The meeting (pt.2)
Roman’s POV
“Romano, you are not saying anything.” Nana said, and I broke the stunned gaze Sofie and I were currently sharing.This is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
I was so astounded by the sudden discussion about marriage that I didn’t even know what to say, but I knew I had to utter a word to at least counter Nana’s marriage plans before the situation escalated.
“I-err,” I looked from Sofie to Nana, “Sofie and I are not in a hurry to get married, Nana. I hope you can understand, ma. We want to learn each other’s differences, and what not before getting married an-”
“How many years have the both of you been together? When did you start dating?”
“Two years. We started dating two years ago.”
“It’s been almost a year.” Sofie and I blurted out at the same time which made Nana frown, and caused Sofie to dart a frightened stare at me.
Fuck.
I quickly salvaged the situation by placing a hand over Sofie’s, “What Sofie means is that we met two years ago but we officially started dating about a year ago.” I smoothly lied.
“Oh. Very well then. By the way, I noticed something, my dear.” Nana swerved her focus on Sofie.
I swallowed anxiously, “What is that, Nana?”
“I wasn’t talking to you, Caro. I am having a discussion with my granddaughter-in-law.” She said, and the weird sensation that clouded my chest whenever she referred to Sofie as her granddaughter-in-law struck me again.
I ignored the feeling and just mumbled an apology.
“As I was saying before the rude interruption, I noticed you are not wearing an engagement ring. Is there a reason why it’s not on your finger?” She asked, all traces of light-heartedness gone from her tone as she fixed her stare on Sofie’s tensed form.
How could I have forgotten something so crucial?
An engagement ring should have been at the top of my list.
I made a mental note to go to the jewelry store with Sofie before the day ended, lest I forgot.
“Actually, Nana, I had a little bit of an accident on my left ring finger last night, so I decided to take it off to prevent further irritation in the area.” The first set of lies smoothly flowed out of Sofie’s mouth and my jaw unclenched with relief.
But my respite was short-lived as Nana’s face was still pinched in a frown.
“Oh, that must have really hurt. How did the accident happen? Is it a cut or a burn and if you don’t mind, can I see the injury?”
I froze as I tilted my neck sideways to stare at Sofie.
Strangely enough, she didn’t seem preoccupied with fear, “I accidentally cut myself when I was chopping some veggies to make some salad. And yes of course, Nana, you can see it.” She placed her left hand on the table, and true to her words, there was a tiny cut on the said finger.
The most surprising part of it was that the cut still looked fresh.
Sofie just shot a fleeting stare at my bedazzled countenance as Nana assessed her finger.
“Oh, dear. How did you allow that to happen? You should have asked the maid to make you some fruit salad instead of ruining your beautiful skin like this.” Nana grimaced, to which Sofie smiled.
“It’s nothing serious, ma. It just looks like that, I don’t even feel pain there anymore.”
“Be rest assured, Nana. She’ll wear the ring on our next visit,” I said, to back Sofie up.
Nana nodded, seemingly satisfied which made me inwardly heave a sigh of relief, “Alright then. Make sure you take very good care of yourself, Sofie.”
“Yes, Nana.”
“So, you said you are not getting married anytime soon, right?” Nana started again and I nodded.
She furrowed her brows as if in deep thoughts for a moment before her countenance softened, “Okay, I agree you have to do that to ensure you have no loopholes in your marriage. I agree with that.” She nodded before her features morphed into a serious expression.
“But,” She continued, which made Sofie and I exchange tense glances.
“I will only agree to push the wedding as far as you both want if you agree to do as I say.”
Was she going to ask us to have a child?
I hoped not.
I sincerely hoped not.
I didn’t want to have kids now or in the future.
I didn’t despise kids though but there were some traumatic experiences I had with kids that made me cancel the prospect of ever being a father.
When Nana saw that Sofie and I remained quiet, she cleared her throat and proceeded with her condition, “The both of you will go to Greece for your engagement honeymoon this weekend and you will spend a week there. Consider this as a sort of pre-wedding gift from me.” She grinned.
What?
I sighed, “Nana, I have to oversee the affairs of the company. I can’t go away for five days.”
I really couldn’t.
If I spent five days with Sofie, without the company taking up half of my time, I would surely breach the contract by having sex with her, and I couldn’t have that at the moment.
The only thing that held me back from following my instincts and ramming her into our shared bed since her first night at my house was the fact that I was often preoccupied with work.
I was barely hanging onto the last bit of my self control and I feared it could totally dissipate if I really agreed to Nana’s request.
“Nathan is there to handle it all, isn’t he?”
“Nana. I just can’t leave everything to him. I’d be overworking him.”
“I’ve already discussed it with him and he has no problem with it. I offered to pay him extra and he agreed.” Nana muttered.
“What? Why didn’t he say anything about it to me?”
“I asked him not to.”
I groaned, “But Nana, I d-”
“It’s either you go to Greece or you get married before the year ends, choose one,” Nana countered and turned to Sofie, “Or do you have any problem with going to Greece, cara?”
Sofie stared at me as if expecting me to answer the question in her stead.
“Darling, I just asked you a question.” Nana said.
“I-I’m fine with it.” Sofie stuttered and Nana smiled smugly.
“Good. Roman, you have no excuse and you will do as I say, va bene?”
I sighed for the umpteenth time that day, “Okay, Nana.”
“I presume Sofie has an international passport, right?” Nana averted her focus to Sofie.
“Yes, ma. I do.” Sofie replied, and Nana nodded with a satisfied grin.
Later on, when Sofie and I had settled in the car, heading home, a thought suddenly crossed my mind and without thinking, I spouted, “Nathan, make a detour.”
“Why, sir?”
“Change of plans. We are going to see Sofie’s parents,” I declared and he nodded, “Yes, sir.”
“My parents? All of a sudden? Do you even know where they live? Why do you want to meet them? They have no business with anything that’s going on between us.” Sofie rambled out, worry twinkling in her eyes.
I smirked, “I know everything I need to know about you, doll. You are my fiancée after all.” And with that, I tore my stare away from her, back onto the road.