Leo has regained consciousness, and his family are getting more worried as to why there is no cure for his ailment. Nia sat with him at the pool side just to get stuff off her mind and help her ailing brother get over the trauma as well. The night has been long and stressful, filled with anxiety and betrayal, yet staying strong is the only solution at the moment. Ermias' father gets into talk with Nia's mother, claiming he is as concerned as they are in regard to their son, and all he wants is the best for the two families. He claims all he wants is the lineage and image of both families be preserved as it should be, and the only and best way to get that done is getting their children married to one another.
Nia's mother is different compared to her father. She is more of a materialistic woman and would do anything to keep her high profiled lifestyle intact, regardless of what the cost might be. With this reason, she does not get along too well with her daughter and that has always crated a void between them.
"Just as you are worried about your son as a mother, is the exact same way that I am worried about my son as a father", Ermias's father claims.
"My son is madly in love with Nia ever since they were kids. He has never mentioned any other woman to me except Nia and I am positive he will make he so happy for a lifetime. I am only doing this for the right course for both families, and nothing more than that. You have that guarantee from me", Ermias's father says.
"I know, you do not have to explain that much. I have always wanted this to happen between these two families and I have always seen them suitable for each other. I would do anything to make this happen if its left with just me", says Nia's mother.
"If so, then pursued Nia for me, please, for the happiness of our families", Ermias's father added.
I tried reaching Nia all night after listening to the song she sent me, but to no avail. At this point I thought she might be avoiding me, and that has got me worried.
Leo has been sent to the hospital the following morning for his diagnosis and medication. They have told him not to stress himself for any reason and to stay away from driving or smoking or drinking. Being the last child of the family will be a challenge to adhere to all the advice but having Nia as a sister is a guarantee that he will adhere to the cautions of the doctor.
Leo requested he wanted to spend some alone time with his sister as they came out of the hospital, which was granted to him, but the cautions of the doctor were reemphasized by his father before they were left to be with each other. As they were driving to a silent place to have their time, Leo asked if she was in love. She immediately said she would never fall in love with Ermias, and her brother said not with Ermias, but with the guy she drew his portrait. She could not answer him, and she did not want to ruin their moment. She loves her brother so much that she is ready to give up on almost everything just to see him happy and healthy.
They drove to the seaside and sat under the shade of a palm tree.
"I feel like I am laying in the sand next to the sea", she said to her brother.
"The thought of his name feels like a sweet wave that hits me hard as I take my smooth bath in the sands. The picture of his face feels like the sand and the waves moving together as one. I always wait for him to come running to me. This is how I feel Leo, I feel very happy with him, and I don't know if it's love that I feel or something else. I feel happy seeing him and I am always nervous when I am to meet him. It might seem too early to talk about it, but this is how I feel. Maybe I am…", she says to him.
He watches his sister as she pours out all that she feels about me yet does not want to disappoint her brother since they are all claiming the state of his health depends on her.
She immediately said to him that she wanted to know what he thought about all that she said to him.
"He introduced me to the most special person in his life, and you being my other half, I would love to introduce you to him. I don't want it to be like a planned program, because I don't want him to think that I am crazy for him, not at this early stage", she concluded.
Although Leo was not too happy with the idea of introducing me to him, he gladly said yes just not to break his sister's heart.
I have gone to see my father at his barbering shop because he has been complaining about his ceiling fan having an issue, and as the engineering student he is proud of, I had to do something to get it fixed. I have got to examine and realized it has burnt from the inside. My elder brother, who was sitting behind me, claimed he had been saying the same thing for the past few days, yet my father gave no reaction to him, but gave a surprise reaction when I said it had burnt. He might sound jealous, but he is really rooting out for me, all the time.
My phone rang when I was fixing the fan, it was Nia when I checked, and I hurried outside to answer the call.
"Surely, you were busy last night, since you could not answer my call", I said to her.
"Yes, our house was in a little bit of chaos that's why I could not answer the phone", she responded.
She asked what I was doing at the moment, and I told her I was fixing something in my dad's shop. She asked about his profession, and I told her he is a barber. I got worried due to the answer she gave when I told her about my dad's profession, but she quickly explained it right, so I do not get any wrong impression of her response. She asked what I would be doing later in the day then I told her I would be going to campus and later to the shore. She requested she meet me at the shore later in the evening and I agreed to that.
Later that day at the shore, she brought with her some food that she claims to have cooked by herself. I enjoyed the food and almost licked every oil from my plate. She asked if I liked it and when I said yes, she said she would prepare more if I wanted and of course, I said yes. She later starts to pour out her worries about me. She said I speak to her like it's the last moment of us seeing each other. She said I have an invisible wall surrounding me, and it's always difficult trying to penetrate through, and that makes her feel unsafe. Yes, she is right. I need to protect myself before I fall into any sort of heart break, that's what I was saying to myself when she began her talk.
"It feels really invisible being around you. What is the problem, if I may ask", she says.
"Yes, I am scared", I answered to her.
She starts to lament on how she feels safe just by thinking of me, and here I am, saying I am scared of her. She then asked if my fears were that things were not going to work between us. It was hard to give an instant answer to her at that very moment. It was probably the worse moment for me.
"You think this is not going to work? You think we cannot have a story together", she laments.
"Of course, we will get a story together, but it is just going to be a story of heart break and that is what I am scared of", I answered.
It is impossible for the rich and the poor to be in the same circle of life. Our lives are created differently and thinking we can crossroads and make a beautiful story out of it is nothing but delusion, and I am scared to be dilutional about our current state. I told her I don't know that much and having high hopes is nothing but playing blindly. She got stressed up and insisted we know each other sooner, so we can start the plans of our life together. She continued to tell me how much she trusted me, maybe because I once save her life, or the fact that I gave her life a meaning, or having connected my life to hers. We started to play a game in order to get to know each other better and that was where I confessed to her when I start to love her. It was the very first day I met her on the bus, and her memories seem not to get off my mind till I come to accept the fact that I was in love with her. She immediately kissed me, and we went back to the deck.