Love Invasion

Chapter 22

I slid my hands down my light blue coloured sundress which went a little above my knees so as to smoothen it and exhaled sharply. Then, I looked at my face in the mirror. It was raw, without any make-up. I decided to keep it that way. Combing my hair, I tied them in a neat ponytail. Then, I gazed at my face again, not liking the dark circles beneath the eyes. My eyes were languid due to lack of sleep and all I wanted to do was crawl inside the covers and sleep for forever.

My initial plan was to wear a simple shirt and jeans. I wasn’t trying to impress anyone anyway. But when my eyes fell on that blue dress, something coercive drove me to wear it tonight.

Buckling a pair of white heels firmly in my feet, I walked out of my bedroom and descended the stairs. Right on cue, the door bell rang and daddy headed towards the wooden door to open it. Nervousness dug a deep pit in my stomach where a weird cocktail swirled inside. The front door opened only to present Nate’s refreshing face. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach crazily as the two of them greeted each other by shaking hands. Daddy invited Nate inside hospitably and then, called me out.

“I’m here!” I strutted up to the two males awkwardly. Nate looked at me with a small smile on his handsome face and when daddy excused himself to set the dinner table, he didn’t take his eyes off of me.

His fingers latched onto my bare elbow. “You look beautiful.” He whispered in my ear inconspicuously.

I mentally noted the guy wearing a blue and peach tartan shirt paired with dark wash jeans and Nike sneakers. His outfit wasn’t unique or extraordinary and yet he looked so ruggedly handsome. Where I was concerned in the looks department, I had definitely missed the beauty boat. “Right!” I said disbelievingly. “I’m not even wearing any make-up.”

“Exactly!” With that, he kissed my cheek tenderly, making my heart beat furiously in my chest.

Suddenly, daddy’s voice came from the kitchen. “Jenns, could you maybe…?”

“Coming!” I said and started walking toward the kitchen. Nate notified me that he’d be joining me in the helping process to which I denied. My parents had taught me better manners than that.

Turns out that Nate did help the two of us out anyway. Daddy had also asked him to watch from the contours if he may but Nate protested and finally, wormed his way in the cooking session. Daddy had already set the table and now was cooking mom’s special lasagne. I was checking on the muffins and Nate was cleaning the cooking utensils. Once I took out the tray of aromatic muffins out of the microwave, our house phone rang and daddy excused himself once again, asking me to check on the lasagne from time and time again.

I pulled my hands out of the baking gloves and set them on the kitchen counter. I checked on the item daddy was earlier taking care of and then, glanced at a dedicated Nate. He was cleaning the utensils with so much dedication, his hair falling all over his forehead, his hands working expertly with the soap; for a second I thought that maybe he was interested in cookery. Maybe he wanted to be a chef.

Five minutes later, daddy was still talking on the phone which annoyed me just a bit and Nate was done with the dishes. The lasagne was cooked properly and I was piling prepared food on a tray and big ceramic bowls with a ladle. It was wondrous how silent Nate and I were during those minutes. But the best part of the silence was that it wasn’t discomfited at all, more like restful.

While I was covering the bowls with lids, someone’s hands wrapped around my waist from behind and startled, I almost dropped a heavy bowl. “Relax, it’s me!” Nate’s voice drifted in my ears like the sound of an acoustic guitar. His fingers gently massaged my stomach which was churning with mild nausea. “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have…”