Chapter 81

“Grandpa!!!” Sorin screamed as he ran to hug his grandfather.

I had never seen him like that. He always came off as too mature but seeing his grandfather, it seemed like, another part of him surfaced. Like the childish part of him surfaced.

“You're choking me, young man. Don't you know you're becoming an old man too.” His grandfather joked.

“Grandpa! I'm still a very young man.” He said proudly, as he adjusted his suit with a smile and winked at his grandfather.

“Oh, look at this boy.” His grandfather said and they all laughed.

Finally noticing me, he turned to look at me.

“You must be….” Grandpa Zaveri said but before he finished speaking, Sorin's mum interrupted him.

“Yes, she is the reason we are gathered here, G.P. She is Sorin's wife, Andrea.” Mrs Zaveri said, with a broad smile.

He moved closer to me and stared at me, but I was very uncomfortable. I felt like running to hide somewhere because I didn't know what was going through his mind.

“Goo….Good evening, sir.” I stuttered.

“Sir? How dare you?” He exclaimed, and turned to look at the others. “You didn't inform her?” He asked.

I stood there looking so confused. I didn't know what was going on, I looked at the faces of Sorin and his parents but their expressions were blank, so I couldn't tell if I was safe or not.

“I'm so sorry, sir. Did I say anything wrong? Did I do anything wrong? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It wasn't my intention. Please forgive me.” I kept pleading, not knowing what I possibly did wrong.

He stared at me one more time and then turned to look at his family members, who I then noticed, were trying as much as they could to hold in their laughter.

They all suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, to my surprise.

“Did I scare you?” He asked jokingly.

“A little bit, sir.” I replied with a weird smile and they all laughed.

“Father, you have still not changed after all these years.” Sorin's dad said.

“Well, what can I do, son? If I don't do this, who will?” Grandpa Zaveri shrugged and they all laughed.

“Please, excuse me.” Sorin's mum said and walked away.

“Well Andrea, I was only messing with you. You needed to have seen the look on your face, it was so priceless and hilarious.” He said and we all laughed.

“Wow, it seems like he is a cool person.” I thought to myself as I sighed in relief.

“You look so beautiful, Andrea.” He commented and I smiled.

“Sorin, you're really doing a good job.” He said as he turned to look at him, winking at him.

“Well, I try.” Sorin said and his grandpa scoffed.

“You're so full of yourself.” He said jokingly and they both laughed.

“I'm Raymond Zaveri, but I'm known as G.P Zaveri by my family, most especially, but I can assure you, I'm not so old.” He introduced himself. “It's nice to meet you.” He stretched his hand towards me.

“And since you are family now, you can call me G.P Zaveri.” He added.

And it was right at that moment that it clicked in my head,

“G.P…. Grandpa. So it's been Grandpa Zaveri all along. I had been wondering what it actually meant. Wow.” I thought to myself.

“Okay, G.P. It's so nice to finally meet you, sir.” I said as I took his hand with a broad smile and bowed my head slightly in respect.

“Dinner is served.” Sorin's mum announced as she walked back in.

“Welcome to the family once again, you are already one of us now.” Grandpa said. “Come, let's go to the table.” He urged, and turned his wheelchair towards the dining area, and we all moved there.

The dishes that were laid out on the table were nothing short of exquisite. From caviar and champagne to truffles and wagyu beef, every meal was a decadent feast fit for royalty.

The dining room itself was set with fine china, crystal glassware, and gold cutleries were neatly placed on the table. The plates were white and gold and I couldn't help but marvel at the sight that was before me.

“Wow. This is massive.” I muttered, with my eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

“You look like you've seen a ghost, Andrea. Are you okay?” It was G.P Zaveri's voice I heard and I immediately snapped back to reality.

“Yes, Yes, G.P. I'm okay. I'm just a little bit surprised.” I confessed as I took my seat beside Sorin.

“Why? Don't you set the table like this in your house?” He asked.

“No, we don't.” I replied.

“Why is that? Sorin?” He asked Sorin who I could feel was glaring at me.

I didn't know what he expected me to say actually. Was he expecting that I would lie that we usually had such a grand feast at home?

“Well…. I don't see any reason why we should have something like this when we aren't having special occasions. You know how I am about these things, G.P.” He answered, trying to defend himself.

“If you do not like it, what about your wife? Have you stopped to ask yourself if she likes it?” He questioned. “Andrea, what do you think?” He turned to ask me.

“Well, I'm sure she doesn't.” Sorin replied before I could get a chance to reply and I swallowed.

“You know, marriage is not about you alone, it's about you and your spouse.” He explained and Sorin nodded. “Which is why you should allow her to speak. You just cut her off, that's not so gentlemanly.”

“Whoa! He noticed. Nothing really passes him.” I said in my head.

“I'm sorry G.P. I didn't mean to.” He apologized but the old man shook his head.

“You should apologize to her instead, not me.” He said and Sorin turned his head to look at me.

“Babe, I'm sorry.” He said, holding my hands in his, and thankfully my reaction wasn't that bad because I was caught off guard.

“He sure knows how to pretend.” I thought.

“It's fine.” I said and managed to force a smile.

The chefs soon came out and explained in full detail all the various dishes they laid before us. I was definitely sure I would not be eating some of those meals because I had never seen or heard of them in my entire life.

“I'd better eat what I know.” I told myself silently.

In a few minutes we were all served and we began to eat. In my food, there were peas, which I hated and began to pick aside, not knowing that they were watching me.

“Seems your wife doesn't like peas?” Grandpa Zaveri asked Sorin, who was taken aback because he had no idea.

“What?” Sorin asked, surprised.

“I mean Andrea, doesn't she like peas?” Grandpa Zaveri asked again.

“I…. I guess so.” Sorin answered.

“You guess so? What do you mean you guess so?” He asked.

“Well, I…. I…. I mean, we……” He began to stutter.

“That's not the only thing, though. I noticed she hasn't touched the fish since started eating.” Sorin's mum said.

“Yes, that's true. Why is that? Don't you like it? Mr Zaveri asked.

“If you don't like it, we can tell the chef to prepare another one specially for you.” Mrs Zaveri added.

“Yes, babe. We can ask the chef to prepare another.” Sorin concurred.

“Oh…. No, it's fine.” I quickly said.

“Then why aren't you eating it? Are you not happy to be a part of us?” Grandpa Zaveri asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Oh my! No, that's not it at all.” I tried to explain.

“Then what is it?” Mrs Zaveri asked.

“The thing is…..” I began, but stopped for a moment to look at Sorin who had a confused look on his face.

I didn't want to make him look bad in the presence of his family but there was nothing I could do now since everyone was urging me to talk.

“We're all ears.” Grandpa Zaveri urged further.

“I'm so sorry, it's not because the fish is bad, but the thing is…. I'm allergic to shellfish and seafood in general.”