Chapter 8: Uninvited Guest

Dana POV:

My feet tapped furiously on the bare floor of my living room, and I haven't stopped clenching and unclenching my fist in the last ten minutes. 'What the hell was he thinking coming here without my permission?' My mind wondered furiously as I watched him settle down on one of the old sofas in my living room. Since he walked in here unannounced, he hasn't stopped staring at everything in the house like he was fascinated by my level of poverty.

"You really need to stop glaring at me like that Dana. If you're not gonna say anything, we'll both just end up staring at each other all day cause I'm not leaving here anytime soon,” he speaks up after a while in an unimpressed tone that made my blood boil.

"Listen to me pretty boy, I get that you and I are engaged now and that we're getting married real soon and all but that still doesn't give you the right to show up at my place without informing me first. I thought you and I actually agreed that you'd inform me first before showing up at my place and how in the world did you even get my address?" I snap furiously at him although I could already guess how he got my address and the fact that he may have had me followed or investigated really infuriated me.

"Listen Dana, I know why you're mad and I admit I shouldn't have gotten your address behind your back or showed up out of the blue, but you left me no other choice. I knew perfectly well that if I had waited on you, you'd never have allowed me to come visit you or your family. I don't see anything wrong with knowing the family of the woman I'm engaged to marry but it is weird that she doesn't want me to know where she lives and I had to come over this way, so you don't come up with any excuses to avoid my visitation,” he says, and I fume.

"You should have called me Blake. You should have asked if I would be comfortable with you visiting!" I hiss through gritted teeth, trying not to yell too loudly to avoid my siblings from hearing us. I had actually sent them upstairs as soon as he arrived.

"You brought idea of me visiting Dana and I thought it was a great idea and now you're saying you're not comfortable with me around? What exactly is your problem with me being here Dana? Why are you suddenly so against it? Are you ashamed of it? Do you think I'd judge you based on where you live?" He asks in a much calmer tone and something about the way he spoke made my shoulders fall.

If I were to be honest with myself, he wasn't too far off from it. I am actually very much ashamed of my neighborhood. It's a dump and I'm embarrassed that I have to bring someone like him, who I'm sure has never been to a place like this, into a neighborhood as shitty as mine. I had actually hoped he would drop the idea of visiting me and just invite my siblings out at the very least but seeing as he even went as far as getting my address behind my back, he must have been really curious.

"So, what if I'm ashamed of it, Blake? Would that be a terrible thing? I mean, look around you pretty boy, there's nothing here that's worth anything. I'm pretty sure you're used to seeing fancy homes filled with expensive decorations, beautiful paintings, and all of the things that exist in your world, but as you can see, I have none of that."

"My walls are so bad, they're crumbling. My living room couch is almost as old as I am, the TV is so last century it doesn't even work, and the living room is only a quarter of your entire office. Now think about it, why would I want a pretty boy like yourself to come over here and inconvenience yourself just because you want to meet my siblings?" I ask rhetorically and judging by the look on his face, he wasn't very impressed with me.

"You must really think very poorly of me to actually believe I would care about any of that nonsense you just said. Who cares if your house isn't all that fancy? Did I complain to you? Did I even expect your home to look anything like mine? Of course not, Dana! You and I are getting married soon and I strongly believe that for us to coexist for the next 5 years, I need to get to know you for all you are and for all you have."

"I don't care how poor you may think you are, that is of no concern to me. I'm only here to meet your family and to get to know them better so I can relate with them so please Dana, get over those useless thoughts in your head,” he says in a tone that sounded so authoritative, it almost felt like he was giving me an order.

I stay quiet for a while, trying my best to push the thoughts of my inferiority out of my mind but honestly, it wasn't working. No matter how much I tried, I still felt more than embarrassed that he had to walk into a place like this all because of me. The house wasn't even well arranged at the moment.

"I'm still embarrassed that you had to walk into a place like this just because of me. You could have easily been mugged if you hadn't called me out early enough. This neighborhood isn't exactly the safest place for pretty looking boys like you,” I reply and this time I was serious, he should have at least called me first and since I wouldn't want him doing this again, I have to warn him against it now.

"Okay fine, next time, I'll call you first but since I'm already here, can we just get over this and do me a favor, try not to call me a pretty boy in front of your siblings, it's pretty embarrassing,” he replies and although I wasn't buying his words completely, I decided against arguing any further.

