Hollywood Zenith

" Just sit down. Mayra is already serving fresh plate of food so you don\'t have to worry about it." He grabbed her shoulder making her forcefully sit down. He also tapped Nicole\'s shoulder but she shy away from him again taking seat beside Amanda without saying anything.

" Hahaha, I thought I have to drink alone. Can you bring me some snacks too?" Kayla had already opened another bottle of wine taking her seat at the table.

" Alright, I will bring you some but don\'t overdo it like usual okay?"

" Fine, fine. I heard there are some good assortment of cheese too?"

" I will bring the best things to pair up with this Chateau Mouton." After all since they were indulging tonight, he didn\'t want her to lack in snacks department. Each bottle costed tens of thousand on the market, it would be a shame to drink it with cracker or other low quality baked stuffs.

" Cheers." He heard her yelled as he entered the kitchen. Only Mayra and Adele were there preparing plates because there was little chance of Iblis knowing anything related to actual kitchen work. Hannah was already down for the count and Arthur also went with his parents to escort them all the way to their home.

" Where is Kayla- don\'t tell me." Mayra saw him entering without her and asked.

" What else can you expect from her? Let her have some fun." He shrugged seeing her get angry.

" She is always having fun! I don\'t think she could survive without me when I first came here but I also know that how much takeout she must have ordered this past two weeks."

" Unlike you at least she is fun to be around." Adele chuckled.

" hah, give it some time. She will stress you out soon enough, right Sami?"

" Well..."

" Don\'t tell me you also think she is more fun to be around then me?"

" I never said that, what\'s with this weird comparison all of a sudden? Everyone has their own charm, it depends on the situation." Samuel went for a long winded answer. Kayla just being her would become light of the party while Mayra was the more dependable one. He couldn\'t say it out loud in case she got offended by it.

" Whatever. Here." She handed him Amanda and Nicole\'s plate. It could have spilled with her violently throwing them around but he skillfully caught it before she could do it.

They carried the dishes to the table, there was a lot of them. It took them three rounds to just refill everything and they weren\'t even brought out the desserts yet.

" I am going up to wash up first. I will be in your room." Adele promptly took her leave. She didn\'t even wait for Samuel\'s answer because she was worried he would make some excuse again to sleep separately. Once she was naked on his bed, there was no way he could do anything about it right?

" She is a crafty one." Mayra commented seeing her dash to Samuel\'s room.

" You are not bad yourself. You can hide it but it\'s not often that you will ask for help."

" I don\'t know what you are talking about." She turned away and started cleaning the dishes.

" You know what I am talking about. It\'s been how many days since you been here? You never let me step foot in the kitchen when you are inside. I can feel that you are a little anxious about something." He was feeling the same vibe since she met his parents.

He first chalked it up to her feeling nervous about meeting them but they warmed up to her immediately. Especially Carol who gravitated toward anyone that had a knowledge about cuisine since she herself loved to cook.

Mayra also had the same motherly instinct as hers naturally making her more closer to Carol. There was no chance she would still feel agitated about it even after they left unless he missed something.

" Fine, you got me."

" I know I was right. What is it?"

" It\'s just...since Kayla is finally here. I have been thinking about visiting my parents place."

" If I remember correctly you are not that close to them after getting married right? Kayla\'s Grandma was cool about it but I never seen you mention anything regarding your parents." He got the gist of it.

It was definitely a religious thing and he had met them twice when they came to meet her in college. She was very shy around them unlike when they would spend time together harassing girls together on college campus.

" They are very strict. You know in our culture it\'s frown upon to...you know...that\'s why I am hesitant. I think my mother would be fine with it but I can\'t say the same thing about my father and grandfather. And don\'t even get me started about our extended family, they never let go any chance to berate me for it. Even before I told them about Kayla, they would hound me to get married.

I was barely twenty one at that time!" She almost smashed the plate in anger but Samuel grabbed her shoulder giving her massages to calm her down.

" Twenty one? So that means you haven\'t contact them for three years?"

" Yes. I think it\'s about time for me to finally face them. It\'s sad that I can tour around this country but not go to one place that I grew up in."

" You want me to do something about it? I can pressure them-"

" No, I don\'t want to create unnecessary friction for my family. No matter how much they hate me now, I still love them dearly. It might be my childish side that\'s hoping that they would accept me eventually."

It was childish of her to imagine that but Samuel wasn\'t going to let her suffer alone. They talked for few more minutes while cleaning the whole kitchen. She never asked for his help only venting about different situations that had happened in the past concerning her family.