ANISHA'S POV
I woke up late, for I was feeling extremely tired. I had slept at around 1AM, busy chatting away with Dylan on the phone. We called each other, we made video calls, we chatted, we laughed we spoke about anything and everything. I ended up going into the lounge, since Valentina was asleep and I could not continue disturbing her.
Amelia. Amelia had expressed her wish to meet with me again. She said she felt good to tell her full story. To be honest I was getting tired and emotionally exhausted. She cried a lot, and I had to do my best to comfort her. According to her, I was the first person she had ever told her story, so it felt like unburdening a huge rock which she had carried on her shoulders for so long.
My heart was in Southrain; I really wanted to go back to Dylan. It was bad enough that once we had begun to be very close, I had to travel; and now I even had to postpone? Telling myself that I would give Amelia only one last day, I hurriedly planned to go and meet her. Ms Meyerton was chatting happily with me, and she too thought Amelia had taken too much of my time. However, she agreed that I could be with her for one last day. After that, I had one full day with Ms Meyerton, before I flew back to Southrain with the 6AM plane on the day after.
Once in a while I regretted not hiring a car, as Dylan had told me to. My reason was I did not want to be over-dependent on him, or to end up using millions of his money. But on that particular day, I regretted not hiring a car. It was very cloudy and a heavy storm was promising to come. I ran out with the intention of getting a cab, but I had barely taken ten steps from Ms Meyerton' gate, when a blue car shrieked to a stop in front of me.
"Anisha!! Anisha, is that you?" a male voice shouted excitedly, and as the window rolled down, I saw a very familiar face. It took me a few seconds to recognise him.
"Carter! It's you!" I responded in joy.
Carter was my friend. We grew up together at Olga Children's Home, and he was five years older than me. I owed all my musical skills to him; for it was Carter who taught me to play the piano and the violin. Of course many people stated that when it came to music, I had inborn talent, but Carter had helped me a lot to realise my talents. He joined the home at age seven and stayed with us until he was sixteen, and he left. A lady adopted him.
Carter offered me a lift, and on the way he spoke a lot about his life. While he was still staying in Southrain, he said he had come to Hallowcave to visit his aunt, the young sister to his biological mother. Carter had always known about his blood relatives, even during the time that we were at the home. It was just that at that time, none of them had offered to take him, after his parents' death. Carter was doing very well, he was working on his masters degree in fine arts, and also working as a tutor at the same university back in Southrain.
He took me to the restaurant where I was meeting Amelia. On that day, I had chosen a more private place, where Amelia and I could sit alone, away from the prying eyes of other people in the restaurant.
I thought Carter was going to drop me off and leave, yet he came in with me.
"Umm, the friend I am meeting is going to be discussing some very private issues with me. I guess you might need to give us some space…" I said in the most polite tone.
"Oh yes, I plan to leave as soon as she arrives," he chuckled and took a seat.
He quickly ordered a salad for the both of us, without asking me first if I wanted it or not. When the bowls arrived, Carter gobbled down the greens in a greedy way, licked his lips and quickly wiped with the napkin.
"Are you that hungry?" I asked him.
"Nervous, I guess", he seemed embarrassed.
"Why on earth would you be nervous?" I asked him.
"Nothing….may I have Ms Meyerton' number? And yours too? And Val's number? It would be good to keep in touch."
Not thinking much about his request, I gave him all the three numbers.
He fidgeted a bit in his seat and said, "Anisha, I think you're very beautiful. You've grown into this very beautiful lady. You've always been beautiful, everyone knows that. But I'm saying, you've become this awesome model…I can't even explain it. Life must be treating you well. If I may ask without beating about the bush, are you seeing anyone?"
"Yes" I answered immediately.
Carter's smile disappeared, and in its place a huge frown emerged. Not removing his gaze at me, he asked, "who?"
"Are you demanding that I tell you about my private life?" I asked him, getting annoyed.
"No...no, I'm sorry. It's just that I think no-one can understand you better than me. Anisha…you might not know this, but I have always seen you as my perfect life partner."
Without realizing, a small laugh escaped my lips.
"Why are you laughing? You think I'm wrong?" he seemed hurt. "Anisha, I know you. I knew you as a toddler, you must have been one or two when I first saw you at Olga. and I saw you grow. And every day I told myself that one day, I will confess my love …."
"Love? Isn't it too soon for you to be talking about love?"
"Too soon, you say?" he raised his eyebrows.
"You just met me, Carter…" I tried to explain.
"But I have known you for ages, Anisha! For all the years we were together at Olga, I knew that you were the one I wanted. You were just too young, I could not have told you."
"And today you just happen to bump into me, and you think I will believe anything you say?" I asked in mockery.
"Anisha, you have to believe me. I knew a lot about you. For example I know you were falsely accused of kidnapping…"
"It was all over the news. Everyone knew that." I stated as a matter of fact.
"OK Anisha, you might not believe me. But this is the honest truth, I have loved you for years. I prayed daily that I would meet you, and I believe today is an answer to my prayers. You and I know each other. We went through a tough time at Olga, it's only meaningful that we're suitable to be together."
I could not help but laugh at Carter's way of reasoning. "There were many other boys at Olga. Should they all come and say that to me, how should I respond?"
"Anisha, you don't mean that, do you? So when you look at me, you see me as any other boy from Olga? Anisha; I set aside time daily to teach you how to play the keyboard and the violin. I thought we had something special. I never knew that in your eyes I would appear as any other boy from Olga." It was impossible to miss the pain in Carter's voice.
Feeling a bit guilty, I explained myself, "no Carter, I didn't mean that. I appreciate all the lessons you gave me. Now I can proudly play the piano and violin; it's all thanks to you. All I'm saying is, that cannot be used to justify why we should be together. And besides, there's no need for me to explain a lot of things. As I told you earlier, I'm already seeing someone and I am very happy with him."
Carter looked at me for a while, his face sad, he asked calmly, "is he here in Hallowcave? Or he's in Lakeworld?"
"In Southrain", I answered.
Immediately the door to the restaurant side room opened softly, and in came a waiter, leading Amelia. I heaved a sigh of relief, stood up to welcome Amelia while at the same time I asked Carter to excuse us. In my heart I regretted ever giving him our numbers.