Anna stared at Nick as he made his way towards them. Her heart is beating fast. What is he doing here? How did he meet their grandmother?
"Oh. Did you know each other, hija?" Constancia asks her. "He's the nice man who offered to take me here. I was meaning to surprise you and I really did." The elder woman seemed too happy about it.
Anna turned to her grandmother when Nick got near. "You went with a stranger, grandma. What if it wasn't Nick who offered to bring you here?"
"I'm a good judge of character. Besides, I insisted to pay the gas before he brought me here." Constancia laughed heartily. Nick scratched his head in amusement.
"Lola Connie is amazing," he says.
"Lola Connie?" Paula turned to her grandma. "You let him call you that?"
Anna is chuckling as she meets Nick's look. He winked at her.
Constancia saw that. "You knew each other?"
"He's my ex-boyfriend, Lola, but now we're just friends." Anna replied. She can feel Nick's eyes boring into her as she said that. It's the truth anyway.
"Oh, he seemed to be a nice man. Why did you break up with him?"
Anna tried not to make face in front of her grandma. Nick is here. Why did she have to delve into further details when the person in subject is here? "He just took you home and you're telling me that he's a nice man, Lola?"
"Isn't he?"
Anna glanced at Nick first before replying. "Of course, he's a nice man. He's a very good man, Lola."
"Hello, I'm here in case you forgot." Nick tells them. Paula chuckled.
"Let's go inside," Anna's cousin said. They brought Constancia's luggage which aren't that many anyway. "Anna and I need to freshen up. We're full of dirt and mud."
Constancia turned to Nick. "Thank you, Nick. God bless you, hijo."
Anna's eyes widened as she forgot about her appearance. She saw her cousin and grandmother walked ahead. She turned to Nick who's looking at her with a smile on his face.
"You're still pretty, Anna. Never mind the mud on your face and on your back." He tells her.
She felt herself blush. "Oh..." She bit her lower lip. "Did you meet Lola at the airport?"
"Yeah, I just arrived from New York."
"It's a coincidence that you helped someone who happened to be my grandmother."
Nick chuckled. "Actually, she's blocking the traffic when she's pushing the cart so slowly. I have to do something because I want to see you immediately. I never thought that she's the one who will lead me to you. It must be fate, huh?" He winked.
Anna thought so, too. Her heart is doing somersaults right at that moment. Could it be a sign? They started towards the house when she heard Nick asks.
"What does Lola mean in your language?"
She turns back to him. "It means grandmother. Lola Connie wanted you to call her your grandma."
~~~
Nick is looking out in the window where he can clearly see his car parked in front. Anna's uncle and aunt arrived a half hour later. They invited him to dinner after he was introduced and he gladly accepted. He never expected this to happen and he's more than happy to acknowledge it. He's very grateful to be able to spend his day with Anna's family.
"Have you switched on the alarm of your car, Nick?" Mike asks him. He turned to the older man.
"Yes, sir." He followed Mike when he's invited to take a seat on the couch.
"I was told about you. It's a coincidence that you helped a person who happened to be Anna's grandmother. You should know how my mom could almost sing songs of praises about you with my wife in the kitchen," they chuckled.
"Is Lola Connie, Anna's grandmother on which side?" Nick asked.
Mike smiled. "Mother side. Anna's mother is my sister. When her family totally abandoned her after that trial she challenged to her father, I and my brothers wanted to take care of Anna. But she seemed to disappear after the case was closed and her father and uncle were sent in jail. It's been our great joy to learn that she's here in the US. I invited her to live with us here until she saved enough to be more independent to live on her own."
"What's her answer?" Nick didn't know how he looked excited at the idea of Anna staying in Los Angeles. But Mike saw that.
"She'll be staying here after she settled her things there."
Mike shakes his head. "Tell me, Nick, what is the real deal between you and my niece because it confuses us. I mean, you broke up with her because she can't manage her time between other things and with you. She accepted it in good faith though both of you seemed not happy about that idea."
Nick drew a deep breath. "I really don't like the idea actually, sir, but circumstances called us to do it at that time. She knows that I'm still here whenever she will need me. I have to go in the backseat then, to give her the time and space from everything that's happening to her. Everyone already knows that we're together and I've been very private about our relationship from the start. I don't want her to experience the pressure of being scrutinized by the media and when the news about us came out, she began to worry more. I don't want to impose more problems to what she already had then that's why we've come to that decision." He explained. "That was always one of the hard things I encountered in my past relationships and they are the ones who'd rather leave me than go on about being 'us'. But with Anna, sir, believe me. She's different. I've never wanted to end what we have between us but we have to. And now that there's an opportunity, I'd do anything to start all over again."
"What are your plans?"
"Anna is a simple woman who can be happy with just the simplest things. I can give her the most beautiful flowers or the sweetest chocolates or any material things she can imagine but she only wants one thing." Nick met Mike's look. "She wants the feeling of being loved, appreciation, respect, trust and good companionship. Her simple celebration and appreciation to the beauty of life is something that inspired me with my own. And it made me love her more. As I've told you, she's a one-of-a-kind woman."
Nick felt his eyes grew misty as he speaks those words. He's never been more in touched with his personal feelings like this before. And he couldn't think of any other woman but Anna. She is, and will be, the only woman in his life.
"As for my plans, I'd just have to present myself to her: what I am and the deep feelings that I have for her. Love is what I can offer to her now. All other things will follow later but this, I have to assure her and show her that she is deeply loved."
