Kystan's POV

I ring the doorbell and hear the sound resonate inside the apartment. I made an extra effort today, I am wearing a white dress shirt tucked into grey dress pants French style, and white sneakers. On my way to Liza's place, I passed by a beautiful flower shop and got her a pink rose.

I hear movement inside and a few seconds later, the door opens. Liza looks completely stunning, I am transfixed looking at her in that fitting and beautiful dress she has on.

Instead of letting me in, she closes the door behind her. I notice her hurried expression which baffles me.

"I have to warn you." She says but I linger on the way she says my name, it sounds more alluring when it comes from her lips. Which by the way look so plump and inviting- I snap out of my thoughts, "My parents came out of nowhere and they are inside the house right now." She says and looks at me apologetically.

"It's alright. I can bear it. Besides, parents love me." I add, as a way to increase her confidence in my abilities. Her attention diverts to something in my hands; I remember the rose I am holding, "This is for you." I say bestowing it on her.

She smiles and smells it., "Thank you."

The door opens that instant. The person on the other side cuts short what they had been saying upon seeing us there. I look at Liza but she looks back with dread in her eyes.

Liza's parents stand before us, her mom having a mysterious smile and her dad giving me a fatherly glare, the scary one.

"Oh, hi." Her mom says. "I am Dina, Liza's mom. Nice to meet you." She says and extends her hand.

I shake her hand, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Murray. I am Kystan."

"And my husband, Isaac." She continues. He clutches my hand in a really tight grip, with the glare still on his face.

"Nice to meet you, sir." I say while trying as much as I can not to wince.

Liza slaps his bicep and he let's go of my hand, "Dad." She says with annoyance. Maybe this is something he does a lot.

Mrs. Murray is busy wiggling her eyebrows at her daughter and motioning to the flower and me suggestively.

Liza takes my hand and leads me inside. We reach the kitchen and she turns to look at me, I see the desperation in her eyes and I try to comfort her, "I don't mind your parents being here, stop being so distressed." I say with my hands on her upper arms.

"But I mind you standing that close to my daughter." Mr. Murray says as he enters the room heading to the direction of the fridge. I remove my hands from her and take a step back.

"Don't mind him, he is just teasing you." Mrs. Murray says as she enters behind him. "Is it working though?" She asks with amusement.

"Sort of." I reply honestly.

She pulls a stool from underneath the breakfast bar and sits on it. "So Kystan, what a unique name?" Mrs. Murray muses. "What does it mean?"

"Nothing that I know of. My parents might have thought, 'why not give him a name he won't be able to explain?' and so it became." I say with amusement.

Mrs. Murray burst into gales of laughter. When she recovers, she continues her interrogation, "So what is your occupation?"

"I am a student, but I also model for Abercrombie and Fitch in my spare time." I say and she nods in approval. I think I am making progress already..

"What courses do you take?" She asks.

"Finance and Investment." I answer. "Enough about me. What do you do Mrs. Murray?" I know, not the right conversation topic, but she asked me what I do so why not return the favor?

She is pleased that I asked her though, "I am the managing director at the National Gallery." She says with pride.

"Wow. I remember in middle school when we used to have trips there and all I ever wanted to see were the outside water fountains, not the paintings like everybody else." I comment with a nostalgic smile on my face.

Her eyes shine with admiration, " I know." She says eagerly. "Everyday when I pass them, I first sit by and listen to the water's tranquil sounds before heading to a day full of work." She looks at me with an expression keen to awe.

Liza decides to step in then, "Mom, now that you have satisfied your curiosity I want to take you for a second." She says while pulling her mother to her room.

I am left standing there looking around, taking in the new touches to the house since the last I was here.

"Who are you exactly and what do you want from my daughter?" Mr. Murray asks from beside me. I don't know how he, so stealthily, crept up on me.

"I am just her friend and I assure you, I don't want anything from her that you wouldn't approve of, sir" I answer with much conviction because I know it's true.

"What do you do for fun?" He asks me. I wasn't expecting him to ask such a no-brainer question.

"I mostly go out with friends but I also like to go to the gym, to parties, and sometimes bowling." He raises an eyebrow at the last one.

"Do you know anything more than the basics in bowling?" He asks me challengingly.

"Yes. I've been bowling since I was ten. I have picked up on things over the years." I answer vaguely. "You might be surprised how much I know." I answer in an equally daring voice

"Are you challenging me, young man?" He asks with disbelief.

