Grandma Helen
Over the next couple of weeks, I join Hayley and her adorable mutts on their weekly walks. I tell her about my life and ask about hers. I want to know as much about her as I can before I set my plan into motion. There’s a sadness about her at times and I can’t help but wonder what put that look in her eyes. She’s extremely loyal, that I can tell from just a few conversations. She seems to care about this old women even though she barely knows me. I can tell her work keeps her busy but every time I have asked to see her or talk to her, she has made time for me. None of my grandson’s other girlfriends had even thought to talk to me beyond a “hello" and small talk about the weather. Not to say that they were bad people. They just weren’t right for my grandson. Each time I see Hayley I am more and more convinced that she is the right woman for my Xander.
But how do I get them together? It will take more than a simple introduction. My grandson will do as I ask if I tell him about the cancer. He will do it, he will do anything if he thought it would give me the strength to fight this disease, but asking him to date Hayley isn't enough. I need him to fall in love with her and that wont happen on a few dates when he feels forced. He needs to be around her all the time to see what I see in her. I can’t force his feelings, those he has to find on his own. Marriage is their best chance at falling in love.
I just have to give them a chance and the spark will flare on its own. I will need Hayley’s help with that, but how will she react? My grandson will marry her but how do I convince her to agree?
Xander
Gran's waiting for me as I get home. All my favourite dishes are laid out on the formal dining table. That's my first clue something is up. Don’t get me wrong, gran is an awesome cook, but we have a chef and gran generally only cooks on special occasions. The second clue is the way she's fidgeting with the hem of her sweater . Gran fidgets when she's pondering something. “Wow, what's the special occasion?” I ask as I walk over to kiss her cheek and give her a hug.
“Can't I just spoil my favourite grandson everything now and then?" she smiles as she hugs me back.
“No complaints here, you can spoil your ONLY grandson anytime you want". I know there’s something on her mind but I keep quiet as we sit down to eat, allowing her to take the lead.
Our meal is over and my fork and knife on the plate before she begins, “Xander, I haven’t been feeling well lately…I went to the hospital and did some blood work….the results are back. It's cancer. The doctor is very hopeful. It was picked up early and he thinks my treatment options are promising", she continues.
I stare blankly at her for a second, before I'm rushing out of my seat to pull gran into my arms. I didn’t even know she was unwell. What type of grandson am I? She went to the doctor alone, got these life altering results on her own. Oh man.“ I’m so sorry gran. I’m sorry you’ve been going through this on your own. We are gong to get through this. We will get you the best specialist. Everything is going to be fine. You are not alone anymore.” I whisper as I hold onto her like my depends on it.
Gran taps my back soothingly, “I haven’t been going through this alone, my boy, don’t put that on you. I have a new friend that’s been a real help to me. In fact I would like you to meet her.”
“New friend? Is she from your senior citizens club”.
“No", she laughs “I met her on the beach, the day I got the news and she’s closer to your age than mine dear"
Someone my age on the day my gran gets bad news? Seems a little too coincidental to me. She kept in contact with gran all this while? There are a lot of opportunistic women out there that would latch onto gran once they knew who she was just to get access to me and the family empire. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad my gran hasn’t been alone through this whole process but I need to make sure this is legitimate. That this women really cares about my gran. I won’t allow anyone to use her. She has a heart of gold and I've seen women my age try to get in her good books in the past just to get to me.
” Sure gran, I would love to meet her. What’s her name?” I ask. Just as soon as I've done a background check on her, I add to myself.
