Chapter 2

Ava’s POV

5 years later

" Ava ! Ava ! ! , get off your bed, I have been calling your name like over a hundred times " I could hear My grandma, Aloha Damaris, barged into my room to wake me up , I could hear that she had been trying to wake me over and over again from outside the room, I was just too tired to wake up completely.

I finally woke up to the sound of her banging the doors, yeah that always does the trick, but not so easily because I still needed to find my bearing .

" This is the hundredth time I have called your name. Did you forget what I told you to do yesterday , I don't think Mrs Nate will be in for long! , you have to be able to meet her before she leaves , I told you she has something to submit for me at the match making office , I want her to give them in hand , so that it would be attended to properly "

" Oh grandmama , it has probably only been the third time , you definitely don't have the strength and energy to call me for even fifty times , and stop with the match making thing, I am not planning to see anybody , I don't think I have marriage in mind , how many times will I tell you that ? " I said , now waking up completely.

"Oh don't tell me that my child , this is important to me and I want you to be happy . Something could happen to me any minute now, and you will be alone by yourself. I can't even bring myself to think about that , it saddens me " She sighed and sat down on the only chair in my room . Looking tired all of a sudden. Maybe I have not realized it , but my grandma seem to have grown more over the years , the signs of old age were becoming visible now . . .

" Grandmama , forget I said you don't have the energy and strength to call me fifty times , you have plenty of strength in you , you are strong and nothing is going to happen to you , you still have long years ahead of you . You will grow and grow . . . Hmm I think for about . . . " she stopped to look at her grandmother , she put her hands on her chin as if she was thinking , smiling in between "maybe fifty extra years ?”

"Oh that is me asking for too much , I would just be happy if I can see you marry and settle down." she said

"But I have you right here , you are my thing. We have each other , I don't need anybody else . I promise I will be good to you , I just don't want you to think that you are dying or something , don't do that to me, I don't want you to be like that" I moved closer to her and gave her a hug , a stream of tears coming from my eyes. To be honest I don't know what I would do if I loose my grandmother too.

We had been through so much , We had loved and fought, and we have only each other. Even though I have only known my grandmother as my legal guardia, I have pictures of my father and mother, who had died before I knew how to read. I could scarcely remember how they were , how they loved me , or how happy they were when I was born.

The few things I know I have learned about them was by my grandmother, and I have held onto them very well, never forgetting.

The only information that I'm yet to learn about is how the died, she has simply refused to tell me. My grandma had kept the secret so guardedly that it never even mistakenly came out of her mouth when she had nightmares about them or even when she got drunk. I always just thought it was painful for her to talk about. I usually felt guilty about it , I couldn't understand why, But the guilt was always there.

"Child , you have always been good to me , I love you like I loved your father, my son and my beautiful daughter in-law. You have her face, and it gladdens me that I am able to do for you what I couldn't do for them , that's why I said I want to see you happy completely , have someone beside you who can make you happy and make you smile , you know how they say when you find the person you like , you will start to feel butterflies in your belly , I want you to experience that so much. Before I leave you "

"Oh my goodness! Grandmama ! Stop saying that before you leave. Wait, I thought you said I should give something to Mrs Nate ! How about I go now?" I wanted to changed the talk so bad but my grandma would never fall for that.

It wasn't like she could actually force me to do anything with whoever they match with me , I don't believed in those kinds of things anyway. How could a company probably filled with single and divorced men and women know who is a match for the other person. To me, it was all just a bunch of nonsense. All they do is just scandalously collect their clients' money, just as much don't care if a match follows through or not .

"Now ?" My grandmother looked at me from head to toe, wondering.

"Yes , grandmama! Now!” as I replied her hurriedly, I realized what she meant by the question. I was still in my night dress and I had not even showered or brushed my teeth .

"Uhmm , maybe not now exactly , but I will go, Just drop the envelope there" I pointed to the table in front of her. "

I will go shower and do the necessary things , then I will be on my way" I glanced at the bedside clock to see if my plan will go along with the time "See I still have plenty of time , does she not go to work by eight fifty something?” I asked

"I guess so," she replied.

