Chapter 9 [ ENTERED ]

Ivanna

I come out of my dream world and drive his hands away from me. His offer has made me happy enough still, I'm not sure if I will be able to do that or not. I leave the chair and face him.

    

     "Can I get some time? I don't have spare time in my schedule so, I'll have to manage my time table", I tell him as he passes me a reactionless look. It doesn't look good to keep an offer pending when you're getting it without any trouble. However, in my case, it's totally different.

    "Sure, take your time", he tells me. "But make sure you don't make a delay since it's a short time offer for you", he reminds.

    "I'll let you know as soon as possible", I smile at him. He is looking quite different from yesterday. Christian was right. I shouldn't judge someone so quickly. I turn to go again but stop while remembering something.

    "Actually, I lost the direction to the exit", I tell him.

Adavan

Unknowingly, she is giving me all the opportunities to be with her. Though I was really mad at her decision of taking some time, she decreased it by asking for help from me. I wish she accepts my offer soon and comes here frequently. 

    "Let me drop you to the exit", I walk out of the room as she joins me. While walking through the corridor, I glance at her for a few time. She was staring at my residence surprisingly.

    "Do you live alone in such a big house?", she exclaims.

    "I have servants"

    "Not them. I meant family members"

    "They are no more"

    "I'm sorry"

    "That's fine. It doesn't upset me now" 

    "Oh!', she becomes silent.

  

    "Did you like my house?", I ask her, wanting to know what she feels about me and my place.

    "It's huge and cool. I liked it", she beams.

    "Do you find your dream home into this?", I ask her.

    "Not exactly", she says as I narrow my eyebrows. What does she mean? Who doesn't want a dream home like this?

    "Why?"

    "I don't need such a big palace for myself. I earn less, so as Christian. We will be buying a tiny-sweet home for us after marriage", her lips widen. My blood boils in anger, I can hardly control it. I wish I could grab her tightly, pin her against the wall and spit out on her face that she is only mine and she should stop chanting that bloody Christian's name before me.

    "I hope your decision will change", I shrug, clenching my fists.

    "What?", she looks at me in confusion.

    "After you learn some music and start making money, you can change your decision and buy a big one", I cover up my statement.

    "Nah! I don't like much luxury", she replies. When people don't get the taste of luxury, they don't dare to dream big. In her case, it's also the same. I'm pretty sure, once she gets a little bit of flavour of luxury her opinion will be changed forever.

By the time we reach the firm gate, it's almost evening. I'm not in a mood to let her go.

   "It's too late. Should I drop you?", I offer her. 

   "No. No. Thanks. I can manage", she says, looking at me immediately. "You have a lot of work to do. I have almost eaten up your time"

I don't want her to doubt on me right now. So, I better control my desires and let her feel that she is not more than a random girl for me. 

    "I will not be accompanying you", I laugh. "The driver will drop you. Safe and sound", I signal the driver to bring the car. 

    "It wasn't necessary", she mumbles. 

    "It is. You have come a long way just for a misunderstanding. I must send you safely", I open the door of the car, she is still hesitating to get inside. 

    "Please", I signal her to climb inside. She half-smiles and gets inside the car. 

    "Bye", I come near the window and she passes a casual smile to me. Why can't she smile at me the way she smiles for Christian? It freaks me out every time. 

The car leaves my place, I keep looking at it till it vanishes into the darkness. I hope she accepts the offer without overthinking. Otherwise, I have many ways to get my work done.

Ivanna

I arrive at my work and sit idle for 10 minutes at my desk. I have 30 minutes to take some rest before the shift starts. But my mind is continuously working. I'm thinking about Adavan's offer. It's a golden opportunity for me. On the other hand, it can affect my health as I hardly get time to sleep on weekends. If I start taking lessons at his firm, I'll have to cut off my relaxation on weekends. And I can't leave my job too since we have no other source of income. 

Whenever I'm in a dilemma Christian helps me to make my decisions. I think I should have a chat with him. I dial his number, after a chain of bells he picks up.

    "What's up, babe? Did you reach the call centre?", he snaps. After a long hectic day, his voice works like a stress buster to me. 

