CHAPTER 42
Nina's POV
To say I was confused was an understatement. Danny was still crouched on one knee with the open box in his hand as he stared back at Amar. Amar sauntered in with a boyish smile on his face. He ignored everyone. His gaze was on me.
Danny stood up immediately and I could see that he felt intimidated and angry at Amar's presence.
What the hell is Amar doing here of all time? Must he always come into whatever makes me happy? Danny makes me happy and I am just about to accept his proposal but Amar is here to spoil everything. A proposal I didn't get from him. I anticipated it but it never came. Why does his visit have to be now? I asked myself
"Who the hell is this?" Danny questioned with an angry look on his face as he pocketed the box.
"Who the hell are you too?" Amar retorted back.
I never knew my birthday would turn out that way. My day was already ruined by Amar's presence. I turned to look at Daisy and Nadia who were silently watching the drama.
"Nina, can you tell me who this intruder is?" Danny asked again.
I finally closed my agape mouth. Then I opened it back and answered. "He is Amar."
"Amar Singh?" I nodded.
I could see the smirk and pride written all over his face. His face was still the way it used to be. There were no changes. His eyes, nose, mouth, and curly hair of his that I can kill to have were all the same. He was in a black Armani suit with a suede shoe and he looked like a groom about to be wedded with the bouquet in his hand.
"It looks like I am well known", Amar prided himself and moved closer to me. He attempted to give me a peck but I moved away. He smiled and dropped the bouquet. "Happy birthday, darling."
"What are you doing here, Amar?"
"I'm here to see you, Nina", he replied.
"See me? What for?" I was with a furrowed brow and it was obvious that I was mad at him. Mad at him for so many reasons.
"Nina", Danny called. I turned to face him. "I'm out of here", he pecked my cheeks.
"Why are you kissing my wife?" Amar demanded.
"Your wife?" Danny requested. "The last time I checked, she was single."
Amar smiled again. "The last time I checked, she is the mother of my son."
"Thank you for rephrasing. She is the mother of your son but not your wife."
"Really?"
"Yea?"
They looked at each other in silence for a while. "You love her, don't you?" Danny questioned.
"Yes, I do...madly, seriously, and uncontrollably in love", he chuckled and walked around the room, his gaze still on me. "That is solved. But do you know if she loves you too?"
Danny looked at me and I looked away. Why the hell is he looking at me that way? For reassurance or what? I decided to talk.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?"
"You two?" Danny asked me.
"Yes", I shouted at him. "You two are grown-ups for crying out loud."
"You know what? I'm out of here", he said and stormed out of the house before I could stop him.
I sighed and glared at Amar who chuckled and sat down comfortably on the sofa.
"Forgive my manners, young ladies", he apologized to Daisy and Nadia when his eyes fell on them. Then he stood up and gave them a hug one after the other.
"I never thought we would meet this way, sir", Daisy smiled as he hugged Nadia. "I've been wanting to meet you."
"I love you already", Amar said and he went to hug her. Daisy chuckled before Amar walked back to the sofa. "And I'm sorry for the way I behaved earlier. I was trying to claim what is mine."
"What's yours?" I retorted. "Are you dumb or what, Amar?"
"Mom", Daisy called to me. "Please take it easy."
"Take it easy, you say?" She nodded.
"Mom? Is this beauty your daughter?"
"It's none of your business, you asshole", I yelled and Nadia sneaked out quietly.
"Mommy", Ellah came in. We all stared up at her and Daisy went over to pick her up.
"My baby is awake?"
"Two beauties living with my woman", Amar said again. He seems to be enjoying himself.
"Granny", she called.
"Yes, baby", I took her from Daisy.
"Happy birthday."
"Happy birthday too, love", I pecked her. I was trying so well to calm my nerves. "I love you."
"Where is my chocolatey?" She demanded.
"Oh, Goodness!" I muttered and whirled around to face Daisy who was seated near Amar. "Daisy, I forgot to get her the chocolates I promised."
Daisy laughed. "I have a pack in the room. I will give it to her", she came to take her from me.
"Daddy?" Ellah said again in her baby tone. She was staring at Amar. Amar smiled at her sweetly and Ellah giggled. I shook my head.
"Daddy '', she struggled to get out of my hold, making it difficult for her mother to carry her. I dropped her and she ran towards Amar whose arms were already open to welcome her. He picked her up and twirled her around. Ellah laughed so hard and still called him Daddy at every interval.
