Cruel Stakes High Roller

Meeting the 'Rents

[16] Meeting the 'Rents

Later that night while she quietly sat beside me in the car, I couldn't help but feel her uneasiness as I felt nervous myself. She gingerly took out a comb from her bag and started to distractedly fix her flowing hair. She then took out a small bottle of perfume and sprinkled herself with it. I tried so hard to concentrate on the road while keeping an inconspicuous eye on her.

Maybe I was hoping that she would relax for a moment so that I wouldn't think that this is a bad idea. I watched the road cautiously as my mind wandered. She's very interesting... I silently muttered to myself.

It's not that I have not seen anyone freshen herself up, but it was the way that she did it that kind of lured me in. There was this calm but jittery movement that soothed her—an unbalanced grace that worked for no one else but her. Troubling as it may seem, I was quite hooked with the way she dealt with her emotions. It was very...unique.

What is happening to me?

"Am I really doing this?" She muttered under her breath while switching her view to the side window. It was so soft, but I still heard it.

"Is something wrong?" I chuckled as I gently eased in my garage. I noticed that the house was fairly lighted. The newly installed big window panels made the house look more modern than it really was.

I shut the engine as I stared at my house. It almost looked alien to me now. It screamed so much of "home", and if I didn't know any better, I would think that it belonged to the Brady bunch.

"Am I not interrupting anything?" She stopped mid-way of opening the car door. I shook my head and got out of the car to open the door for her. As soon as I opened it, she stared at me with wide eyes, "Are you sure?"

"Come on." I pulled her out.

We walked slowly towards the main door of the house and the uneasiness in the pit of my stomach was diverted to that pale dangling hand on her side.

Was I supposed to hold her hand?

"Good evening." My sister greeted as she startled Felice by immediately opening the door with a huge grin on her face. I smoothly walked towards Antoinette, kissed her on the cheek and whispered behind her ear: "Don't do anything stupid."

"Hello to you too, Anthony." She smirked. "Hello there, that's nice; you've brought home a friend, Hi!" Antoinette smiled sweetly. "I'm his sister, Antoinette, and you are?"

"I'm Felice." She managed to say. "We uh..." She looked around and her eyes averted back to my sister's sincere smile. "We were studying math in... in..." I didn't quite understand why Felice kept stuttering.

I slowly hovered behind her and asked if she was alright, she just gave me a tight nod.

"Tony? Tony, darling!" My mom walked through the doorway coming from the kitchen. "Oh well, my, my... Who is this?" My mom's eyes sparkled.

"Mom, this is Felice, we had a Math review earlier today," I said smoothly as my mother smiled at her and we were led to the dining hall.

"Does she always greet you like that?" Felice asked me as I pulled a chair out for her. I wondered who she was pertaining to. Was my sister's greeting a bit too homey? Or was my mom's greeting too televisionized?

A few minutes later my dad comes in the dining hall and takes a good look at her. The assessment was putting her ill-at-ease.

"Dad," I said as I forced him to shift his attention to me instead. "I brought a friend over if you don't mind."

"Of course not. Hello there, make yourself at home." He said and turned to me. "Does she speak Chinese?" My dad said in a fluent and effortless Mandarin.

This was the question that I really didn't have an answer to. I looked at Felice to ask her the same question. But she just smiled at me and answered my father in straight, fluent and effortless Mandarin as well.

"Yes, I do, but I'm still learning to perfect it." She smiled and immediately, and as if to emphasize his delight, both his brows raised and a light bulb appeared on my father's head, well, the latter was meant figuratively of course.

"How are you finding college so far?" Antoinette asked as they passed the meals.

"Oh! it's really nice. I've been meeting new people and I'm finally adjusting to a new environment. But it's a really nice breather from the stress of high school." Felice beamed at my friendly sister.

I've known for a while that my sister has the uncanny ability to make anyone at ease, and when I say anyone, I mean anyone.

Antoinette took her knife and started butchering something in her plate, "That's really swell. You're doing just the same, right Tony?" Before I could answer, she averted her gaze back to Felice. "He's been telling me so much about you that you must just be in all of his classes, am I correct?"

And what a big liar she is too.

"Oh, well..." Felice's face was filled with delicious color that I can't help but pride myself in the ability to actually notice. "We're in Math and PE together... I don't think he's in my other classes though." She replied shyly.

"Right, Felice, would you like some potatoes?" Her head immediately jerked towards my direction as I changed the subject. "Mom made them." I smiled and she took the plate from me and grabs a spoonful. Well what do you know, she was well-mannered as well.

The dinner went pretty well, if you wouldn't count the times my parents and Antoinette made Felice feel like she's being grilled. She's like the new toy at the store; everybody wants to have it, to look at it and stuff. But as much as I wanted her to be out of the spotlight, I quite enjoyed the coloring of her cheeks. It made me feel that I wasn't alone in this topsy-turvy of emotions.

"You must take this home to your parents. I'm sure they're lovely people as well." My mom said and shoved a whole new can of fresh coffee from Europe.

"I can't take this," Felice said shyly.

"Oh, sure you can. Does your father smoke?" My dad chimed in. I was starting to get frightened that Felice is getting too overwhelmed by my family. "Here, I bought these cigars; they're top of the line."

"I... ah..." Then she looks at me painfully. I draped a securing arm around her and gave a small chuckle as if to emphasize the end of the night.

"Should you be heading home?" I ask her with a wink. She nodded a-plenty. "I'll bring you home, Mother, Father, I'll just be heading out for a while."

"Going already? But you must stay!" Antoinette said with a sweet smile.

"You're all so kind, but I really must go. My parents might be looking for me. Thank you so much for tonight. I had a really wonderful time." She said quickly trying to be polite with her queasy escape as I took the stuff she was holding and held the door for her.

Once out at the doorstep, she gave out a huge breath of relief. "Wow." And she grinned.

"Sorry about that. I don't usually bring my friends home to meet my parents." I simply said as I placed the stuff inside the car.

"Well, then you must have not been having the right friends." I quickly turned to her as she said this. I kicked the door shut. I wouldn't deny, I wasn't expecting these words from her, but just the sound of it made my insides fire up. Not from anger or irritation of course, but of something greater... a desire.