For What It's Worth

Chapter Thirty Nine : The Storm

Back in the kitchen, I'm following her orders of stirring the contents of the pots through while she prepares some garnish for the meal. Eventually there's a few knocks at the door. My eyes widen and my neck is instantly inchingly hot.

"Oh no. Is that them?" I panic.

"Oh no?!" She mocks me with a chuckle. "You invited them." I look to her, unsure what to do. I thought I was more prepared for this than I actually am. "Well go on then, get the door."

"No you go." I step back, gesturing out to her. She rolls her eyes with a laugh and agrees.

"Fine." Before she goes, she tugs on my shirt, bringing me closer for a long, slow kiss. She gifts me one last peck and leaves me standing awkwardly in the kitchen on my own.

This is all brand new to me. I'm not used to meeting girls parents. I've never done it before. We've briefly met before but that was hardly enough time. I want to make the best impression because I can't get it out of my head that I'm not the type of guy any set of parents would want their daughter to bring home.

I clear my throat, rolling my tense shoulders out, trying to calm down. I hear the sound of footsteps growing louder and louder so I rub my clammy hands on my pants. Isabelle appears, closely followed behind her Mom, Julia.

She's in a navy blue dress, showing off her tanned legs. Her brown hair is tied back, up and off of her face. Her watery blue eyes light up and she opens her arms out to me. I instantly relax at the sight of her friendly, grinning face.

"Hi! It's great to see you again!" She squeezes me tightly and I hug her back.

"It is." I pull away. "You look lovely." I compliment her and she fondly pats my shoulder before gesturing to our surroundings.

"This is a nice apartment you've got." She says, still looking around us.

"Thank you." I chuckle. Over her shoulder I see Isabelle with her Dad, Andrew, who seems to have had a similar idea to me and gone for a smart beige shirt and brown pants.

"Something smells delicious." He grins before offering his hand out to me. "Hi, my man. How are you doing?" He warmly shakes the hand that I give him.

"Good, thank you. How are you both?" Isabelle joins my side which helps my nerves settle even more.

"Yeah, we're all good. Thanks for inviting us."

"Of course. Do you want anything to drink?" I ask, going into host mode.

"What have you got?" Andrew rubs his hands together, his eyes following Isabelle who moves around the kitchen. She holds up the bottle of wine.

"We've got a Rioja or there's beer in the fridge." She explains.

"I'll have a beer then please." Andrew answers.

"I'm driving home so I'll have a small glass of the wine." Julia smiles almost like she's too shy to ask.

Isabelle sorts out all the drinks and then leads them out to the balcony where we'd previously set up the glass table underneath the sheltered room. It's not too bad of an evening, it's still pretty chilled but not unbearably cold.

I get the plates ready to serve up the food when Isabelle skips back into the kitchen with a grin on her face and twinkle in her pretty brown eyes.

"How are you feeling?" She asks, sidling up beside me. I let out a long, calming breath.

"I'm still nervous." I nod, more to myself than anything. She wraps her arms around my broad shoulders, twisting me around to face her.

"You've got no reason to be nervous. They won't bite." She smiles encouragingly. "You've got this." I fondly tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Thanks for doing this. It's really nice."