Nia reached the large door of the cafe. Monikarnika Sonowal and her friend Pynsuklin Syiem would have liked to give a piece of their minds to those five walking makeup kits but they knew Nia would hate a ruckus at the cafe. Bamboo Grove art cafe was a place associated with the meaning of the phrase, a soul searching through books, art, nature and being just with the self.
"Please listen." Nia heard his voice again but did not stop. "Nia, please." His voice was deep, resonant and laced with melancholy. Her one foot was outside the doorway. There was so much pleading in his voice that Ayesha Umar was reminded of the legendary male lovers, not those obnoxious seducers but the true lovers.
'What's the story between the two? She looks indifferent, he sounds like the sad lover spurned by the beloved.' Ayesha forcefully suppressed the urge to turn around and see his face. She glanced at the woman in front of her. 'Please stop, girl, stop.' She screamed inside her head.
Nia stopped at the exact moment as if Ayesha Umar's urgent message was conveyed to her through a telepathic connection. Ayesha, Monikarnika and Pynsuklin stopped behind her. Nia slowly turned to face him. Ayesha happily turned too. She would now be able to see the man's face. He was already walking up to her friend.
The woman waited for the man, the gaze in her eyes was unreadable. The brown orbs changed into brown lakes of ice, freezing Yougal's hope. The otherwise cold, ruthless businessman shivered inwardly. His calm demeanor was fazed by this woman, who stood with an aloof gaze facing him.
'No,' he took a deep breath and steadied his quivering heart. 'I must not falter, worrying about her anger and umbrage. I must say it to her.' Yougal Lucas stood in front of the woman he loved. She was near him, standing almost at arm's length yet the distance between them exceeded that between the earth and the sun.
He peered into her big, beautiful eyes that were staring at him without any emotion. As always those eyes pulled him to her and he stood hypnotized, forgetting the place, his friends or the people who were waiting expectantly for some kind of romantic drama. Everything stood still around him, everything else faded away except the woman who held his heart in captivity.
The sound of a low laugh reached him in that wonderland where only he and she stood. Then he heard her, "You surprise me, Mr Sinha. Did you ask me to wait to scrutinize my face and to confirm how much of a commoner I am?" She paused, then continued with a mocking smile, "You wanted to tell me something. Did you want to correct me by saying you liked that woman? I didn't realize that you were playing hard to get. Okay, I stand corrected now."
He looked at her with horror in his eyes, 'Oh dear, she deliberately misunderstood me. Ahana will think I really like her and Nia will think so too at the end if I keep mum like a fool.' Yougal shook his head slightly at her.
"No," he stated firmly. His gaze on her grew more soft. "I don't like her."
Behind him Ahana gritted her teeth in anger. She wished she could drag the witch away from Yougal's eye sight. Ayesha, whose eyes fell on Ahana, half expected the latter's teeth to turn into powder.
'Argh...this is the venomous serpent in the garden of love." Ayesha Umar thought with disdain.
From the corner of her eyes Nia saw Ahana's killer gaze on her. No, she thought, she did not want an enemy. "She's clearly into you. Please, spare me your drama. I see no reason why I should be dragged into this. "
"I never liked this woman." Yougal confirmed, his gaze never leaving Nia's eyes.
"Yougal." Ahana screamed his name. She was hurt by his words. She never imagined to hear those words from him.
Her screaming had no reaction on him. Yougal Lucas was standing in a world where only the woman he loved existed. Everything else faded away from his consciousness. He was staring intently at Nia as if he was under hypnotism. Ahana eyes flashed fire.
'That witch, she has hypnotized him with sorcery. Now she's playing hard to get. Her town is near Mayong, that infamous land of black magic and sorcery.' Ahana was so incited by the thought that her anger jumped on to the tongue.
"Yougal, how can you like her? Yana will not accept this woman as her mom." She very much wanted to say that she was the one best suited to be his wife and Yana's mom. But fear of brutal rejection from him in front of this witch limited her vocabulary.
Nia smiled at Yougal Lucas. His hazel eyes brightened up. Her smile was sweet. Happy feelings leapt up inside his heart. But soon sorrow filled him. The words that followed her smile were laced with poison.
"See, she likes you. She doesn't even care about reputation. That's what true love must look like." Nia paused, then acted as if she stumbled upon a truth. "You ditched her, didn't you? She's clearly trying hard to latch onto you. You don't look like the pick and drop type. But who knows...?" She shrugged her shoulders.
Ditch? The word made Yougal Lucas squirm involutarily. Nirvana flashed through his mind. His emotions were in turmoil. He did not want to rush things, though in his heart he was in a rush to win her love and affection. He very much wanted to tell her that he loved her.
He was in a hurry for the fear of losing her to Mark Adam. Nicholas told him over phone that his uncle and aunt, i.e. Mark's parents were soon to visit Nia's family to talk of Mark's marriage with Nia. To add to his problem scheming Ahana was back too.