THE PHONE BUZZED for the umpteenth time. He looked at it from the corner of his eyes, breathing out a sigh. He already had a lot on his platter that day and could seriously do away with the unrelenting phone call. But he knew that there was no escaping from the person, who had been calling him since yesterday, and if he tried to ignore her anymore, she might just turn up at his office and holler at him straight for five hours, that too infront of his employees.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he reached out for his phone. It had stopped buzzing at the moment. Sighing heavily, he decided on returning the call. Yet before he could take action, the screen alighted. He slid the receive button and brought the device to his ears.

Before even he could squeeze in a greeting, a shrill voice on the other end startled him and made him retract the phone from his ears.

"NATHAN AVERY!"

Bringing the phone back to his ears, Nathan said "Well, hello to you too, Mom".

"Keep your hello with you! And who the hell do you think you're talking to?! You actually think you can talk to me so nonchalantly after ignoring my calls since yesterday evening. And you certainly have grown some balls, young man, not coming back home inorder to escape your mother!" spat the angry voice from the other end.

Running a hand through his hair, Nathan breathed out a sigh. His mother can certainly be a spitfire sometimes, well most of the times.

"And what's with those sigh's?! You trying to make people believe that your lovely mother is harassing you day and night? Stop them immediately, you old goof!"

Shaking his head slightly at her choice of words, Nathan said gently "Mom! Calm down. I was really busy with the new project. Hence I wasn't able to come home yesterday. I had already visited the designer and they have taken care of the fittings. The caterers are also all good. And I'm pretty sure the decorators are all set too. So please relax and have a good rest till the time of the party arrives".

"But what about you? You have taken care of everything you say, but I want to know how you are doing? I don't want my son to tire himself out completely before his own engagement party." his mother, Stella Avery, replied in a calmer voice.

"I'm alright. Don't you worry about me and add some more wrinkles to your face." Nathan said in a lighter tone.

"But I have to. After all, I'm your mother." Stella replied warmly.

"Mom, I'm alright. I assure you that you won't have any problems from my side. Everything will be okay in tonight's party. Just relax." Nathan said.

"Nathan, are you happy? Are you happy about this engagement, about getting married to Julia?" Stella asked in a small voice, trying to suppress her fears.

"Does my happiness even matter, Mom?" Nathan scoffed.

Gasping, his mother said "Son, it is not how you think-"

Stopping his mother mid-sentence, he said clutching the pen so tightly, his fingers had started to turn white, "Mom, it's okay. You tried from your end. I don't blame you or Dad. It's all my fault. It will always be my fault."

"Nathan."

"Now if you will excuse me, I have to complete filling the tender of our next big project. See you at the party. Goodbye and take care, Mom" with this Nathan cut the call and tried focussing back on his work. But the conversation brought back some memories.

Memories of a brunette with honey coloured orbs, laughing, splashing water at the beach and running towards him.

"Arghh!" Letting out a small growl and running his hand through his hair, he vanqished the vision and decided to revert his attention back to the unattended file on his desk.

~*~

The party had just started, Avery mansion was decorated in an elegant way. Dressed in a tailored three-piece grey suit, Frank Avery looked every bit of the pompous and dignified man that he was. His wife, Stella Avery, stood right beside him, dressed in a midnight blue gown with full sleeves. They were greeting the guests, who were marvelling at the architectural beauty of their mansion. The mansion shimmered due to the moonlight and the light coming from the fairy lights. Frank Avery actually had an exceptional taste.

Frank moved a bit towards Stella and whispered in her ear "Where is Nathan? The Andrews are already here."

Stella, trying to pacify her husband's growing anger, said in a calm voice "He is already on his way. Although I wish he arrives here sooner because Julia had asked about him for three times already".

"Call him again and tell him to reach here fast. It's his engagement party after all and also remind him that our next big project is with the Andrews. He must not do something to incur their wrath at any cost". Frank said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, I'll call him right away." Stella replied.

"And Stella, where's the other son of ours?"

"Victor is already here, dear. I'll ask someone to look for him." With this Stella waded through the bustling crowd in search of a quiet place to call Nathan.

In the meantime, Nathan had already reached the mansion. Making his way from the parking lot towards the entrance, his eyes caught sight of something, something that he hadn't dreamt of seeing again in his life, something that made him stop dead in his track.

Rather someone.

A certain brunette with honey coloured orbs, laughing.

But this time, there was no splashing of water or she wasn't running towards him.

This time she was hand in hand with a guy, having dirty blonde hair.

This time the reason of her laughter was that guy, and not him.

~*~

Hello, everyone!

Rini here:)

Thank you so much for giving this chapter and this story a read. If you liked it, please do vote and let me know what you think about it through your comments.