"Where are we going?" I asked listlessly.
"To see my mom" he replied immediately.
"What!!!!!" I exclaimed.
"Dress up nicely so you wouldn't be embarrassed" he said as if warning me of eminent danger.
"Please can we not go" I said sulking.
"We have to. I've been putting it off for a while now but it's time we see her. Don't worry, she's not going to eat you" he said smiling.
I was unwilling but I had to go anyway. Gideon came over and dropped off Anthony's clothes and also a dress for me. It was a simple but classy white gown. I wore it and packed my hair up nicely. We had the breakfast I had prepared before we left for his family house. I was nervous through out the whole journey but Anthony tried to calm me down. He said I should just be attentive and not agree to any of her unnecessary demands.
"Meeting the in-laws is so stressful. I'm probably so pale now. Do I look pale?" I asked facing him as I placed my hands on my cheeks.
"I can't look at you right now cause my eyes needs to be on the road dear, and I'm sure you look just fine" he said reassuringly.
"What if she doesn't like me?"
"She doesn't like you" He said unbothered.
"Thanks for the comfort" I said sarcastically.
"It's the truth. She obviously doesn't like you and she's probably going to make things hard for you. So just be prepared and strong willed or you're going to be destroyed" he said emphasizing on the destroyed.
"Look who said I was going to be fine, now you're literally telling me I'm walking straight to the Lions den. Thanks for the late info".
"You're welcome" he said smiling as I rolled my eyes.
"Wait!" I said suddenly as I jerked in my seat. "What if she throws money at my face?"
"That's not gonna happen" he said shaking his head.
"Well I hope she does" I said sitting properly again.
"What did you just say?"
"I said I hope she does. If she gives me a blank cheque, I'm gonna probably write down twenty times what you promised me, I'll abandone you and pay the breach of contract fee and start a new life abroad" I said proudly.
"You're so narrow minded. You could actually play the long game by still staying with me and when we get married you can have all the assets that's even worth more than what you're gonna get from my mom" he said smaking my head.
"Ouch, but that's true. Still, the long game is pretty risky and it's not like we are actually in love, so I'll just take the money from your mom" I said confident in my reasoning.
"If you do abandone me, I'm going to have to kill you" he said coldly and I went silent for a while.
"You don't really mean that right" I asked cautiously.
"Let's wait and see" he smirked.
"Don't scare me like that".
"And don't think of abandoning me in the future" he said facing me.
"Eyes on the road" I said in a panic.
"C'mon, I only looked away for a few seconds".
"All it takes is a few seconds then bam, you no longer exist. What I just said reminds me of a movie I watched, I can't recall the name but I watched it recently, it begins with an s" I said trying to recall.
"I honestly don't want to know about...."
"It's at the tip of my tongue but I can't say it out loud". I cut in immediately ignoring whatever he wanted to say. "Sunset.. no shackles, that's not it either. Shippers, yes shippers, the name was The Shippers, I finally recalled. All he did was look away for a brief moment and then suddenly, the both of them are standing with the angel of death" I said dramatically.
"So you searched your brain for a movie name just to give an example? You could have actually just still given the example without calling the name of the movie you know" he said shaking his head.
"At least I didn't start calling the names of the characters, or should I do that?" I teased.
"Please don't" he begged.
We had a lively conversation and it actually helped me get calmer and I was not so nervous anymore, but as soon as we arrived, the nut in my stomach suddenly appeared again. We drove past the first security gate, the second and third to this huge drive way that I think would be exhausting if you tried to walk it out. I thought the play house was magnificent, but this, this was on another level, it was simply a masterpiece. There was a huge swan water fountain in the middle of the drive way and it was so beautiful that I couldn't get my eyes off of it. He drove to the parking lot where other luxurious cars were parked. He got down and he came over to help me with the door. I got down and I found it almost impossible to breathe.
"Calm down, you're going to be fine" Anthony said when he saw how tensed I was.
"You're going to be with me right?" I said grabbing his arms.
"Well..." He said looking away.
"Please don't leave me alone with your mom" I said pleading before a group of beautiful ladies who were probably the maids of the household rushed over to welcome us, well, welcome Anthony because they ignored me and swamped around him like ants to sugar.
"Welcome home master" they chorused together happily as they brushed me to the side as I just stood there lost.
"Where's your manners, give the master some space ladies" an elderly woman said authoritatively as she walked closer to where the drama was happening. As soon as they heard her voice, they gave their distance immediately. She had such a strong aura and looked so powerful. She was probably his mother. She looked at me and I was as stiff as a rod.
"Good morning mother" I said with a broad smile.
She just looked at me and gave a faint smile then back at Anthony.
"It's been so long Aunt Felicia" Anthony said with a big smile as he hugged her. Oh, so she was his aunt.
"You don't visit often my dear boy, I've missed you" she said grabbing his cheeks. He looked so spoilt when he was with her. I just quietly watched their interaction with a soft smile.
"Oh, Aunt meet Anne my girlfriend" he said grabbing my arms and pulling me close to him. "Anne, this is Aunt Felicia, she has been our helper since I was young. She is like my second mom, you can call her Aunt too" he said looking at me with a soft smile.
"Hello Aunty" I greeted politely as she nodded.
"Your mother is waiting inside so you better hurry" she said looking at us "and you girls, go inside and finish your work before I scold you" she said facing the maids who were still standing there and they scurried inside at her words.
Anthony held my hands as I followed. He led me by the hand through the long corridors. There were alot of exquisite paintings and sculptures, "they must be collectors" I said to myself, because only collectors would have this many paintings displayed in their corridors and probably still had alot locked away in some fancy room in the middle of the house. Tch... rich people....
I followed him up the stairs and we got inside a big sitting room. This room was lavishly furnished and my curious eyes wandered around. Imagine.... just imagine if I was all alone in this big house, I'll probably explore every single room and lie on every bed I come across. It was obvious that the house was an old mansion, probably a generational house but it was designed to the finest of taste. I was still lost in the beauty of this new room we had entered when a voice snapped me back to reality.
"Where you planning to hide her away from me forever" a strong overpowering voice said from behind us.
"Hello mother" Anthony said.