4 | ≠ strangers

When I reach the address Nathan has oh so graciously provided me with, I see a house decorated with party balloons and strings. Someone is having a birthday party here which Nathan has decided to ditch. Poor someone, I think, killing my engine and grabbing the box kept next to me. I had taken a little extra effort to make my handwriting look presentable as Shaye does the writing work in the cafe. The box looks pretty enough and the receiver would have to work with it.

I walk up the porch and ring the bell. Almost immediately I hear someone walk towards the door and the door opens. Standing at the door is a beautiful lady dressed in a stunning black gown, staring at me with mild curiosity.

"Hello, darling. Can I help you?" she asks kindly.

"Uh yes, ma'am. I was told to deliver this here and say Happy Birthday," I extend my hand which holds the box of chocolate cupcakes.

She looks at me with surprise written over her face and down at the box which I am still holding. She takes it from me and asks me, "Who is it from dear? Do you know?"

"Nathan Wright. You might know him," I answer and suddenly her face relaxes as she puts the pieces together.

"Yes, I do know him. A mother has to know her son. It is also convenient that it is my birthday today when he decided he could ditch," she smiles at me.

"Oh! Hello, Mrs Wright! Happy Birthday! I hope you're having a wonderful day," I wish as I feel the weirdness of the situation settle in me. Here I am, standing in front of Nathan Wright's mother, on his porch wishing his mother happy birthday. This seems a little bizarre.

"Oh I am!", laughs Mrs Wright, "and you can call me Debbie."

"Aliana Palmer. Nice to meet you!" I extend my hand. She laughs again and pulls me into a hug.

"Would you like to come in? The party is in full swing and plus I'm sure everyone would like to know Nathan's friend," she offers. Her eyes hold the same mischievous look I've seen in Ma's eyes over a hundred times.

"Oh, I'm not his friend. I just work at The Bakery and I really don't want to impose. You have a wonderful day, Debbie. I should get going," I quickly say, not wanting to be a burden to them, "I'll see you later!"

"Oh, nonsense. Because of my son's not-so-nice behaviour, you had to drive all the way here from work after your shift and ruin your night. The least I can do is make it up for you. Come on in."

My eyebrows raise on their own record after hearing Nathan's mom's blunt words. She walks into her house with the door wide open, leaving no room for an argument from my side. I look at my car and back to the open main door before wordlessly following her into their house. I can hear loud laughter coming from the living room and the kitchen, and I assume that his entire family and friends are here.

How did I end up in this situation?

When I enter the living room after Debbie, everyone's eyes turn to look at me, everyone pausing their conversation. I can tell that they're wondering who I am. As if sensing my awkwardness, his mom quickly speaks up.

"Everyone, this is Aliana. She works at The Bakery. Nathan can't make it tonight, but he did send a box of cupcakes with her."

"Why can't Nathan show up?" a guy maybe 3-4 years elder to me speaks up from the far end of the couch, a small smirk making its way to his face.

"I don't really know. He said that he had something important to do," I say, settling myself in the empty space on the couch. I smile at the lady next to me and return my attention back to the guy.

He instantly smirks wider and looks at Nathan's mother, "Mom, what do you think is more important than your birthday?"

Debbie laughs, obviously not offended by the fact that her son isn't here. She brushes her hair over her shoulder and takes a seat on one of the armchairs kept next to each other. The placement of the chairs remind me of the movie Up, and I smile internally.

"I think we all know," a deep voice speaks up from behind me. I turn around to look at an older man walking towards us with a glass of juice in his hands. He looks like a grown-up version of Nathan, but his eyes match those of the guy who was asking me about Nathan. The wrinkles around the corner of his eyes and mouth automatically tell me that he loves smiling, instantly making me respect him.

"Nice to meet you, Aliana. I'm Klaus, Nathan's Dad," he says, handing me the drink and extending his hand towards me. I shake his hand and blurt, "Like, Santa?"

Instantly, laughter breaks out from everyone who's sitting in the room and I feel myself go red in the face.

What will it take to make my mouth stop blabbering stuff?

"Yes. Exactly like Santa. Now tell me," he laughs, gesturing me to take relax, "How do you know my son?"

