Chapter 3 That Eye Contact

• “You can do this, Chris. You can totally do this!” Christian kept chanting in his mind, staring at himself in the mirror, trying to calm himself. But his mind was a battlefield.
• “How can I marry a girl whose name I’m not even able to pronounce perfectly? God, please get me out of this trouble.” Christian was thinking of another way to get rid of this girl without losing the CEO position when his phone started ringing and Lia’s name flashed on the screen. He was about to take her call when a servant knocked on his door and Christian’s eyes rises at him.
• “Sir Leo wants to see you for the breakfast,” he said and Christian ended Lia’s call.
• “I’ll be there in ten minutes!” Christian said and the servant left. He then quickly took a shower and changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt. “Let’s do this!” He gave a last look at himself in the mirror and left his room to join Leo.
• ***
• Leo was waiting for everyone when a message popped up on his phone screen and it brought a gigantic smile to his face. He was penning a reply when Christian showed up and sat next to him. “Whose message has brought this beautiful smile to your face, grandpa?” He asked, taking a sip of his orange juice.
• “It’s Pasha. He said your soon-to-be wife’s plane has landed, and he is bringing her here now.” Leo answered, and Christian choked on his juice, coughing badly.
• Leo quickly patted his back. “What happened to you suddenly? Are you alright now?” Christian nodded his head, and a few moments later, he relaxed. “Aren’t you excited about meeting her?” Leo asked again, watching his red face because of coughing.
• “I’m thrilled! I didn’t even sleep all night,” Christian responded, mentally rolling his eyes, and took a bite of his toast.
• Soon, all the family members arrived in the dining area. Luke, Christian’s father with his girlfriend Jennifer. Leo’s daughter, Berry, with his husband Dan Mathews and her son Jake. Leo’s youngest son Rony with his wife Rose, and their adopted ten-year-old son, Daniel.
• Leo’s son Rony did not leave Rose, despite knowing that she could not conceive and Leo was proud of him. It was the kind of love he admires. “Is this a family meeting or something? Why is everyone here so early?” Christian asked, looking at everyone’s presence in the room.
• “Yes, I have got an announcement to make before the arrival of my granddaughter-in-law,” Leo said, taking a sip of his black tea.
• “That is soon to be a granddaughter-in-law, grandpa. I’ve not married her yet.” Christian corrected him.
• “Well, that’s going to change soon, Chris.” Leo looked at him and then his eyes shifted to his other family members. “I want everyone to talk to her respectfully. No one will use abusive words in her presence. I want her to be comfortable here.” he sternly said.
• “She’s very special to me. I’ll not accept if she’s insulted in this house, and one more important rule for you, Luke and Rony, you two will not engage in a fight with each other in her presence,” Leo warned.
• “Woah! Is she the new headmaster of this house?” Luke rolled his eyes. Like father, like son.
• “No good girl would like to live in an abusive environment where people quarrel with each other day and night,” Rony said, feeding porridge to his son.
• “Nobody is asking for your opinion here, so I’d suggest that you keep your mouth shut,” Luke retorted crossly while Jennifer enjoyed their brawl.
• “You guys started again?” Leo slammed his hand on the table. “Can’t you both sit quietly during breakfast?” he said in a high pitch. “I remember there was a time when both of you used to fight for each other, and now, you both fight with each other!!”
• There was a moment of complete silence in the dining area and everybody was looking down at their plates. “Hey, Daniel! If you are done, let’s go out. We’ll play basketball!” Christian asked, breaking the silence, and Danial nodded enthusiastically. Soon, both the boys disappeared from the dining area.
• “Now, everyone, please behave properly in front of her. I don’t want her to think wrong about our family. I hope you all will understand and respect the wish of this old man!” Leo pleaded at last.
• ***
• Christian always moves away when he witnesses a brawl between his father and Uncle Rony. He doesn’t know what went wrong between them in the past, but he still has a vague recollection of childhood, where both of them were inseparable, but then he doesn’t know what transpired between them.
• The ugly turn in their relationship didn’t change Rony’s love for Christian. He treated him like his own son, and for Christian, Rony was a father figure, and his son Daniel was an apple of everyone’s eye.
• “Brother, let’s play!!” Daniel exclaimed, and threw the ball in Christian’s direction with full force. Christian was last in his world.
• Unprepared, he dodged aside, and the ball went straight flying beside him. It was about to hit a face hard, but the girl caught the ball right before it could crash into her face and stilled in her place, stunned.
• Christian couldn’t look at the girl’s face as she was holding a ball right in front of her. He was about to jog over to her when Jake appeared next to her. “Hey, are you alright?” he asked anxiously, and the girl let the ball slip from her hands.
• Christian and Daniel just continued gawking at her gorgeous appearance. “Who is she?” Daniel asked.
• “I’m alright, Jake. Don’t worry!” The girl responded with a smile. Her enchanting smile quickly picked Christian’s attention, and he came back to his senses only when Daniel started pulling the hem of his grey t-shirt.
• Christian looked down at him. “WHAT?”
• “Let’s disappear! If grandpa finds out what we have done, we are dead meat!” Daniel whispered.
• “Don’t worry, chill!” Christian said and glanced back at Jake and the girl with him.“Who is she now?”He thought.
• “Let’s get inside, Mishka, grandpa is waiting for you,” Jake said, and it shocked Christian to the core.
• “How can she be Mishka?”He thought that someone from India would come draped in a saree with a red dot in the middle of the forehead, bangles in hand, and lots of gold jewellery around the neck.
• At least the classic Indian movie Purab Aur Paschim, which Danny showed him last night, depicted how women dress up in India. Though Christian was sure that there would be a difference between the dressing sense of the 1970s and 2018 but the nonstop chattering of Danny filled him with anxiety.
• Mishka was exactly contrary to what he expected. “I definitely didn’t expect her to be like this!” he said in his heart, watching her from head to toe.
• She was wearing a white crop top with a pair of black high-waist jeans that showed all her curves in the right places. Her long brown hair cascaded down to her waist, and her nude five-inch heels complimented her looks perfectly.
• “Yes, sure, but my luggage?” Mishka asked.
• “Don’t worry, the driver will bring them inside,” Jake answered, and they sauntered toward the mansion, and when Mishka crossed Christian, their eyes locked with each other for the first time.