A Chance at Love (completed)

Chapter 6

        “Arabella, is that you?” My grandfather called.

        “Yes, Lolo. It’s me, your favourite granddaughter.” I smiled at him and hugged him tightly.

        “Don’t let your cousins hear that.”

        “Of course, Lolo.” Then we laughed together.

        “I brought you fresh fish. I personally caught them with the help from James. Oh that’s right. I forgot to introduce you to James.” He gestured for James to come closer. “James, this is my granddaughter, Arabella. She’s the one I’m telling you about earlier. I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll just give this to your grandmother.” Then my grandfather went inside the house.

        “Hi.” He said.

        “Hi. James, right?” He nodded.

        “Arabella, is it? Nice name.” Then he smiled. I was wrong about him being a snob and arrogant. He seemed like a nice person.

        “You can call me Ara.” I smiled back.

        “Ara,” I heard my Dad from behind me.

        “Will you please excuse me? I think my dad wants to talk to me.”

        “Alright. I’ll go ahead then. See you later.”

        I went towards my dad and he said, “Are you really alright here? You can still change your mind. Do you want me to send you to a different place?”

        “Dad, don’t worry. We talked about this right? I need this. And this place is already perfect. I’ll be okay.”

        “I know. But your Mom and I are going to miss you.”

        “I’ll miss you too, Dad.” I hugged him.

        “You know what? I’ll hit that Mico once I see him. He caused my daughter to be away from her family.” He said with a harsh voice.

        I just shook my head and said, “Dad, don’t do that. He doesn’t deserve it.”

        “Yes, he’s not worth it. He deserves more than that. He deserves to be punched you know. Because he promised me that he will take care of you. And now what?”

        I laughed at my dad and said, “You’re just like Carlos, Dad. He really wanted to punch his own best friend for me.”

        My dad looked at me. I know that look. I know he’s going to ask the same question he asked when Mico was giving me a ride home. “Is he courting you? Arabella, don’t you think it’s enough to be hurt by his kind?”

        “Dad, Carlos is different. You know that. His family even wanted me to look after him when we go to New York. And by the way, he’s not courting me. We’re just friends.”

        “But Arabella, be careful not to make the same mistakes again. I don’t want my daughter to get hurt again.” He reminded me.

        “Yes, dad.”

        “What are you guys talking about?” My mom went towards us. “We just finished preparing our meal. C’mon. Let’s eat.” We followed Mom and went to the dining area. It is composed of a six sitter dining table. It is an intricately carved table with glass table top. It was a happy lunch. The food was delicious. It has been a long time since I tasted food made by my grandmother. We just talked about fun stuff while eating. James has a lot of stories he shared to us. They were very funny. I think I’m going to have fun in my stay here.

        “James, you look familiar. Are you a celebrity?” Finally, someone asked. It was my Mom.

        James smiled and said, “I think you can see me once a week in a television show. But that was before. I already stopped.”

        “But why did you stop?” I asked bluntly. “Oh sorry. I didn’t mean to be nosy. I’m just curious.” I said defensively. I think he’s having a hard time answering the question. The mood became serious. Everyone was quiet so I decided to break the silence. “You don’t need to answer that. It’s okay.” I smiled at him.

         After lunch, my parents decided to leave. They can’t stay any longer because they still have so many things to do back at home. I bid them farewell. I’ll surely miss them. The afternoon went by so fast. I decided to go near the beach to watch the sunset. It was very beautiful. The sky was orange and pink. It was an awesome ending for a day like this.