Chapter: 5 The Unwanted Meeting

She finally mustered up the courage to go to that prison. without realizing how she found herself at the door of her parent`s house. maybe she was too lost in her thoughts that she didn`t get any idea of her way here. she exhaled heavily and then finally knocked the door. all her memories popped up like a volcano in her mind of that house once she set her in there. she was still standing at the door , and then a woman who was in her fifties opened the door. she had an unusually sweet expression on her face. she warmly welcomed her in which Ella thought to be quite strange. anyhow she greeted her mother, "Hi! mom"

"Oh! you are finally here, we have been waiting for you for quite a long time. come on in quickly, there`s something special that we have prepared for you today." her mother said to her with her voice full of excitement and joy.

"Huh! .... something special .. for me? is this a joke? or am I dreaming right now?' Ella replied quite surprised as she never had imagined her parents preparing a surprise for her. but still she was sure that it would be something benefitting them too other wise why would they had been so nice all of a sudden.

"Ahh! come on, be quick. you shouldn`t let others wait too long. no one can wait this long for someone you know.' her mother said in a hurry. 'Humph, yeah right." she replied with a grin. Ella could hear a lot of laughter coming from the living room. she could hear her father chatting and laughing very loudly which she thought to be quite unusual, as her father was not someone who could gossip and laugh so loudly. maybe her father`s favorite guests had arrived.., she assumed. as she entered the living room her father looked up and said with joy,

"Oh! here she is. come here, Ella. let me introduce you to someone. this is Jayson, he is one of my best friend`s son. he is also a doctor like you , you may have met him before somewhere. he is a very nice young man. '

" Ah! I see. Hi, I am Ella, a cardiologist. I work in the main City hospital.' Ella replied but she was somewhat confused inside, as she could not get the situation.

'Yeah, I know. your father told me earlier about that. by the way I am Jayson Grove, a surgeon doctor. I used to be in England before but now I am deciding to start working here.' Jayson said courteously.

'Well, that`s good. working and living in your own is the best. you took the right decision. by the way mom,' she said turning towards her mother, "was this the.. something special, you wanted to show me." Ella asked curiously.

"your father and I arranged this meeting for you only so, how do you find the surprise?" her mother asked her happily.

'good!!,'she said nodding her head, "I can see very clearly where you are going , mom'.

"Well, If you understand the situation then we will leave you two alone here to have some chat," her said grabbing her father`s hand," come on dear, let`s leave the kids alone for a while."

And then both of her parents left the room with the two of them there all alone. Ella sighed and then turned towards Jayson,

"Well, please have a seat, then as I guess we don`t have any other choice but to sit down and talk now.' she said smiling.

"Hmm, I think so too." Jayson replied laughing.

"Did you know about this meeting or more clearly should I say proposal.?' Ella asked him.

"I didn`t had that much idea myself too. I was just told to meet uncle aunty, I didn`t knew about this meeting." he replied smiling back.

"Oh, I thought only my parents were like this but I guess everyone`s are like this."

"Hmm, yeah" he said somewhat laughing jokingly.

"Well... allow me to be straight with you. although my parents arranged all this for me I really didn`t had a bit of an idea. this was all done by them only and my will or decision was not involved in all this". she said persistently.

"Okay....so" Jayson said somewhat confused.

"So.... the thing is that.... I really don`t plan to get married just yet. I am really sorry to say this and also if I have hurt your feelings but I really do not want to get married and on the other hand to a person whom I have just met and don`t even know so well. I mean we both do not know each other so well so, I think we should give some time to know each other and to see if we are compatible for each other to avoid any kind of misunderstanding in the future. do you agree with me' she asked tilting her head. "I mean, I am not refusing this proposal I just want you to give us sometime." she continued somewhat worried.

"Oh.... off course, sure . why not? I agree with you. In fact I myself wasn`t prepared for all this too." he replied . at this Ella had a sigh of relief.

"Hmmm, right. its just that maybe our parents are being a bit too hasty but they don`t understand that the people who are going to spend their whole life together are us so we should be the ones to make the final decision and before that we should at least think about it carefully. Right?" Ella asked to confirm the other side.

"Yes, ...yes, you are right. we should think about this carefully after knowing each other." Jayson replied, maybe he had understood what Ella was trying to say behind the curtains.

"Well then, excuse me for a while. I have something to tell my parents." saying this she got out of the room as the situation had already became a bit awkward.

she didn`t meant to hurt Jayson`s feelings but she really could not accept the situation as it was too sudden for her and on the other hand she had long ago given up the title of the obedient and good daughter which had since her childhood as she could not afford to live like a slave any longer. she had decided to go against everyone including her parents and the rest of the world. she had decided to become a ruthless person.

As she headed out of the room, she could saw her mother standing there. she knew that she had been overhearing their conversation for long but she didn`t reacted at all and passed through her ignoring her existence. she did so to avoid any kind of quarrel with her.

"Wait,. Ella.' her mother said fiercely. "what do you think you are doing right now." Ella could see that she was very angry at her for her behavior. she had noticed the tensed atmosphere but she did not want to start up any kind of scene in the presence of Jayson. so she almost whispered but one could guess that she was also angry and was just holding back.

"well, I should be the one asking this question, mom. what do you think YOU are doing? what`s all this about?"

"You have already crossed twenty five. you are getting older day by day. your father and I want you to marry a nice person. What else do you think we are doing? we are doing this all for your own good . you know that we are worried about you....."

"Mom,..... please. stop it . will ya ?"she almost shouted." I do not need you guys to decide my good. what good can you do to me anyway? and I already told you guys that I don`t want to get married just yet so why are you guys forcing me like this.?" Ella almost burst out. she could no longer hold on to this situation. she had almost lost her temper now...