CHAPTER 6
"I know you are not just about to disobey my order." Dante Graham stated emerging from the doorway. The old man who seemed to be very agile and strong thought that the woman Leonardo lamented about was the wife he had planned for him. So he was already on the verge of uncontrollable anger.
"No Grandpa. I'll do as you say." Leonardo clarified.
"Let this be some form of gift to me for my upcoming seventieth birthday. That way I will be happy and content even if you don't get me anything else as usual." The old man said emphasizing on the last part. Ever since Leonardo returned from the military, he had grown so cold that he wouldn't even get a gift for his dear grandfather during his birthdays. The old man thought that it was because of the tragedies which fell on him as a child.
Leonardo gave the old man a long look thinking that he was really dramatic about the gifts. He therefore made up his mind to get him his favourite painting, 'The Golden Flower With Thorns.'
"What do you think about the youngest daughter of the Langstons?" Dante Graham asked the young man when he noticed the slight positive change in his mood. Even though she was not really what he had expected to see when Maurice Langston acknowledged her as his biological daughter, she kept a low profile before being recognized as his biological daughter and was very humble as he had seen for himself from the videos which surfaced on the net.
Initially, he thought about Maurice's eldest daughter but given the fact that she was never seen by the media and possibly never wanted to be seen at all, he decided to give the proposal to the youngest. To him, someone who was exactly like his grandson was not suitable. He needed someone as presentable as Giovanna Langston and was perceived positively by the media to be his granddaughter-in-law. Although, he hadn't made his final decision yet until he met them one-to-one. Only he could decide which one of the two daughters would marry into the Graham family. There were many things he needed to look into before picking a bride for his grandson.
Leonardo only looked at the picture of the young woman in front of him with a blank expression. He couldn't help but think that she was really familiar.
"Giovanna Langston?" He asked.
"Yes. We couldn't find any pictures of her older sister, Alika Langston." Dante Graham answered but was suddenly piqued with interest on meeting her. He wondered why she was so mysterious.
***
Noor and Keeya were seated opposite to Alika in the VIP booth which felt like an interrogation room to Alika. She felt like she was about to suffocate with the series of questions being thrown at her that she regretted telling them about what had happened to her the previous night.
"Tell me... Was he handsome?" Noor asked in excitement but was lightly nudged by Keeya to shut up.
"Do you feel alright? You wanna go to the hospital?" Keeya asked, worried about her friend's health.
Alika only nodded at her in response and didn't say anything else. She quickly lowered her head as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
Noor wasn't making matters any better because she kept wiggling her brows at Alika teasingly. Suddenly, she noticed a familiar figure walking into the bar- "Someone's lost her "angel" status today." She said, leaving a sarcastic tone with it. Keeya and Alika looked towards the direction of her eyes and saw Giovanna walking into the bar with great amount of confidence.
"What a two-faced gold digger." Keeya who wasn't one to hide her scorn towards people she didn't like stated with a smug smile on her face.
"Leave her be. Whatever she does is none of my business." Alika said.
To her Giovanna and she were not strangers to each other but neither were they friends. She placed their relationship under the 'rather understanding of each other' so they both never got along nor do they argue over anything.
She only found out that she had a sister two years ago and was not pleased at all knowing that she was only a year younger. It simply meant that her father had always cheated on her mother with Fiona- it was one of the reasons why she never got close to Giovanna. She saw her as the root of the estranged relationship between her biological mother, Blair Langston and Maurice Langston. She only called her 'Gi' because she felt it was more casual.
Noor and Keeya were always ready to listen to Alika most of the time so they were willing to ignore Giovanna's presence in the bar.
Meanwhile, Giovanna kept looking around for the man she had met the other day in this bar. She discovered with her connections some days back that he often came here on Fridays with a group of friends so she made up her mind to stalk him a little bit.
It was almost four in the evening and she had already grown tired sitting in the bar for a long time and decided to get up and leave. But just as she was about to leave, a tall young man walked in with an air of nobility but also gave off a scary aura which could make others around him frightened just by looking at him.
He abruptly stopped in his tracks nearly making the three other men behind him bump into him but then started moving towards the VIP PRIVATE elevator again.
It was as if he only stopped for a second which seemed so short to Giovanna. She actually thought that he had stopped because of he was captivated by her beautiful appearance.
And it was partially true because Leonardo had stopped because he saw Giovanna; not because of her beauty but because he recognized her as the youngest daughter of the Langstons who was perceived to be saintly and righteous by others. In other words, he felt that she was not what the others claimed. She was dressed in a slightly revealing outfit which showed part of her cleavage and was intentionally made short. The outfit could have looked better if a taller person had worn it but it only made her look strange.
Unknown to him, it was initially covered by a long white coat which was later taken off due to the heat it caused.
Giovanna sighed in disappointment when she got ignored by the young man and left the bar in a foul mood.