Meet the Parents, pt 2

After introductions we went into the house. Danny's dad George had us sit in the dining room while he fixed us some tea. It was hard for me to sit and be served by George so I kept getting up to get spoons, teabags, napkins and whatever else I could think of. Danny sat back and relaxed, seemingly unperturbed by my nervousness. Finally the tea was served and I couldn't do anything else. So I sat down and let the grilling began.

George asked me if I had finished school and I told him that I had my Bachelor's and planned to go back to grad school in a few months and had already got accepted. I was really nervous and tried not to let it show. He asked me how long I've been in the States, was surprised at my non-existent accent and asked more questions about my background. He asked about my heritage and seemed really interested when he found out that I was from Africa. He started asking me more questions about where in Nigeria I was from and seemed really to know alot about the area. There was a lull in the conversation as I sipped some tea and had some cookies and Danny asked his dad if he was done writing with his book yet. George said that he was still working on it to which the conversation died.

Enter my inner Socialite. Whenever I'm put in social situations out of my depth, I just imagine that I'm my younger sister (the Lawyer) and morph into her. I fake the attitude and confidence until I feel it. My palms were sweaty and my heart was in my throat, but I pushed ahead anyway. Even though I wanted to become invisible and leave them to their discussion, I ignored the urge and brought the focus back on me.

"So what is your book about?" I asked, determined not to let him grill me again. He told me it was on Quantum physics and it's application to everyday life and this piqued my curiosity. I don't know that much about Quantum physics and the little I do was gotten from books like Timeline but I did have a physics background from school so I wasn't totally clueless. We got into this conversation about physics and then moved on to culture, current affairs, our lousy president and the difference in world cultures and even oil production. I was really engaging, really charming and kept the conversation going.

His dad is very knowledgeable, a world traveller, speaks 7 languages fluently and was well versed in EVERYTHING and it was a struggle for me to keep up. But I refused to let the conversation lag and even introduced a few new points to his theories and way of thinking. We would start on opposite sides of the debate and eventually one of us would have to concede the point to the other. It was intense and took immense skill to keep up but I managed to make myself not look like a total imbecile.

I finished eating the dinner that Danny had made for me (pita bread, hummus, exotic pickles and some kind of cheese from Holland). I'm not really a big hummus lover but I forced myself to eat every single thing on my plate. I knew that loving Middle Eastern food would be a bonus and actually complimented the meal when I was done and helped clean up.

Danny just sat back, not really contributing to the conversation but I could tell that he was engrossed in it. Whenever I searched for a word, he would provide the word I needed (usually a 3-4 syllable word) effortlessly. I shot him several smiles when he did but really---that was all he contributed to the conversation! I think he was just content to watch our interaction and didn't think I needed any rescuing. I forgot my initial worry and trepidation and just engrossed myself in the discussion whole-heartedly.

Finally I broke the evening apart. I didn't want to overstay my welcome. "I'm going to head out so you can get your rest George," I said as I got my purse and gave him a hug. He hadn't even notice the time fly by (it was close to 1 am). George said good night and then headed to his study (to put down some ideas I had given him perhaps;)--I wish.

Danny walked me out and gave me a big hug and kiss. "See, I told you not to worry, you were great," he whispered as he kissed my forehead and held me close.

Whew! I'm glad that's over and done with!