Lethal

Chapter Eighteen.

The day to meet Jibri's mother had finally come and I was extremely uneasy about it. I focused on making preparations for an upcoming magazine shoot while Jibri drove to his mother's house, desperately needing to think of anything else. Both of my clients were to be featured on an 'Artists to Watch' list and I'd been so caught up with Jibri that I'd let a lot of my preparation time get away from me. Jibri was a very convincing guy and I found it easy to drop everything whenever he asked me to. It was unlike me to be so behind schedule on a project and I cursed myself while hoping that everything would be ready by the end of the week.

He gave my thigh a reassuring squeeze when we finally arrived at the house, I smiled as he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Regardless of how the day went, it felt good to know that Jibri was on my side.

"Let's get this over with papa." I sighed as we got out of the car.

Jibri nodded, walked over to my side and took my hand before leading me towards the front door, at the same time, two girls came barreling out of the house and launched themselves at Jibri. I immediately recognized them as his younger sisters from the family photos that he had scattered around his apartment. I let them have their moment as I stood by awkwardly, unsure if it was my place to insert myself. As if finally remembering that I was there, the girls turned to greet me.

"Hey! I'm Olivia and this is Raquel; it's nice to meet you Zana." She said politely while giving me a quick hug.

Raquel also hugged me and offered me a warm smile, I immediately felt more relaxed; glad that they were giving me a chance.

"It's nice to meet you guys too! I can't wait to hear all the embarrassing stories that y'all have about your big brother." I joked while nudging Jibri as we entered the house.

Olivia giggled, "And I can't wait to tell them." She assured me. "Momma! Jibri and Zana are here."

I squeezed Jibri's hand tightly as we walked through the house and made ourselves comfortable in the living room. "So, tell me about yourselves." I encouraged, hoping to maintain the lively atmosphere.

"I'm sixteen and I spend most of my time outside of school working on music; it's my passion." Olivia gushed excitedly. "I'm actually supposed to be at my piano lesson in half an hour, so I've gotta run." She said after checking the time.

I nodded in understanding, "Hopefully we'll hang out more in the future."

She nodded in agreement and smiled sweetly before excusing herself.

"Tell Zana about yourself Rocky." Jibri nudged his sister.

Raquel smiled bashfully, "I'm a senior in Highschool and I want to go to art school after I graduate." She shrugged, "I'm not used to talking about myself, I don't know what to say."

"It seems like this is a creative family!" I said to her.

Before I could ask any more questions, Jibri's mother walked into the room. "All of my babies are very artistic."

Jibri stood up while pulling me out of my seat and gave his mother a hug. "Ma, this is Zana. Zana, this is my mom Andrea."

"It's nice to meet you." I held my hand out for her to shake, which she did.

Andrea nodded, "It's nice to finally meet you too." She replied with a polite smile, I couldn't quite get a read on her just yet.

For the next hour, I answered questions and engaged in lighthearted conversation with Raquel and Jibri. Though Andrea had started off a little more withdrawn than her daughter, she was laughing and chatting happily once we got more comfortable with each other.