"Then I still have plenty of time , I will rush down there don't worry".

Mrs Nate had become a friend to my grandmother ever since she moved into the house at the end of the street. But they even became closer friends when her grandmother found out that she works in a match making company . That fed her fantasies even more. Every other day, my grandmother would send pastries over and vice versa . . .

I entered into the bathroom for a quick shower and I could finally hear her going out of her room and shutting the door after her.

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I checked her time and saw I still had a little time to meet up with Mrs Nate , I didn't even waste any time in the bathroom , didn't even bother to wash my full black hair , because then I would have to wait for it to dry.

I took the envelope and dashed out of the house , shouting at the top of my voice to tell my grandmother to give Mrs Nate a call that I was on my way , my bicycle was my friend, it would help me save time, instead of walking.

I was so focused on the errand I was going to deliver and getting there on time that I almost did not see the black SUV that was coming my way so I didn't have a heads up to get away from the car before it drove past me, drenching me with rain and muddy water which had gathered on the tarred road.

I stopped, but the SUV was almost not stopping. Or maybe the driver was looking for a place to park the car, I had thought, I didn't want to flare up immediately.

How could the person worry more about his car not getting dirty that they has preferred to splash dirty water on my clothes and bicycle instead? I looked about herself , there was really no way I could go back hom, I have already gone more than half of the way and the most important thing was still intact. The envelope. I had managed to save it .

I left my bicycle beside the road , and made my way to the SUV . One annoying thing was that the driver had not even bothered to step out of the car to check the amount of damage he or she had done . But I still gave them the benefit of the doubt by thinking that maybe the person stayed because they were old or disabled and they were not able to get out of the car easily. . . As I got towards the car, the windows were tinted making it difficult to see anything , I knocked on the window just as it began to go down. The person was getting on my nerves and it better be an old person.

The window on my side came rolling down and my eyes could not believe what I was seeing in front of me , A man. He looked elegantly handsome. I could not bring myself to think for what seemed like a long minute.

When he removed his sun shades revealing his captivating ocean green eyes. I could see his mouth moving , but I could not hear what he was saying , something moved inside me. Was this what my grandmother called butterflies? I thought, although I‘m not feeling them in my belly, I was feeling my heart beat faster. I have never recalled feeling that way before. I thought to look if he was living in our area, but I could not place his face. He doesn't even look like someone whose lifestyle fit my area.

"Hey , you are wasting my time! " He said to me , his voice was pleasing too , I thought. Still on cloud nine.

I came to my senses and realized what he had just said to me. Oh he is proud! I don't like proud people.

"What did you say?” I asked

"I said you are wasting my time , what are you doing there not saying anything” he replie, he looked like he was irritated by something.

"But you are the one who wasted my time , you splashed dirty water on me and you could not step out of the car to check what you have done , and then you parked so far away , having to make me come to you "

"I don't want to park my car in the dirty spot " And rude!

"Look I do not care about that , if you had stepped out of the car to meet me , then we would both be on our way and back to our business now , instead of you saying I am wasting your time , you are wasting my time too . And this whole thing is on you , you were the one who wasn't looking where he was driving and at high speed."

"Drop your account details , I will pay you for your dress , or would you prefer cash instead?" He said without thinking of how that would make me feel . Although I was not expecting so much but I had hoped that he would at the least apologize to me, that was all I needed. But he had thrown his money at my face instead.

" What ? How could you be so dumb and money blinded that you don't think you only need to apologize for this thing that happened! Sir ! I don't know you , but I am disappointed. I do not want your money. Please be on your way” I moved away from him

He is definitely a crazy jerk , with no manners , how did I even get so mesmerized by him in the first place.

I remembered that I was on her way somewhere for my grandmother, I checked my time and shoot It was way past the time that I had planned to get to Mrs Nate . It would only be by a miracle that I would meet her now. I ran towards my bicycle and took it off the floor , straightened my dress as much as I felt I could do at that point and went on my way as fast as I could.