Cahpter 10 - Dinner

"Happy Evening, isn't it?" Grandpa Kay said standing at the doorway and seeing his entire family seated along with the Brown's.

"Hello, Grandpa, Dad," the children and grandchildren of the family greeted the old man as he walked to his seat.

Grandpa Kay didn't waste time and immediately picked up his cutlery and started eating.

The old man, being a soldier for more than half of his life, finished his meal in a short time; some of the younger generation had barely taken a bite by this time.

But everyone, being used to the old man's habit, didn't say much and just continued with their meal but made sure to increase their pace.

"Grandpa !" Lucas called from the doorway. He had a last-minute emergency, so he had to miss dinner, but he was glad that was the only thing he missed.

Later in the living room, everyone was seated, and Grandpa Kay sat in the center seat.

"Everyone must be wondering why I called a milestone out of the blue?"

He started looking at everyone's expresssions.

Everyone looked at each other, and seeing the question in each other's eyes, they realized that almost no one knew the reason for the meeting.

"My grandson and Lara here have finally decided on their wedding date"

He started but paused and looked at everyone's expressions. Everyone started applauding when the old man's eyes rested on them.

Only the Brown's and his eldest daughter-in-law and one or two other people were truly happy. The rest were just faking it; being an excellent judge of character, he knew that most of those happy smiles were hiding anger within.

So many members from the side branches had their eyes on his grandson- Lucas.

Not only was Lucas his chosen heir, but he was also a self-made man who had more influence than everyone in that room combined.

His granddaughter-in-law was not gonna get it easy, but knowing Lara's attitude, there would be a spectacle to watch soon.

The old man said a few more words and excused himself, leaving the younger generation to mingle without his presence.

"Congratulations" someone called from behind Lara.

She turned to see Alima Baindu, a distant relative to the Kay. She is related to them through Grandpa Kay's late younger sister.

So it's almost no relation at all; Alima is a very beautiful and sophisticated lady, graduated top of her class, and had some accomplishments in the medical world. She is also a very nice person.

But with the memories of their past life, Lara knew that was not all there was to the lady.

She had single-handedly saved Lucas life then. She is the miracle doctor who brought Lucas back to life but died later from getting caught in a crossfire.

All things aside she was so devoted to Lucas because she loved him so and hated Lara equally.

This lady is one of the people that gave Lara a tough time.

Looking at her now and thinking back to her actions, Lara had mixed feelings and didn't know how to feel about her. So she decided to stay neutral.

"Thank you," Lara said, smiling back at her.

"You must feel so lucky, heh." She snarled keeping her voice low so only they both would hear.

Lara was taken aback, but remembering Alima's feelings for Lucas, she understood.

She then looked up at Alima and smiled

"Very," she said provocatively.

Not able to handle her feelings, Alima pretended to try and walk away from Lara and then 'accidentally' spilled her wine on Lara.

"I am so sorry," Alima said, putting down her cup and grabbing tissues to 'help' Lara wipe off the stains.

The people who saw their little interaction went back to their specific conversations after seeing that there was no drama to watch.

Lara hooked her lips up and told Alima that it was ok and she would just clean up in the bathroom.

Lucas saw Lara headed to the bathroom and led her to his room instead, saying that it would be more comfortable for her to clean up there. Thinking it doable she followed him up.

Standing before the mirror, Lara looked at the red stains on her white dress; how could she forget that Alima was quite childish and immature at this time and only became the steadfast and mature woman when the Kays had gotten into trouble, so in hindsight, she should've expected this.

She took some tissue paper, and the more she tried to wipe off the stain, the worse it became; seeing this, she decided to just give up.

" Lara," Lucas called out at this moment, and Lara walked out.

"I see you haven't gotten that out yet," he said, observing her little dilemma.

"I know, it just keeps getting worse," she winked, surprising herself and bringing a smile out of him.

"It's okay, I have a backup for you, here," he said and showed her the dress he was holding.

Lara decided not to be too polite as this was to be her husband soon and asked him to open her zip on her back.

She then took the dress and went back into the bathroom to get changed.

Looking at herself in the mirror in the dress that Lucas gave her, it fit well and was a bit longer than the one she just removed but prettier. The little details on this dress didn't match her hair band, but whatever, she just decided to let it be so.

When she came out of the bathroom she saw a maid waiting alongside Lucas.

"Miss, I'll get this cleaned," she said and took the soiled dress from Lara.

Soon, they were left alone in the room again; earlier, when she had a task at hand, Lara didn't think much about being alone with him, but now that they were alone again and she had nothing to engage her mind, she was starting to have thoughts.

Lucas looked at the quiet fidgety Lara and cocked his head to one side, observing her for a few seconds.

"You know, I missed you"