Just Like the Movies

Chapter Twenty

Theo's parents were just inside the door waiting for us as we walked in together. Evelynn rushed up to us immediately and Theo didn't move his arm from my waist as he gave her a one-armed hug. "Hey, Mom," he greeted her. "Dad."

"Hi, Evelynn," I said, smiling at her, and then turning to Theo's dad as he held up a hand in greeting. "Hi, Young Jin."

Theo's eyebrows rose a bit as he looked at me, and my heart sunk, thinking I'd messed up the easy pronunciation. He said something to his dad in Korean, causing both his parents to laugh. I smiled, too, but only at their laughter. Whatever Theo said hadn't been anything bad about me. I knew that at least.

It was also my first time hearing Theo speak in Korean and it made his voice sound a little bit higher in pitch compared to his normally low register.

Evelynn moved to hug me next and I pulled my arm away from Theo to hug her back, losing all my breath as she squeezed me tightly. "It's so nice to see you again, Maisie!"

"You, too."

"Mom, don't suffocate her," Theo warned.

Evelynn released me and hooked her arm through mine, effectively stealing me away from Theo. I tried not to limp as we headed into the restaurant together, Theo and Young Jin following behind us. "I hope you're not too tired," she said. "I got a bit overexcited to see you again and forgot that Theo had said you'd both be away shooting over the weekend when I booked our reservation."

"I'm not tired at all," I responded, coming to a stop as she gave the host our reservation name. "I'm excited to be here."

"Did you have a good weekend?"

As we settled down at the table with menus in front of us, I stole a glance at Theo, who spoke quietly with his dad, seemingly not paying attention to my conversation with his mom at all. "Yeah, the shoot went over really well, so that was nice," I replied, leaving out all the trouble that had gone down. "And the mountain had nice views."

"Did you take any photos? Can I see?"

I took out my phone, showing her the photos of the scenery that I'd taken for Levi, swiping through them slowly, unsure if there was a photo of myself somewhere near them in the camera roll. "The lake was pretty, too, but I didn't take many photos of it."

"I really love hiking," she said when I pulled my phone away, smiling fondly at me. "It's a bit hard on my body right now, but when I regain my strength I want to visit that area. It looks beautiful."

"I can send you the name of the trail," I offered, giving a quick thank you to the waiter as he placed down the water for us. "It's really not that bad of a hike, either."

"I have a better idea. You and Theo can come with me when I go visit it."

I tried not to appear surprised at her suggestion. I was pretending to be Theo's girlfriend—talking about future plans together was a given, right? But was it my place to agree to them? For the sake of keeping my cover, I decided it was. "We can do that. I'd love to go back."

Her eyes lit up in excitement, and I decided I made the right choice. "Do you like hiking, too? I have an entire guide of trails I could show you. They vary in difficulty, but I'm sure you could handle ones from moderate to strenuous—"

"Mom," Theo cut in, looking across the table at her. "Don't try to lure Maisie into that. She has no idea what you're actually like."

"What?" she said innocently.

Theo's gaze switched to me, his lips pursing. "Her idea of fun is a ten-mile hike in the morning and ten more at night."

I blinked.