CHAPTER 5

CHRISTINA

We pull up in front of Stephen’s parent’s house. The butler takes our bags and Stephen takes me in. the butler informs us that Stephen’s parents are in the veranda. We walk over to them and I stand behind Stephen as he goes to meet them. His mother is sitting and reviewing some papers while his father is reading a newspaper.

“Hey Mom and Dad!!!” Stephen says with a huge grin on his face. Both of them turn around with a smile and his father hugs him and his mother gives him a peck on the cheek. They both look over at me and are shocked to see me. I start to feel nervous as I think they might not like me.

“Who is she Stephen, you have never brought a girl home before.” His father asks. “Mom, dad this is Christina a friend of mine and she had something to discuss with you.” He replies.

“Us?” they as in unison clearly surprised. I give them a small nod and take out the letter from my purse and hand it over to his mom.

Tears start rolling down her face as she reads the letter. “Are you okay Kiara?” Stephen’s dad asks alarmed. “What’s wrong mom!” Stephen asks even more bewildered. She hands the letter to Stephen’s dad and comes over to me.

“I’m so sorry sweetie. I wish I had known earlier and could have been by your side. I can’t even imagine the pain you must have gone through. Please forgive me Christina.” She pulls me into a hug and I finally break. The tears start streaming down like a waterfall. “I’m sorry.” I say with a tiny laugh as she looks even more upset at my tear stained face. “It’s just that your hug is really similar to my mom’s.”

“Oh Sweetheart!” his mother says and again pulls me into a hug and pats my back. I look over to Stephen’s dad and find tears in his eyes. He comes over to me and kisses me on my forehead. “Sweetie everything is gonna be alright. Don’t worry about a thing your godfather will handle everything.” He says and I can’t help but smile at him.

“Both of you leave.” Stephen’s mom says sternly to a very confused Stephen and a very sad Harry. “Come with me Stephen.” Harry says. “But..”  “NOW.” They both leave the room.

“Come here.” Kiara says and I stretch out on the sofa with my head in her lap. “How many days have passed dear?” she asks me softly. “Twelve days.” I reply back.

“What happened?” she asks frowning. “Well they were coming back from a business trip but unfortunately their plane crashed. I found the letter in their drawer.” I decided to skip the ‘suicide’ part in case she goes mad.

“You know your parents were the greatest people on Earth and I loved both of them dearly.” She says stroking my cheek to which I reply with a smile.

“So, now we need to decide what to do.” I give her a quizzical  look in response.

“From now on, we will move to NYC and I will take care of you. But first you need to take a holiday of one week and live with me here. I want to know all about you.” She says with excitement.

I can’t help but laugh “Alright Mrs.Renolds.” I say. “Oh sweetie don’t call me that just call me Kiara.” She says with a slight frown.

“Alright Kiara.” I answer back with a smile on my face.

After sometime, Kiara calls the butler in and asks him to note all of my favourite dishes. Then she calls Harry and Stephen back. Harry comes over to me gleaming and gives a peck on my forehead. “You haven’t changed a bit Christina, you are the same angel I remember when you were born.” I can’t help but laugh.

“Everything okay?” Stephen asks as he sits next to me. “Yup.” I reply back. Out of the blue, Kiara grabs my hand and takes me out to see the garden.

“So what do you think of my son?” she asks suddenly. My face turns scarlet red and  I look away from her. She continues, “I know you like him and he likes you too and I would love if you become our daughter-in-law.” She says with an emphasis on the word. Before I could say anything the butler interrupts our conversation saying that dinner is ready.

The dinner included all of my favourites from almond soup to blueberry cheesecake. Kiara and Harry kept stuffing me with so much food I found it hard to even stand up.

Suddenly, Stephen comes over to me and asks, “Up for a walk?” “I really do need one.” I say with a sigh.

As we start strolling, Stephen starts talking, “You know I’ve never seen my mother so happy. She was always so strict with us and she rarely smiled. Today is the first time I’m seeing her smile so much. It’s like you have completely changed her.” He says. “Well isn’t that a good thing?” I ask and to my surprise he doesn’t reply back.

We come to a stop in front of a fountain and Stephen starts to speak again. “Christina I’ve something to tell you. I have adored you from the time I have laid my eyes on you. You are kind, sweet, smart and what not. So, would you ummm… uh… like to be my girlfriend?” he asks with a bashful face.

“OFCOURSE STEPHEN!!!!” I say throwing my arms around him. He then bends down and kisses me on my lips. We stay their tangled under the moonlight as if time had stopped.

