Yougal Lucas threw his grandma an impatient glance. He face held an expression as if he had heard something outrageous from his rebellious teenage daughter. He called Yana's nanny and asked her to take the child to her room.
"Baby, go to your room with nanny. I'll come afterwards to tuck you in bed."
After Yana left Yougal Lucas turned his focus on grandma. The woman sat on the sofa, sipping the tea. Her demeanour spoke of how relaxed she was. It was as if she had been talking about the weather with her grandson. Looking at her Yougal Lucas sighed inwardly. He would have to fight hard to have Nia by his side.
First of all he need to convince that woman of his love for her. He knew he would pursue her till she agree to be his girlfriend. Next, he would have to make his grandma realize that his heart now lay with Nia. He was a cool man but these two important women in his life seemed to be hell bent to drive him crazy.
"Grandma, I know you liked Nirvana a lot." He paused a little for his words to sink into his grandma's mind. "I liked her too, though I never met her." Yougal organized the words in his mind. "But grandma, in the past few years we've not talked about her even for once. I did not even know if I should continue to think of her as my fiancee. She was my fiancee. That is in the past now."
Grandma looked at him sharply. It was clear that she was not happy to hear his explanation. He waited for her to say something. But she stayed tight lipped. He felt a little dejected. He had heard about people fighting for love, but never thought he would be joining in the fight one day.
"Grandma, at least meet Nia for once. I'm sure you'll love her too." He pleaded. The ruthless Yougal Lucas could not be hard on his own grandma. He held her hands in his own and spoke in a soft tone. "I've met this wonderful person a few months ago. I love her and and want to live my life with her. Grandma, please try to understand. Nirvana is wonderful too. But now I don't feel for her."
Granda Lucinda Fiona took her hands away from his grasp. She observed her grandson silently. He reminded her of his grandfather, her late husband and her son. He resembled them not only in their looks but also the way he carried himself. He was a ruthless businessman like his grandpa and father.
In some ways Yougal Lucas was more ruthless than them. But like them he was a caring family man and a good friend. She knew that he would never give up on Nia. A sense of satisfaction spread throughout her. But she wanted him to suffer a little heartache for his past rashness and cowerdice to face the Sonowal family. He would learn to cherish Nia more. Grandma Lucinda felt smug.
She closed her eyes and imagined a couple of great grandkids playing with her. She stopped the happy smile from appearing on her face. Yougal Lucas tried to conjecture his grandma's thoughts from her face. But the stern face of the beautiful woman did not give out anything about what was in her mind.
"Grandma." He touched her arm. Yougal Lucas felt sorrow filling up his heart. He could not think of a life without Nia. The truth was that he did not dare to imagine a life without that beautiful keeper of his heart. He heard grandma's voice.
"We never told them about what had happened that day. Neither did they talk to us about calling off the engagememt. So it stands till this day." Grandma did not look at him while her words poured out into his ears like drops of liquid poison. " You should have gone to them a long time ago. Maybe they would have then cancelled the engagement. Not attending the ritual of slipping a ring on the finger doesn't automatically cancel what has already been decided."
Yougal Lucas felt like he was pushed down from the top of a cliff. He could almost see him flailing his hands and legs in the air in a hopeless attempt to fly to safety.
"I'll go to meet Nirvana and her family. I'll explain to them why I could not turn up at my own engagement party. I'm sure Nirvana will not want a loveless relationship. She'll want to be with someone who loves her, as I love Nia. Nia is everything to me."
"And we're nothing to you." Grandma Lucinda gave out a short laugh which sounded cruel to Yougal's ears.
"About explaining things, don't you think it's long overdue? Don't you want to know what happened to Nirvana after the engagement party disaster? Back then I didn't force you to marry her. But now I don't want to lose my friend again. Nirvana is the only one who can keep everything in balance."
Yougal Lucas thought of the woman he loved. He had not seen her since the day he confessed to her at the cafe. Yougal Lucas remembered her embarrassed red face at his words. He himself did not care about the place or the audience. What mattered to him was that she now knew of his feelings for her. He was ready to go through all the struggles to have her by his side.
'Yeah,' Yougal Lucas thought, 'Nirvana is the one who can help to keep everything in balance.' He decided to go to Nirvana and ask for her forgiveness. He owed her an apology, maybe more than an apology. He would face anger, hate, whatever punishment came his way. But he needed to be free of the past. Yougal Lucas thought that actually both he and Nirvana deserved to be free of their past.