Recap

Sam and Aayush meet unexpectedly on one fine morning. Aayush suggests that they go sightseeing around Manhattan for the whole day. Sam refuses but since he urges, she agrees to go with him. They have a wonderful day together and towards night, he takes her to ice skate in Central park. Sam doesn't know to skate , so he holds her tightly. He asks her to dance with him and suddenly both of them get an urge to kiss each other. Just when Aayush comes forward to kiss her, Sam pushes him away and runs away from him. She scolds herself for trying to kiss a married man and feels guilty. She even accuses herself of being a bad mother. She returns home to find Chris cooking and taking care of Emily .She promises herself not to make such mistakes again and that she had a daughter to take care of.

Sameera's POV

"Sam..I love you !", Aayush said as he took hold of my hands.

He leaned forward and we kissed !

I screamed and woke up from sleep !

A week had passed since the incident at Central park and I dreamed about it every night ! Duh !

The clock showed 8 a.m !

Damn ! Chris would be here any moment !

He had invited Emily and me to his niece's birthday party, at his parents house.

He said he would come to pick us up .

I hastily got ready and woke up Emily .

I prepared breakfast and fed her too !

"Mommy ! Mommy ! ", called out Emily from her room.

"Coming dear !", I replied as I went to her room.

I opened the door to find her standing near the bed, with her hands on her hips.

She was wearing a red frock and a red hair band to complement her dress. She looked like a doll.

"How do I look mommy ?"

"You are as beautiful as ever , my darling !', I said as I kissed her.

"Here , I have packed this for Sarah !", she showed me a present.

"Great work ! I am proud of you !", I took the present in one hand and lifted her in another arm, to go downstairs.

The living room door opened and someone entered. I knew who it was.

"Are you ready my girls ?", Chris called from the living room.

"Uncle Chris !", Emily jumped down from my arm and ran downstairs to meet him.

I slowly went behind her and went to the living room.

Chris helped her onto her shoes and looked up to see me.

"Whoa !", he said surprised.

"What ?". I asked.

"You look beautiful Anita !"

"Thanks !", I blushed.

I had worn a magenta dress with black pumps and had let my hair loose.

"Ready to go ?", he asked.

"Yeahhh !", Emily jumped up and down , and rushed outside.

I grabbed my purse, locked the door and got inside his car.

Emily sat at the front , while Chris drove.

It was less than an hour's drive to this place called sleepy hollow , where he had spent his childhood .

The road to the house was surrounded by flowering trees on both sides which gave an exquisite appearance to the place. Slowly, his house came into view !

I was speechless !

It was a huge , magnificent bungalow that strongly reminded me of those houses in jane austen novels .

Almost twenty houses could fit in there !

A huge gate opened to let the car go inside. The house was surrounded by dense woods on one side and a small lake on the other side. A garden in front of the house complemented it much further.

Chris smoothly parked the car and got down. Both of us got down as well and he gave his key to the valet.

"It's a beautiful house !", I said in awe.

"Do you like it ?", Chris asked.

"Like it ? I love it !"

Meanwhile Emily had started chasing butterflies and she disappeared into the garden !

"Emily !", I ran after her.

"Wait !", Chris called out and ran after me.

I heard Emily's laughter and I turned to see her happily playing with butterflies. It truly was a cheerful sight to see my baby being happy .

I went to her and said, "Emily dear. You shouldn't run off like this without telling Mommy ! Ok ?"

"I am sorry Mommy !", she pouted.

"I have forgiven you !", I smiled at her cute actions and carried her outside.

"We'll meet my family !", Chris said and led us towards the house.

The living room was fully furnished with wood and had a pleasant ambience. The main attraction was the huge glass chandelier at the centre of the ceiling.

"There you are !", someone said.

A tall woman, middle aged, wearing a blue dress with strings of pearls around her neck, approached us. She had a gentle smile and a calm face.

"Mom !", Chris hugged her.

"So good to see you dear !", she embraced him happily.

She then turned towards me and said, "This must be Anita !".

She smiled and shook my hands firmly.

"Yes Mam ! Glad to meet you !"

"Call me Mrs.Abbott please. "

"Okay Mrs. Abbott . This is my daughter Emily .", I pulled Emily to the front, who was hiding behind me .

"Ohh. You have a lovely daughter . She is just like Sarah !", she said shaking Emily's hands.

Sarah is Chris's niece, that is Alice's daughter. We had come to celebrate her birthday party.

"Where is Father ?", Chris asked her.

"He is the backyard dear ! Make our guests comfortable Chris !"

"Yeah right Mom !", he winked at her.

"I have a lot of guests to attend to . Excuse me, my dear !", she said and walked out.

I admired her elegance !

"Let's go outside !', he said.

"No ! Give me a tour of the house !', my architectural side opened up.

"It'll be boring Anita !"

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Okay ! Chill ! Come on !", he smirked and took us inside.

I had to shut the architect part of me every time something in his house amazed me. Apparently people would get bored whenever I started becoming all "architechy", a term I had given to myself.

There were more than 10 bedrooms , most of it being occupied by the guests.

"My Dad lost half his money buying expensive Persian rugs for my mother !", Chris laughed.

'Seriously ! What does your dad do ?", I asked.

"Uh..He is the owner of Abbott group of companies .", he said , with an air of disinterest.

"What ? ", I almost choked.

The Abbott companies are one of the leading businesses in the world , having a turnover of billions of dollars !

"You are not serious , are you ?"

