Love Me Till The End

Dada's Wish

The rest of the day went peacefully as compared to first period. She reached the class and took the front seat, trying to avoid him. She noticed he was there in all her classes that made her feel bad for that poor soul because if he talked to her like earlier; she was surely going to knee him. In her chemistry class she made a friend name Elizabeth. They both shared same class except for mathematics.

At 4 in the evening Tulip reached home and got into shower first thing because she was so tired from the day. She wanted to sleep, but before that she had to make dinner for the night. The change in time zone was still affecting her, but she had no choice, at least not for today.

Hoping to get into bed earlier than last night, she got down quickly. She made pasta for the dinner, by the time she completed setting the table it was nearly 5:30. Her grandfather likes to have dinner early and then a cup of herbal tea before going to bed. Yesterday she was so tired she forgot to give him and he might have noticed she was tired, that’s why he didn’t ask for it himself. But today Tulip will remember about the tea.

“Dada, dinner is ready to come,” she called out. ‘he must be engrossed in his books’ Tulip thought. The old man loved reading even in his old days, or was probably busy with the file that was piled up on his coffee table last evening when they had coffee.

After 10 minutes Tulip’s grandfather came down and they had their dinner, making small talk about their new life in California. As she finished the dishes, her grandfather was watching news in the living room.

“I won’t forget the tea tonight, I’m sorry for yesterday it slipped my mind,” Tulip said, going to sit beside him on the couch.

“It’s okay, honey. I know you were tired.” Her dada said.

“That I still am.” Tulip stretched her hand above her head.

“Go get some rest then,” dada suggested.

“Na, I have some school work I’ll doing that in my room for now. I’ll come join you for the tea later,” her dada nodded before going back to watch the television. Something about the pandas was going on about it, but Tulip ignored it and went to her room.

When she reached her room, her bed was calling her, but she ignored it and went to her study table, took out her mathematics book and started doing her work. Though Tulip was rebellious, but was never the one who took studies lightly.

By the time she was done with her work, it was almost time for tea. Tulip checked her phone for any message from her friends from Canada, but there was nothing. From the time she arrived in California three days ago there was only one or two text asking if she arrived safely or not. In reality, she expected more than that, maybe a video call or at least something more than a text.

Tulip ignored the disappointment which was trying to settle on her heart and went down in the kitchen. When the tea was ready, she looked for her dada.

“Dada,” she called because lights of his room were off and he was also not in the living room.

“In the backyard,” he replied and Tulip went out with two cups of herbal tea set on a tray.

“Nice weather,” Tulip said, smiling as the soft late evening breeze caressed her face. Her dada hummed in approval.

“How was school?” He asked.

“Uneventful,” she said, not wanting to tell him about the mathematics’ class incident. Her rebellious nature was not hidden from her grandfather and she always used to tell him about her stunts.

“And please let it be that way only.” this statement didn’t come as surprise it came as shock. A big one. Her dada never told her to stop or change her wild behavior, just warned her to be safe from time to time.

“Are you telling me....,” she trailed not knowing how to put her question in words.

“I’m telling you to be more sincere toward yourself and your future, dear. It’s time you take life serious, I know you are sincere but I don’t want you to get in trouble, no matter small or big. I’m short of time, as you know and I want to be sure you’ll be fine on your own and for that you need to be more responsible.” He said, and his word hit Tulip harder than she thought.

She knew he was referring to his heart condition. It’s already been four years since the time the pacemaker was inserted into his heart. The duration was nearly six to seven years and though they can perform the surgery to replace the old pacemaker with a new one, his grandfather was against it. ‘I want to rest now’ were his words when she tried to reason with him for the next surgery.

Tulip knew he was alone, the reason he was always so engrossed in his book and work, and his wish was right seeing what he has been through. She could never imagine how it must have felt to lose your son in an incident. Her parents died when she was two in a brutal car accident. Her dada was the one who brought her up alone for the last 15 years.

Tulip stood up after placing her cup on the table and went to her dada’s chair, kneeled down on the grass, and rested her head on his thigh.

“I promise I’ll be more careful and won’t do anything that would distract me from study or get me in trouble but you also need to promise you will stay with me as long as you can.” Tulip said with tears in her eyes.

“I’ll always be there for you, honey.” He said, placing his loving hand on her head.

They sat there for a while before Tulip got up and went inside with the empty cups of tea in her hand. Her grandfather followed her suit and went to her room after a while. After washing the cup, Tulip went to give him his medicine.

“Can I ask you for something?” She asked, placing his medicine on his stretched palm.

