What Love Sees

Three

Robert Stirling proudly announced to his wife and daughter when he came back from the office that there was a new and exciting development at the Paper

“Well don’t keep us in suspense, out with it” Maybelline laughed

“Garry called me a few days ago saying he had a proposal for me, we had a meeting today where he told me of his proposal, he wants one of his magazines to be distributed with our paper”

“Oh my God, that is great news indeed, which one of his magazines?” asked Elizabeth

“‘Empire’, can you just imagine such luck?”

Elizabeth was excited

“That’s wonderful, ‘Empire’ is becoming one of the fastest growing lifestyle magazines, and this is really going to boost our sales dad. And what about Richard, does he know what his father’s up to? I believe he is the Director of Empire”

“Of course, my dear, he is personally handling this contract and that means we will be seeing a lot more of him” said Robert and he smiled at Elizabeth

“He is still single and very successful”, Elizabeth blushed

Maybelline clapped her hands joyfully

“That is absolutely great, you know how Emily and I have always wished you and Richard would be more than just friends”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes

“Mum! We are talking about the newspaper right now…”

“Well it wouldn’t hurt to have a son in law in the process; you always had a crush on Richard if I remember correctly”

Embarrassed, Elizabeth looked at her father

“Could we please talk about the contract? Have you called a meeting yet?”

“No, I’m calling one for Monday morning; there is a lot of work to do.”

Elizabeth could hardly contain her excitement when she went to her sister’s room, she was practically beaming, Natalie finished from her call and turned to her sister,

“What are you doing home, thought you’d gone off to work” she asked

“Nah, took the day off, got to do some shopping, my hair, nails and spent the day in the spa”

Natalie shook her head at her sister,

“What are you up to now? Who is the poor man this time?” she asked

“Oh don’t give me you sanctimonious speech now okay? Richard Waters is finally becoming mine” Elizabeth laughed

“First of all, I’m going to pay him for humiliating me and then, I’m going to make him want me so bad, but he’s going to have to grovel before he can have me”

“I don’t believe you still carry a grudge after all these years; besides, it wasn’t any one’s fault, and you insulted him”

Elizabeth flared up, “Well, what do you know? You didn’t see what happened did you?”

Natalie smiled “I may not see you but I know you Elizabeth Stirling, even now, I can tell you are still attracted to Richard Waters”

Elizabeth sighed dreamily

“Of course, who can lay eyes on him and not become all jumbled up inside. But not this time, he’s going to be the one who can’t take his eyes off me, just wait till he sees me”

Natalie shook her head and stated that they had not seen Richard in years and asked what was going on,

“Oh, Garry’s magazine company and ours are going into partnership in business and they have suggested that Richard and I head the contract, naturally, funny how fate does have a way of turning things around

She sighed dramatically

“Any way, better start my day. See you later”

“Yes, we cannot control fate, but we can control our lives”

Natalie sighed but shrugged away the feeling that was creeping in. She had stopped feeling sorry for herself a long time ago, she believed when it was her time, she would find love.

She often told Elizabeth not to take things and people for granted, you didn’t know what you had till you lost it. Natalie always laughed at how easy it was for Elizabeth to fuss over the smallest things in a man, and she moved on to the next relationship as easily and just as quickly as the other was over.

Of course, Natalie had her share of relationships, a handful but still they had taught her some lessons and none of those relationship had discouraged her from finding love. Natalie had stopped dating anyone from her family’s circle a long time ago, her mom had introduced her friends’ sons but they were just as shallow as they came

“You can’t be choosy my dear Natalie,” her mother would tell her often but Natalie just mentally rolled her eyes, if she had a penny every time her mother said that,

“I don’t know why you keep insisting on hooking me up with these guys”

“Well, I haven’t got a problem with your sister, but I can’t stand the look and talk of pity from my friends about you not being able to find someone”

“And here I was thinking this was about me”

“Mind your tone young lady”, Natalie sighed and apologised

Natalie smiled when she walked into the dining room, she could hear her mother giving orders, Maybelline Stirling was renowned for her hosting skills, if there was a competition, her mother would take the cup every time

“Hello mother, uhm, you look nice,

Natalie sniffed the air

“You smell nice too, new perfume?”

Maybelline impatiently waved her hands

“Can I help with anything?” asked Natalie

“No my dear, I have precious glasses and Chinas all around, I want them safe, go get your sister, Richard, Garry and Emily will be here any moment”

Natalie chuckled “Guess she wants to make a grand entrance when Richard’s already arrived. She’s been on the phone telling her friends about her grand plan and scheme”

“That might be a good idea, but for a hostess, it is rude, now go get her” her mother replied

Garry and Emily Waters were chatting with Robert in the sitting room when Maybelline sauntered in, she hugged her friends warmly,

“Oh my God, Mabel, you look splendid, as always” Emily smiled broadly at Maybelline

“And look at you Emily Waters, you haven’t grown older in the last five years, and you Garry, you look wonderful”

“I know that’s not totally true but thank you”, replied Garry and they all laughed

Garry looked up as Natalie and Elizabeth came in, he shook his head in disbelief and walked towards them

“My goodness, are these my little girls? They are no more girls. Natalie, I never thought you could get any more beautiful, but you have proved me wrong” he said and hugged Natalie, she smiled warmly at him

“Hello Garry, nice to hear your voice”, She touched his face and smiled

“You’ve shaved your beards”

Garry laughed and said some people did not even notice he had shaved his beards till months after, he turned to Elizabeth

“And look at you my dear Elizabeth; almost as tall as I am, you look great”

“Thank you, Garry, hello Emily, good to see you again”

During dinner, Garry apologised for Richard’s absence and explained that his son had to go out of town for a business meeting, Robert nodded

“It’s good to know you’ve got someone to count on when you are not there. Just like Elizabeth, you should see her handling the newspaper”

“I am sure, she does take after you Robert, I wish Richard could come with us tonight, he was looking forward to seeing you, he wouldn’t believe what a beautiful lady you’ve become Elizabeth” replied Emily and she smiled warmly at Elizabeth

Elizabeth laughed, “I’m sure he wouldn’t, anyway, we’ll be working close together, so he will have enough time to see it and believe it”

Garry turned to Natalie

“So tell me Natalie, how is your music going? You still play and sing I hope?”

Natalie laughed and replied enthusiastically “Oh yes, I’ve written lots of songs, I’m having music lessons and it has really improved my skills”

Robert frowned and asked Maybelline if she knew of any music lessons but she shook her head and replied she knew nothing about it,

“I have told you and dad several times, but I guess you weren’t just interested or not listening”, replied Natalie

“Well, I hope to hear one of your songs one of these days”, continued Garry and Natalie beamed, “Will you really? That will be nice”

“I may be old but be warned, I’ve got good ears for music”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a big surprise in store for you, just name the time and place”

Replied Natalie and she laughed, she was actually having fun, she had never been the centre of attention before but Garry made sure to include her in the conversations, he discussed music with her and forced everyone to listen as she spoke about her music lessons, her songs and her writing. What impressed Natalie even more was knowing that Garry was genuinely interested in music and even more so in what she had to say, he asked her questions and they discussed their favourite artists, they both discovered they loved jazz and couldn’t talk enough about it.

Somehow, Garry always steered the conversation back to Natalie, and when Elizabeth interrupted a few times to discuss the Magazine, Garry just waved it away and smiled warmly at Elizabeth

“I talk business all day long my dear, I would love to relax and have fun at dinner” he explained.