Love At Last

LILY

Finally, the bakery was empty. It was finally time to get some rest. I tried to help my other staffs round up a few tasks when nana walked in and took a seat.

“Nana?” I called out. She beckoned on me to come sit with her. I had to pause doing the dishes and went to nana who looked like she came to discuss something of utmost importance with me.

“Is everything okay?”I asked with concern as I grabbed a seat beside nana and sat.

“How were today’s sales?” she’d always inquire.

“Everything went smoothly, nana.” “Excellent job today honey, you’re making me proud,” she appraised me. I grinned ear to ear; nana’s praises were like sweet incense to me.

“That guy…” the length of the grin I had on my face slowly shortened. Nana looked a bit serious.

“What guy?” I asked as the grin slowly but surely disappeared.

‘That always hangs around you,” she described. I didn’t have to think twice to know she referred to Cayden. Only two guys hung around me – Jarod and Cayden. Nana wouldn’t refer to Jarod as ‘that guy’; we knew him long enough, he was like family.

“Cayden?”

“Yes,’ nana confirmed.

“What about him?”

“He was here?” I was shocked. She’d been there the whole time!

“Yes nana. He… was… here,” I stuttered.

“So what do you intend to do?” she asked mildly. I understood she overheard our conversation.

“What do you suggest I do?” I asked humbly.

“Go for it.” ‘Go for it’? For what exactly?

“Umm…?”

“Accept Cayden’s offer,” she blurted and left me astonished. Was she being serious?This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“Pardon?”

“You heard what I said, Lily. Men like him are hard to come by these days. Life has decided to give you a second chance at it. Start anew.” Nana completely misunderstood what she saw earlier. From the way she talked, it was obvious she thought I and Cayden were ‘a thing’.

“Umm… nana, I think you’re getting it all wrong…,”

“You don’t have to try and convince me otherwise, Lily. I think Cayden’s feelings are genuine here,” she said. She then held both my hands and stared directly at me. “Lily, listen. I know you’ve gone through a lot and may be feeling a little restrained, but trust me when I say Cayden is that man,” she spoke with so much compassion. Nana wasn’t ready to accept that she had the facts all jumbled up.

Nana started to give me a number of reasons I shouldn’t let the opportunity slip through my fingers. To be honest, I saw reasons with nana but I still couldn’t believe nana of all people advised me so.

“Nana, I really want to attend this competition. I think it will be good for me to go there and test my baking skills.”

“The competition is in three days, right?” she asked.

“Yes ma,” I affirmed.

“Then you can still make it back in time for the competition.” That was a possibility but I didn’t want to take the risk; knowing full well that ‘unforeseen occurrences’ were rampant.

“Think about it properly, Lily. Don’t throw this golden opportunity away. This could be your chance to finally settle down and have a beautiful life,” she persuaded.

“But nana, isn’t that too expensive of a risk to take? I have to prepare properly before the competition. I already have a limited amount of time and now, you want me to shorten it even further?” I grouched.

“If that’s your concern, then work towards striking a balance between the two so you don’t have to miss out on any one,” she encouraged.

“Right now, I love my life the way it is, nana. With you and Jacek by my side, I couldn’t ask for more. I really am not looking for a better life than this one, nana,” I spoke mildly. Whenever I spoke to nana, I was always conscious of my tone. Some things she’d say may spur me to lash out, but I always tried my hardest to keep my tone in check. She was the only one who took me and my baby in when the whole world abandoned us.

I tried convincing her otherwise but her mind was made up. I couldn’t tell nana that Cayden was going to make me pose as his girlfriend just for a special event, though I knew that would have gone a long way in dissuading her.

“What happens to my business while I’m gone?”

“You really don’t have to worry about that. Your granny is here and she’s got your back,” she assured me with a warm smile. “Think about it carefully, okay?” she caressed my hands.

Apart from the fact that nana advised me to go with Cayden, the way she praised him didn’t make me feel good at all. I knew him well enough to know that nana had the completely wrong idea about him. What? ‘Cayden is that man?’ I scoffed in my head so many times as I pondered on that very statement. Cayden was very far from being that man. All he ever did was cajole me into doing his biddings, only thinking of himself notwithstanding how I felt. How nana managed to get a completely twisted and deluded idea of his personality baffled me.

After nana left me alone, it was then between me and my pool of thoughts. I pondered hard on everything nana had told me. Nana was a mother figure to me. She always advised me on what and what not to do; this time wasn’t different. I never for once doubted nana’s words of wisdom, but this time, she had the wrong idea of the nature of me and Cayden’s relationship to start with.

I held out Cayen’s black card in my hand, letting out sighs after sighs, deep breaths after deep breaths, lost in my own head. It was then it occurred to me that I never asked him in detail what the meeting he wanted a company for, entailed.