"They don't know each other yet, Klo," Debbie answers for me. Her eyes meet that of Mr Wright's and in one look, identical smiles break out on both their faces.

"Well isn't that too bad," Klaus says, his tone teasing and mouth curling into a smirk, also identical to the younger Wright's.

After another moment of awkwardness, his uncle, Mr Wright's younger brother cracks a crude joke and all hell breaks loose. Nathan's aunts, uncles, cousins all sit around the living room, continuing their conversations. The guy who asked me the whereabouts of Nathan earlier gets up from his place and takes a seat beside me.

"Maverick Wright, the older brother of the idiot who sent you here," he introduces himself. From that moment on, we get to talking and fall into a pretty easy conversation. It's easy to talk to him, almost like I've known him since ages and I know then and there that he and I are going to become good friends.

He tells me that he's 4 years older than Nathan and currently in law school. He also tells me about his girlfriend and how she can't make it today because she's visiting her parents. After a long time of conversing with Nathan's family, I glance at the time on my phone and almost recoil in shock. It's nearing 10 pm and there are 3 missed calls and a dozen messages from Mia, asking me where I am. Granted that it's a Saturday the next day, not wanting to overstay my welcome is my top priority. So, I quickly text her that I am safe and grab my bag.

"You're leaving?" Debbie asks as she notices me getting ready to leave.

I nod and reply, "Yes. It's incredibly late. Thank you so much for inviting me in. I had a lot of fun. I loved meeting you all."

Everyone disregards the thanks, echos of Stay the night! and Bring Nathan along next time reach my ears. I laugh and politely bid everyone good night, and they reciprocate the greeting, conveying their wish to see me again to me. I just nod, not wanting to promise something I don't even know will happen.

"The pleasure was ours, Ali. It's not every day that a young and charming woman like yourself comes knocking at our door."

I pass her a grateful smile as she engulfs me into a motherly hug. Mr Wright extends his fist to me, eliciting a laugh out of me as I fist-bump him.

"I'll drop you off," Maverick says, grabbing his keys. Everyone nods and I quickly shake my head.

"Oh, no-no. It's alright. I've brought my car."

"Are you sure?" Mr Wright asks, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.

"I'm sure. Goodnight everyone!"

"Good night love. Text Maverick so that we know you reached home safe. Do you have his number?" she asks. I shake my head no and almost immediately Maverick grabs my already unclocked phone from my hand, typing his number in it.

"Now she does," he says smugly and I glare at him.

"I have a feeling we'll be meeting you again very soon," Mrs Wright winks.

"You sure will be," I reply sarcastically, not believing a word of it.

Bidding everyone one last goodbye, I drive my way back home. As soon as I enter the apartment, I see Mia working on her laptop in the kitchen.

"Where were you? It was your turn to cook, but I ran out of patience, so I just reheated some of yesterday's pizza. We could order some more if you want," she says.

"The usual. Hanging out with Nathan Wright's entire family. A normal Friday night," I say calmly, even though I'm feeling anything but.

I look at Mia from the corner of my eye to see her mouth hanging open.

"Spill. Right now."

I sigh and start from the very moment Nathan tumbled in at the shop. After telling her about everything he said and did, Mia looked utterly pissed. And then, a little amused.

"So you met his family even before he knows your name?" she asks.

"I know. It's weird for me too."

She laughs and added, "He's an even bigger asshole than I had thought. Man, I had really thought he wasn't the stereotypical cocky asshole," she huffs.

I can't agree more. I quickly text Maverick to let him know that I was home safe and he replies that he told his parents and they're relieved. After watching Gossip Girl with Mia, I couldn't help but think about what Mia said.

I had really hoped, as well, that he wasn't the stereotypical cocky asshole.

⋈ ⋈ ⋈

Hellooo! How's it going?? We have just met Nathan's parents and it's safe to assume, he's in trouble. How is everyone doing? Liking the book so far?

{Ganesh Chaturthi chya hardik shubhecha!}

Here we go again for the question of the week:

Q. What is the one activity you do which has the ability to instantly calm you down on a bad day?

Vote, comment and give your feedback if you'd like to! Have an amazing week!

Love,

Anushka <3