Hayley Grandma Helen has a specialist appointment today and asked me to come with her. I offered to pick her up but she insisted we meet there. Strange but ok. I've grown really attached to the older women. My own grandparent’s passed away a few years back and so it’s nice to have her around.I'm busy texting a whatsapp message as I enter the reception area of the doctors suite. Then I decide to delete the message altogether. It’s a message from my ex. Yes, the cheating a**hole, that’s now married. It’s just a simple “hi, how are you” message, but I refuse to respond. I am not getting dragged into that mess again.I put my phone away and plaster a bright smile on my face as I look up to greet gran.Only grans not alone. Beside her is Mr green eyes himself, in all his sexy glory. What on earth? I stand there staring at them not quite being able to putt two and two
XanderI stare at her retreating back, still grinning to myself at her blush. I notice gran smiling at me and I hug her to my side “ready to go" I say.Gran keeps the grin in her face as we get into the range rover. She’s quiet, till we enter the massive gates enclosing our property. Then she turns in her seat and faces me.“ In all seriousness Xander, I have something to ask of you and before you say anything, know I've thought long and hard about this and I need you to hear me out with an open mind"“Gran?” I ask, more than a little confused. Just a few minutes ago she was smiling at me and now she’s all serious. What could be going on.Gran holds her hand up to me to stop me from speaking, “ Just listen, my boy. I have always wanted and will always want what’s best for you. You believe that, don’t you?”“Ofcos I do gran"
HayleyMy alarm goes of at 4am and I press snooze. I do this two more times until I can’t put of getting out of bed any longer and finally pry my eyes open at around 5am, give or take a minute…or five. To say I love sleep is an understatement but unfortunately with my shifts at work, its really hard for my body to adapt to any sort of regular sleep pattern. I don’t have time to grab breakfast as I rush out the door at 6am but this isn’t anything new.I get to work and two people have called in sick with the flu. We are so short staffed. My day goes by in a blur as I handle queries and try to process as many urgent patient samples as possible.By the end of my shift , I’m mentally and physically exhausted and all I want is a hot shower, food and my bed. In that order. The last thing I’m prepared for is to see grandma Helen waiting for me outside my office building. How did she even know where I work, let
HayleyI have been living my life in the shadows for awhile now. It’s still a struggle to forget all the hurt I’ve felt from past betrayals. It feels like everything bad that could happen, happens when you let down your guard and choose to be happy, or at least that’s been my experience. So why am I agreeing to gran?Why am I feeling a little excited about this? Like life is giving me a second chance.I'm still lost in my thoughts when my phone begins to vibrate and Ava Max “On me" starts playing. I stare at the screen a little blankly not recognising the number. I'm about to put the phone back down when gran exclaims "What are you doing, answer it. It’s probably Xander! I gave him your number this morning”.“What??? No. No way!”, I say throwing the phone on the table. This is all happening way too fast.Grandma Helen promptly presses answer and puts the call on loudspeaker befo
Hayley You make a spur of the moment decision and then the next morning it hits you…like what have I done? I've already met with gran Helen again. We’ve gone over a plan of sorts. I'm to meet Xander later. Play it by ear and basically agree to whatever his proposal might be. Gran and I spoke about my family this morning and what I would say to them and we both agreed it would be best they think this marriage is real. How I'm supposed to convince them of that, I have no idea, especially after my anti social life-style these last few years. All of this is assuming Xander is even going to propose marriage! What if gran has it wrong and he has something completely different that he wants to talk to me about? That would be the biggest joke of all I think as I chuckle to myself like a lunatic. I’ve been standing in front of my white built in cupboard for the past hour and getting more depressed by the minute. Nothing looks good on me!
XanderI'm early. I always am. In business it has proven to give me the edge. It’s one of the reasons I hold multiple investments and businesses and the reason I’m a billionaire at twenty-seven. I'm never flustered because I am always prepared. I wasn’t born into money. Everything I have, I've worked damn hard for, that’s why now, I play as hard as I work. I've earned it.So for Gran to want me to settle down at 27 has had me in knots. I can’t just do as she says but I can’t jeopardize her health as well. I’d never forgive myself if I refuse the women who has never asked a thing of me and then something happens to her. That’s why I decided to go with the flow but on my own terms. If gran wants me to marry, the girl of her choice, I will, but it will only be until I’m sure gran is out of the woods health wise and long enough to convince her I’ve tried to make this marriage w
Xander “I'm all ears", she says as she leans forward to give me her full attention and inadvertently pushes her breasts together giving me a glimpse of them over the top of her dress. Well fuck me. Does this girl know what she’s doing to me? I try to bring my attention back to her eyes but damn is it hard with those plump twin peaks begging for my attention. “Erm yeah…” I say as I try to get a grip. This is not going how I planned. I knew we had chemistry from the day at the doctor’s room, but this is ridiculous. I feel like a horny teenager. “…I have a business proposition for you", I say as I force myself to snap out of it. I can’t go down this road with Hayley, not if I want this plan to work. “A business proposition?” “Yes…like I said, my gran thinks highly of you and I think highly of her so I'm hoping we can reach an agreement that will be mutually benef
XanderI am laying on my king size bed thinking about my night out, more accurately I’m thinking about my future wife to be. Eyes open or closed all I see are Hayley and those “fuck me” heels she had on. I imagine my hands peeling of every layer of clothing until all she has left are those heels wrapped around my waist.The effect she has on me is not what I expected and I have a feeling the next few months are going to be interesting. I stare at my phone and decide to message her, I can’t seem to help myself. I need to know where her heads at. She responds and we decide to meet tomorrow to go through the terms of the contract. I find myself looking forward to seeing her and that worries me. Besides barely knowing her, I know I can’t afford to mix business with pleasure.I wake to sunlight streaming in through the French windows overlooking the property’s vast gardens. I haven