27 DECISIONS
LUKE’S POV
“Wait a minute, Grandpa. You want Ariel and me to get back together? You want us to be a couple again?” I asked, still surprised.
I couldn’t believe my grandfather was saying this. I thought he had forgotten about the whole Ariel situation. But no, he still had that lady in mind, and now he wanted us to be a couple again, even though I had Harriet right by my side. It seemed like history was repeating itself.
Yes, is that too much to ask for?” He gave me a big smile, showing how much he really wanted this. But I had made a vow to Harriet that I would do my very best to be the perfect boyfriend.
“Look, Grandpa…” I trailed off but then gathered the courage to continue. “I do not love Ariel. I never have and never will.”
“But why?” He blurted it out. “She’s a nice lady. She’s respectful, she’s humble, and she’s even beautiful. She has it all.”
“I already have someone in mind,” I let him know.
My grandfather and Tim paused for a second, looking somewhat shocked. “You have someone else? So that means you have a woman.”
Yes,” I answered.
“Do we perhaps know her?” My grandfather asked.
I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “Yes, you know her.”
“I do?” He raised an eyebrow instantly.
“Yes, you do.”
“And who is this lady of yours?” he inquired, but I kept silent, still thinking about what might happen if I decided to reveal everything to him.
ARIEL’S POV
I was lying on my bed, taking a little rest after that terrifying incident that had taken place in the elevator. Yup, Andre had told me not to stress myself in the next few days. How caring of him?
But as you can see, my brain was still not at rest, all because of that good–for–nothing clown, Mason. I was still thinking about how I was going to do what he told me to. Like, how? I couldn’t even come up with a single idea.
Where should I even start? Should I just approach Luke and try to be friends with him again? Should I just forget about the terrible things he did to me? I needed a solution to this because, right now, my head was on fire. And it felt like it was going to explode any time soon.
My children’s lives were at stake here. Mason was definitely not joking when he said he would harm them if I chose to disobey him. I couldn’t even tell anyone about it; things might just get worse. This was the result of getting involved with a lunatic.
Sometimes, I wondered if Mason had some mental issues. I needed to dig a little deeper into this one. His behavior was awfully weird most of the time. So it wouldn’t be surprising if he actually had mental issues.
Still lying on my bed, I started a video call with Andre’s mom, Elizabeth. Through her, I could connect with my little babies. She was a calm and lovely person, which is definitely where Andre took his demeanor from.
She was caring and lovely; she was truly awesome. She knew how to put a smile on everyone’s face. He was really lucky to have a mother like her, that lady was an angel.
She answered the video call. I saw her radiant face as she sat in the garden, with a bowl of popcorn on a table close to her.
*Ariel!” she exclaimed, throwing some popcorn into her mouth. “How have you been doing, honey?” She smiled delightfully.
I’ve been great. How about you?” I returned the smile.
“Well, today has been kind of exhausting for me. I went to work, and then I had to play golf with some of my friends, which led to an argument. And then there was a dancing class.”
“Dancing class?”
“Yeah, dancing class,‘ she repeated, and she ate more popcorn.
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I laughed softly. Hold on, since when did you start dancing?”
‘Oh, you don’t know? I’m a great dancer. Back then, when I was still young and really beautiful, I was always the center of attention during high school parties.”
“Does Andre know about this?”
“I don’t know. I never really danced in front of him,” she uttered. And I couldn’t help but laugh. See, she literally changed my worried face to a smiling one. I just have to enjoy this mirth for the moment.
“But let me tell you, dancing class today was horrible. I was kind of bad at the steps since it’s been a long time since I danced.”
“Oh, I totally get that,” I stated. “Can I please talk to Janice and Lukel?”
“Janice and Lukel? They’re sleeping right now. They had too much to eat today.”
Her words prompted me to laugh. “Aww, my little babies.”
Yeah, your little babies,” Elizabeth repeated. “How’s Andre, anyway?”
He’s doing great,” I answered. “Probably at work right now.”
And what are you doing at home?”
“Oh, I’m just getting some rest after being trapped in an elevator yesterday.”
“You got trapped in an elevator?” Elizabeth stood up from her chair. “What the… I hope nothing terrible happened to you.”
“Nope, I’m all good. I just need some rest in the next few days.”
“You should even rest for a whole year.”
I laughed immediately. “Come on now; that’s not how life works.”
The doorbell rang, and I wondered who was standing at the door now. Definitely not Andre; he was still at work. It could be Mason; he was a pain in the ass.
“We’ll talk later,‘ I told Elizabeth.
“Okay, goodbye.”
Our video call ended, and I jumped out of bed, making my way downstairs.
LUKE’S POV
“Luke, you
said you have a lady, right? So tell me, who is she?” My grandfather asked after I was deep in thought.
I was still pondering if I should tell him about Harriet. Should I actually do that, or should just change the whole topic? What’s going to be the outcome if I even mention Harriet’s name to him?
The thing here was that he wanted me to get married, right? So, must I marry Ariel? If there was no Ariel, wouldn’t he let me get married to someone else, to the person I loved?
After staring at Tim for a moment, I set my eyes on my grandfather. “Can I ask a question?”
“Go ahead,” he answered
“Why do you love Ariel so much? I mean, what do you see in her? What’s so special about her?”
“You lived three good years with her, and you didn’t realize that?”
“Realize what exactly?”
He chuckled. “You think I don’t have knowledge about the horrible things you did to her or how you treated her so badly? But do you want to know something? Ariel was patient. She lived in the same house with you for a long time, taking the pain and going through the misery. Now tell me, how many ladies would do that?”
He turned to Tim. “Just imagine you’re a lady, and your husband was treating you badly. What would you do?”
“I’d divorce him right away, Tim answered.
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“Exactly! My grandfather then turned back to me, and he coughed. “Ariel was patient, kind, humble, and loving.”
You do know she’s the one who filed for a divorce, right?”
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“Well, she couldn’t take it any longer!” My grandfather immediately vocalized. “She tried her very best to change you, loving you in every way. But you were too blind to see that.”
I sighed. “As much as I want to follow your words, Grandpa, I can’t. I have no feelings for Ariel. Harriet is the one I love.”
28 UNEXPECTED CIRCUMSTANCES
