✧𝓓𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰✧

Chapter-6

"Sofia and Henry are doing very well in the school. We are very proud of them both." Thomas said looking at them both dearly. "I am sure all your kids are doing well too." He added on now looking at all of them with a proud smile. Leona felt utterly happy looking at his proud smile directed towards her too but her happiness was short-lived. "Ofcourse yes. But they could do better. Especially Leona must do much better. She is still on the average scale. I know she is capable of more,she will do it. Won't you dear?" Leona's father looked at her with an expectant smile and all she could do was to give a small nod.

She was shocked to see her mother nodding her head along with him,she knew her mother did that in an encouraging way but still it tugged at her heart that she did not even voice out about how she was doing her best even after knowing everything.She just went silent after that,gloominess taking over her. She looked up to see all the younger ones looking at her to whom she gave a little smile continuing to force the food down her throat.

"So want to tell me more about this strawberry person?" Henry asked trying to lift the mood.A small smile crossed her lips at the sweet nickname given to her Lia. "Lia Pearl." For some reason bile rised in her throat,a strong urge to wanting to talk to her surged through her senses. "Hey, it's okay." Henry reached out to hold her fist on the table seeing her clenching it tightly,looking at her with care. "I have not spoken to her since morning. I miss her Henry. She must be feeling sad too. I could not even inform about the dinner as it was planned in a rush." She said,feeling even more miserable as each second passed by. She thought about how it would have been much easier if she had her own phone but they just would not get her another one after she accidentally broke the last one. She kept pushing the fact that she did not inform her to the back of her mind but with the little situation at the table,it all came crashing down on her.

"You must really like her a lot I guess." He said as he saw her eyes getting glossy.At that she looked up at him feeling her heart pounding against her chest and a giddy churning in her stomach. She kept convincing herself that it was too early to have feelings for her as she started feeling things as soon as they started talking and somehow that habit of pushing her feelings away just got stuck to her. And she kept saying the same thing to herself over and over again not even realising that it has been quite longer than early stage already.

So hearing Henry say that was like standing face to face with herself. Her mind processing everything and her heart finally coming to a calmer rhythm, she slowly but steadily accepted that she actually liked the girl. It was not early, it was not irrelevant or an illusion. It was the truth. She looked at Henry with a flinch as he shook her shoulder. "You had zoned out." Just a silent oh left her lips and she stared at him who just looked at her questioningly.

She looked down at her lap clenching her palms together."I like her." She whispered to herself and kept repeating the same sentence untill a huge smile filled her face. Then she took a deep breath looking up at Henry and said with absolute surety. "I like her. A lot." An unexplainable happiness filled her as she glowed with bliss. "I am so happy for you Leon." Henry whispered with a smile.

All her gloominess was taken over by the happy realisation as all of them finished with their dinner.They all departed their ways with a promise to meet up soon. As soon as they reached the house all the kids fled up the stairs quickly wishing good night to their parents.

Lauran and Lucas stopped Leona by her hand before she could enter the room "We know how hard you work. We look up to you Leon, do not mind father's words. We are proud of you." They both said in unison. She looked at them gratefully and hugged them both tightly kissing their cheeks with affection as she whispered a sincere thank you and they all made their way into their respective rooms.

She quickly opened her laptop looking at numerous texts from Lia since morning,that read "where would you go baby?", "Is everything fine?", "Are you okay?", "Probably you are busy and am just panicking", "Please text once you are free". She felt bad for not letting her know prior itself. Ever since they started talking,there was not a single day that has gone with them not talking for such a long time so it was understandable why Lia would panic and a particular text that was sent just a few minutes ago was way too endearing to Leona's heart,"Lia misses her flora" accompanied by several cute little emoticons.

She swiftly typed in a text explaining everything that happened since morning and went to change into her night dress. Coming back after finishing her night routine. She opened their chat reading"Oh god! You are here. Are you fine? All good?" She thought she would have forgotten the little incident in the restaurant but somehow looking at Lia's concern she just felt it all again and she typed in "Not really." Within a moment a text was received "What happened baby? Do you want to talk about it?" If you ask with such dearness how would I not want to talk? " It's just dad. I understand he wants me to do better in everything so that I would have a great future. I respect his thoughts and decisions. But is it really too much for me to ask for his respect towards me and my choices too? I try so hard Lia. I put in so much of efforts. I give my best in everything I do. Yet he just seems to be not satisfied with any of it at all. It would be okay even if he is not satisfied with it atleast he could be appreciative of it right? I feel so let down and helpless knowing that everything I do,somehow goes down the drain. I feel so exhausted baby." By the end of the message she had droplets of tears streaming down her cheeks. It was just way too heavy for her to keep it all in.

"It is completely okay to feel drained Leona. And it is definitely not too much to ask for your father's respect for you. It's your right,it is your's to be. He should have known that as a father but guess sometimes people are just going to behave the way they want to. Atleast a little appreciation would definitely not hurt him but screw that. He has no idea about how amazing, hard-working, strong and talented his daughter is and how blessed he is to be the father of such a respectful girl." Reading those lines boosted her whole being with strength. Even though she still had tears welling up in her eyes,a small smile snuggled her lips.

"I respect your efforts Leona. Even if not completely yet, I still do understand you in a way that I can actually comprehend what is going through that pretty little head of your's. I am appreciative of you, each and every second of the day. With you every single day of mine shines even more brightly. I am proud of you baby." If previous text made her smile tenderly then this text definitely made her cry out of happiness. "God! I wish we were talking on call. I miss you so,so much." She said with a tear stained face and a huge smile unaware of the fact that the other girl on the other side was also in the same condition.

"I wish that too. I really want to talk to you on call right now. Please do call me tomorrow if you can. There are so many things I want to share with you." And Leona felt even more bad for not having a phone. "I will try my best to call you tomorrow. And somehow I feel like you are tired too. Everything is fine?" Only if she knew how this one sentence made the other girl's body tremble under the duvet as she was wrapped into a burrito.

"Not really but I want to talk about it on call,directly to you." She just sighed at that "Okay baby, I will try calling sooner. Just know that I am here, I will always listen to you and be there for you." Leona sent in which made Lia smile with content. "I trust you Leona." Those words echoed in her head as she replied "I trust you Lia". These words were etched on the other girl's heart.

"See you soon baby. I feel tired,I will go to sleep. You sleep well please." Leona mirrored the same words putting away the laptop and turning of the lights before she hit the bed.

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