Enraptured

Chapter 28

"Where are you from?"

"How old are you?"

"Do your parents live around here?"

"How did you meet Demetrius?"

"What made you like him?"

Question after question came firing out of Mrs. Nikoloas without pause before I could even answer the first one. She was practically bouncing in her seat from excitement and had to be held down to the sofa by her quiet husband.

Demetrius had pulled me down next to him on the opposing sofa and wrapped his arm securely around my waist to keep me glued to his side.

His eye twitched as more questions came flying our way until he finally snapped.

He hissed, "Mother! You said that you contain yourself today."

I instinctively reached out to pull his hands into my lap and rubbed soothing circles on the back of his hand, trying to get him to loosen up a bit.

"I-It's okay, Demetri. I d-don't m-mind a-answering."

Even though I was still wasn't fully comfortable with them yet, I didn't want to make a bad impression on his parents.

Turning my attention back to his mother's questions, I carefully answered each and every one of them, squeezing Demetrius's hands as a grounding technique as I tried to contain my stuttering.

"I-I was b-born in B-Boston, but my p-parents d-died when I was l-little so I m-moved a-around a lot b-between f-foster homes as a child until I c-came here for my j-job at H-Harlow Incorporate w-when I was 20. I'm 23 now."

I felt Demetrius shift slightly in his seat as he grew more curious about my words. After all, these were things that I hadn't even told him yet.

He unlaced and intertwined our hands again before mumbling lowly under his breath to himself. "7-year gap..."

I nodded and leaned against his shoulder.

His lips parted for a moment as if he wanted to ask a question, but his mother had beat him to the punch and blurted out, "You got a job at 20?! And in a firm as good as Sebastian's? You've been some sort of genius, then!"

I flushed from her praise. "I-I j-just studied h-hard b-because I wanted to l-leave the f-foster s-system as soon as p-possible. I-I finished g-grade school at 16, and i-immediately started c-college. I-I had to p-pay for my college b-by m-mysef so I t-tried to f-finish as quickly as -p-possible and g-graduated at 18. I s-switched through a l-lot of c-companies until I s-settled at M-Mr. H-Harlow's c-company."

I didn't want to go into detail as to why I switched companies so often, but Demetrius must've noticed my discomfort and gave my hand a light squeeze before any bad memories could come back to me.

I continued, "I-I was l-lucky to m-meet Demetri a-as the l-lead for one of h-his n-new p-projects f-for M-Mr. H-Harlow's c-company. H-he a-always t-treated me v-very n-nicely and p-protected me e-even w-when I-I was s-scared of him. H-he n-notices t-things I-I like and d-don't l-like. He c-comforts me w-when I'm s-sad and g-gets m-mad f-for me w-when I g-get h-hurt. I-It w-would be i-impossible n-not to l-like him."

When I looked up from my lap, I found Mrs. Nikolaos staring at me in shock, with her eyes wide open and her mouth gaping for words. I nervously glanced up and Demetrius and back to his mother, trying to figure out what I did wrong, but Demetrius only gave my waist a lightly squeeze and a soft smile.

Suddenly Mrs. Nikoloas cried out, "Please marry our son! You bring out a side of him that I've never seen before. I'll give you anything you want as long as you stay with him."