Broken Hearts by Phiya

Chapter Seventeen

"You are welcome to our home." He heard his mother say as he approached the house. It appears the Parks must have beat him to it. So much for being clinically polite. "Tan should be here any second now, oh there he is!" his mother commented with fake glee. Both Mr. and Mrs. park turned around to see Tan walk up the porch. Eliyah didn't bother to. As It appears, it isn't only Tan that would rather not be attending his family's matchmaking dinner at the moment. He clutched the flowers tightly and readied a smile in place. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Park." Tan said when he got to them. Giving them both a handshake. "Hello Tan, it was beginning to feel like a miracle was needed to ever see you since you became CEO." Mr. Park joked. "I'm sorry Mr. Park, I'll do better." Tan joked back. he looked to his mother who was giving him a tight smile, he had no doubt she was unamused about his tardiness he leaned in to give her a hug in greeting anyway. "Hello Mother." His mother patted him on the back. "You're late." She whispered sharply in his ear. "No mom, I'm just on time," he responded stepping out of the cold embrace.

"Eliyah." His mother crooned, turning towards the youngest woman in the group. Eliyah took her extended hands and proceeded to kiss her on each cheek. Tan was trying hard to be respectful so he resisted rolling his eyes at the sight. "it's so good to see you Mrs. Lee." "You too, Eliyah." Mrs. Lee replied with an expert socialite smile. "Please, come in, you're just in time for dinner." She motioned with her hand to let them into the house and followed after they've all gone in. When they got to the dining area, Yohan lee was already seated.

"Thanks for having us over for dinner Da-mi." Mrs. Park, who'd barely said a word since they came in finally spoke. Her mother sent her a smile and nodded her head.

They made themselves comfortable around the table. Eliyah and Tan sat across the table from each other while their parents sat beside themselves. The dinner went on with silence from everyone except both fathers discussing their business. Naturally, Tan wasn't exempted from the conversation but he couldn't bring himself to care. Instead he picked at his food as he thought of Gabby. He missed her so much. She seemed to plague his mind a lot these days and on days like this, even more.

"Why don't you show Eliyah around the house Tan?" his father said, snapping him out of his reverie. God knows spending any time with Eliyah was the last thing he wanted to do. [ felt like he was doing something bad.

"Yes Tan," his mother butted in as she always liked to do. "show Eliyah your father's painting collections. I have no doubt she'd love them." As much as he didn't want to have to spend any time with Eliyah, Tan needed a break form his parents hawk-like gaze. It was almost like they were waiting for him to make a mistake so they'll go on about it to him later. He would pick showing Eliyah a few drawings any day.

He envied Lana a bit right about now. He would do just about anything to get out of this 'family' dinner. If his kid sister was present, he had no doubt she'd find his parents matchmaking attempts amusing. It wasn't that Eliyah was unattractive. She was a pretty woman to any man and woman with blood in their veins. He just couldn't bring himself to find her appealing. To love her. Not in the way he felt for Gabby.

They walked in silence side by side to his father's study without making an attempt at small talk. The awkwardness between them could be sliced through with a knife. He waited for her to finish looking at the paintings and when she was done, he turned to walk out. he just wanted this night to be over. If he knew anything at all, it was that Eliyah was not the girl for him. They shared absolutely nothing in common. She deserved someone who would love her and he was sure that person was never going to be him. His heart was already spoken for by someone else.

He didn't wait for them to leave together and increased his pace to put as much distance between them as possible. She caught up with him just as he was about to descend the stairs leading back to the dining area and was just agitated enough to grab his arm causing him to spin and face her. "look here, what's your deal? Would it kill you to try and make a conversation like a decent human being instead of treating me like the gum stuck on the bottom of your shoe?"