A Twist of Fate (Complete)

Ch. 17 - Meeting Keaton's Dad

Keaton's dad was a very handsome man just like his son. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a strong, lean build, sharp jawline and a head full of wavy brownish-blonde hair, with the same blue eyes as Keaton. Judging by his fancy suit and shoes and watch, it was obvious that he was a very high up business man. He was quite intimidating.

"Dad, I thought you were in London. You should've warned me you were coming," Keaton said, stepping inside and shutting the door behind them. Everly tightened the towel around herself a little tighter, looking down at her body and suddenly feeling self conscious again.

"Well, it was an unexpected visit to handle a problem in the New York office that couldn't wait. I see you're very busy with your schoolwork," he said sarcastically, peering over at Everly in her towel and looking her up and down in judgement before looking back at his son.

She noticed he had a thick British accent that sounded very snooty and high class. Keaton's British accent, on the other hand, just sounded sexy.

"Sorry, Dad. You just caught us at a bad time. This is my girlfriend Everly."

Her eyes widened and she looked over at Keaton with raised eyebrows. Hearing him call her his girlfriend was a shock she hadn't expected in a million years.

"Everly, this my Dad, Rowan," Keaton told her.

It took her a second to get over the shock and then she looked back at the middle aged man standing in front of them. "It's ummm. It's nice to meet you sir," Everly said, holding her hand out to him and he reluctantly shook it. From his body language it was obvious that he wasn't thrilled about her. She couldn't really blame him with the awkward situation they were in.

"I'm sorry about the way we're dressed," she told him, sliding her hair behind her ear shyly. "or not dressed I should say," she laughed awkwardly at her bad joke. Keaton gave her a smile but his Dad didn't look amused.

"An American? Hmmmm," he said disapprovingly before he turned to his son and asked, "Keaton I didn't think you were keen on the whole, having a girlfriend thing?"

"I wasn't. I haven't had a girlfriend in a long time, but Everly's really special. She changed my mind," he said, smiling over at her and she gave him a smile back, feeling her insides flutter. "She goes to NYU too. She's a really talented artist and she wants to open her own art gallery one day."

"I see," Rowan said, looking down his nose at her and brushing imaginary dust off the front of his suit, straightening his jacket up. He cleared his throat before saying, "Well, I'm going to step out in the hall and let you two get dressed."

He opened the door and turned, looking down at their towels again in silent judgement before walking out and shutting the door behind him.

Everly looked at Keaton and whispered, "Oh my gosh! That was so embarrassing! I can't believe the first time I met your Dad I was in a towel!"

Keaton laughed and said, "You made quite the first impression."

As they got dressed in silence she looked over at him and finally got up the courage to ask, "So, ummmmm. Did you mean what you said?" She looked down at the clothes in her hands and then lifted her eyes slowly to look at him and hesitantly asked, "Do you really want me to be your girlfriend?"

She was afraid to hear his answer. Maybe it was like that time he called her his girlfriend to Brad. Maybe he was only saying it to make his Dad mad for some reason.

Keaton pulled his suit pants on and zipped them up, saying, "I've been thinking about it and you were right. I shouldn't punish you for the messed up shit my exes did to me. You're not like any other woman I've ever dated. You're amazing and honestly, if I can't make a relationship work with you, then I probably couldn't make one work with anybody."