“Any problem?” He asked before gulping the bitter medicine. She knew it was bitter because she tasted one in the past.

“I was wondering if I could skip the school tomorrow. I’m tired and could not concentrate on the classes. Please, dada.” She begged because she knew he never liked her skipping school, although she ever skipped.

“Sure, honey. From now on I’ll leave it up to you to decide what you want to do in life whether it just about tomorrow or the next year, but that doesn’t mean I would hesitate to tell you or correct you if you do something wrong.” He said in a serious voice, and Tulip nodded.

After that she went back to her room and lied on the bed. The sleep was gone after the conversation she had with her dada in the backyard. She knew he wanted her to be mature, but when he said that out loud, it became more real. It made her think if this was one reason her grandfather insisted to shift just before the school session start. Had he asked her what he asked now, she doubts she would have been able to follow it back in Canada.

She had a reputation there, a thing she never wanted to change, a reputation of being mischievous, but it was a new start here. No one knows what she was like and it would be easy to follow what her dada wanted. Her dada was everything for Tulip, and she decided to give him what he wanted. She was ready to change her rebellious self for her dada and would try to be goody-two-shoes. It would be difficult, but she would try her best. Her temper was not something that was going to get tamed in a day, but she’ll try to control it, not for herself but her dada.

‘Ms. Goody-two-shoes’ the name made her frown. Tulip found the situation ironic. It was the first time in her life someone called her that, and now she was actually going to try to be that only. She laughed at him for calling her ‘Miss Goody-to-shoes’ and now she was patting her back for deciding to be that only.

That boy sure knew how to leave an effect on someone because though Tulip doesn’t want to admit he was there at the back of her mind all throughout the day. She was just good at ignoring it but now when she lied on her bed staring at the ceiling she became more aware of the feeling she was developing.

The dark brown eyes were to die for but his rudeness ruined it all. Can’t he be a bit more friendly so she could at least try to be his friend. Tulip shook her head at that not so good thought.

“You are going to concentrate on your studies, nothing more, nothing less. You don’t need distraction in life. Dada wants you to be more mature and you have to show him you can be mature. No more getting in trouble, Tulip.” Tulip said to herself.

She once again checked her phone to see if there was any message or call that she might have missed, but once again, she was left disappointed. This time she tried calling herself, but none of her friend picked up.

Thinking they might have slept, Tulip herself started getting ready for the bed. She braided her hair, applied rose water on her face and massaged her calf for 10 minutes before getting under the covers. This time as soon as her back hit the bed her tiredness, both physical and emotional, took over her mind and she fell asleep trying to block the dream of someone who had killer dark brown eyes.

When Tulip woke the next morning, her mind was much clearer than it was last night before she got into bed. She felt like a positive energy has enveloped her. Tulip went to the balcony. The sun was already over the horizon. There was the distant sound of birds chirping. Taking a deep breath, she stretched her arms wide, as if trying to hug the natural beauty in front of her.

When she went down to make coffee for herself and herbal tea for her dada, she noticed the front door was already open. Tulip thought back of last night as if she forgot to close it, but remembered locking it before getting upstairs last night. Just at the moment she took a step toward the door, her dada came in grinning.

“Oh, you are up early. I thought you will sleep late, you said you were tired last night.” He said, but Tulip was so surprised by seeing him smile like this to register anything else. Her eyes fixed on the full ear to ear smile.

“Tulip,” dada called her

“Huh” she realized he was saying something, but she was not even listening to it. She felt so happy seeing him smiling like this that she went and hugged him.

“It so good seeing you smiling like this the first thing in the morning,” Tulip said as her dada hugged her back.

“It’s just that this place brings so many good memories from when I was small that I just feel so happy and positive. Every street reminds me of the time I was a kid,” He said, pulling away from her. She nodded because she felt it too, the positive vibes that welcomed her this morning despite her mood last night.

“I was about to make some coffee,” Tulip said, walking into the kitchen and started making coffee and tea simultaneously.

“So what’s your plan for the day?” Her dada asked her as he settled on the chair behind the kitchen island.

“I was thinking of taking a ride getting familiar with the roads and all.” She said suggestively.

“That’s a good idea to go out, have some fresh air, and it is important to spend some time with yourself too. So what you are going to take your bike or car?” Dada asked Tulip when she placed his herbal tea in front of him.

“Bike it’s been a while since I took it for a ride.” Tulip said excitedly. She loved bikes more than anything.

“Just be safe, okay?” He warned her.

“You know I’ll be,” she assured.

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