Chapter 785: A FAMILY BRUNCH
Although Misha wasn't too happy about Kia meeting his parents, he still felt this was the right time to let them know that he was in a relationship and make them stop fussing over his marriage.
And maybe this was a way to bring Kia and his family closer, which was a good idea, maybe Kia would open her heart more.
If he couldn't get close to Kia, maybe his overly cheerful and sometimes annoying father or his wise and affectionate mother could make Kia feel much more comfortable.
With that in mind, Misha finished his bath and quickly put on a casual t-shirt and a pair of denim pants, while Kia was on the phone with Keira. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, because they were talking in low voices and when he got closer and Kia saw him, she immediately ended the phone call and approached Misha.
From the look on her face Misha could tell she was frantic. There was a fine line between her eyebrows, indicating that she wasn't in a good mood.
"Let's go," said Kia, before Misha could ask what was wrong with her. She avoided the question, thus, Misha didn't ask and followed her out of the room.
On the way to the restaurant where his parents were waiting, Kia didn't say anything. She just kept quiet and seemed to be busy with her own thoughts.
"Over here," Misha said while pulling Kia's hand, because she almost missed the entrance of the restaurant, proving that she had been daydreaming since earlier, but Misha didn't mention it.
This restaurant's roof was shaped like a dome and was made of glass. There were several plants and trees here and there, which seemed to be the concept of this restaurant with a garden theme.
Because that was what this restaurant looked like.
At a table for four, waiting for them were Mr. and Mrs. Tordoff. The two of them were chatting casually and laughing quietly, but as soon as they saw Kia and Misha approaching they stopped talking and smiled very happily while raising their hands, indicating their position, even though Kia and Misha had seen the two of them already.
Both of them seemed very excited to see their son with a woman.
"Come here, sit here," said Candice, Misha's mother. She looked very beautiful even though she was no longer young, her face looked radiant when she pulled Kia's hand to sit beside her.
And Kia felt welcomed by these two people, they seemed very happy when they saw her and it was an unusual thing for Kia to find someone so happy to see her, especially when the person barely knew her.
So far, only Mika had been so happy when she saw herself coming home and greeted her enthusiastically.
"Have you eaten?" asked Candice with concern.
"You must be starving because he woke up so late, you should have just splashed some water on his face to wake him up quickly," commented Lexus as he glanced at his son and gave him a disapproving look.
Kia just smiled, because she wasn't used to being in such a warm environment and being treated as if she was an important figure.
She wasn't used to feeling this way and it made her a little uncomfortable. Not that they treated her badly, but quite the opposite.
Because apparently, unconsciously, Kia expected that she would be ignored again when they were having a meal together like this, as she usually would be.
Kia didn't even remember the last time she was noticed when she was with her family.
They would discuss the development of Alia's disease and how great she was because she had bravely gone through the whole process of the treatment or how Daniel won a championship and what his achievements were.
But when it came to Kia, they had nothing to say. They would only think that she existed, but were not really aware of her existence.
If there was something wrong with their food or with the house, then they would look for her because it was as if it was Kia's responsibility, a young girl who wasn't even twenty years old.
"Try this dish, I tried it last night and it's really good," Candice said enthusiastically, but this only made Kia more nervous, because she wasn't used to getting this kind of attention.
"What is it? Did you guys fight?" asked Lexus when he saw Kia looking a little tense. "Did my son force you to do something?"
"If someone likes to force people, it's you father," said Misha while drinking his coffee casually. "You're pushing your way through this brunch."
Kia, who heard that, immediately glared fiercely at Misha and kicked his leg, then looked at Candice and Lexus' faces carefully, she didn't want them to misunderstand Misha's comments.
For a moment, Candice and Lexus were silent and this made Kia feel her heart stop beating for a beat, because she thought they would assume she was completely clueless and start thinking negatively about her.
Kia was indeed uncomfortable with the attention they were giving, but that didn't mean she wanted to be rude to them or she didn't like this meeting, even though she couldn't be said to be happy.
Ugh! Kia felt herself wanting to go back to her room and snuggle under the covers hugging Mika, hiding from the world.
It was an exaggerated reaction and Kia realized it…
But, a moment later, Lexus and Candice started laughing lightly and the middle-aged woman even patted her on the shoulder gently.
"You don't need to be too tense," she said softly, while clasping Kia's hand. "Think of it as just an ordinary shared meal, like a family meal, we won't ask questions that make you feel uncomfortable and if you don't want to answer any of them, that's fine too."
Candice used her motherly voice and this only made Kia feel even more bitter. Eating with family? They had no idea what kinds of 'meals with the family' she had gone through.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