2

---------------Los Angeles, California

---------------------Present day

The lights and flowers were all set, everything was ready, Juris Fernandez's Sweet love was playing in the background. The garden was so pretty, the flowers were all ready, it was just going to be me and her and the snacks were all set for our dinner tonight. She was supposed to be here any minute from now. I was honestly so anxious, my palms were sweaty. Ethan had already convinced me to do it this way, secretive and lovely. It took me a week to plan everything, hoping she was going to love it. I could finally hear the clicking of heels from behind me, I slowly turned around and found her blonde wavy hair swiftly moving along with the wind. I felt the earth stop rotating and it was just me and her.

Her long and sexy legs were the first things I caught sight of. She was wearing black heels and the off shouldered long sleeved fitted dress she was wearing was showing off all her pretty curves. The dress stopped a little way below her knee and the butterfly necklace I gave to her when we became a couple hung beautifully on her neck. She didn't wear much make up today, just pink lipstick and eye liner that were bringing out her shiny blue eyes. She shaped her eye brows and she looked so beautiful, I bet our kids were going to be so beautiful.

They were really going to be cute.

Definitely.

" Hey" I heard her melodious voice say and I immediately snapped out of my trance. " Ella" I answered and pecked her cheek with her doing same. She was really so beautiful.

" Here have a seat, how was the hospital today?" I asked as I pulled her seat for her. " Well it was okay, tiring though. Patients coming in and out. I didn't have any surgeries today so it was just normal, which is boring" Pamela was a neurosurgeon. She and I graduated from Harvard University, I studied Business Administration because of my Family Business. I took my seat and faced her, " Oh okay" I answered. " How was the office?" she asked as she stared around the garden with an impressive smile lingering on her face. " It was normal too" I really didn’t know what to do or say next.

" Okay soo.... Why are we here?" she asked, still looking around. Now was the right time, I guess. " Well I have a surprise for you and I am sure you'll love it" I said and smiled at her. " Oh my, you should smile more often Khalid. You're so cute. So what's the surprise?, show me already" she was becoming hyperactive and that side of her is always cute. It was the side I loved the most about her. " Close your eyes first" I said and watched as she shut them tightly immediately.

" Don't peep okay?" I said and got up from my seat and knelt on one knee, beside her. " Sure I won't, hurry up" she said and giggled like a three years old. I repeat, she is so cute.

" Okay now slowly open your eyes, Slowly" I was so nervous, I knew she was going to say yes but I was still so nervous. I watched as she slowly opened her blue eyes and they met the ruby ring I got for her.

Surprisingly, her reaction wasn't really what I imagined.

Her eyes held shock and disbelief. There was no sign of happiness. Something was off but I still had to continue, she might just be stunned, she wasn’t expecting it so yeah.

Just go on.

" Pamela Hutchkins, I don't really know what to say or how to propose to you.  I'll just say what I truly feel" I paused and smiled at her. She wasn't smiling, instead a smug look was plastered on her face.

" Pamela we've been together for five years now and I've never loved another like I've loved you. Pamela I really want you to be the one I wake up to every morning of my life, I want you to be the mother of my kids. Pamela please will you give me the honour of being your husband?" Well this was okay, I guess.

I watched as tears rolled down her cheeks. " Khalid, I...I" she began, stammering. " I'm sorry" who would've thought that these three words were going to end me. I got up from my knee instantly and she followed suit. " Khalid I am so sorry. I am not prepared for marriage now" Normally, people would be calm to understand but I had anger issues and of course, I was getting very angry. I got angry really easily and yeah I was getting really pissed right now. Why wasn't she prepared for marriage, what does she mean?.

" Pamela we've been together for 5 years. We are very well compatible, what do you mean you are not ready?, You have a well paying job and so do I. What the fuck do you mean by you are not ready?" I was raising my voice at her and I truly didn’t care. I couldn’t control my emotions being all over the place.

" Khalid, I don't want to settle down and have kids now. I just want to live a free life, I don't want to be part of a family again for now. I am sorry Khalid but I can't settle down yet, my mind-set is not prepared to be a wife and a mother" She was crying. How could she play the victim here? She was the one hurting my darn feelings.

" What's hard in being a wife and a mother?. Why are you doing this to me Pamela?, why??" I needed to break something.

It always, always made me feel better.

" I'm sorry Khalid, hate me or anything but I am sorry. If us just being lovers isn't enough for you, it's best if we just break up" oh wow. How to end a perfect 5 year old relationship. She wasn't breaking up with me, I was definitely not going to allow it, she was the love of my life and even though she was hurting me now, I was not going to lose her.

" Khalid listen I'm sorry, I just have no plans of being part of a family again, you know my story Khalid, please try to understand, I can't do this Khalid, If it's marriage you want, I can't give that to you" Her words were like daggers being thrown towards my heart. How could she do this to me, we've had a perfect relationship for five years and here we were, throwing it all away. " Pamela, I am doing my best to control my anger right now, we've been together for five years Pamela and you want to throw them all away" I needed to be strong, she wasn't going to bring me to my knees again.

" I'm not throwing it all away Khalid, we can just forget that you proposed to me and act like nothing happened and move on with our relationship as just boy friend and girl friend" That title was for childish teenagers, we were adults, I was 27 and she was 25.

I needed space to think properly right now. I needed to talk to my grandfather.

"We'll talk another time Pamela" I groaned and walked past her out of the garden leaving her standing there all alone. She deserved that for now.

No wonder she didn’t like kids. I had always thought if she had kids, her attitude towards them was going to change.

I was not just going to give up on her, but I needed time to think about what I really wanted now.

