Troy And Athena (Forbidden Love Series Book 15)

The next two days Athena eagerly waited for Troy to come to see her but he didnt. She missed him too much. So at last, unable to control herself any longer, she called him. The call got automatically disconnected as he didn't accept it. Athena sat down staring at her phone with a gloomy expression on her face. What could have possibly happened that Troy wasn't picking up her phone? 

However as she was making dinner, her phone buzzed with an incoming call from Troy. Excited beyond words, she accepted his call.

"Where are you? Why didn't you come to see me? Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you accept my call?" She bombarded him with one question after another breathlessly. Troy chuckled. 

"Hang on my Goddess of War. I'm in Africa, Kenya to be exact. So I couldn't come over. I couldn't call since I was a bit busy. I was in the middle of a meeting when you called. The phone was on silent mode," he informed her.

"Oh," said Athena, feeling disappointed. 

"Are you missing me, Athena?" He asked her with interest, almost in a whisper. 

"Yes and I know that you aren't missing me a single bit," she said grumpily. 

"Who said that? I'm missing you more than you are but I have to attend to my work. We have all our miners here with whom we directly liaise with. Our business depends on them. There's a little problem here and this may take me a month or so, Athena. If you were free, I would have brought you here with me but with granny unwell I just couldn't risk it. Everything happened in a hurry and I didn't get time to inform you," said Troy apologetically. 

Troy had to rush to Africa in the middle of the night. His first stop was Kenya where he had to liaise with the Sapphire miners. His company offered a free testing service to help the artisanal miners identify any new deposits they discovered. Troy believed in directly purchasing the finest rough directly from the mines. Afterwards he brought them back to Vegas to cut, polish, test and grade every piece in-house using the very latest gemological equipment and techniques. They had GIA Gemologists, Master Gem Cutters, Jewelry Designers and Master Goldsmiths on their staff and every stage was undertaken with utmost professionalism. No wonder they were the topmost wholesale traders in the whole country. It wasn't an easy job and required a lot of dedication, afterthought and negotiation skills. 

"That's alright, Troy. I understand completely. I'll call you every time I miss you and you can too. I'll wait for you to return," she told him. They talked for some more time and Troy disconnected the call. The next few days Athena was restless. She actually missed Troy the whole day. Obviously she couldn't call him all the time. He had called her dedicatedly every night. 

She taught Lauren three days a week and found out from Arianna a lot about Troy and Laurence's friendship. Arianna had regained her health and she resumed her normal life. Athena grew quite close to her and found out about her past. In all these discussions, she realized one thing. She realized how much Troy had supported Laurence. He was like a rock in Laurence's life. Her heart swelled with pride and she realized that she was falling deeply for Troy with every passing day. Was it love?

After a fortnight however, granny's health again started deteriorating. Laurence was facing problems with Lisa and he lost his mom too, so Athena didn't burden them with her own problems. She consulted doctor Andrews and did as he advised them. Most of the days, she needed to rush back from school due to some complication or the other. 

Soon a month passed by and Athena eagerly waited for Troy to return. This time she had decided that she would move into his house with granny since it was nearer to the hospital. However, Troy had to extend his stay for an indefinite period due to more emergencies. 

"There's an emergency here in Tanzania where we liaise with Tanzanite miners. I have to extend my stay here. One of our rival companies is creating problems. Mom and dad are coming over in a day or two," said Troy. 

"I wish all your problems would get over soon and you would be able to return at the earliest, " said Athena, hopefully. 

"Me too, Athena. Me too. I hate these sorts of problems, " he admitted. "How's granny?" He asked her.

Athena updated him about granny's health. "I think I'll  consult some other doctor? Maybe get a second opinion or something, " said Athena. 

"Yeah, you could try someplace near your house," advised Troy. 

"Yeah," she agreed. 

The next few days Athena looked for hospitals which were good and nearer but found none. Dr Andrews had to leave for New York on an emergency medical convention. The doctor he assigned to granny was rude and didn't entertain Athena's calls. Under the circumstances, Athena was forced to consult another doctor in another hospital. She hadn't found any good hospital nearby within her budget. 

"Don't worry so much, Athena. I'll be fine. There's a very good offer for the shop. Why don't you sell it and keep the money in the bank? It will help you in future," said granny in a feeble tone. Athena thought about it. She would need money if granny needed to be admitted to the hospital. 

"Okay granny. Give me their contact number. I'll get in touch with them, " said Athena. 

Troy hadn't been able to call the next few days and Athena understood that he might have been busy. She too had been busy with the school giving her warnings for neglecting her duties. If she could, she would have resigned from the job but she needed the money badly. 

It was Friday morning and granny didn't look too well. Athena hadn't been able to go to school since granny was breathing hard and needed oxygen. They already had an oxygen cylinder handy at home for emergencies. She continuously consulted the new doctor, Grant Foster and monitored granny closely. It was a traumatic day for her. 

Gwen had taken leave in the evening and went to see her own family. So, Athena and granny had an early dinner since they both were too tired. She had just tucked granny to sleep when the doorbell rang. Excited beyond words, Athena opened the door, expecting Troy at her doorstep but her eyes widened with horror seeing a scowling Brandon instead. After two and a half months, he seemed to remember her. 

"Brandon?" She asked with surprise. "When did you return?"

"Just," he shrugged, walking into the house with a scowl on his face. "You look quite fine. I'm sure you haven't missed me one bit," he said. Athena gaped at his fowl mood.

"How could you conclude so easily that I'm fine? Anyway, it doesn't concern you how I am. As for missing me, I'm sure you haven't missed me either. So now tell me, why are you here, Brandon?" She asked, massaging her temples. She was so tired that she just wanted to sleep. She just didn't have the energy to face Brandon right now. How could he just barge in after two and a half months and start his meaningless accusations?

"Why can't I come here? I'm coming straight from the airport to see you and all you can ask is this?" He asked, looking hurt. 

"You aren't coming here straight from the airport because you missed me, Brandon. You're coming here because you might need something, " she pointed out. Brandon looked down at his hands as he sat on the couch, looking uncomfortable. Then his glance fell upon her ring. He gasped with shock. 

"This isn't the ring that I gave you?" He yelled, getting up from his seat and striding towards her. 

"Stop yelling, granny's unwell," she told him but he was too angry to pay any heed to her words. He placed his hands on his waist and glared at her finger. 

"Where's my ring?" He growled. "I don't believe this."

"Our engagement had no meaning to it, Brandon. You know it as well as I do. We don't have any feelings for one another. We might have been best friends when younger but this engagement was a mistake. I found someone and we fell in love. His parents got us engaged," shrugged Athena. Brandon frowned at her. 

"You could have called me to inform me?" He complained. 

"How could I ? You asked me not to disturb you," said Athena. "Look Brandon, there's nothing to take offense in this. You know that ours wasn't a normal relationship. We aren't in love. This was bound to end up in a disaster. It wouldn't have worked, " she pointed out. 

Brandon looked deep in thought. "I left someone back in Florida and came to you, Athena. How could you be so insensitive?" He asked. Just then his phone buzzed with an incoming call. He checked and Athena saw the name Camilla flashing on his device. 

"Who's Camilla? If you have someone in your life too, how  can you accuse me?" She asked him.