"Maybe I am." I answer with a smile. I truly have guts, to dare the father of the girl I like like this, I have something coming for me.

"Watch your step, kid. Cause I can kick your butt even in my sleep." He says with a smile on his face. Finally! "I might hold you on this challenge one of these days, be ready to learn the lesson of your life."

I laugh at how that sounds corny. He joins in too. I like him already. When I recover from the laughing, I answer, "I'll be there."

The ladies come back again, both of them beaming. "It's time for you to go." Liza says to her mom and dad.

"But honey, we haven't even spent forty minutes with him." Her mom says with a disappointed look.

"Find another time. We have things planned for now." Liza says with finality. Her parents head to the door grudgingly.

"Bye Lizzie, bye Kystan." Mrs. Murray says and they are gone.

We are finally alone.

I shut the door and head back to the kitchen where I find Liza pouring red wine into two glasses. I lean against the counter as I watch her do that.

"My parents like you." She states.

"I told you I could do it." I reply with an ego boost.

"I believe you now." She says as she hands me the glass, looking me in my eyes.

"Cheers to your happy parents then." I say and we clink glasses and sip a bit. She goes to the living room, I take it as my cue to follow. We sit on different sides of the sofa.

"I'll wager your father is a bit intense." I say.

She scoffs, "Don't get me started." She says, "You haven't seen him do all that 'shotgun in the attic' talk that fathers do. You may think he is the one who invented it."

I crack up at how she can talk about him like that, despite being obviously so fond of him. "I like him though. And I think I scored myself a bowling contest." I inform her with amusement.

She looks at me with shock, "Don't tell me you do bowling too." She looks up helplessly, "My mom was so hyped about the museum thing. Next thing I know they'll be asking me to have your babies." She says with alarm. A moment passes and she blushes when she realizes what she has driven at. I don't know what to say to that.

I decide to divert a little. "Speaking of which, what's with the other Glen I met the other day?"

She looks pained at the mention of his name, but it disappears as fast as it appeared and is replaced by uncertainty. "I don't know how to say this, but he cheated on me, which is why we divorced."

I am curious to know more, "When did it happen?"

"A few months back. Few days before we met for the first time actually." She answers with recollection.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" I shouldn't have asked that but it slipped out before I could think it through.

She looks at me with trepidation, "No." She answers convincingly.

I am already on a roll; another question spills out of my mouth, "How did you find out?" She is looking at me with reluctance. A bell dings from the kitchen.

She scrambles up and goes as quickly as she can. Saved by the bell, don't you think?

Pans being moved around and other sounds issue from the kitchen. I occupy myself with sipping some wine and nibbling on cookies on the coffee table in front of me.

Liza comes back, "Food is ready." She says and she leads me to the two-seater dining table laden with deliciously aromatic food. The table is near a window which gives us a view of the street below and the stars above.

I pull out Liza's chair for her and fit her back in, for which she says thank you and I sit across from her.

"The food smells amazing." I compliment her cooking. There's prosciutto wrapped chicken, a fruit salad and roasted red pepper pasta. I am totally looking forward to eating this.

"Wait till you actually taste it." She replies with a knowing smile which makes me all the more anxious. She lets me pile my plate first and I do so utterly.

The food does taste like bliss. I look up and I am transfixed by how much she is glowing in that dress.

"You look amazing." I compliment her.

"I know and the chicken is so tasty. Mm." She replies and I do a double take.

"I meant you." I clarify. She looks up with surprise and smiles that shy smile that wins me over more and more.

"Thank you." Her cheeks get a pink tint on them. She seems to blush a lot around me.

"You look good too." she replies bashfully. Her eyes linger on my face for a while. "Have you not been sleeping?" She asks with a frown coming onto her face. I have developed a shade under my eyes from fatigue.

"Um... kind of." I yawn without intending to. I am definitely tired. "We have been having early morning shoots and I have also been going to court lately. So the stress is building up." I divulge.

"You have been going to court? Were you arrested for your cockiness? 'Cause that's what you have too much of it's almost criminal." Liza has an interminable sense of humor has me wheezing once again

I can't help but laugh, "No. And I am not cocky."

"Really?" She asks with dripping incredulity.

"Whatever." My expression sets back to one of seriousness. "I'm fighting to gain custody of my brother, again."

