Chapter 20

"You must be Fayrene. It's nice to finally meet you." A woman in her late 40s greeted me.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you too." I said.

"This is my mom, Stephanie and my dad, Andrew." Skyler introduced us.

I greeted them once again and handed her a box of cookies I bought in country Z. I hope they'll like it. I'm still terrible at gifts. Cookies are the only thing I can think of that won't spoil fast.

"Come in. Don't be shy. Sit here." Stephanie said.

She looked as nervous as I am.

"Mom, I think you need to calm down too." Stellar teased her and their mom glared at her.

"It's hard for your brother to trick someone into dating him." Stephanie answered and Skyler looked offended.

"I did not employ any trickery… okay, maybe a little." He answered.

"Here, have some drinks first." Andrew said as he put down some juice.

"I heard you like seafood so I grilled some fish, shrimp and oysters." Andrew said.

"Thank you. I'm actually craving for some. It's hard to find fresh seafood in country Z. I can only eat some when I go home for the holidays." I replied.

"Oh right, your home country is in country A. It must be hard working away from home." Stephanie said.

"It was hard the first time but I got used to it now." I replied.

"How long have you been working in country Z?" Stephanie asked.

"It's been 4 years now." I replied.

"Do you get to go home often?" She asked.

"I go home every December." I answered.

"I heard you work in an IT company. Do you make computers?" Andrew asked.

"Yes, I work for an IT company but no, we don't make computers. We make software, like the apps on your phone. Ah, but our team focuses on Windows and Web Application not mobile application." I explained and saw them nodding.

They probably did not understand. Not that it's surprising. I should just have said websites.

"By the way, how did you two meet?" Stellar asked before it got awkward.

But that is a more awkward question now that I think about it.

"We met at a bar." Skyler explained.

"What? You hit on her?" Andrew asked.

"No, she hit on me." Skyler said and I looked at him shocked.

"What he meant was I asked to sit with him since there was no other available table." I explained.

"We were both asking questions about life, talked about it. I enjoyed her company so I tried to find her after writing a song for her." Skyler explained more.

"Two lonely people meeting in a bar. Classic." Stellar said.

Then we heard a beep.

"Ah, that's a signal for us to eat." Stephanie said as she stood up and invited us all to eat.

We had a sumptuous dinner in their garden. Stephanie enjoys gardening. Some of the vegetables used on our dinner tonight also came from her garden.

After dinner, Stephanie brought out a cake and we sang Happy birthday to Skyler who's turning 27.

"Time flies so fast. You're so big now." Stephanie said as she asked him to blow the candles.

"It's alright. I'll always be your baby boy." Skyler answered.

"No, thanks. Grow up some more and give me grandchildren." Stephanie replied and Skyler just shook his head.

Stephanie gave us a slice of the cake and told stories of Skyler when he was young. They even showed me his cute baby pictures. I had fun. Skyler's parents are cool.

I enjoyed their company, I didn't even notice the time until Skyler stopped us and told me it's late and it's time to go home. We said our goodbyes reluctantly and I promised to visit them again whenever I'm in the country.

"And you were scared my parents won't like you. They won't even let you go home." Skyler complained on our drive home.

"It's normal to be scared, okay? But I'm glad that they like me. They do, right?" I asked.

"They won't let you go home." He replied.

We arrived at his house, I took a shower and changed my clothes. I took his gift from my bag and waited for him to finish cleaning up.

"Happy birthday!!!" I greeted when he came out.

He looked shocked when I gave him my gift.

"Didn't we already eat cake and sing happy birthday to me in my parents house?" He asked.

"We did and this is my gift. I hope you'll like it. I put in a little bit more effort this time." I said.

He hugged me and opened the gift. It was a white knitted cardigan with pink stripes in the middle.

"Did you make this?" He asked and I nodded.

"I tried my best. It looks presentable, right?" I asked.

"It does. It's nice. Thank you." He said and hugged me.

I kissed him and I realized that I am definitely in love with this man. Now, what should I do next?

"Can we continue this to my bedroom?" He asked and I nodded.

Now I'm wondering if I should have followed Ivy's advice with the lingerie. I guess I'll save that for next time.

The following morning, Skyler woke me up to eat a late breakfast.

"Did I go overboard last night?" Skyler teased me and I glared at him.

I sat down on the table and we ate our breakfast.

"Is there any place you want to go today?" Skyler asked after we finished eating.

"No. Let's stay home." I answered.