Amar sat down and place her on his lap. Daisy was smiling widely. It was obvious she had fallen for his charms.
"I'll leave you two to talk", she said and walked to her room.
"What's your name?" He asked her.
"Ellah", she answered
"Ellah darling.....you are pretty", she fidgeted with her fingers and smiled. "Thank you, daddy."
"She reminds me of Damien. She looks like him", Amar announced and looked up at me.
I scoffed. "Talking with so much confidence as if you were here when he was little."
He was silent for a while and I sat down, looking away. I couldn't say if I was happy he was here or unhappy. It's been 26 good years since we last saw each other physically and that was when we had sex. When he made passionate love to me. The day I refused to erase from my memory because of how much I treasure the few moments we shared together. Mostly in bed.
"I know I wasn't here but you sent me pictures. I still have them. I cherish them so much, despite not being here."
"And you are proud of it?"
"Of course not. I wanted to be here."
"But you weren't. What stopped you?" I looked at him.
"What stopped me? You know the answer to that, Nina. You stopped me from coming."
"I did? Really? What a lame excuse?"
"I really don't want to go back into the past, Nina but at this moment, I can't help it again. You didn't inform me of your pregnancy when you ought to. We've talked about this already."
"What are you doing here?" I barked at him.
"What am I doing here? What sort of question is that?"
"I ought to know because the last time we saw each other was the day you left me with your seed growing in me."
"What the hell, Nina! You know that's not true. Why are you blaming this on me?"
"In our last conversation, you turned the tables around, Amar. So tell me a good reason why I shouldn't blame you? Why can't you just accept the fact that you are at fault? You destroyed everything yourself."
"I'm sorry. I was frustrated", I apologized.
"So you decided I was the right person to pour out your frustration on? You are ridiculous!"
"I just feel things would have been different if only you told me about your pregnancy right before I married Lakshmi."
I stood up and walked to him. "There is this one question I keep asking myself and I still can't find the answer to that question. Amar, you were well aware of your betrothal charade and you went ahead to sleep with me? Why?"
"I loved you, Nina", he stood up to meet me. "And I still do. I couldn't stop myself from having you."
"Oh! So you decided to have sex with me and then go back to your lovely betrothed?"
"What are you saying? You know that's not true", he yelled.
"That's not true, yet you left me for 26 good years. You expect me to believe the trash you are telling me right now?" I was becoming emotional and he tried to touch me.
"Don't fucking touch me", I moved away. "You left me, Amar. You never came back. I waited for you. I brought our son up alone. I sent you his pictures every year, yet you never came back. I kept hoping that one day....just one day, you would come back to your senses and come back but you never did. Damien is 25 years already."
"Now that I decided to give life a chance, to give happiness a chance, to make something meaningful of my love life and experience what I had been waiting for you all these years to do which you never did and bump....you appeared from nowhere and you expect me to welcome you with open arms? You must be stupid. I used to be stupid but not anyone. I was stupid for waiting for you. I've gone past that already. This is not the Nina you used to know. I can't welcome you, so you better go back to your loving wife and leave my life alone", I finished and the tears I was trying to control spilled from my eyes.
"No, Nina", he pulled me back as I turned to go to my room. "Come on, Nina. Forgive me already. I'm sorry."
"Forgive you? Just like that?"
"We both offend each other, Nina. I have forgiven you already for letting me go into a loveless marriage. A marriage I regret going into. I forgave you a long time ago so you should do the same."
"I'll accept no blame from you, Amar. I did that for you so you could be happy."
"But I wasn't. I wasn't happy. My life was miserable without you", I could see the tears swelling up in his eyes.
"So you just realized that?"
"Of course not. I couldn't come here because of family obligations", he defended.
"Family obligation? Then I see no reason why you should be here", I turned back. "Go back to your family. I am not your family."
"Come on, Nina", he called and ran after me. He pulled my body forcefully and I struggled to free myself from the embrace. When I succeeded, I slapped him on the face. He held his cheeks and I saw the tears rolling down his eyes. His tears were affecting me but I tried to hide them.
"You just ruined a beautiful moment. Danny just proposed to me. Something you never did. I couldn't say the yes I intended because you interrupted. You are a coward, Amar, so go back home", I strode towards the stairs.
On the last staircase, I stopped and said to him. "To your family obligations", then I dashed to my room, closed the door, and flung myself to the bed, as I cried my eyes out.