Chapter Thirty-Six

We all sat around the dining table. I sat on the right-hand side beside Ian, and his move and father sat opposite together on the left-hand side.

Ian didn't look at me at all, it was as if I suddenly wasn't in his presence. However, I knew that was because he didn't want his parents to notice the chemistry between us. Caroline ate quietly and hummed every now and then. Peter beside her darted his eyes between me and Ian nervously. I looked down at my food and for doom reason my stomach began doing flips. I wasn't sick but extremely uncomfortable by the situation I was sitting in. Inside I felt like Ian's girlfriend meeting his family for the first time.

"I told Craig he must come along. It wouldn't be the same without him." Caroline said after a long moment. Ian looked across the table at her and shot her a sly smile. "Yes. I'm sure it wouldn't."

Peter nodded, swallowing down a sip of his wine. "Alice would like Craig."

"Oh, I've already met him." I say, darting my eyes up from my lap. Ian releases a breath through his nostrils, as if to contain himself. When I look over at him, his eyes are shut tight and his fist is clenched.

"Really?" His Mother says in a curious tone. Her eyes are piercing and harsh.

"What do you want to do when you leave school?" Ian's Father, Peter asks me.

I shrug, unknowingly. "Not really sure. I haven't thought about it." Peter gives me a surprised look and gulps down another mouth full of his food. "That's surprising. You seem like the type who has a lot of plans ahead of you."

With that I smirk, "Are you joking? I don't even know what's going on in my life from one day to the next. Let alone my future." He chuckled in response, but Ian's Mother didn't look so humoured by my response. She just looked at me with a blank expression. I was afraid to look her direct in the eye, she freaked me out too much. Just by the way her expression was. It was as if you couldn't look at her for too long or she'd...burn you. I know that sounds crazy but that's the kind of feeling it gave me.

"How is your teaching coming along?" Caroline asked in a light tone.

Ian looked towards her, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Exceptional." Why was he so good at replying with one-word answers?

"How much longer are you going to be at that school?" She pressed for more information. I looked at her with wide eyes. I thought Ian was my replacement teacher from now on. Was he leaving?

"I haven't got any further information on it quite yet. I'll possibly be arranging a date some point in the next two months." Ian's voice was dry and showed no emotion. It was as if he suddenly didn't want to talk about his job, of which he was always so passionate about. From where I was, I could tell that maybe his parents made him feel vulnerable and small because that's how he looked right at the moment. It was strange.

She nodded and asked another question. "When do the student's exams begin?"

"January. Their Mocks are in preparation as their coursework is still pending."

Peter smiled with amusement. "Is that partially your fault, son?"

The corner of Ian's lips tugged upwards. "Marking is a long, long job."

"It seems it. Nowadays with teaching in schools, teachers look absolutely and ridiculously knackered." Caroline scoffed, twirling her fork in the curry rice.

I giggled silently, looking down at my lap. His Mother spoke so bloody posh! How was a beautiful accent like that even possible? It made me feel disgusted with myself, considering I couldn't speak as nicely as that at all. Everything that came out of my mouth was ninety percent swear words, and the other ten percent was a load of wasted crap left out of my mouth. I told you I hated myself, and I wasn't joking.

Ian heard me giggling and I noticed he turned his head towards me. When I peered up, his eyes were burning into me and it made me think I should look away. Although, I was unable to do so as the look in his eyes was so intensifying it made me want to look into them longer. The side of his hair looked slightly ruffled as he had been sitting raking his hand through it for the whole of the conversation with his parents. His expression seemed nervous, as if he was at a job interview. Did his parents make him feel that on edge?

I opened my mouth to say something to him but was interrupting by a loud bang on the door. Ian released a heavy sigh and stood up from the dining table. "Please excuse me." He spoke in a gentleman voice and his parents smiled in approval.

When he left the room, me and his parents were left in an awkward silence which lingered painfully in the air. I bit my lip nervously, looking down at my knotted fingers.

"Are you not hungry, dear?"

I looked up and realized Caroline was talking to me. "Err..."

"You haven't eaten any of your food. Have you not got an appetite?" She eyed my plate which was still complete with curry. It smelt good; I can't doubt that but for some reason my nerves wouldn't allow me to draw attention to it. I felt like I had no hunger within me, even though I knew fully well my stomach was empty and I obviously needed to eat. "No." I reply politely. "I'm not feeling very hungry today."

"Oh dear, are you ill, sweetheart?" She gave me a sympathetic smile.

I smiled back. "No, I feel...normal. I'm just not hungry."

"That explains why she is so skinny." Peter chirped in realization. He eyed me up and down. However, Caroline was not pleased at all with his comment. "Shh, darling! Don't be so rude!" She exclaimed, whacking him lightly on his arm. He winced and gave her smiled apologetically.

"Take no notice of him, darling. He often makes rational comments about people who he doesn’t know very well."

I giggled softly, "It's fine."

She glared over at him. "Let's just say it is one of his bad habits."

Before I could reply the door opened and in came Ian and his brother, Craig. Craig had a raw red face and looked really worn out. Caroline gasped and looked at him with a stunned expression. “Why are you so red!?"

"Working." He breathed heavily. "Had a lot of construction on this building in Eltham to work on. It took forever!"

"Blimey." Peter murmured under his breath. "Anyone would think that you have run a marathon."

With that, I caught Ian smirking secretly behind him. He caught me staring at him and grinned his sexy grin. Damn... Just in that exact moment, I wanted to kiss him. He turned me on at the weirdest and most unexpected moments, he just didn't realise it. I'm sure he could sense it though.

"Ah, Alice! We meet again." Craig winked at me. I laughed softly and hid my face in embarrassment. I wasn't sure why embarrassment over come me, but that's how Craig made me feel.

"Shy girl, eh?" He grins and when I meet his gaze, he looks identical to Ian. However, my thoughts are pushed aside when I glance over at Ian who is standing a few feet away from him. He's looking at me...angrily. "Hey, Mum. Dad." Craig nodded at his parents and the grinned almost proudly. I noticed Ian was suddenly not very fond of Craig at all. To me, it was as if he stole the limelight. This was meant to be Ian's day, but Craig took it over.

"How much money did you get for the building?" Caroline asks, setting her folks down. Peter nods in agreement, "Yes. And what kind of building was it, son?"

Craig gave a half smile, as if he was a sloppy dog. “About two grand." He said it like it was nothing, but it was very obvious he was showing off. I hated it. It was so typical, and I could tell Ian hated it too. His parents seemed overly impressed and almost clapped like audience in a Theatre. "Very good work. See, Ian? Why can't you be more like your brother?"

Ian scowled and walked towards the kitchen. Caroline and Peter didn't notice his pissed off mood. They were too wrapped in with Craig.

I watched Craig carefully. He really knew how to take over a show and make it his own. He looked very similar to Ian, but his personality was polar opposite. I knew Ian as playful, kind, caring, mischievous, childish and all the nice other words I could use to describe him. On the hand, Craig seemed threatening, show-off, manipulative, fake, playful in a way and challenging. I hate to judge because a lot of people judge me but with a man like Craig, you can't help BUT judge him!