What was going to best for us now.

My anger issue had just one root cause, my father.

I grew up detesting my father, he always maltreated my mother every night back then  and I couldn't do anything about it because I was so small and fragile. I was a weakling, I watched my father every night beat up my mother till her face and body were all bruised up. He gave birth to the issues I have with anger. I have always resulted to violence so as to not being called a weakling because of him. I swore to myself to never lay a finger on a woman and I swore to always treat my woman and children right. That's what I want to do with Pamela but here we are now.

I had to yell at her so as to try and feel better.

The beatings stopped when we fled from my father in Turkey to Los Angeles, where Mother met Brandon. I didn't trust him, I still don't trust him but my mother loves him and he seems to love her too. He never laid a finger on my mother and she's always happy with him.

I got into my car and drove to our house. I'd call Ethan later to help me hire some people to clear out the garden.

The drive home wasn't long. I parked my car in the garage and got out. It was 8:30pm and they should be eating by now. I was not in the mood to talk to anyone now , except my grandfather. GrandPa Julius was Brandon's father and he was more like a father to me than Brandon was. He had always been my role model. The funny old man. I walked past the water fountain until I heard Grandpa’s call from behind me. " GrandPa" I answered back and walked to him, giving him a hug as soon I reached where he stood.

" My boy, how have you been?" he laughed. GrandPa is in his middle 70's, 75 or 76, he's a retired business man.

He started the Olyster family business that made us his family filthy rich.

"I've been good grandpa, why aren't you inside with them?" I asked, my two siblings had to be in there with mother and Brandon. " I needed some fresh air and I wanted to talk to my best friend" I never knew he had a best friend. " You have a best friend grandpa?" I asked again for confirmation as he continued walking back to the main house and I followed beside him.

"Yes, his name is Musa, Musa Mustapha, he's on his death bed Khalid and I've booked a flight to Indonesia tomorrow" Grandpa said with a sincere smile, looking at the stars. "Khalid, tell me something, what do you call someone who doesn't keep his promise?"

" A hypocrite "I answer and stopped to look at him." Good, Khalid when I was younger back then, I made a promise to my best friend so that our families would forever be together, you see we promised each other that our children were going to get married, but since that didn't happen, we decided that our grand children would get married instead " Neil's certainly going to be shocked about this news. " GrandPa I am not so sure Neill would be excited about this" I stated and put my hands in my pocket. Neill's younger than me with just two years, he's Pamela’s age mate. He wasn't into the family business line, he instead preferred being a Photographer. He was nice and soft hearted but he was with Sandra, Sandra Baker. He loved her very much, I'm pretty sure it's more than the love I have for Pamela.

" Yes exactly, that is why I want you to be the one to get married" I froze at my feet almost Instantly. This took a very quick turn. I just had an argument with Ella and here, he was telling me to get married.

To someone I didn't even know.

"GrandPa I'm sorry, but I'm with Pamela" I stated and avoided his gaze. I always did my best to make him proud, but this time, I couldn't bring myself to. " Ah, Pamela!how did your propasal go?"

" She doesn't want to settle down yet GrandPa, she just wants us to remain lovers, " boyfriend and girlfriend" " I said as I used my fingers to quote what she said earlier.

" Pamela is a very ambitious woman, she isn't wife material Khalid, try and accept that. You broke up?"

" No, we are giving each other space" I said and turn to face him fully.  " Khalid, Musa's grand daughter is very beautiful. She's nice and caring, she's a kind lady, try and see if you can fall in love with her, willingly" Pamela was always going to be the owner of my heart, I couldn’t bring myself to love anyone other than Pamela.  " GrandPa you know I'll do anything to make you proud right?, but I can't do this, I can't get married, I don't want to be in a loveless relationship" I was stating the facts.

I watched him sigh, " Fine, I'll just back out, I'll tell him it won't be possible tomorrow" he looked disappointed, very. I could certainly feel how disappointed he was. But it had to be this way.

I was not exactly someone that could sacrifice his happiness for someone else's.

" GrandPa isn't there any other way?" I was better off doing something else other than getting married to someone I didn’t know. " No my boy, don't worry about it, he'll be disappointed yes, but I can't force you to do what you don't want to do" He was on his death bed.

I've been given a chance to make a dying man very happy. I needed not to be selfish for once in my life.

For now.

"GrandPa, can we make the marriage a secret, we can just be married and we can live on with our lives until he leaves us, then I can divorce her and be with Pamela, is that okay grandpa?" This was the best thing to do, the only thing I could offer.

I was not just going to give up on Pamela just like that.

" Well it's not what we are expecting or what we want but it's better than nothing" That's it. I was getting married to someone I didn’t know anything about.

This was the only solution to help GrandPa keep his promise and not be a hypocrite, even though I was not really his grand son, I felt like I was , so I am.

" Come on, let's go tell your mother and others, she'll be glad you made this decision, although not so glad, you know she and Sophia don't like Pamela" GrandPa said as we continued to walk back towards the house. The night breeze was so cool and chilly.

Mother had never liked Pamela, she was too ambitious and straight forward according to her and she didn’t know what she wanted. Well my mother was right, Pamela was like that, but I loved her that way.

I'd continue to love her that way.

" They'll come around" I answered and followed beside him.

I was only going to get married to someone I didn’t know, we aren't going to get attached or anything, she was just going to be my wife until her grand father left us, then I could file a divorce and there, Pamela would be all mine. I wondered how Pamela was going to take this. She was going to be jealous certainly but I could explain things to her. Hopefully, she was going to understand.

Or I could just keep it a secret from her, it was actually better.