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Walking into the Harrington house, Liza was smacked in the face by a wall of tense atmosphere. She found it off considering Steve was supposed to be at work for another hour, unless their manager had come in and sent him home early but that seemed unlikely. He would have called her if he had stayed home so that was also out. Deciding that she was probably imagining things, the blonde made her way into the living room only to be met with the explanation for the tense air.
In hindsight Liza should have noticed the car in the driveway. If she had, she would have turned around and made her way to Starcourt to warn Steve but it was too late. Now she was alone with Amelia and Clarke Harrington who were sitting with an older woman, all of their eyes turned to look at her. Amelia discreetly rolled her eyes, sipping from a teacup as Clarke stood up.
“Liza! We didn't know you were coming by today.” Clarke chuckled nervously as he went over to the girl. Blocking her from the view of the two women behind him, he looked down at her with wide eyes and mouthed, “That is my mother.”
“Oh! Steve invited me over. I figured I'd save him the trip to pick me up and just skate over.” Liza shrugged, deciding that she was going to see where this went. She looked up at Clarke with a raised brow, a silent question of how bad could this be.
In the months since she had first met Steve's parents, Liza and Clarke had come to a mutual understanding. She wasn't leaving and Clarke didn't mind, he would never admit it - especially near Amelia - but he was glad Steve had someone like Liza in his life. It may be due to the fact she had fought back against his wife instead of letting the woman scare her away but, again, that wasn't something he would ever tell anyone. Liza hadn't come to like Clarke but she at least held some form of respect for him. She didn't condone his constant cheating on his wife - no matter how much the blonde loathed Amelia - or the negligence he had towards Steve but it was clear to her that this probably wasn't the life he had imagined for himself but he was now stuck in.
“I presume you are Stevens' girlfriend?” Clark's mother came around him to stand in front of Liza. She looked the blonde over with an unreadable expression. “I'm Katherine Harrington, his grandmother.”
Liza shook the woman's hand as she tried to keep her face even. Not many normal things scared her anymore but this woman definitely did. She was impeccably dressed in a Burgundy dress and pearls, not a single piece of hair out of place and her eyes seemed to see right through Liza's soul. The blonde was suddenly hyper aware of every imperfection on her face, her clothes and makeup. If she was anything like Amelia then Katherine was not going to like her.
“Liza Henderson. It's nice to meet you.” Liza said, putting her best smile on. “Steve's told me a little about you.”
“Why don't you join us? We were just having tea and catching up.” Clarke offered, his eyes begging Liza to accept.
