The lie was a big one, and I tried to avoid lying to my parents as best as I could, since they seemed to always see through all of the untruths that leave my mouth. I wondered then if they believed me.

Keane, the perfect gentleman, took my mother's hand and gave her a peck at the back of it, "It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Simmons. Eden has told me so much about you and your husband." I did? When did I do that? Emily was in raptures, and was immediately won over by his charm, "Oh please, call me Emily, or mom. Whatever you like." Oh my god! What did she say? "Mom!" I gaped at her before looking Keane in the eyes, "Emily, call her Emily!" I told Keane so he wouldn't have to choose, since I figured it would quickly become awkward for the both of us if he actually called her mom. And it would be even worse if he chose not to, since my mother probably would have been disappointed or affronted. Catastrophe averted!

Then, Keane turned to face my father and shook his hand, "Pleasure to meet you, sir! I'm very sorry for having kept you waiting." My father wore an unidentifiable facial expression, I just didn't know what he would do or say next. Saying I was nervous, was one heck of an understatement. A rush of pride flushed through my system when I realized that Keane didn't cower at my dad's intense glare, instead he exuded an aura of confidence mixed with humility and respect for my father which David graciously acknowledged with a nod, "Pleasure is all mine, son!"

Those words seemed like the proverbial raised white flag in a war that was about to break out. I sighed in relief, "Mom, dad, I'm sorry but I've been really busy with organizing my place and so on." Then I moved over to my apartment door and unlocked it, however, before letting them in I asked for a head start, "I'm so sorry to make you wait again, but could you just excuse me for, hmm, let's say thirty seconds? Just, just give me a moment, please?" I closed the door behind me and hurriedly picked up clothes on my way to the bathroom and threw them in the laundry basket. I looked around my place before going back to open the door again and was somewhat satisfied with how it looked. That's presentable enough, I guess.