Everything is set for dinner. Trevor surely outdid himself in the kitchen with his five-course meal as he always does. Kat offers to do the table while I take on the task to make sure that the room they are vacating is clean and that all of their stuff has been temporarily moved to a storage unit. 

My heart is racing real fast. Feels like I am running on a marathon. I try to distract myself just to avoid the thought of what kind of person my new housemate is going to be. Is he going to be a total douche or is he going to be the perfect gentleman? Calm down Grace! Of course, your brother won’t be leading you to your impending doom. Yes he won’t-

 My small pep talk is then stopped as I hear the door bell ring. I rush towards the mirror to check how I look. I am flushed and I don’t even know why. I hear the door being opened. I come out of the room and stand beside Kat who is now beaming at me. 

“You’re blushing,” she whispers. Great! She has just noticed how red my face is.

“I’m nervous, that’s all.” Kat looks at me and winks. Kat never winks, except when she knows something. 

“Relax.”

Trevor walks into the room with a guy following behind him. He’s tall, probably standing at six feet, dark-haired, blue-eyed and with skin that’s just been kissed by the sun. Noting the way that he is dressed, he has a good sense of style – he looks good in his loose white shirt, partnered with a dark jacket, jeans and finished with a pair of chucks. He tows his luggage behind him which means that he is going to stay here starting tonight. 

“Ross, I’d like to introduce you to the two most important women in my life. This is my wife Kat and my baby sister, Grace.”

He takes Kat’s hand first for a shake and then mine. I can’t deny that I feel something warm and different when his rough hand came in contact against mine. Relax, Grace! 

“It’s nice to finally meet the both of you. I heard a lot of good things about you from Trevor, here.” His voice sounds so deep and he’s got an accent that is anything but American. He then centers his gaze on me. “You must be the housemate that Trevor told me about”.

“I guess, I am the one.” I can feel my cheeks burn and a slight nudge coming from Kat. There is something in the way his blue eyes look at me that makes me feel different.

We all proceed to the dining room that has been set up wonderfully by Kat. Conversations start to flow and it seems to be never ending. The four of us could talk about anything under the sun. We don’t even notice that we have finished all of the five courses that Trevor laid out for us. 

As everything is happening, I, on the other hand, try my hardest to not look at Ross too long so as not to be caught ogling him.  I hang on to everything that he is saying. He is a man of many interest – art, music, business, education and even medicine. Ross finished his Masters in Anthropology but decided to take up a career in music as it was his passion. From what he has spoken during dinner, I feel that he is a nice person, but there is still a part of me that doubts if he is genuinely nice or he’s just being nice because Kat and Trevor are in front of him. Somehow, my gut tells me to believe that he is indeed genuinely nice for no particular reason. 

By midnight, Trevor and Kat get ready to leave for the airport. Fear starts to creep in as we all go down to bid the newlyweds goodbye. Before getting into their taxi, Kat drags me to side for a hug. 

“I think he’s a nice fellow. You’re in good hands,” she whispers. We both pull away from the embrace to hold hands instead. 

“I guess so.” I steal a glance at Ross who is busy chatting with my brother while they’re loading the luggage in the trunk of the cab. “Please call me when you have time,” I plead. 

“I promise. Tell me all the deets?” she asks. I nod in response and smile at her when Trevor decides to pull me into a great bear hug.

“Call me if you need me. We’ll come back right away if you feel uncomfortable,” he says, worry framing his face. 

“I will but what I would like you to do is for you to enjoy your time together.” He kisses my forehead and then gets into the cab. 

As the cab disappears into the road, Ross and I make our way back into the apartment. Once inside, we both just tell each other good night. 

I get in my room and as soon as the door is closed, I take a deep breath. The real getting-to-know-games will begin in the morning.