"You don't want to see the city anymore?" He asked, shocked.

"It's not like this is the last time I'll come here." I said and looked at him.

He looked happy when I said that.

"Unless of course, if you don't want me too." I said.

"I want you too. You just don't know how happy I am whenever I'm with you." He said and hugged me.

"I love you, Sky." I told him.

He looked shocked for a moment and then he suddenly smiled. It's my favourite smile where his eyes sparkle like a diamond.

"I love you too." He replied.

He was about to kiss me when the doorbell rings which totally broke the moment.

"Are you expecting someone?" I asked.

"Nope." He answered.

"Should I hide?" I asked.

"Why?" Skyler asked, confused and then he laughed when he realized why.

The doorbell rings again.

"I'll go and see who it is." He said and went to the door.

I picked up our plates and cleaned up the table then I heard voices coming closer.

"So who are you hiding here?" Said the voice.

I was gonna hide but he saw me first. He looked so shocked. I probably looked shocked too.

"Hi." I greeted.

"Oh my God!" He exclaimed.

"Stop scaring her." Skyler said and went beside me.

"I'm sorry. They barged in." He explained and I saw 2 more guys coming in.

They all looked at me and I tried so hard to hide behind Skyler. Having 3 adult men staring at you, could be creepy, no matter how handsome they are.

"So… what's happening?" Ren asked, he is Greenfield's bassist.

The one who came in first was Sieg, he was their drummer and the other guy is Felix he's the lead guitarist and the group's leader.

"I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Fayrene. Fay, my band members, you probably know all their names." He introduced us.

"Hi." I said.

"Hello." Sieg said.

"Sky, a word please, outside." Felix said and Skyler sighed.

"Don't worry. It's fine." He comforted me.

I felt a little worried when Felix and Skyler went outside.

"Don't worry. They're just gonna talk." Ren comforted me.

"He's not in trouble, is he?" I asked.

"Felix, would probably want to know the story behind all these and we do too, then he'll probably get a little reprimand but that's it." Ren explained.

"So… what's the story behind these? Are you two living together?" Sieg asked.

Sieg is the youngest member. Felix is the oldest hence, being the leader then Ren and then Sky.

"No, we are not living together. I'm just visiting here. I'll be going home tonight." I replied.

"Oh… where do you live?" Sieg asked.

"Country Z." I replied.

"You're not from country Y?" Ren asked, shocked.

"No. I'm actually born in country A but I'm currently working in country Z." I replied.

"How did you two meet?" Sieg asked.

"We met at a bar in country Z." I replied.

Sky's really not in trouble, right? This is awkward. What should I do? Ah, I should probably start with letting them sit and grab something to drink.

"Ummm… sorry but would you like to sit and have something to drink?" I asked.

"Yes. Thank you." Ren replied.

"What would you like to drink? I don't really know what Sky has. Let me check." I said.

"No need. Water would be fine." Ren said and I nodded.

I escape to the kitchen. Yes, escape is the right word. I tried to calm myself while I got 4 glasses of water. I put them all in a tray but before I could lift them Sky came.

"Was he angry? Did you get scolded? Are you alright?" I asked when I saw him.

Skyler looked shocked with all the questions but he laughed afterward.

"I'm fine. I just explained it clearly to Felix. He was shocked but not angry. Though he felt sad I didn't tell him. How about you? Did those two question you?" He asked.

"They did. I wasn't asked much. I escaped here." I replied.

I'm sorry but I'm an introvert. I just met them and I don't know what to tell them.

"Let's get back there before those guys decide to come here." He said.

He grabbed some snacks in his ref and carried the tray with water.

When we arrived Felix was explaining things to the other two. Skyler put down the tray and gave them their water.

"Why are you guys here anyway?" He asked.

"We wanted to spend time with you since it was your birthday yesterday." Sieg replied.

"We saw each other yesterday." Skyler replied.

"Yeah but that was an event. We thought it'd be nice to spend time privately but I guess, it is not. We didn't know you had a guest." Ren said.

"I still can't believe that you're our muse." Sieg said.

"I'm sorry?" I replied.

I'm not sure how I should react to that.

"She's not our muse. She's MY muse." Skyler said.

"So do you have plans today?" Felix asked.

"We're just planning to stay at home." I replied.

"Are we bothering you?" Ren asked.

"Yes." Skyler said.

"No. You said you wanted to spend time with Skyler, right? Why don't we have lunch together then?" I suggested.

"That's a great idea." Felix said.