Our Love is Torn (A Bruno Mars Fan Fiction)

Chapter 2

Bruno checked Elizabeth's address again as he walked down her street. "These all look like family homes, maybe she has roommates,' he thought to himself. He found the house with her address, took the front walk and the stairs to the small front porch. Bruno did a last minute check on his appearance then knocked on the front door and stood there for what seemed like an eternity before he noticed it opening.  A man who appeared to be in his 50's, was looking right at Bruno with what might be thought of as the Stare of Death. Growling out of the side of his mouth, the man "humphed" at Bruno, staring him down, silently daring him to speak.  Bruno was more accustomed to girls answering the door, not scary looking - 'um, could it be her dad?' "Ah sir," swallowing hard, trying to look at this man in the eyes through a screen door, "I'm Bruno Hernandez and I'm here to pick up . . ." Bruno thought better of the words he had just used and tried again. "Um, I'm here to take . . . ." He didn't like those words either. 'Man, this guy's good at making me sweat!' He thought and quickly tried a new approach. "I was to meet Elizabeth Correa today. Is she here?" Bruno didn't know if he would be more relieved if she turned out to be here or not. The man continued staring at this kid on his front porch, starting to like him, but he wasn't going to let his daughter's date know that. He never let Elizabeth's dates know if he liked them, usually putting on a grumpy father exterior when they were around. Elizabeth's dad let Bruno in the house with another audible grunt and crossed his arms over his chest continuing to keep the dreaded father laser eye on him. Bruno was waiting in the living room, feeling very alone and uncomfortable, when a lady who must have been Elizabeth's mom, came from the kitchen wiping her hands on a towel. Smiling, she said, "Hi, you must be Bruno." Shaking his hand, "I'm Liz's mom. I thought I heard voices in here." "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Correa. I'm Bruno Mars, I - I mean Hernandez." She cocked her head to the side and the Grumpy Man jumped on Bruno's self introduction. "Boy, you've introduced yourself with two different last names. Which name is it? What are you trying to pull here?" "Excuse me sir, Mars is my stage name and Hernandez is my family name." "What kind of stage do you go on?" grunted Mr. Correa. From his other side, Bruno heard Mrs. Correa say, "Lizzy told me you're a singer, is that right?" "Yes, ma'am. I'm a musician." Just then Carla came skipping down the stairs to the living room. "Hey Bruno, changed your shirt, huh?" she said laughing. "Yeah," he said with a slight smile, lowering his head and rubbing the back of it just above his neck.  He liked Carla, but her comment and this whole situation was getting too embarrassing.  Suddenly Elizabeth was in the room and he had never been happier to see a friendly face. "Hi, Bruno. You're right on time." Turning to her mom, she said, "Don't forget, Carla and I want to learn how to make your special dish tonight for the family reunion tomorrow, so I'll be home in time for that. See you later." Leaving the house, Liz told her dad she'd be back in a bit and would see him soon. "Uh, huh." He says still staring Bruno down.

Out on the sidewalk, Elizabeth looked at Bruno like she expected to see him sweating, but not from the heat. "You got dad's Look of Death. It's okay, he's done that to every guy who's dared come to see me," she said with a laugh. "You know, he's just protective." "I'm sure I would be too," he said with a quiet growl. Taking a cleansing breath, Bruno smiled at Elizabeth and said, "it's sure good to see you again. You look pretty." "Thank you," she said, smiling back at his very handsome face and curly brown locks. He looked heavenly to her. She loved how the light always shown in his brown eyes and how he would look at her like he wanted to be with her. That was enticing!  Bruno noticed Elizabeth was wearing a light orange colored sundress, with a light green trim and matching green sandals.  Her hair was in a messy bun, being too hot and muggy to have that gorgeous long hair laying down her back.  Bruno also checked out her eyes. Did those beauties send him the same message as they had yesterday? Yes, they did. He asked her if she lived with her parents and she said she had moved out a few years ago. Elizabeth had two roommates, her cousin Carla and her best friend growing up, Megan. She trusted them explicitly and was glad they could still be so close. "My best friend from when I was a kid lives with me too. His name's Ryan, and along with his regular job, he's turning into my personal assistant. Since I'm gone so much, he takes care of the details of my personal life. Like, I missed my mom's birthday once and I felt so bad, it almost made me sick to my stomach. I mean, how could a son forget his mom's birthday? I know she was disappointed." "Did you make it up to her?" "Yeah, I tried anyway." "I bet she understood then, and appreciated you trying, huh?" Chuckling, Bruno agreed remembering how his mother had played "hard to get" when he called her, after sending flowers and Luau musicians to serenade her.