STEPHEN

A grin spreads across my face as I hug my parents. But, I try to compose myself because of Christina. I pull away from my parents and they ask about Christina. I tell them she is one of my friends and she comes in front to meet them. Christina greets them and gives them a letter. Everything unravelled so fast I was unable to catch up with it. My mother whom I had never seen emotional in my entire life began to cry. She rushed towards Christina and gathered her into a big hug. Heck! She had never even hugged her own son and daughter like that! I looked over to my dad and saw that there were tears in his eyes as well. I stood and looked back and forth bewildered. Suddenly, father went over and kissed Christina on the forehead and talked about being a ‘godfather’. I turned to stone. This seemed to be like a family reunion in which I was somehow not included.

Finally, my mother broke free and asked me and my father to leave as she talked with Christina in private. Me and father step out of the veranda and head to the living room. He sat on a chair while I took a seat across from him. “I want you to tell me everything.” I say somewhat angry.

He sighs and begins. “Will Enterprises and Black Enterprises were never rivals. This was all on the surface because we feared someone would try to harm our loved ones. We decided that if something was to happen to any one of us, we would contact the other family and the proof would be a handwritten letter.

In reality, I, your mother, Austin and Emma met in high school. Austin was the most popular handsome guy and your mother was known as the ice queen. They were the most popular at that time. At that time I was a new transfer to the school and no one wanted to befriend me. But, Austin was different. He came over to me on my first day and decided to be my friend. Austin even introduced your mother and Emma to me and we all became a group.

We even went to the same college. It was in spring of the second year that I and Austin decided to confess your mother and Emma and to our immense surprise they agreed. Things were really working out well for us all.

All of us graduated and it was time for us to become the respective owners. We even planned a double wedding. The trouble began few months later. Someone tried to hurt Emma to get back at Black Enterprises because they knew about the sister- like bond she and your mother shared. We put an end to that but that was just the beginning. After a year we had you and in the same month after another year they had Christina.

You and Christina were an inseparable pair. You always looked forward to spending time with each other. One day you both had gone to a park alone without informing us. Some men came and kidnapped you both. They threatened us that if we don’t pay them 10 million, they would kill both of you. You both were locked in a room of a one storey building. You even tried to help Christina out the window. But, she fell and hurt her head so bad that she forgot about everything and with that you as well.

That was when Austin and I decided that it was for the best if we stayed away from each other. It was a very hard decision and unfortunately, we will never meet again. It all feels just like a summer dream. But, they left behind something  that I value a lot.” He finishes with tears streaming down his face. I takes all my effort to not cry as well.

Dinner was an extravagant feast consisting of Christina’s favourites. There were pizzas, pastas, hotpots, soups, and the most important blueberry cheesecakes. To my amusement, most of them were my favourites as well. Had I told her about them when we were small? I ponder looking at her. “Why aren’t you eating?” she asks whispering as my mother calls the butler to bring more cheesecake.

“Because I feel full just by looking at you.” I say with a smirk. She rolls her eyes and kicks me under the table to which I answer with a wink that makes her smile. Damn that smile!

After dinner I and Christina go for a stroll in the garden. “So how do you like it here?” I ask her.

“It’s a lovely place and considering I have to stay for a week its perfect to relax.” “A week?” I ask confused.

“Yes your mother persuaded me.” She replies. But, I am busy calculating something else. If, Christina is gonna stay for a week and I ask her to be my girlfriend now then I would get to spend some quality time with her before getting busy and besides I really love her more than anything.

I take in a deep breath as I stop. Christina turns back to look at me confused. “Christina since the day I met you, I know you are the one for me. Meeting you was the best thing that could happen to me. Making you happy makes me happy. So, I want to ask you. Would you ummm… wanna be my girlfriend?”

Her blue eyes shine as she looks at me with a smile on her face. “OFCOURSE STEPHEN!!!!” she says and wraps her arms around me. I pick her and spin her and laugh as I put her down laughing. Then, I pull her towards me so our foreheads touch. “You are really special to me Christina.” I tell her.

Before she could reply, our lips collide. She tasted so sweet even better than I ever imagined. Her hands went up into my hair as I deepen the kiss. I pull apart breathless. “You never cease to surprise me. Come on lets go in its getting cold.” Hand in hand we return back.

“You’ll be sleeping here.” I tell Christina as I open the door to one of the guest rooms. She steps inside and the maids bring her luggage.

“Well then good night.” She says yawing and comes to close the door.

“Woah slow down. What about my good night kiss?” I ask innocently. She gives me a wicked smile and seals my lips with a kiss. Damn! that smile !

She closes the door and I leave. Suddenly from nowhere my parents appear. Shit! I forgot all about them! “So looks like you made a move on her.” My father comments.

“Oh come on! You wanted this to happen as much as I did.” I say scowling. “Of course. We would be on cloud nine if she becomes our daughter-in-law.” My mother says with a wink.

I roll my eyes and head for my bedroom grinning like an idiot.

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