Chapter 11 A Promise
Lavanya was hugging Eden. Her eyes were closed and he was standing still in his arms like a statue as her mind stopped working with her sudden hug. He was about to wrap his arms around her, when she realized that she was hugging him for more than a minute and she broke the hug.
“Sorry, I got excited.”
“No problem.” He said and smiled.
“I am feeling hungry. Let’s go to eat something.” She said with a pout.
They both walked to the parking lot and got inside the car. He drove to the nearby restaurant, and they entered the restaurant.
As soon as the server saw Eden there and quickly came to him. He greeted Eden. “Good Afternoon, Sir.”
Eden nodded and ordered, “I am giving you two minutes. Prepare a private area.”Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.
Lavanya was surprised as Eden wasn’t sounding like asking for a table. It more sounded to her like he was giving order to the server. The server left, and Eden held Lavanya’s hand, taking her to the private area of the restaurant. As they were walking inside, the staff working there was greeting Eden, and Lavanya was a little confused about this.
He went inside the private area with her. He pulled the chair for her. She sat on the chair, and he settled on the chair in front of her. The server handed them the menus, and Lavanya started deciding on the dishes she wanted to eat but she noticed that most of the dishes were non-vegetarian and she was vegetarian.
She looked at Eden with a sad face, and he looked back at her. He furrowed his eyebrows, noticing her sad face and asked, “Is there anything wrong?”
“Almost all the dishes are non-vegetarian except for salad, and I am vegetarian. I don’t want to eat salad.”
“I didn’t know you were vegetarian.”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but Aunt Bella always prepared one or two vegetarian dishes for me.” She said and he sighed.
“That’s it. I thought you didn’t like this place.” He said and started instructing the server, who was waiting to take their orders.
“Go and ask the chef to cook vegetarian dishes as soon as possible.” He ordered, and the server left.
“We can go somewhere else to eat. We shouldn’t bother them to make dishes which aren’t on the menu.” She said but he was calm.
“But you are feeling hungry.”
“Yes, but we shouldn’t trouble them. Let’s go somewhere else.” She stood up from the chair but Eden held her hand and stopped her. He smiled and said, “You didn’t get it.”
She raised her eyebrow and asked, “What is it?”
“I am giving orders to the staff here and they are greeting me as soon as they see me.” He tried to give her a hint, and she was looking at him in surprise.
“You mean that you own this restaurant.” She said and it sounded like she wasn’t able to believe it. He nodded and smiled.
“You shouldn’t order them around, and should talk to them with a smile on your face. Who knows, they must be having a hard day.” She said, sitting again on the chair and taking a sip of water.
After forty-five minutes, the dishes were served.
“Thank you.” She said to the server, and they started eating. They finished eating and left for their next location.
Eden parked the car in Q-Park Westminster and got out of the car with Lavanya. He came to her side and said, “From here, we will enjoy walking.”
He held her hand and came out of the parking lot. He took her to Big Ben first, then London bridge and later, they walked near the Thames River, and Lavanya looked at the London Eye in front of her.
“It is so huge and beautiful.” She said, and Eden looked at her.
“We will ride it at night time, and there’s lots of time left in it. What do you want to do till then?” He asked, and she started to think about it.
“Let’s talk about something.”
“What will we talk about?” He asked, smiling.
“Do you also like Harry Potter just like me?” She asked, and his smile disappeared as sadness covered his face. She noticed this and thought, “I shouldn’t have asked him this.”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked this.” She apologized, and he looked at her.
He sighed and said, “It’s alright. I think you should know about this.”
“What is it?”
“I was a huge fan of Harry Potter when I was a child, and I used to watch Harry Potter movies with my parents, but I changed after my par…parents passed away in an accident when I was ten years old, and I lost my childhood and happiness after that.” He said, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
She wiped it and said, “I am sorry.”
“I stopped watching Harry Potter movies as I didn’t like watching them now. The last Harry Potter I watched was fifteen years ago.” She didn’t know what to say at that moment, so she hugged him. Her hug made him feel better. He felt relieved that now, there is someone who understands and shares his pain and happiness with him.
“You wanted to know the reason why I don’t know the value of family. It is because I never had the love and care of a family.” He said in his choked and heavy voice from crying. She rubbed his back and said, “I am with you now. Everything will be fine.”
He broke the hug and looked at her.
“Make a promise to me that you will never leave me alone because I have got the habit to live without my parents, but I will never be able to get the habit to live without you.” He said, stretching out his hand in her direction, and she just stared at him, thinking whether to make this promise to him or not, as she also wanted to go back to India.