"I am not joking Anita ."

"Oh my God ! You filthy rich creep ! You never told me this ! But, why are you working in this small office when you are a billionaire ?"

"Nah ! Not interested ! I can smell something good from outside ! Come !", he pushed me .

"I am asking you a question Mr. CHRIS ABBOTT !"

"Anita . I am totally not interested in Dad's business. He has begged me, threatened me (which was very funny of course) to join him in the business. But, I like what I am doing !"

"Well, its actually good to pursue your passion. I am proud of you !", I smiled.

"I know !", he said and we went to join the others in the backyard.

We went into the backyard and were greeted by a astonishing site.

There was a huge clearing behind the house where the birthday party was supposed to take place. Actually, the woods surrounded two sides of the house. If one walked straight from the clearing, they would reach the dark woods. There was no fence of any kind that separated the house from the woods.

About a hundred people were gathered for the birthday party. There was a huge banner that read "Happy Birthday princess " with Sarah's photo on it .

Chris had noticed my look and said, "Dad loves being grand ! "

"That is obvious !", I laughed.

There were tables scattered throughout the place and people were seated , gossiping and enjoying themselves.

There were kids playing .

A lady walked towards me and handed me a small tiara. I thanked her and placed it on Emily's head.

When did they start giving out tiaras instead of birthday caps ? Right, I forgot that this was The Abbott's party.

Emily wanted to join the kids to play so I let her off and asked her to be safe. She happily ran off to join them.

"Come on !", he ushered me towards the center.

An elderly gentleman was talking to a pretty lady .

The lady saw us walking towards them and beamed at us. She said something and the gentleman turned towards us.

"My son !", he hugged Chris.

"How are you Dad ?"

" I am as fit as you !", he gave a mighty laugh.

He was a simple man. No one could tell that he was a billionaire, just by looking at him.

"I am Alice.", said the pretty lady to me.

"Hey. I am Anita. Chris has told a lot about you ."

"Good or Bad stuff ?", she laughed.

"Good ones so far ."

"You never stop, do you ?", Chris pulled Alice into a bone crushing hug and swung her like a small child.

Alice laughed and asked him to put her down.

"This fine lady must be Miss Anita !", Mr.Abbott addressed me.

"Yes sir. How are you doing ?", I shook his hand.

"Quite well my dear ! Chris never stops talking about you !", he grinned.

I raised my eyebrow.

What did he mean by that ? My thoughts were interrupted by someone.

"Mommy !"

It was Emily. She was with another small girl, who was dressed in a beautiful white frock.

"What's up dear ?", I bent to talk to her.

"Meet my new friend Sarah , Mommy !", she said, pointing to the girl.

So this is Chris's niece.

"Hey Sarah ! Happy Birthday !", I smiled and shook her hand.

"Thank you Miss Anita. I love your gift very much ! See !", she pointed her hand to me.

I had bought a bracelet for Sarah.

"I am glad you like it my dear. Be careful not to lose it.", I stroked her head.

"I'll never remove it ! Thank you !", she said and both of them ran off to play.

I stood up to find Chris standing behind me. I wanted to ask him what he had told his family about me but before I could speak he took me to one of the tables to have lunch.

After lunch, Sarah cut her birthday cake. Just as I had expected , the cake was huge and decorated. It had several tiers and fountains that strongly resembled a wedding cake. Four people had to carry the heavy cake and set it right in the middle of the clearing.

There was a band that played the birthday song. Emily stood near Sarah and she fed Emily the cake first. I realized they had become best friends. Sarah is a very sweet girl and seemed like the best companion to my baby .

There were many photographers who clicked pictures of everyone, for every second.

As evening approached, the band began to play music and some tables were cleared away for people to dance.

Emily was helping Sarah open her presents and they were having a wonderful time. I watched people dance when Chris came up to me and asked to dance with him.

"No Chris, I don't want to !"

"Oh come on Anita. Please !"

Despite my refusal, he persuaded me and pulled me to dance.

Just as he was about to hold my hand, Alice came and whispered something to Chris .

"Oh shucks ! Okay !", he said to her.

"What happened ?", I asked confused. "Is something wrong ?"

"Nope. Everything is fine. I have to show you something .", he held my hand and took me away from the dance.

"Chris ! Where are we going ?"

"You''ll know soon.", he said and led me to the woods.

I stopped at the edge of the woods, which was little far from the party.

"You wanna know where we are going ? Listen carefully !", he gestured towards the forest .

I listened and all I could hear were the birds and soft rustle of leaves.

"Listen carefully !"

I strained my ears and concentrated .

Somewhere in the distance, I could hear the sound of water flowing.

"Water ?", I asked.

He smiled, "I am taking you there. You'll love it . You're a nature lover, aren't you ?"

He had got to the point and I couldn't resist my temptation to visit the place.

"Fine, You got me !"

He grinned and led the way into the woods.

We walked for a few minutes and reached a spot that took my breath away.

There was a small waterfall inside the forest which I had heard from outside. My mouth was hung open and I walked towards it in awe.

The water flowed smoothly into a small pond below . The place looked like a fairy tale. But what was unnatural about the place was that there were fairy lights that had lightened up the waterfalls and the vicinity.

"Chris, why are there lights here ? This place is beautiful on its o....", I turned to Chris, to see him on one knee, holding a ring .

"Will you marry me Anita ?"

.......................................................................................

What do you think about the turn of events guys ?

Will Sam say YES or will she say NO ?

Stay tuned guys :)

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