Misconstrue

"EIGHTEEN. Blackjack!"

Emilio's dark grey Ferrari rumbles softly as he makes his way along the cul-de-sac. When he first mentioned meeting my family, I had a small feeling that something would go wrong. I was right to be worried about this entire encounter. 

Emilio looks ethereal while he exits his super-fast-car, the sunlight makes him look so beautifully golden, and of course super-hot. He smiles softly as our eyes meet from where I'm standing, I wave shyly at him but decide against a verbal greeting. I'm afraid my voice might crack since I'm so close to losing my shit.

Emilio takes a few seconds to grab a bouquet of flowers and a bottle from the passenger seat before locking the car. "Balei." I'm greeted with Emilio's signature cheek kisses. "You alright?"

I shake my head. "You didn't have to bring anything."

"Hey." He lifts my chin with his finger so I can look at him. "What's going on?"

I take a deep breath. "My stepmother invited the neighbour."  Emilio furrows his eyebrows. "She kinda wants to set us up."

Emilio chuckles. "Another one." What does that mean? "Let's go."

I try to borrow some of Emilio's optimism as I open the front door. "B?" Alex calls out from the foyer as the door swings forward. I see the exact moment Alex's face falls when Emilio enters behind me. 

"Hey." I say softly. "You remember Emilio?" Alex blinks a few times then stands. 

"Alex, right?" Alex clears his throat as he nods at Emilio. "Nice to meet you again."

I take Emilio's free hand in mine. "C'mon." I lead the footballer to the room that I hurriedly left a few minutes ago. I can hear idle chatter coming from Victoria and Danny. 

My father is the first to notice my reappearance. His eyes widen out of sheer shock as he spots the man standing beside me. I knock on the doorsill then clear my throat. "Everyone." 

Danny's mouth hangs open and it's obvious that he's just as surprised as my father. The smile on Victoria's face falls and I fight the urge to start clapping from happiness. "This is Emilio."

I smile triumphantly. Of course, they know who this is, everyone knows who this is. My father stands quickly, the beer he's been drinking is now forgotten as he approaches us with an outstretched hand.

"I'm Greg, B's father." My father flashes me his famous side-eye and I shrug.

"Nice to meet you, sir. Ah." Emilio hands him the bottle. "This is for you." Dad takes the gift from Emilio with a shocked expression. "Balei told me that you liked whiskey."

Victoria clears her throat. "Hello." She says as she stands beside my father. "I'm Victoria." 

Emilio hands her the bouquet. "These are for you."

"Thank you." I lean into Emilio's side as I flash my father and Victoria a smug look. "When Balei mentioned she was bringing a friend we didn't expect her to bring home a footballer."

I almost roll my eyes. "And this is?" Emilio asks as he gestures to Danny.

"I'm the neighbour, Danny." Danny shakes Emilio's hand enthusiastically. "I just want to say you're the best. I literally watched you on tele earlier, now here you are!"

Great. He's a fan.

Everyone sort of calmed down, although it took them a few minutes to get over the shock that Emilio Casemiro is here in the flesh, as well as the disbelief that I actually have a boyfriend. 

Dad, Danny and Emilio remained in the sitting room. Apparently, Emilio's gift to my dad costs thousands of dollars. I guess that's why my father reacted like that when he took a look at the bottle of whiskey.