    "Yes, I reached 45 minutes earlier", I tell him. 

    "Wow! How?", he exclaims.

    "Adavan sent me in his car. So…", I mutter.

    "See, I told you. He is good at heart"

    "Yeah. He is. Chris, I wanted to tell you something. Are you busy? I mean your assignment…"

    "It's done, baby. Tell me. What do you wanna say?"

    

    "The thing is Adavan has given me an offer", I tell him.

    "Offer? Like what?"

    "He asked me if I love music and if I wanna learn it. He will give me a freshers scholarship to do it"

    "Wow!", Christian's voice almost dances in joy. He seems to be very very excited. "Really? That's so great Ivanna. You always wanted to learn it, no?"

    "Yes, but…", I hesitate.

    "But what? Why are you hesitating? It's such a great opportunity. Just imagine, we'll be together in the sessions, every weekend. It'll be fun. We can meet more frequently besides, you'll be able to fulfil your dad's dream", he beams. He is right but I'm more concerned about my schedule. How can I manage all these things together?

    "But Chris.. My schedule", I mumble.

    "I know baby. But unlike other boyfriends, I won't tell you to take less stress. If you wanna do something, you will need to break the barrier. Without working hard you can't achieve anything. It's your father's dream Ivanna and you're getting a golden opportunity", he explains. Christian is always so sensible and thinks practically that I have never doubted on his decisions. He'll give me the best advice, I know that. 

    "If you're saying then I'm ready to do", I smile.

    "That's like my lady. Did you talk to Adavan about it?", he asks.

    "No. I told him that I'll let him know later. I'll tell mum about it and then confirm it to Adavan"

    "Sure. Will talk to you later. Uncle is home", he says. He lives with his maternal uncle. His uncle isn't keeping well these days, most of the times Christian is busy with him. 

    "Ok. Sleep well. Bye"

    "Bye"

I cut the call and get back to work. I can't distract myself from the moment when I touched the piano keys for the first time. That moment felt so good that I'm unable to erase it from my mind. Finally, I'm going to water the dead plant of my dreams again. 

Working in a call centre is not less than fighting a war. I had attended almost 200 calls until 3 am. It's a break time, everyone leaves their desk and head to the canteen. I badly need a complete supper as I hadn't eaten anything since afternoon. 

    "Tired?", Emanuel, my colleague snaps from behind when I walk towards the canteen.

    "Like a hell", I sigh. We both walk faster as we have only 10 minutes to feed ourselves   

    "By the way, did Christian crack some lottery?", he giggles.

    "Aamm.. No", I roll my eyes in confusion. "Why are you asking this?"

We enter into the canteen and walk to the counter.

    "I saw you climbing down from a Mercedes. It was so cool", he chuckles.

    "One Hakka noodles and one veg fried rice", I order for him too and turn back to him. "Well, the owner of the Mercedes was Adavan Gomez", I tell him.

    "Oh! Wait. What?", he almost yells shockingly. "Adavan Gomez? That musician?"

    "Yes"

    "Oh my God! How? I mean how luck you are!"

    "Your order", the canteen boy places our plates as we take them and head to the table. 

    "I don't find it that much interesting. I mean yeah, he is famous but taking a drive to his car, that's not an achievement of mine", I take my seat and he sits in front of me.

    "For me, it could be. Damn! He is a celebrity man", he takes a spoonful of rice when I concentrate on my noodles. "How did you meet him by the way?"

    "It's a long story. But I can tell you in brief. Christian is taking a musical course in his firm. He had offered me a scholarship for that course too", I tell him.

    "You can't be luckier, girl", he giggles. "So turning into a musician finally"

    "Maybe, but it's tough. I don't have basic knowledge about music"

    "You can do it. Trust me", he beams.

I smile at him and hurriedly finish my dinner. Early morning dinner! Lol. Meanwhile, my phone rings, making me shocked. It's 3:15. Mum must be sleeping and even Christian doesn't call me at this hour. Who is this? I wipe my hand and take out my phone. It's an unknown number.

   "Hello, who's this?", I ask, being confused.

   "Ivanna", that cold husky voice hit my ears. It's Adavan. But how did he get my number?