This Modern Love

Scotty let me borrow his Camaro to go to Natalie’s house and talk to her parents. He made me promise that I wouldn’t crash his precious car in effort to harm Natalie. I promised after he beat me in a tickle fight.

Natalie awkwardly sat next to me in the passenger’s seat. She kept her gaze out of the window. She would look at me a couple of times, but I stare straight ahead, or I turned the music up so she wouldn’t attempt to talk.

I made a reach for the radio dial, because I saw her mouth open, but she beat me to it. She hit the power button, killing all the sound.

“Do you have a plan?” she squeaked rather rudely.

I raised my eyebrow at her. “I don’t think I need a plan,” I replied darkly, and hit the power button to the radio.

Natalie rolled her eyes and cut the music back off.

“He’s strict. I just want to know if you know what you’re going to say,” she said.

“I know what I’m doing,” I shot back, turning my head to face her.

She let out a sharp breath and turned her head straight.

“I want to thank you for doing this for me. I appreciate it,” she mumbled.

“Yeah? Well I’m not doing it for you, so don’t thank me,” I snapped.

Natalie rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“You know, there is no reason for you to be rude to me. Shaun told me what was going on between you two. I’m sure he edited it, but he did tell me the basics. I’m his girlfriend for right now. If you love him as much as he says you do, you won’t be so rude to me,” she squawked.

I raised both of my eyebrows and slammed on the brakes in front of her house.

“Honey, please. You don’t know jack shit about mine and Shaun’s relationship. Having said that, don’t question what I do for him, because this,” I said, pointing from me to her and to her house. “Is for him. Not for you. You need to learn where your boundaries are Sweetie, because you may be Shaun’s girlfriend, but I will still beat the shit out of you when you are not,” I barked, and slammed my car door shut.

She blinked in surprise and slowly opened the car door.

“What, are we going to hang out in the drive way all day?” I yelled.

She shot me a dirty look and I smiled in the most vindictive way I could. She rolled her eyes and sped up her pace.

“I can’t believe you just spoke to me like that,” she mumbled while walking past me.

“Yeah, and I can’t believe that you’re still around,” I said loudly after her.

She held the door open for me, and I stepped into the large mansion she called home.

The ceilings were high, and the walls were wide.

“Papa!” Natalie called, stepping into what I’m guessing in the living room.

I followed her, taking in the beautiful appearance of the house.

The living room was huge. The walls were light blue with white trim. The leather couches were white and so were the carpets. There was the skin of a polar bear on the floor in front of the coffee table. There were white candles in silver holders all through out the living room. The fire place was massive, with two platinum lions sitting on each side. The mantle had a lion’s head in the middle, with what looked like family pictures around it.

There was a man sitting on the leather couch. He had on black satin pajama pants with the black satin pajama top. He had his frizzy thick black hair combed back. His forehead seemed larger, only because he was slightly balding. He wore an expression that looked like he tasted sour milk. He sat up straight when he realized I was with Natalie.

She started rambling off some gibberish in Russian, while her dad was giving me the death glare. He nodded and grunted a few times, I’m guessing as a response to what Natalie said. He motioned his hand towards the arm chair to the left of him.

“Please, sit,” he instructed in a deep voice.

Scared out of my wits, I immediately sat down. He noticed my quickness and chuckled.

“Vell? Vhat are you vaiting for?” he asked with a toothy grin. His teeth were more yellow than lemons. “Introduce yourself. Tell me your name. Where are you from? What grade are you in? How did you meet my daughter?” he questioned, combing his goatee with his hand.

I cleared my throat and sat up straight.

“Well, my name is Candace O’Connor. I’m from here. I’m in eleventh grade, and I met Natalie at the mall,” I answered with a smile.

He slowly nodded, dusting off his knee.

“I see. Where is this family vacation you are planning on taking my daughter? Who is going to be there?” he interrogated.

“It’s going to be in Colorado,” I answered. I scanned his face for a reaction.

His mouth twisted into a smile. He roared in laughter, kicking his legs in the air and slapping his knee.

He turned to Natalie and started saying things in Russian to her that I didn’t understand. The look on her face was not a good sign. For her, anyway.

“Papa, please! It will give me a chance to see some old friends and meet her family!” she pleaded.

Her dad put his hand in the air as a signal for her to stop talking. He sat up straight again, still chuckling a little.

“Who is going to be there?” he asked, trying to get his face back to seriousness.

“My Aunt Marsha and Uncle Jack and their two daughters,” I lied.

“How old are the children?” he asked, opening a tin can that was on the class coffee table, and taking out some peanuts.

“Ten and eleven,” I replied sweetly.

“Any boys?” he asked grimly.

“None.”

“When will you be leaving?” he asked with his mouth full.

“Monday morning. We are driving there,” I answered, staring at the peanut shell crumbs fall onto his shirt.

“Who is driving?”

I bit my lip in search for a decent answer. “My mother. She’s going to be staying the night up there with us. Then Tuesday morning, she’s going to go to Denver for some sight seeing.”

He slowly nodded and turned his attention to Natalie.

“You may go. But, if this trip affects your ice skating, you can forget any chance of leaving this house. Go pack your things and brink Lykke some meat when you come back this way, yeah?” he said to her.

I looked around for anything that would be Lykke. Natalie must have noticed, because she decided to speak.

“Lykke is the Siberian Husky over there,” she squeaked, pointing to the massive dog lying on the other side of her dad’s feet.

He started making kissing noises at the dog and speaking softly to it in Russian.

“Excuse me, sir, But I didn’t catch your name,” I said sweetly.

He looked away from his dog and towards me.

“Aristarkh Igor,” he answered proudly. “Meaning the great ruler and bow warrior. You of course shall call me Mr. Igor. Anything different and you vill be banished from my house. Natalie!” he yelled. “Bring this hound some food!”

Natalie came back with a slab of red meat on a plate and set it in front of the dog. The dog licked it and ate it happily while her father rubbed Lykke’s head and cooed it.

“Papa, can I spend the night over at Candace’s house?” she asked, folding her arms behind her back.

Mr. Igor grunted and waved his hand.

“Be home by eleven thirty tomorrow morning. A second late, and you aren’t going,” he answered.

Natalie grinned and squealed in excitement. She wasn’t really going to spend the night at my house. Scotty, Mason, Louie, Kevin, and Shaun were currently setting up a going away party. They were determined that this party was going to be the best one ever. They were throwing it at Aedrynn Miller’s house. I was excited, because I wanted to meet new people. It was the first day of break. Everybody was going to be there.