"You want to come to my farm with me?". Grandpa Dario asked her, and when she confidently nodded at him, his right hand reached out and caressed her face.
Tears filled both his eyes.
Seeing that, Paola panicked, and her eyes widened, because she had never expected Grandpa Dario to do that.
Why was he suddenly like this? She didn't understand.
She removed Grandpa Dario's hand from her face and held onto it before asking, "What is it, grandpa? Did I say something wrong?".
Grandpa Dario shook his head at her, causing the tears that had gathered in his eyes to fall on his cheeks.
Paola used her free hand to clean the tears on his cheeks before bringing the hand down.
After doing that, she looked into his sad eyes as she asked him, "Grandpa, why are you crying? Please speak to me".
"How much have you suffered at the hands of Spencer Turner, Piper? Please, tell me. How much did he break you? You are behaving so differently. How shattered is your heart because of him?".
'Huh? What is going on?'. Paola thought after listening to what grandpa Dario had said.
Using her free hand once more, Paola held onto grandpa Dario's other hand. She smiled as she said to him, "Grandpa, you are overthinking everything. No one broke me. I just want to be of help to you. I want to learn from you. Staying indoors all day without any place in my mind to go is very boring".
"Are you sure that it's not because of that jer-. I mean, are you sure that it's not because of Spencer that you are behaving like a different person?".
Paola chuckled. "Of course not, grandpa. It's not because of him. So, be rest assured".
'I know it's almost impossible for Grandpa Dario to find out that I am not his true granddaughter, but I have to be careful. As the new Piper, I shouldn't change overnight. I should start acting like Piper a little bit and gradually change. In that way, no one would be suspicious of anything. But the problem is, can I nail it acting like Piper? I don't want to act so sweet to anyone else ever again other than to Grandpa Dario. He is a very nice grandpa and a nice man. I know that for sure because I have Piper's memories'.
….
Inside a grand office that was painted grey and white, Spencer Turner, a twenty-seven-year-old man who had a face that one would deem blessed by God, was sitting on his office chair. His eyes were fixed on the laptop that was on his glass desk.
The loud sound of the laptop's keyboard typing was continuously heard inside the office before it stopped, as Spencer had stopped operating the laptop.
He ran his fingers through his hair.
His hair was blonde, and was styled into a crew-cut haircut.
"Why did she have to go to Flancholia? Why hasn't she returned? She ought to be aware that our official engagement party is next tomorrow". He said with a groan and frowned.
His full black eyebrows furrowed as he grabbed his cell phone from the desk and stood up from his seat.
He was wearing a black suit. But, he wasn't wearing the suit jacket and was only wearing the suit's trousers and a white shirt that wasn't buttoned all the way up. The moment he arrived inside his office, he had the suit's jacket removed and hung in his office's coat rack stand that was positioned next to the glass walls.
With a frown still on his face, he dialed Piper's number and called it with his other hand in his pocket.
He turned around and faced the glass walls, looking outside his office.
It took some seconds, almost close to a minute, and the call ended. Piper wasn't answering his call.
"What is wrong with her?". He muttered, because this was so not like her.
Previously, the instant he initiated a call and called her, which he rarely ever does, she mostly answered his call before five seconds could pass.
But after a week that she had left the great wing city and went to her grandfather's house… He had been calling her, but she had not answered his call.
He truly did not have any intention of marrying Piper.
But, after Piper left the city, his mother strangely fell sick the next day and has ever since then refused to take her medicine no matter what. She said that she might reconsider taking her medicine if he strengthened his relationship with Piper by having an official engagement party with her, and then getting married to her.
He knew the kind of stubborn mother he had. That was why he had to comply with her wishes.
He checked his schedule, before he set the date for the engagement party and informed Piper about it by sending her a message.
He thought that she would instantly leave Flancholia and return to the great wing city to meet him.
Surprisingly, she never messaged him back.
"Does she want me to come to Flancholia and get her? She must be joking". He muttered and returned to his desk.
He left his cell phone on the desk and began to operate his laptop once more with a nonchalant expression on his face.
It took a minute and he stopped operating the laptop.
After letting out a deep exhausted sigh, he took his cell phone from the desk and stood up, before he went and carried his suit jacket in his hand and left his office.
"Piper, I will make you pay for wasting my precious time".
….
Paola, who had left the house and was walking side by side with grandpa Dario along the sidewalk, and was following him to his farm, sneezed.
Rubbing the back of her hand on her nose, she wondered, 'Is someone talking about me?'.
"Are you alright?". Grandpa Dario turned to her and asked.
"Of course, grandpa. If anything, I am excited that you agreed to take me with you". She replied to him and held onto his arm as they walked together and continued to chat happily with each other.