In Between The Stars

The Eye Of The Storm

I draw in a deep breath before entering the room. Dylan kisses the side of my head and that works wonders on me. We finally step in and find my mother and aunt sitting by each other on a sofa and Trisha and Nitin are standing at a corner, both the duos are deep in conversation.

I clear my throat noisily and everyone looks up. My mum and aunt get to their feet and the lovers walk up to our side. After a second of hesitance, I finally work up the courage to speak.

"Mum, this is Dylan." I say in a shaky voice. She nods with a sweet smile on her face. I can feel that Dylan is nervous, but he hides it well and smiles right back.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." He says and puts his hand forth.

"Please. Call me Mira." She tells while shaking his hand.

"Dylan, this is Kris, my aunt. And this is Trisha and Nitin." They nod at each other and I watch Trisha give me the thumbs up from the corner of my eyes and smile.

"Shall we go then? The table's ready." Dylan informs us and we follow him into the main room. He has reserved a table at a quiet corner of the restaurant and I take a seat in between my mother and him.

"I've ordered chicken for starters. I hope that's fine." Dylan utters and I pull in a sharp breath. My mother looks at me disapprovingly. I've forgotten to inform Dylan that she's purely vegetarian.

I lean towards Dylan, "Dylan, my mother's a vegetarian." I whisper into his ear.

"Oh." He says and scratches his temple. "I'll take care of it."

He excuses himself from the table and returns a couple minutes later. The food arrives shortly and about fifteen minutes passes in silence.

"So, Dylan, what do you do for a living? Or are you still a student?" My mother asks and I feel Dylan straighten up a bit.

"I'm kind of in between jobs right now, ma'am. I mean...uh...Mira." Dylan answers and I almost flinch when I see my mother's expression. Let's just say that she isn't impressed. If only she knew what he actually did......

A few more minutes pass without incident and the main course arrives.

"Where do you live, Dylan? Do your parents stay with you?" Now it's Kris's turn to mutilate me.

"I own a place in town, ma'am. And my parents died when I was young." Kris nods apologetically and falls silent.

"So where did you meet Akira, Dylan?" Trisha asks merrily, hoping to lighten the mood. Little does she know that she has worsened it. We haven't thought up a story about how we met. I want to kill myself for being so ill prepared. But Dylan comes to the rescue.

"At the library." He says with a smile. He's cooked up a classic and I mentally giggle at the thought. "We were going for the same book. The last copy. She gave it up to me, gentleman that she is. We got talking and I was head over heels for the girl within no time."

Trisha is beaming at him and I find that Nitin isn't as mesmerized. Maybe he senses that something isn't right. He's always been a cautious person and I've always thought that it was a good thing. Up until now.

"What job did you say you were aiming for, Dylan?" My mum questions. And I pray to Lord Almighty that he won't answer honestly this time. I have no such luck.

"I'm thinking of a music career, Mira." Dylan says shortly.

I am fascinated actually but it doesn't last long as I recall that my mother isn't into any job other than the ones that offer a firm pay with medical facilities.

"Don't you think that that's a bit... unstable." She replies. I know that she doesn't mean to be rude. She's just being a concerned mother. "You never know if you'll succeed. And even if you do, you never know if it'll last."