Did he want to introduce me to his mother?
Did that mean we were in a relationship?
“Let’s have a seat,” Isabella offered, bringing me back to reality. I was silent as mother and son caught up. Their attention wasn’t on me, but that wasn’t offensive. Their chat was comfortable. It gave me a sense of familiarity, like this was what we always did… like I was already a part of this house. I constantly caught Isabella looking at me, though. Her grey eyes were shining bright with excitement, like she wanted to say something to me but instead held herself back.
“So, you two work together?” Isabella said. A smile in her eyes as her face stayed neutral.
I nodded as Kellan said, “Yeah,” but before we could continue the topic Kellan’s phone started to ring on the table.
“Your mother’s calling,” he announced, picking up his phone as he left the room.
“Has Kellan met your mother?” Isabella asked.
“Yeah,” I answered, then added, “It’s a little bit complicated.”
“How so?”
“My mom is married to Brad,” I blurted out, even her shock was elegant, she was taking her time to process things as I waited in silence. The moment she parted her lips I held my breath for her reaction, but before she could say anything Kellan came back into the room.
“They are having a celebration at the house, your mother invited us both, of course,” he told me.
Confused, I asked, “Why did she call you instead of me?”
“Because I’m the problem child, babe,” he winked at me, totally oblivious of my gasp in surprise and his mother’s scrutinizing gaze. His phone didn’t give us any chance to respond.
“Fuck, I have to take this,” he headed out of the room as his mother warned after him, “Language, young man!”
The smile froze on my face when she turned her attention to me. The same calculating gaze in her eyes, “You’re working for him. You’re his step-sister… and you’re the only girl he has ever brought here. Oh, and you’re his babe,” she summed it all up, slowly her face turned into a smirk, “I think you have lots of titles, it is quite interesting, Melody.”
The heat bloomed on my cheeks, I tried to hide my face by looking down at my hands on my lap.
“Don’t hurt him,” she murmured, causing my head to jerk up, “What?”
The idea was impossible in my mind. How could I hurt Kellan? I was afraid he was the one who had all the power to hurt me.
“Kellan tries to act cold, but he is far from it, Melody. His emotions are so intense… more than any other human out there. Have you ever heard of highly sensitive person syndrome?” she asked.
Frowning, I nodded my head.
“Kellan has that. His situation was at the lowest level, but he felt everything as a little child, more than he should have. He felt our sadness when we were a family… he felt broken when we got divorced with his father. As well as sadness, he feels good things with more intensity. He loves hard, he gets attached before he realizes it. That’s why he has never let anyone stay long in his life. But you found your way into this house, Melody. Can you see what that means?”
“Yes, I understand what you’re trying to
say, but I don’t have the power to hurt Kellan. You don’t need to worry,” I said, still trying to wrap my head around what she told me. She was assuming that I was in a relationship with her son, but I had big doubts Kellan would think the same way.
She reached for my hand, surprising me, “He will hurt you, girl. He will say and do things that will hurt you. I know it will be hard, but all I’m saying is if you care about him, don’t give up on him when it happens. Because in the end you’re the only person who can truly hurt my son.”
I didn’t know what to say, what to think. She was his mother, the person who knew Kellan the best, but the things she said sounded so surreal I wasn’t so sure. The Kellan I knew was a good guy, passionate about everything in life, but he was after only one thing. His opinion about relationships was as clear as a day.
“Isabella… I,” I started without knowing what to say, but Kellan rescued me from that situation by choosing that moment to come in.
“Melody, we need to go… there are a few urgent things we need to take care of for the musical academy project,” he said, putting on his jacket.
“Mom, sorry we can’t stay longer.” He kissed her cheek.
“It’s okay, but you should come again soon… both of you,” Isabella said, winking at me when Kellan didn’t look.
“We’ll see, Mom,” he parried, turning to face me. “Are you ready, Mel?”