Wild at Heart

Part One - Chapter Forty: The Family Dinner

Carmen took a deep breath as she spotted her eldest son and his girlfriend arriving at the restaurant, she knew that she was going to have to behave herself if she wanted Iker around.

José Luis squeezed her hand in comfort as he recalled the dress that Sara had worn when they had first meet her, it had been very tight fitting and Carmen had disliked her for wearing it.

“Hola Iker, Mia,” José Luis greeted standing up, he smiled softly at Mia who looked a little nervous at seeing him and his wife again; the brunette was wearing a blue cutwork yoke ladder detail dress paired with grey heeled sandals.

Iker nodded at his father with a carefully smile, he kept a hold of Mia’s hand knowing that he wasn’t going to leave her alone with either of his parents; he didn’t want a repeat of what had happened in South Africa.

Carmen looked at Mia knowing that the brunette still wasn’t good enough for her son, she really didn’t know why Iker couldn’t just find a nice Spanish girl.

“Padre, madre,” Iker greeted carefully as he shot a warning look at his mother, he wasn’t going to allow her to cause any problems between him and his girlfriend.

Iker carefully pulled out a chair for Mia, he wasn’t going to act different just because his parents were in front of him; he was going to make that night as special as possible for his girlfriend.

“I hope you like Mediterranean cuisine,” José Luis said as he attempted to make Mia feel welcome, he was going to be civil with the brunette for the sake of his eldest son and nothing more; he still didn’t completely approve of Iker’s choice in dating the brunette.

Mia nodded her head as Iker sat down beside her, she was a little grateful that José Luis was trying to include her in this; she had tried to convince Iker to come alone to the meal that they had been invited to.

***

“So Mia, will you be staying in Madrid long?” Carmen asked as she sipped on her red wine, her brown eyes watching the brunette as they waited for their food to be delivered to them.

Carmen couldn’t help but wonder how long the leech would be sticking around since she knew that Mia had in claws stuck deeply into Iker and she doubted that her son would be able to get rid of her easily.

“Two more weeks,” Mia replied uneasily, she always felt unworthy when Carmen spoke directly to her and she was suddenly grateful that Iker was sat beside her.

Iker took her hand as he eyed his mother, he didn’t want to have to think about Mia leaving right now; they had discussed what would happen when she headed home but he didn’t want to think about it until he had to.

“Really? Is that so that you can pack up your things?” Carmen asked pursing her lips, she ignored the look that Iker was giving her knowing that she would discuss things with him another time.

Mia looked at Carmen wondering what the woman truly had against her, she hadn’t done anything wrong and she wished that Carmen would stop attacking her.

“No actually… I have a job interview for a local wildlife conservationist position,” Mia said glancing at Iker, she had gotten the call that morning and she had been excited.

Iker was thrilled for his girlfriend and he couldn’t believe that she had been offered something like that; he was so proud of her and he knew that she would do wonderfully.

“Do you know much about the subject?” José Luis asked trying to recall anything about Mia, he really didn’t know anything about Mia except for the fact that she was originally from England and was now dating his son.

Iker snorted resting a hand calmly on Mia’s leg as the waiter brought back their orders; the brunette had opted to have a griddled chicken with quinoa Greek salad while Iker had gone for herbed lamb cutlets with roasted vegetables.

“My family have owed our own a game reserve for the past eight years,” Mia said with a simple shrug of her shoulders, she didn’t know what she could say that would ever make the two like her.

Carmen looked up from her chorizo pilaf slightly impressed with what Mia had said, she knew nearly nothing about her son’s girlfriend and she hadn’t been expecting that.

“That must have been hard,” José Luis said looking at Mia from his Mediterranean potato salad, he knew that starting over in a new place couldn’t be easy especially with moving an entire family from England to South Africa.

Mia nodded her head, there were times that they could have lost their home completely and they had always managed to keep fighting though.

“It can be,” Mia mused thinking about the most recent time that they had lost their home, she was just relieved that it had all worked out in the end and that they had managed to fix the damage that had been done by the mining company.

Iker couldn’t help but smile as he watched his girlfriend, he hadn’t told his parents about the apartment that he now owned in Broederstroom, South Africa; he doubted that they would be welcoming to the idea.

“What will you be doing about the distance?” Carmen asked curiously wondering if the couple would actually come to an end in two weeks’ time, she wasn’t giving up on the idea of having a Spanish daughter-in-law that she could be proud of.

“We’ll be going long distance,” Iker said stiffly as he eyed his mother, he wasn’t going to argue with her right now and he was being polite for the sake of his father.

Carmen looked at her son for a moment before looking down at her dinner, she took a deep breath as she remembered that she had promised to behave.

Mia laced her fingers with Iker as she offered him a small smile in an attempt to calm him, she knew that his mother only wanted what was best for him.

“Tell us more about your family’s game reserve, I have to admit that I find it fascinating,” José Luis said as he attempted to ease the tension that filled the table, he looked at his wife knowing that she wasn’t going to warm to Mia anytime soon.

Iker smiled at his father glad that at least one of his parents were making her feel welcome; he didn’t care that they didn’t like his girlfriend as long as they at least made her feel welcome.

“There’s not much to tell really. My dad’s a vet so he runs his own surgery and we run a small hotel to raise funds,” Mia said with a shrug of her shoulders, it wasn’t much but it had made a big change to the local area.

Mia really couldn’t see herself living in a city again after living out in the countryside for so long, she had to admit that Madrid was a beautiful but it didn’t compare to what she felt when she was in South Africa.

Iker brushed his fingers carefully across the skin of her hand, he watched his mother hoping that she would warm to Mia soon; the footballer wasn’t going to break up with her anytime soon.

Carmen chewed on her lip, she looked at Mia who was talking with her husband and wondered if this was what she was going to get.

Carmen couldn’t shake the feeling that Mia was actually here to stay and it worried her that this would drive a wedge between her and her eldest son.