Episode 4 Unexpected Proposal

As soon as Mishka walked in through the main door, Leo rose from his chair and sauntered in her direction with a broad smile. “Mishka, my darling!!” He beamed with happiness. 

Mishka grinned, and as Leo came close to her, she bent down and touched his feet first (Indians take the blessing of their elders touching their feet) and hugged him.

Leo embraced her with a surreal smile on his face and everyone was watching them as if a father and a daughter has reunited after a long time. “How are you, my child, and how was your flight? I hope you reached here comfortably.” Leo asked.

“I am good, Dadu. The flight was great, but I am exhausted. I can barely keep my eyes open.” Mishka answered with a tired expression.

“I know, sweetheart, let me introduce you to everyone here, then I'll take you to your room,” Leo said, holding her hand, and introduced her to everyone.

“This is Luke, my son and Chris’s father, this is Jennifer, this is my daughter Berry and her husband Dan, Jake’s mom and dad, and that’s my youngest son, Rony and his wife Rose.” Mishka shook hands with everyone and greeted them with a polite smile.

She reached Rose and stretched out her hand in her direction, but Rose asked if she would not touch her feet like she had touched Leo’s feet to seek his blessing and Mishka smiled.

“Yes, why not!!” She bent down but before she could touch her feet. Rose stopped her, holding her arms, and chuckled.

 “I was kidding. Come on, give me a hug,” Rose smiled, and they hugged. Leo looked around the room and noticed that Christian and Daniel were not present.

“Oh yes, both of them went out to play basketball,” Leo called a servant and told him to call Christian and Daniel inside. The servant nodded and left.

The next minute, Daniel stormed inside, holding his ears before Leo and the latter narrowed his eyes. “What did you do this time, young man?” Leo asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“He threw the ball at Mishka’s face. It was good Mishka caught the ball before it could hit her face.” Jake answered, scowling at Daniel.

“Oh, my god. Are you alright, Mishka? Are you hurt anywhere?” Leo looked at Mishka and asked in a concerned voice.

“No Dadu, I am absolutely fine. It was just an accident. He didn’t intend to throw the ball at me. He was just playing with that guy.” Mishka said, gesturing to someone behind Leo.

Leo turned, and he looked at Christian standing at the door frame with hands in his pocket, watching all the drama. “Chris, come here. I want you to meet Mishka,” Leo called him in an enthusiastic voice, and Christian took long strides towards her with a poker face.

“Mishka, this is Christian, my eldest grandson, and Chris, this is Mishka.” Leo introduced both of them, and they both shook hands with each other.

Leo glanced at everyone’s face in the room and realised that only three people were genuinely happy, i.e. Rony, Rose, and Daniel. His eyes travelled back to Mishka and Christian, and he saw them still holding each other’s hands.

He smiled breaking their trance. “Mishka, come, let me show you your room. Take a rest because I want to discuss something really important later,” Leo said and Mishka nodded her head, retrieved her hand back, and followed Leo upstairs.

***

~ CHRISTIAN ~

While I was watching them walking inside the mansion, someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned, and it was Pasha behind me with a smirk plastered on his face.

Pasha was grandpa’s college friend and the most trustworthy person of his life. He is grandpa’s lawyer, advisor, private detective, and blah blah. He is basically grandpa’s everything except his wife. One can escape from grandpa’s scrutinising eyes but can’t escape Pasha. He is grandpa’s shadow, and he reports every minor detail to him.

“What? Why are you smirking at me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing. I can see she has cast her spell on you already.” He answered, grinning.

I rolled my eyes. “Bullshit! It’s not like that. I am just surprised to see that Indian girls carry themselves so confidently. I thought Indian girls are shy, at least a few in my college were timid and conservative. But she is exactly the contrary of what I expected!” I said, looking at the way from where she went in.

Pasha chuckled. “Don’t worry. She is full of surprises and gradually she will change all your opinion. Just wait and watch.” I was about to retaliate when the house helper interrupted our conversation and said that Grandpa was calling me and Daniel inside.

Listening to this, Daniel ran inside and I followed him. I stood at the doorframe and witnessed Daniel holding his ears. He was standing before Grandpa, and Jake was complaining about him. But Mishka confirmed it was an accident not intentional, pointing in my way.

Grandpa turned and asked me to come forward and meet her. I came forward and shook hands with her, and to be honest, I don’t know about her, but I felt some kind of spark inside me. But she quickly removed her hand from my grip and walked upstairs to her room with grandpa.

As I was watching her walking upstairs, I heard Daniel’s voice from behind, “She is gorgeous, Isn’t she?”

I looked back at Daniel and saw him drooling over her with wide eyes. “No, she is not, and stop staring at her like that. Go back home and finish your homework. You have school tomorrow!” I said sternly.

“If she doesn’t look gorgeous to you, then why were you staring at her? Ever since she set foot in this house.” He glared at me.

“Shut up. I was not staring at her.” I said and stormed out to think straight.

***

In the evening,

Christian was engrossed watching something on his phone while walking in the corridor when he bumped into someone. He looked up from his mobile screen and saw Mishka. She was wearing a pair of black joggers with a grey t-shirt, the same as him.

“I am so sorry. I didn’t see you coming!” Mishka apologised.

“It’s alright,” Christian said and turned to walk away.

“Hey! Chris, Could you please tell me where Dadu is?” She asked.

“What is Dadu?” Chris asked, puzzled.

“Oh, we in India refer to Grandpa as Dadu.” She replied with a smile.

“Oooo, Grandpa will probably be in his study. The third door on the second floor. You can go from there.” Christian pointed towards the staircase.

“Thanks,” Mishka smiled and walked away.

***

In Leo’s Study,

Leo was reading some important documents made by his lawyer, as per his request, when someone knocked on his door. He called the visitor in and started reading documents again.

“Dadu?” Mishka called, peeking in through the door.

“Oh, Mishka. Come inside. I was waiting for you,” Leo called her in and put all the documents aside.

“You said you have something important to discuss.” She said, taking a chair across from him. “What is it, Dadu?”

“Actually, I have had something on my mind since we met in India…” He paused and looked at her in the eyes, “I want you to marry my grandson Chris,” Leo stated and Mishka widened her eyes in shock.

“You are kidding me, right?” She asked, arching her eyebrow, completely baffled by the proposal.