With his eyes on her hand which briefly rested on his, Azaiah sighed. Not out of frustration but because he was trying his best not to let his feelings get the best of him.
Despite knowing he didn't have much time on this earth, he had waited for her for many years now. Hoping one day he'd eventually call her his. He turned to Ariana. Her expression, vulnerable and gentle.
He stared into the blueish-green eyes he had always loved.
He slowly felt his resolve breaking but he knew it was better to conceal his feelings for now.
"I do want to have this conversation tonight" Ariana said, her eyes focused on him.
"Fine. The reason why I wanted your attention was because you were so smart and I wanted to have you as my reading partner back then" Azaiah lied.
Ariana was quite surprised by his answer but a part of her knew he was lying and she decided to let it be.
"I'd like it if you could meet my grandfather. Tonight, if you can" Azaiah said, turning on the car.
Ariana knew why Azaiah wanted her to meet his grandfather but she wasn't sure she was ready for that.
The more she thought, the more she wondered about the severity of Azaiah's condition. Would he really die? Wasn't there a way to avoid or get healed from it? She asked herself.
She also wondered how long Azaiah had left to live if truly he was going to die.
She had alot of questions about his health but she couldn't bring herself to ask him any yet.
"Alright" she responded. If he was going to be leaving this world soon then she had to be nice enough to fulfill his last wishes. She thought.
It was the least she could do.
"Are you sure? You can see him another day though. My grandfather can be..." He paused to think of the right word.
"Too open minded at times" he concluded.
"I think I'd would be fine" Ariana said. She knew acting as Azaiah's woman to his grandfather was just acting and nothing more but she also wondered if something might change along the line just like Azaiah had said earlier.
She didn't want to jump into another relationship with anyone so soon but she did wonder if things were going to change and from Azaiah's statement, she wondered if he wanted things to in fact change as time goes on.
But he had mentioned he didn't have much time left.
Ariana sighed as she inwardly decided to give it all a shot. Regardless of the outcome.
As they drove through the night heading to the Hawthorne mansion, the ride was quiet but both individual's minds were in contrast to that.
Ariana finally spoke up "So how will you introduce me to your grandfather?".
"I'd tell him you're my girlfriend but we plan on getting married soon. That's fine by you right?" He glanced at her.
"Yeah, I guess it is" She responded.
Ariana became more curious about the Hawthorne family, making her forget her own problems momentarily.
She began to think about how hard it must have been for Azaiah and his dad. A father with no wife and a young boy child with no mother or siblings.
She knew Azaiah didn't have it easy after his father's death. The feeling of loneliness must've overwhelmed him so much.
As she continued to ponder on the circumstance Azaiah was in, she felt the need to give him a warm hug. Doing that wouldn't make any difference but she still wished she could.
Thinking about Azaiah's life made her appreciative of hers. She took out her phone and decided to send her sister a text.
She hadn't spoken to Ava for a while now and Ava hadn't made her attempt to reach out to Ariana either.
But Ariana was a tad worried about Ava. Hoping that running the company won't be so hard for her.
"Hey Ava, how are you doing?" Her text said.
She placed her phone back into her purse and continued to stare out the window of the car.
In the Sterling mansion, little David had already arrived and had taken a shower. Ready for his night rest when his mother walked into his room.
She walked up to his bed, where he was already tucked in and sat at the edge.
"How was school today?" Mrs. Sterling asked smiling.
"It was alright. We didn't so much today" David said, whilst playing with a button on his PJs.
"Alright. So I have something to ask you dear" Mrs. Sterling moved closer to him.
"Did you and uncle Sam really get stuck in a traffic today?" She asked.
Mrs. Sterling had been suspicious of the entire situation. When David and Uncle Sam arrived home, the man was questioned but he explained that they had only got stuck in a traffic.
Mrs. Sterling then asked how the boys clothes had changed because she remembered his nanny had dressed him up in something different in the morning.
But uncle Sam also explained that the child had gotten a change of clothes from the school's lost and found after he accidentally got his other clothes dirty during sports period.
Mrs Sterling found the explanation fishy but she was relieved her little boy had arrived home safely.
Though she had earlier decided to believe uncle Sam, a part of her still felt something was off so she came to question David herself.
Mr Sterling on the other hand, believed Sam because he trusted the man. He had been the child's chauffeur for a long time now.
Little David nodded his head to his mum's question and she sighed in relief.
"No one hurt you at school right?" She asked and the child answered "Nope", making a popping sound with the "P".