My CEO Boss Is A Masked Internet Sensation-Chapter 46: The Weird Meet-up With His Family

(Arata)

Like day and night, we stood against each other. He was in his all-black, and I in pearly white, apart from my fake hair, which resembled his.

I placed my hand in his letting him guide me forward.

His grip was strong but not hurting, while the posture visibly relaxed. His visibly tightened jaw seemed to have been carved from steel today. It revealed he was tense and wanted for this to work.

"Relax! It will be fine." I squeezed his hand and felt it getting clammy.

For a man like him to feel nervous meeting his family spoke volumes of how judgmental they were. I was forming opinions without meeting them but I couldn’t help myself.

And I was staring at him, realising I quickly averted my gaze and stared straight.

We crossed the corridor with numerous paintings adorning the walls when he whispered without looking at me.

"Smile as if I have said something funny." Classical move but I went along as we reached the stairs that led down to the dining area.

His eyes shifted to mine, weariness prominent in them, but I smiled at him and jokingly said, trying to distract him.

"You know what the buffalo said to the man?"

He thought for a second as we took one step down.

"Hey?" Confusion was married by the small smile he was trying to edge out on his harsh contours.

I shook my head in amusement.

"No, silly. She just silently stared. Buffalos can’t talk, remember."

His lips genuinely twitched, and he finally smiled; some of that tension left him as we reached the bottom of the stairs.

What a beautiful smile he had which softened those granite edges of his face. He seemed boyish, almost cute.

Dragging my eyes away from his handsome face I focused them forward and found three people sitting around a white wooden table.

Two women and a young man, their eyes focused on me.

The older woman, who I assumed was Martina, Karsten’s grandma, held a meaningful smile, while the other woman, who I could only guess was Karsten’s mom, held a guarded aloofness.

We halted near the table and Karsten let go of my hand, approaching the older woman with snow-white hair.

"Nana! Looking as fresh as a daisy." He bent down and affectionately hugged her.

"Oh! My moonbeam is here. I will outlive you all." Martina’s voice held overwhelming emotions seeing her grandson as her wrinkled hand clasped around Karsten’s wide shoulders. But there was this boldness in her voice which made me smile. Granny’s are tough.

"I came only to meet you." His words elicited a content chuckle from Martina, her fluffy cheeks flushed pink at her grandson’s words.

"You spoil me."

I kept a smile going as her intelligent blue eyes wavered towards me and she let Karsten go.

"Chica Bonita (Beautiful girl)." She ushered me forward as Karsten straightened up, stood behind his grandmother, and gave me a tiny nod.

Reluctantly, I moved forward while Karsten made introductions, but anxiousness made my heart hammer so loudly that all I could hear was its thudding in my ear.

Once I neared his grandma, she took my hands in hers.

"Hola!" I greeted her with a wide smile, and her face brightened even more.

"Welcome to Sparia, I hope my grandson is treating you well," Grandma Martina asked while Karsten moved away to meet his mother.

Instead of waiting for my reply Camilla spoke up, resting her head on her son’s chest.

"Why wouldn’t he? Any woman is lucky to have my son as her boyfriend." Disdain dripped from her words although she had tried to coat it with a hollow smile. I ignored that and continued to keep my countenance.

The young boy didn’t attempt to hide his laughter at Camilla’s words. He seemed to have enjoyed what she had said.

"He is, I am glad to be here," I respectfully informed her and Grandma Martina’s smile widened even more.

Giving another squeeze to my hands, she let them go.

"Ma, that’s Arata, my girlfriend." Karsten gestured towards me, and I extended my hand so I could shake it with Camilla, too.

Her coal-black eyes were the same shade as that of her son while the regal elegance oozed out of her expensive designer attire.

The hair was elegantly wrapped in a bun and settled at the base of her head without a single strand out of place. A fresh red rose rested in them.

The pearls around her neck and the designer watch on her wrist revealed she had expensive tastes.

What an elegant woman she was except for her snobbish attitude. She didn’t seem pleased to see me.

Did Karsten inherit snobbishness from her?

"Mrs Chevalier, it’s an honour to meet you."

Instead of shaking it, she took her sweet time examining me, making me look stupid until Grandma Martina glared at her daughter, and cursed under her breath.

"Estoy rodeado de tontos. (I am surrounded by fools)." They assumed I didn’t understand Spanish.

Camilla briefly shook it.

"Welcome!" She added dryly.

Karsten’s jaw was tightening with every passing second, and anger was seeping into his eyes, but he held his tongue. Leaving his mother he walked over to me and placed his hand on the small of my back. His gesture brimmed me with confidence to face his family.

Karsten diverted the attention towards the man on the table.

He seemed a few years older than me. Just like Karsten, the man had black hair and a tattoo of a serpent sneaking out of his shirt, engraved on his neck.

He possessed a leaner face although I couldn’t decipher his height but I was sure the man was tall because of how he had spread his legs.

"Arata, this is my step-brother Rahsir."

His bored eyes lifted to me and he gave me a two-finger salute.

"Hi! Rahsir," I warmly greeted him. Giving me a long stare the man went back to staring at his phone again.

"Have a seat," Grandma Martina instructed. Her eyes wavered to Rahsir and I could sense disappointment.

Karsten, like a gentleman, pulled out a chair for me near his grandma. He helped me settle down and then slipped into the seat beside me. His mother sat opposite him.

"Where is Roshra?" He questioned as soon as he settled down. Roshra was Rahsir’s twin.

"Running late as usual," Rahsir chuckled while Grandma Martina mumbled in annoyance.

"That girl has no sense of punctuality. I am not sure how this generation even gets anything done, always glued to these beeping devil’s rectangles."

I had to purse my lips tightly to not guffaw at the term she had used for the cellphones. She seemed like a chill lady.

"Mamá! Let the girl be. You are only young once." Camilla brushed it off as if it was nothing and Rahsir nodded in approval. Rahsir seemed to get along well with his stepmother, not an everyday dynamic you would see in families.

"You are spoiling them, Cami. I am telling you." Grandma didn’t seem pleased with her daughter’s answer.

"Let’s stay calm, we have a guest here today." Karsten tried to keep the peace before things escalated.

And then we heard a loud shriek and I turned my head to find the source. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com