"You have a brother?" She asks with curiosity. She leans forward in her seat.

"Yeah and I want to take care of him as I promised my parents."

"Oh." She looks to be at a loss for words. I have never mentioned my family before, I am anxious about what she will think. "You are twenty-"

"Five."

"Yeah, twenty five, how come you don't have custody yet?" Liza gets straight to the complicated questions.

"I think it's a story for another time." Suddenly, I do not feel confident enough to divulge that dark history about me.

"Okay." Her eyes convey an understanding I am grateful for. "What is Rehan like?"

I set down my fork on an empty plate and lean back. "He is like any other teenager. even though he is quite popular among girls."

She scoffs and shakes her head, "It must be a family thing." Good naturedly, she voices the stereotype I have been cast under my whole life.

" I am not one and never have been."

She looks surprised, "Really? I always assumed you had this horde of exes." She says but looks embarrassed when she realizes that she has admitted to having given thought to my relationship situation. "It's surprising to think that a hot guy like you would not have a line of girls at his beck and call."

"You think I am hot?" I ask with a smirk on my face.

She shakes her head, "You don't need the ego boost but, yeah." She admits rather reluctantly. "You wouldn't be a model otherwise anyway." She adds but I already got the answer I wanted.

"True, but that doesn't change the fact that you find me attractive." I wiggle my eyebrow at her.

"I didn't say that."

"For the record, I think you are beautiful too." Surprise flashes in her eyes but is then replaced by an expression I can't quite discern.

She gets up and starts taking the utensils away. I get up and help her. "You don't have to." She says.

"But I want to." I reply stubbornly. We take everything to the kitchen for storage. As I am turning from the fridge where I put the leftover chicken, I come face to face with Liza. The tension from the table is still running high and I am suddenly starting to feel urges for things best left undone. To add on the fact that she looks so good today, doesn't help my case.

The compact kitchenette leaves us so close to each other, me near the sinks and her leaning against the counter, it resembles some romance movies I once saw accidentally.

My eyes involuntarily take a peek at her lips, they are slightly parted and inviting. We keep on gazing into each others eyes oblivious to the fact that we are both inching forward. A few inches away, I realize what is happening and I decide to just taste the waters, consciously this time. I close the distance between us and start moving my lips against her soft plump ones. Instead of pulling away, she kisses me back. Her fingers end up on my neck and in my hair pulling me closer but that doesn't make much of a difference. I lift her up onto the counter and stand myself amidst her legs, one hand on her back and the other under her bare thigh, the one exposed by the slit in her dress.

I am lost in the kiss and I am sure she is too because of the sound issuing from her. Things have escalated quickly.

We are almost at a point of no return when I pull back and smile at her, she frowns at me. Good girl seems to have wanted more, I smirk inwardly. But I can't, if we are to do this I prefer to take it slow, if. But now I have important things to say to her. "May you be my girlfriend?"

Her eyes bulge for a moment and she doesn't say a thing. "Umm..." She starts hesitantly, but what I don't like most is the doubt flickering in her eyes, my smile dims. "No." She says forcefully. To say I am stunned would be an understatement. Her expression softens though and she brings her hand forward and it rests on my forearm. "I mean I am not ready yet and I wouldn't want to put you in such a situation."

I feel dejected, I can't help thinking that this has something to do with that man we met the other day, "Is Glen the reason?" She takes a moment before she answers.

"No, yes, kind of." She is nervous and I can see her fiddling with her fingers.

"I understand. Can I at least try to convince you otherwise?" Do I sound desperate yet?

"I'd love to see you try." She answers with the playful light returning to her eyes. We are lost in each other's eyes for a moment before she snaps out of it and goes to the living room, I follow. She refills our glasses and we sit down. The distance between us is quite vast, I would have preferred it otherwise.

She puts in a movie and as the first scenes progress, she comes to sit nearer. The movie doesn't catch my fancy so much, I am more focused on the girl sitting next to me. The slit on her dress has made it fall off her thigh, I am having trouble focusing.

She lies down and puts her head on my lap. I look down at her and she gives me that dazzling smile then refocuses her attention back on the television. I unconsciously start combing my hands through her soft brown hair.

I look down at her face, she seems so peaceful like someone who is asleep. On closer inspection, she is asleep. I crack a smile. Guess I don't understand women after all.

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