Mr. Graham was in his study when Zayn walked in briskly. He was a very agile man, who even in his older years, still had a certain charm and strength to everything he did. He was going through some papers, but stopped mid-way and looked up to welcome his son home.
“I was beginning to think you might turn down this invitation as well,” his father said, shaking his head subtly. “When was the last time you’ve been home?’
“You said it was urgent,” Zayn replied, making himself slightly comfortable on the white couch away from the desk. “What happened?”
“So you wouldn’t have come home if it wasn’t.” It wasn’t posed as a question because both Zayn and his father knew the veracity of those words. Although Zayn loved his parents and could do anything for them, there were just some variants that made him weigh his choice each time he felt like coming over.
But when his mother had called the previous to inform him it was pretty important he was over at the house that morning, Zayn had at once, put everything he had to do on hold, including the fact that he’d wanted to deliver those flowers personally to Rina. He had wanted to see her, for some reasons that were unknown to him. It was just this compelling urge, almost so overwhelming that he thought his day wouldn’t be fulfilling if he didn’t see her.
Perhaps, he was overthinking it.
“How are you doing?” Zayn asked, changing the topic swiftly. He didn’t want to hear a lecture about how he needed to come home often when they all knew the reason he didn’t.
But somehow, his father found a way to get back to the first point of their conversation. “I would have been much better if you had come around each time we invited you. I don’t even see the essence of living in that mansion of yours when we have this here.:
“I need my space, Dad,” Zayn muttered, biting the bait. “And you don’t expect me to…”
“Hey, kid brother!” Nathan sauntered in with sunshine all around him. But for Zayn, it was quite the opposite. His signature scowl was back, and now, he was asking himself why he hadn’t found a way out of this as well. He might have been with Rina now, listening to her talk about how she was looking forward to working at O. S. N fashion house.
And even though he was not exactly ecstatic about it, he would have paid rapt attention to her. If anyone asked him the reason, Zayn would say he was yet to figure that out as well. He just knew what he wanted. Shouldn’t that be enough?
“What were you going to say?” Zayn’s father asked, nudging Zayn to go ahead. But Zayn shook his head. He wasn’t going to get into an argument with Nathan this early. Not only was he not worth it, but he would make a huge deal about something so little.
“What?” Nathan looked from his father to Zayn. “You were talking about me, weren’t you?”
“Nathan, you shouldn’t…”
“No,” he shook his head emphatically. “You have to say what you were going to do before I walked in. I want to hear it.” He was goading Zayn, but since it wasn’t the first time he had done something like that, Zayn was intent on ignoring him all through his childish squirms.
“Zayn…”
“Dad, you should tell me why you wanted to see me so I can return to the office. I’ve got a lot of business to attend to, and the more I stay here, the more the clients suffer.”
It wasn’t serious, but Zayn knew exactly how it would make Nathan feel. He wasn’t the only one who knew how to throw baits. But the difference was that while Zayn was perceptive, and knew when not to bother himself about dignifying certain situations with his response, Nathan was the opposite.
“Of course,” Nathan murmured, rolling his eyes. “You’re the only one with the job to get back to, while I’ve got the whole time to waste. That’s it, right? It was what you were going to say.”
“Nathan…” Their father tried to play peacemaker, but their relationship had eaten deeper than what mere words could attend to.
“You think I haven’t noticed?” Nathan continued, ignoring their father’s interventions. “Ever since I got back from the prison, you’ve been acting like some pompous child around here, with your nose in the air like you are the perfect achiever while I’m some low life. And now that there is the possibility of Dad handing over his company to you as a subsidiary of yours, it all made things worse.”
“I never said I would hand over my company to your brother, Nathan,” their father interceded, after glancing at Zayn who seemed to be enjoying the accosting. He had his legs crossed and his eyes closed like he was listening to his favorite song. And they all knew he didn’t like Nathan.
“I gave an ultimatum to your brother. If he doesn’t get married in three months, I will hand it over to you. Simple and short.”
Nathan scoffed. “That is more like handing it to him on a platter of gold. Dad, he said it before, bragging to my face. He told me there was no woman who didn’t want him in the country. It is going to be the easiest thing for him to do.”
“But I gave you the same ultimatum, only different specific instructions,” their father said. “Stay out of prison for the next couple of months, and I will put you through in the affairs of the company myself. If Zayn could get married to anyone in the country, it would be fairly easy to stay away from prison, right?”
Silence.
“Cat got your tongue?” Was the only thing Zayn said, earning a warning glare from their father. He rose from the couch and muttered, “I think I get it now. You called us over to remind us about our ultimatum.”
“That’s because you both seem to have forgotten.”
“Oh, Dad,” a mischievous grin played on Zayn’s lips. “I can’t forget that, because I have every plan of beating Nathan to his game.”
“This isn’t some competition between you both!” Mr Graham had thought it would make them work together, but he couldn’t have been any more wrong.
“But it is, Dad,” Zayn drawled. “And Nathan’s sneaking around is making it more fun.”