"I'm not promising that I won't,” I tell him sharply before heading up the stairs to go get my annoying siblings. I had actually warned them not to show their faces no matter what they hear until I come get them myself and thankfully, they obeyed me. I guess threatening them really works.

Opening the door to the bedroom; "For how long are you going to keep us in here?" Jencarlos asks impatiently.

"You're to go out now but let me warn you guys, if you three do or say anything to embarrass me out there, you can forget about getting any allowance from me in the next three months,” I warn them seriously and they all frown.

"Three months? Who the hell is this guy and why is he in our house anyway?" Ximena asks, obviously irritated by the fact that I was threatening her because of a guy. She has something against males and easily condemns them, which is one of the reasons I'm confident I won't be dealing with a pregnant version of her anytime soon, but I could be wrong.

"That guy out there is our saving grace in this family, and he also happens to be the man I'll be getting married to in a few weeks, so do me a favor and try not to be embarrassing,” I plead with them, and surprisingly, Carmen scoffs.

"Did you just scoff at me, young lady?" I ask, surprised by the fact that she actually had the nerve to do such a thing. I mean, from Ximena, I wouldn't be too surprised, but from Carmen? I definitely wasn't expecting it.

"No offense, sister, but I still don't understand why you asked us to lock ourselves in the bedroom as soon as he got here. I mean, we could have just met him a few minutes ago since he's supposedly the man you're getting married to, although I'm still slightly confused with that aspect as well. Last I remember, you didn't have a boyfriend and all of a sudden, you're getting married? Make it make sense, sis,” she fires at me, and I am honestly taken aback by her.

"Since when did you start to sound like Ximena?" I voice out worriedly.

"Don't do that Dana. Don't push her attitude on me. The girl here is only spitting facts. I mean, first, you make us hide ourselves and now you want us to meet your supposed fiancé? Does that even make any sense to you?" Ximena retorts.

Frankly, I don't like their tone with me. I can never understand why Ximena always sounds like she's mad at me and finds any and every opportunity to be against anything I say.

"I can't believe you two! So, what about you, Carlos? Do you have any questions or any problem with anything?" I ask, turning towards an unbothered teenager.

"The only thing I want is for all three of you to get the hell out of my room. I don't care who's out there, but I'm not interested in meeting him and if he's your fiancé like you say, then congratulations, sis. Now, all of you get out!" he replies in a bored way, and I'm not even surprised.

"Okay you three, listen and listen carefully, I never ask you to do anything for me because I've never needed your help, but this one time I actually need you to simply be on your best behavior and this is how you react? You know what? It's fine. I'll go back out there alone but you three had better start thinking of ways to take care of yourselves without me cause I'm sick and tired of putting everything in my life on hold for you and being disrespected like this! If you can't do something as simple as going out there and acting like cultured humans, then you don't deserve all the sacrifices I make for you,” I snap furiously at them.

"You do realize that I'm no longer a kid, right? I'm nineteen now." Carlos feels the need to remind me and my blood boils.

"Okay, big boy, how about you get out of my house, that I actually pay for, get a place of your own, get a job, and start paying for your own goddamn tuition fees? Since you're such a man now,” I fire back, and he immediately becomes mute.

Sighing, Ximena asks, "So what exactly do we have to do?" A bored expression is plastered on her face.

"Firstly, you should wipe that look off your face. That man out there is Blake Davies, check the tabloids and you'll realize that we have an actual billionaire in our living room and how you three react to his presence matters because I don't want him feeling any type of way about us..." I'm explaining but Carmen chimes in.

"So what? Are you embarrassed by us? Do you think he won't like us because we're poor?" She asks and my stomach churns.

"That is definitely not it, Carmen. Blake isn't like that. I just don't want him to feel unwelcome by you guys because I know how you three react to people you're unfamiliar with and I don't want you acting that way towards him,” I clarify quickly.

"So, all we have to do is be nice, right?" Carlos asks.

"Well, yes little brother, it's just that simple,” I reply.

"Are we getting paid for good behavior? I'll turn into a perfect princess if you pay me." Ximena says, earning an unimpressed eye roll from me.

"Trust me, you'll be getting a lot more than you can imagine if you act right,” I reply to her and when all three of them agree to be good, I heave a sigh of relief and they all head downstairs to meet with their future brother-in-law.