The Girl He Didn't Want

Chapter 52 Ending

35 years later

The attic was dark, gloomy, and dusty. Nobody liked going up there and that meant I had to be the one doing the dirty job. The stairs were quirky, unstable, and old – but I climbed the stairs slowly, turned the lights on, and searched for the important item that was needed. In one corner I could see some of our old furniture packed and sealed, dust everywhere. On the other side, a box of files and other stuff was neatly placed. 

Then my eyes caught the wanted item. I unpacked it from the open box and opened it. The album was red on the outside and when I opened it all kinds of different pictures were shown. I flipped some of the pages and remembered one particular memory.

Ahh, the first time I had sold a painting for the first time. James Powell.

A picture of him standing beside my artwork, all smiling politely on the photo. I sighed out of pure happiness. He was the sole reason behind my success today. Browsing further I saw a few more pictures. Flashes of memories ran through before my eyes.

¨¨*¨¨ ¨¨*¨¨ ¨¨*¨¨

'This is my father, Richard Powell, my mother, Alice Powell and lastly, my brother, Owen'

I held my breath and hoped for a good atmosphere around us all. My parents, Sascha and Vinni were sitting on one side of the living room while James and his family were across them. I was standing in the middle of both sides. I wore my best outfit I had which was a midi skirt and a peach-colored blouse. My hair was hanging loose over my one shoulder and I wore some of my favorite earrings. 

I made sure to get ready on time for when James would arrive at my parents' house. I was beginning to sweat a little bit. This was not something that happened every day as my family was about to meet James' family. He was officially coming over to ask for my hand in marriage.

Gosh, that sounds so old fashioned...

I rolled my eyes over my pathetic situation but figured it was the best way to get what I really wanted. Even though I had hoped for a romantic proposal. My dad reached out his hand to James and his parents and shook hands with them each. He also reached out to give Owen a handshake. I smiled warmly at Owen for his very stunning outfit of today's occasion. He was wearing a blue pair of jeans with a forest green shirt. 

His hair was combed nicely all the way to the side, and he was wearing the same cologne as James. He was sitting in the wheelchair and smiled happily at my family and once in a while, he made eye contact with James too. I guess they had some bromance going on there as well.

James was looking amazing as always. I was proud of him and how he got all the way here to do something he had never done before. My mother was now walking in with a tray of all kinds of Tamil sweets and snacks. She offered Owen a vadai, which was not exactly a sweet but more a spicy snack. It basically looked like a donut, was fried too but had green chilies in it and was made of Urad Dal. James' father and mother took one too. 

We all waited to see their reaction when they tasted it. Owen ate it in one go. I saw how my family held their breath but to our surprise, he just wanted one more. The other two unfortunately had to fight their way to eat theirs. I guess it was too spicy for them.

James saved them by eating the rest of their snack. I chuckled a little for myself. After a while the air between us got lighter, so James took the cue to cut to the chase.

He cleared his throat and all our eyes were now on him.

'Mr. Ravikumar, as you know I and Maya have known each other for a long time as friends, but then we both fell in love with each other. Your daughter is the one I want to spend my life with. And I've come to properly ask for your blessing. I want to marry your daughter' he looked serious and all, but he also looked smoking hot while saying that!