"Ugh!" Ayla groaned out in frustration as Ayla walked out of another shop without having any luck in finding something that was able to catch her eye.
She knew that there was probably nothing that Claude's grandfather lacked, but she had to give him something that spoke volumes. It was a long shot, but she had to try.
From what Claude had told her, he was a man of temper and character. She was having a hard time deciding on anything. She was practically just strolling around the mall, going into antique shops one after the other with the hope that she might find something, anything.
She checked the time on her phone once again. It had already been an hour and half since she arrived here and still no luck. What ticked her more was how eerily quiet her phone was. There wasn't any new message from him. His last text was a simple okay, that too in response to her text in which she had informed him of her arrival at the mall. She fought the urge to
"Your nuggets… are finished."Ayla followed his gaze and found the empty box but instead of minding it, she gave the old man a wide smile. He made it sound as if they disappeared into thin air and the culprit was nowhere to be found. But in reality, he was the culprit. He practically devoured them whole without even bothering to leave a single nugget behind for her."I should get some more for myself. What do you think?" She raised an eyebrow at him when she saw him chuckling out loud."What?" She deadpanned."I don't think you should get any more of those as much as I would love it. My doctor will kill us both if he finds out." He mused."You were not supposed to be eating those?" Her eyes widened in shock."Why do you think I have this boring bowl of salad before me?" He deadpanned."Makes sense." She shook her head. It was no wonder that he ate all of her food. "But you better avoid fried
"I am so sorry, love." Claude apologized to her the minute he threw his arms around her. He pulled her into his chest, inhaling deeply as he buried his face into her hair. "I didn't plan to make you wait for this long." He continued. "I really didn't.""I know, I know." Ayla spoke up, leaning back a little so that she could have a look at his face. "Don't fret about it. I was just roaming around. Now that you are here, we can actually shop for the gift.""You haven't bought anything yet?" Claude looked behind her only to find her college bag resting on the floor next to a seat."I couldn't find anything that screamed gift worthy for your grandfather." She pursed her lips together as she recalled her senseless strolling around the gift shops. "Though I think I now have an idea about what to get him, it could be worth a shot." She added hurriedly as her thoughts drifted back to the small sticky note which the nugget loving old man had left behind
"How far are we?" A groan followed out of her lips as she stretched her arms in front of her."It will take another hour to reach there." Claude replied to her looking at her from the corner of his eyes. He turned his attention back to his laptop which was resting on his lap. "You can go back to sleep; I'll wake you up once we have reached." He added after a while."No, I am fine now." Ayla shook her head before stealing a glance behind.There was a black jeep with tinted windows following behind closely."Is this really necessary?" She asked the question again only to see Claude giving her a firm nod.It wasn't the first time she had asked Claude about it, but she failed to understand the reason behind the need for security. Claude had only informed her about it just before they were about to leave the mansion. When she tried to pry further, he brushed it off saying that they were only there as a precaution, and that
"Wakey wakey, sleepy head." Ayla muttered next to his way as her hands shook his broad shoulders lightly. There was a small frown resting in between her brows as she made another attempt to shake him up."What?" Claude mumbled with a groan, not bothering to open his eyes."We are here, Claude. I don't think your grandfather will appreciate us being late." Ayla looked out of the window to see a couple of people already waiting for them, their patience running thin as they eyed their guards."Ugh!" Claude groaned out in frustration once again before forcing his eyes open. Ayla was right about him pushing his body's limit."How long has it been?" He mumbled out, stretching out his arms."Five minutes." Ayla replied to him and watched his eyebrows shooting up in shock. Wanting to make him feel better about it, she hurriedly added, "it's alright because your grandfather isn't here yet from what it looks like." She tilted her head back
"Isn't that your work phone, husband?"Blood drained away from Claude's face as he looked up to see Ayla squinting at the rectangular piece of technology flashing in his palms."Umm.. yes." Claude gulped down a mouthful of saliva before running his tongue along his lower lip. He didn't plan to actually work over the holidays, but he definitely had in mind to check on his work. That was one of the reasons he brought along his work phone—in case he was needed. But he forgot to actually put it on silent after his altercation with his beloved wife."Who is it?" Ayla drew in a sharp breath as she shifted her gaze up to see the horrified expression etched on his face. Was she enjoying it? She snickered internally."Ethan." Claude replied to her before clearing his throat. "I will talk to him later and tell him to not disturb us until after we are back." He added in a rather hurried manner, not wanting to soil her mood once again over the
"They surely hate me." Ayla mumbled out in a whisper as she picked up an invisible thread from her trousers before tossing it away, wishing she could do the same to her problems.The couple had freshened up right after stepping into the comfort of their room. Ayla was reluctant to head downstairs but didn't have any other choice as she quietly followed Claude down to the dining hall where everyone was waiting for them. Well, almost everyone. She was yet to meet Claude's grandfather.She couldn't say that the dinner went remotely good. Either an eerie silence loomed over the long, stretched table where, occasionally, low murmurs and snickers took over. Each one of them directed at her. She didn't stay back for a fleeting second and excused herself as soon as she was done with her dinner.Only when she was within the warm confines of the room, was she finally able to breathe. Claude's presence also helped her calm her nerves down."N
"Umm.. excuse me?" Ayla cleared her throat lightly, announcing her presence as she eyes the old man. "I hope I am not disturbing you." He was sitting on a wooden chair with his back facing her, too focused on the variety of food sprawled across the circular table to pay her any attention. "Yeah, yeah." He mumbled out a reply under his breath, his words filled with annoyance. "Make yourself at home." He was clearly not pleased by her sudden appearance and didn't bother to hide it. "Uh… thank you." Ayla kept her spirits up and walked around the table to settle down on one of the empty chairs. She chose to sit across from him so that she could have a better look at him while keeping the distance between them. It wasn't hard for her to tell that he was not fond of having company this early in the morning. "Claude was still sleeping when I left the room so I decided to grab a bite or two in the meantime and get myself familiar with the pl
Under the warm hues and pale lighting, the bustling only grew more and more dense. Everyone seemed to be in a rush, focusing on finishing the assigned tasks just in time for the event to start. The guests had already started arriving while the final touches were being made. "Are you sure it's only your grandfather's birthday that is being celebrated today?" Ayla mumbled to the man who was standing next to her. She turned her attention to him, eyeing him. "I may seem a little over the top, but that's how it is every year." Claude replied to her, keeping his gaze trained on the people downstairs. "You got used to it." A sigh escaped her lips. "I don't know how long it's going to take me to be so casual about things like it." It wasn't breaking news to Claude. He knew already how much she despised being the center of attention, and tonight's party was not going to be anything but that. Even though it was being arranged for his old