Thousand miles apart

My strong Gramma!

Zach's POV :

I was so lost as I looked at the moon through my window. I clutched my phone in my hand as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

This day, the same day 2 years ago my grandpa left us, left me. I know it's how life works but it's hard to suddenly lose a person you are too much attached to.

He was our rock not just in business work but also in the family. He was determined and ready to handle anything just like the rock with takes in every blow and yet never breaks apart. He thought us how to be strong but never had I thought that I would break to see him go away right in front of me. I was happy about one thing. Though he was 89 years old, he never had any disease. It was a peaceful death and he knew it was his time to go.

I wish he was still there. But I know he's up there watching us and probably disappointed to see me like a pet that was left on the street without food.

The images of him cracking jokes, giving advice, playing around with us and many other memories began playing in my mind.

"This is not going to work anymore" I mumbled to myself as I got up from the chair and walked towards the door of my room.

The living room was a bit dark since it was 8:00 pm already. I looked around to see there was no one. They must have probably gone to some party. They knew I wanted some alone time and I'm thankful for that. I picked up my car keys and walked out of my apartment.

I went to my car and drove away to the place I missed the most. 'The Knight Mansion' that is named after my grandpa, Jonathan Knight.

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As I reached the mansion, I entered the gate, stopped the car, and got out before running away like a bird that is left out of its cage.

I walked towards the door which was already open and tiptoed inside to find Holy shit-

My brother! Oh no! How can I forget that my brother is a part of our family? Ugh! I have my final exam tomorrow and I haven't opened my book yet. If he finds me here, I'm done for. I don't want to face the same torture I faced the last time I did this!

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Flashback~

Phew! Mission accomplished. Thankfully my brother didn't find me wasting my time on video games and now that he's still in his office, I can go racing.

Since my mom is in the kitchen, my grandma is in her room, my sis Madeline is in college and my dad has gone out, I leisurely walked towards the door.

As I was about to step out, I heard someone whistle loud enough to make my body go still.

I turned my head towards the source to find my brother leaning on the edge of the table with his leg crossed as he raised his eyebrows at me.

I knew right then, that this was the end of my freedom.

Next month was like a blank to me with a stupid schedule,
4:45 am - wake up, go 1 hr go running, freshen up,
3 hrs of study which include solving papers and no breakfast until I don't finish with at least solving 2 papers, study again, 10 mins of lunch break, etc...
I couldn't escape since there was my brother who took a day off and was sitting right in front of me with a stick.

All I could do is ask for God to bless me so I could be the alone child in my family in my next life.

Flashback ends~

Back to the present, since the door to her room was nearby, I successfully tiptoed without anyone noticing me and straight away opened the door and ran into the room.

I slowly closed the door and locked it before turning towards the bed to find her engrossed in her work. My eyes wandered around the room to find it still the same as it was before, beautiful and cozy yet another reason for me to love it here.

As my eyes darted back towards her, I remembered all that happened today. From the time of grieving for my grandpa to mixed feelings towards Eshana. Eshana. My vision blurred and a single tear rolled down my cheek. The single thought of history repeating itself scared me to the core. All I could do is one thing.
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Third person's POV :

The lady who was sitting on the edge of the bed, knitting peacefully was startled as someone kneeled on the floor and embraced her leg tightly. She glanced at the person to find it was none other than Zach.

"Gramma!" He mumbled softly. She was shocked to find him shaking. She kept her half-knitted cloth on the table and made Zach sit on the bed beside her. The last time she saw him cry was during her husband's death. She wondered what happened this time. She hated to watch him cry this way.

But all she could do right now was to hug and calm him down until his cries turned into soft sniffles.

"What happened, Kiddo? Who made you cry huh? Tell your Gramma. I'll teach them a lesson with my walking stick. They'll never be able to walk anymore" She said as she was ready to take her stick which had him chuckle as he wiped his tears. She was indeed his sweet yet strong gramma.

"No gramma, I just missed you, a lot." He said as he hugged her seeking comfort.

"Hm. I know I know. But I also want the reason that made my lovely grandson cry. So tell me what happened" She said in a stern yet soft voice.

He put his head on her shoulder as he finally said to her,
"I...I..uh it's that, there's this girl-" And she cut him off,
"Uh oh? Girl problems? I see. Carry on" She gestured for him to continue as though it was nothing yet there was an amusing smile on her face which went unnoticed by him.

"She's from India. I've never met her but...." he told the entire story from their funny conversation to her ignorance towards him.

"Ah. I see. So you really like this girl, don't you?" She asked him.

He sat up straight as he rubbed his neck, "I don't know gramma. It's scaring me to get hopes on this, on her. But also I'm scared of losing her. I'm so confused. No to mention she's so far away from me. Wait. Gramma? How did you and grandpa meet? You were from India too!"
He asked in a hurry as he wanted to know how did they make their relationship work.

"Haha! You want to know about our story, hm?" She asked to which he nodded.

"Okay then listen. In the past, people in India used to marry their daughters off to strangers for money. Women couldn't work. They could only take care of their in-law's family and I couldn't accept that. I always wanted to fulfill my dreams but my parents were so caught up with their decision, I had no choice but to run away. I had my only best friend but I had to leave her alone too. I had no shelter, no food, I had nothing so I had to sleep on the bench near the park for one night. That's when I met your grandpa. He helped me with everything. As the months passed, we fell in love but that didn't end there. Your grandpa was a businessman, so we couldn't announce our love in public casually. We had to stay apart and endure so many public comments until it was the right time. We announced our relationship and got married." She said as she was lost in the memories.

"Wow!", was all he could say. They've faced so many difficulties in life yet they stood strong. Together.

"So dear, it is the trust, the understanding, care, and respect that will strengthen the bond. It is not easy but if you fight for it, the distance you're now talking about doesn't matter. If you know that person is the right one, no evil can push you apart." She said as she patted his back.

He rested his head on her lap and promised to himself that he is going to fight for his Angel, for them, as he closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber.