ANISHA'S POV
When Sunday finally came, it had felt like an eternity to me. I quickly left Olga Children's Home and got a cab which took me to the Woodruffs' home. When Mrs Woodruff opened the door, Liam was standing near the table, playing with a yellow ball. He turned to look at me, and remained frozen to the spot, showing a lot of shock.
"Nisha!", he finally called me. I ran in and picked him, and of course the tears of joy trickled down. The child was very happy to see me, he jumped and I swirled with him in my arms, and I started to sing THE ANTS GO MARCHING ONE BY ONE.
The Woodruffs were happy to see me, they too appeared pleased that I was there. Mrs Woodruff said I could choose to either go into Liam's bedroom or out in the garden, and have some time with Liam. I chose the latter.
"Catch the ball", I said as I threw the yellow ball at Liam.
"Nisha! Nisha!" , he kept calling me.
"I'm here. I'm here, Liam. Throw back the ball!"
Mrs Woodruff came outside, smiling. "We haven't seen him this happy before", she smiled. "Lunch will be served soon. In the mean time I will send over some drinks, or fruits? What would you prefer?"
"Fruits should do, thank you." I replied.
She walked back into the house and then stopped to say, "oh by the way, I almost forgot! Doctor de Milo, the son, will pass by today. He needs to see you."
"When? Today? Who said that?" I stopped with the ball in my hands. What? Dylan was passing by to see me? How? For what? Wasn't he the one who just said we should cut all ties?
"He called us and said he will pass by" she clarified.
"No. I don't want to see him." I stated firmly.
"Oh...why, if you don't mind me asking?"
"It's personal. I will not see him. What time is he coming?"
"It should be anytime from now." The lady spoke as she checked the time again on her phone.
"Please, Mrs Woodruff, call him and tell him I said no. I will not see him. And may he not force it. I don't want to see him! There is no negotiation on that!"
"Oh, OK. Sorry to upset you. But I thought it was a great honour to have de Milo visiting you. Isn't he the most eligible bachelor in Southrain, and even in Lakeworld at large?" Surprise was written all over her face.
"Not to me. Please inform him that I said no, I will not see him!"
"I will do just that." she nodded her head and walked away.
Liam and I were playing happily. I used all the effort I could, to keep the environment good and enjoyable. My mind was continuously going back to the letter which Dylan wrote to me…the words kept flashing in my mind, and I wished Valentina was there with me. If she was nearby, I would have told her that can you imagine, Dylan is now saying he wants to see me.
What did he want? Was he regretting writing the letter? Why did he want to see me? He must have been regretting it. I told myself that it was a pity that I met Dylan under the circumstances that I met him. He seemed very nice, but then again, was it not just because he was under pressure?
"Nisha!" Liam's sweet voice brought me back to reality. I realised that the little one had been trying to get my attention, so I whisked him off the ground and started throwing him up in the air. He was all smiles.
"Fly, fly high, little man…" Oh! Why did my tongue have to say those words? Little man?
Only Dylan referred to Liam as little man, and here I was, repeating those words. Why was my mind, my heart and my tongue deserting me at the most crucial moment?
I did not want to think about him, I wanted him right at the back of my mind.
I blamed myself for believing him in the first place. He lied to me. He told me that since the time I was at Olga Children's Home, he knew me, and he liked me? Really? And I believed that?
If he so much liked me, how come there was never a day when he said hallo to me? Just a simple greeting? He never spoke to anyone; not to me, not to any other person at Olga. The de Milo children were never friendly to us. They must have despised us, because we were way below their standard. His little sister was better; she tried to talk to us, but someone always pulled her away. It was either her mother or older sister.
Why in the world did I allow myself to be fooled by Dylan, by allowing him to play around with my heart? I cursed myself for being that much naïve.
DYLAN'S POV
I was just about to get into my car when my phone rang. It was Mrs Woodruff. She told me that Anisha had said she did not want to see me no matter what. She advised me to stay away. I became very confused. What had I done wrong? Could it be that she was angry because she thought that I had not visited her while she was in hospital? But I had visited her, it was just that at the time of my visit, she had been fast asleep.
I stood there, very confused. I called Pete and informed him.
"Just go there. Park your car at a safe distance and when she leaves, follow her. Once you know where she stays, you can plan to visit her another time."
"Yes," I got into my car and drove off towards the Woodruff's house.
Since I was not aware what time Anisha was going to leave, I called Mrs Woodruff and asked. She too was not too sure, stating that they had given Anisha the privilege of being with Liam for the whole of Sunday; thus there was no telling what time she was going to choose to leave. I just had to wait. I arrived soon after 11AM, and I waited. I thought of asking Mrs Woodruff for Anisha's home address, but when I tried calling her again, her number was no longer reachable.
It was already a few minutes after 2PM and I was starting to feel hungry. I thought of dashing to the shops nearby and buy something to eat, but I asked myself, what if she leaves while I am away?
I waited and waited. I even played some games on my phone, and I dozed off. After 4PM, I called Pete.
"I'm starving!", I said as soon as he answered the call.
"I wish I could bring you something man, but I can't at the moment. I am very busy. What should I do?"
"I don't know. Will she ever come out of that place? Is she even in there?"
"Just wait, de Milo. You have already waited these many hours, so what's the point of leaving now?"
I continued to wait, and then finally I saw the gate opening, and out came a young couple followed by Anisha. My beautiful Anisha. It looked like she was singing a song to Liam, and she laughed merrily. I could not hear her from where I was, but in my heart I heard her beautiful, angelic laughter. I saw her placing Liam on the ground and she held his hands and marched with him. I immediately knew that they were singing Liam's favourite song: THE ANTS GO MARCHING ONE BY ONE.
She looked more beautiful, it was as if I was seeing her for the first time. She lifted Liam up, said something to Mrs Woodruff, and they both laughed out loud. I saw her smile, I felt warmth in my heart. I wanted to run to her, I wanted to ask her why she would not see me, I wanted to hold her in my arms, I wanted to be next to her.
Soon, a cab arrived and parked just next to the gate. They all walked towards the car, and when Mrs Woodruff tried to take Liam away, I saw the little man clinging to Anisha. Mr and Mrs Woodruff were using a ball to try and lure Liam back to them, but he would not have it. He clutched on to Anisha like a leech, and from afar, I could see that Anisha was becoming emotional. She raised her hand to wipe off some tears, and upon seeing that, my heart broke into little pieces. I held the car door to open it so that I could run to her, but I quickly remembered that I was not supposed to be seen.
Mr Woodruff ended up taking the child, he kicked and wailed, but the couple took him back inside. Wiping off some tears, Anisha got into the car and it started moving. At a safe distance, I followed it.