006: A Marriage for Two (III)

No matter how hard Ayla's father tried to dissuade her, she had made up her mind. All she asked from the old man was to give her a day to think about it. 

She ended up locking herself inside her room, asking for some privacy. Other than Nina, her personal maid, nobody else was given the permission to disturb her until she said so; not even her father. 

She spent the rest of the day going through some old albums from her childhood. It was the hope of gaining some clarity about the matter that was making her reminisce about her past. 

Her lost gaze jumped from one picture to another as her fingers flicked through the pages. A tear or two would become eminent, filling her eyes up, only to be blinked away. She didn't want her emotions to get in the way. Whatever decision she was to make, it had to be rational. 

Ayla was clearly not ready to give up on her dreams, neither did she want to leave her father behind. The prior was something she could fight for even after changing her home, but the same couldn't be said about the latter. She knew that it had to be done sooner or later. If doing it sooner would ensure that no trouble would befall her father, she was more than happy to do it.

"I am sorry, Dad." She muttered under her breath as her fingers reached out to caress an old photo. She was barely a couple of months old; all cradled up in her father's arms. 

It only made her remember her days as a child. She would rush to hug him every time she had had a bad day in school. His arms had always been her safe haven. The warmth of his embrace would remind her that everything was going to be just fine. 

"I don't want to do this, but grandpa is right. It needs to be done. I have to do this for you." She mumbled to herself before picking up her phone. 

Even if her grandfather was only doing this to keep his family name floating up in the clouds, it wasn't hard to see that it would save the company. 

Her fingers fumbled through the contacts for a while before she hit the dial symbol on the screen. It was good that she had asked Nina earlier to bring her the number; it saved her the trouble to ask for it herself.

Ring…

Ring…

Ring…

She waited for the call to go through. It wasn't until the last ring that it was picked up. 

"Who's there? Do you realize that it's almost midnight?" 

"It's funny how you don't have your own granddaughter's phone number saved. And yet, you suggested marrying her off to someone she barely knows." She tried to hold back the sarcasm in her tone, but failed miserably in doing so.

"I apologize, little one. It's not every other day that one of my grandchildren tries to contact me on their own. " The old man ended up laughing out loud instead of minding Ayla's words. 

"Don't tell me that you blame them?" She shook her head, having a hard time believing how thick of a skin he had.

"I don't actually." 

She could hear a defeated sigh coming from the other end of the line. For the briefest of moments, she thought that she had heard regret in his voice. But before she could know for sure, he was back to being his confident, cocky self. 

"I take this as you have made up your mind. I thought you wanted to take some time." 

It was Ayla's turn to exhale out a sigh. "I did." She had spent the entire day thinking about the old man's proposal. "I don't think I could spend another second thinking about what you said to me. It would only make me change my mind." 

"Is that a yes I hear?" There was a sudden change in the old man's tone; traces of joy seemed to lace his words. 

"It's indeed a yes that you hear, but I need you to reassure me that things would go fine for my father." She put forward her condition. 

"I have not been in contact with either of you in the past years, but that does not mean I have forgotten that you are my family. Mathew is my son. I would never wish him harm." He tried his best to reassure her. 

"Good. I hope you don't forget that." Ayla spoke into the phone's speaker. "Though there's one more thing I ask of you. Actually, make it two." She waited for the old man's reply before putting her conditions forward.

"Anything you say, my dear." 

"Is it possible that it can be done around the weekend? I don't necessarily want to take a day off from my college. Neither do I want it to be a big deal." She wanted to have some time on her hands to get used to the idea of being married before telling it to the world. 

"I will see what I can do about that. I will talk to the old man first thing in the morning. I am sure he won't have any issues with any of it." The old man replied before disconnecting the call. 

Ayla heard the beeps going off. It took her some time to get her thoughts back to the present. She pulled the phone away from her ear before throwing it on the bed, her eyes drifting back to her cold dinner. 

Even though she didn't feel like eating it, she knew she had to get something inside her stomach. She would need the strength to deal with things. More importantly, she needed the strength to face her father. 

Ayla reached out to press a button next to her bed, buzzing Nina. First things first, she was going to need something fresh and warm to fill her stomach up before she could even think of other matters.