Anastasia's P.O.V
"Grandma, I'm home!" I called out as I closed the door behind me. Her house was a lot smaller but a lot more precious to me than ours. From the outside, it looked more like an enchanted botanical garden and the inside was always filled with the aroma of delicious food.
It had so many beautiful and sweet-scenting flowers at the backyard. I was in love with the roses especially.
She came from the parlor where she sat, probably watching one of her favorite classical movies from the seventies—as always.
"Oh darling, you're back." She exclaimed as she pulled my cheeks fondly. I smiled and embraced her. She was about 1.6 meters tall and plump. She had white hair but she still looked in the pink and also a lot prettier than women her age though she had slight wrinkles on her skin. She was about 75.
"I'm so happy that you came back." She added.
"Of course I did. I wasn't going to go anywhere." I muttered. Not until dad realizes his mistakes and tries to fix them. Not until he apologizes to Justin and I and takes an oath afterwards never to do anything to harm Justin or his family.
Wait… who am I kidding? That wouldn't ever compensate for the damage dad has done to him. I just hoped Justin would be kind enough to even agree to see him.
"I thought I was gonna be alone again…" she muttered innocently though those words went deep to pierce my heart. She disliked the elderly citizens at Avery's Home for Elderlies because to her, they were boring. Well, though that's her cover-up story, I know she doesn't like staying there because she wants to be with her family.
Her life was just so sour whenever she was there… having to stay with people who love the things you despise… having to stay with people who constantly remind you, though indirectly, of how lonely your life actually is. Well, I was the only person she normally poured her heart out to. But right now, listening to her was torturous.
How did dad never see this? I bet it's his dumbass business-life that's obscured his mind.
Her husband had died two years ago due to a heart problem and since then, she's spent her life at the dreaded Avery's… apart from one time when we came to visit her on Christmas day. Yes, it was that bad. She couldn't stay alone in her home so dad made her stay at Avery's. She even had to hire a gardener to tend for her flowers.
So I changed my conditions; if dad ever wanted me back home, he'd have to take her with me and never make her go back to that 'shit hole' as she normally called it.
She had actually stayed in her house just because of me and seemed really pleased about my presence. She was such a great woman.
"No, you're never gonna be alone again," I said reassuringly and embraced her tightly as my eyes watered. After some seconds, I released her. "Lemme go take a shower." I said and sniffled lightly.
I left to a small room which I've now tagged mine. And let me just put this straight to you—if daddy's too big headed to actually fulfill my conditions, he should just forget about me because I have no plans of living with an unrepentant monster for my whole life. And though I'll miss mom and Jason pretty badly, it's worth it.
I hadn't even told Grandma yet cos I knew she'd break into pieced if she found out what her son had turned out to be.
Anyway, I showered and put on casual clothes. Justin had scheduled to pick me up for a date by 4p.m. so I made sure the clothes I picked were fit for an outing.
"Whoa! You look pretty." She complimented.
"Thanks." I said and smirked.
She had moved to the dining table and was now drinking her hot lemon tea. She invited me to join her so I had no other option but to accept the invitation. The table was quite small so I sat at the other end, opposite grandma and helped myself to a cup of lemon tea.
"Lemons help clean your system… that's why I look younger than supposed to." Kate said, answering a question I've been asking myself for so long now. Her actual name was Catherine but she told me to call her Kate because adding 'grandma' to her name made her feel old.
"Cool. But it's pretty sour," I complained and then put about two teaspoons of sugar in it.
"I know, but don't take too much sugar." She advised. We sat in silence, taking sips of our tea. When we were done, she suggested we play a game of chess.
********************
We sat on a carpet in the parlor, playing chess and to be honest, she was pretty good.
"Kate, guess what?" I said outta the blues. Calling her Kate still felt kinda weird though.
"What?" She asked, still concentrating hard on the game. She moved her rook to the end of the board.
"I have a new boyfriend."
She looked up at me and smirked. "That's absolutely wonderful!" She commented and paused. "But the question is- Do you really love him?"
"Heck, yeah!" I replied enthusiastically but I guess I was a little too quick with my reply. So it got me thinking- did I really love him or was it just infatuation? I had no definite answer for that. I had definitely not known him enough to actually say I loved him but it felt that way.
"So tell me about him," she requested with interest though she was still concentrating on the ongoing game.
I spent a long time, trying to describe him in detail, telling her how we met and how he had asked me to date him. She seemed to be paying every bit of attention.
"That's really interesting… I'd love to meet him soon enough. Back in the day when I was in high school at Winterland, I was one of the hottest girls at school." "Oh how I miss those days," she fantasized, looking into the air. She continued "I had this basket baller boyfriend, Ace. Saturdays were always my most anticipated days cos he never failed to take me out on a date to one expensive restaurant or the other. He was just so romantic," she narrated with dreamy eyes. "And then, I don't know how but he came along and swooned me away one bright Monday… the first day I met him in college." I knew she was talking about grandpa.
Right then, a toxic feeling crept into my heart. I feared that Justin and I weren't going to last long and that we weren't going to end up together forever as I had always dreamed. I felt really insecure about us because that's how it always was: once you get outta high school, you break up and find someone better. I didn't want that.
She kept talking about how amazing her fiancé was. When she noticed I wasn't paying as much attention as I was before, she said, "Seems like I'm talking a lot again."
"Come on, Kate. It's not like that…"
She laughed heartily. "I'm just kidding and guess what? I've finally found an actual friend there; Adam. He likes pretty much the same things I do."
"Or you…" I muttered and smiled haughtily.
"What?"
"Nothing…"
"I did hear you." And we both broke into a laughter.
"So when am I going to meet that friend of yours?" She enquired.
"Justin?" Right then, I heard the doorbell ring. It was probably him. "I guess, now."
"Checkmate!" She said joyfully as she won the match. To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention to the game. But she was good.
"Imma go get the door." I said as I got off the carpet and strode to the door. I opened the door and saw Justin standing there with a bouquet of white roses. He knew how much I loved them.
"Hey"
"Hi," I replied. "Are those for me?" I asked, referring to the flowers in his hands
"Yeah. I know how much you love them." He added.
"Thanks" and I sniffed them. They smelt so wonderful.
He greeted Grandma who was just standing beside me and she replied. "You guys should have fun" She added.
"Of course ma'am. And I'll make sure to take care of her." He promised.
"Alright. Could you excuse us for a sec?" She asked politely.
"Sure" He replied like he had any choice. And then she closed the door.
"Wow… he's pretty hot! But definitely not as hot as Ace was," She said jokingly and winked.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you're just lying." And we giggled mildly.
"Please be back ASAP"
"Got it!"
"And don't do anything… stupid— you're not adults yet." She said seriously this time.
"Of course I won't. Trust me on this one." I assured.
She nodded curtly. "So go on. Let me not take too much of your time." Then she opened the door and waved us goodbye.