Immaculate Spirit 103 :

"Dear you know you could sleep in a little, take it easy on the weekend. I know how much you are busy in NY" His grandmother said when Nathaniel entered her home after his morning run.

Since the weather was turning colder, Nathaniel had run in sweatpants and sweater. The good side was since he had a lot of clothes here he did not have to take anything from his home and they had simply driven here after he had been picked up from the street. His grandmother had made sure that he had plenty of clothes in his room here, in fact he had so much clothes here that he could wear one different attire everyday and not worry about washing them for at least three months.

"I did grandma. I love it here, ocean air kinds of appeases me. I love New York don't get me wrong but I think when I'm older, I would live near water." Nathaniel said.

Taking his sweater off while he was talking and showing his perfect musculature for everyone to see. A couple of maids nearby could not resist the temptation to gawk, mesmerized. Diane look at them with a knowing smile before clearing her throat.

"Ladies, the room his clean, you can go back somewhere else." Diane said, taking them off their perusing before going to work in another room.

"Grandma?" Nathaniel asked, curious to know why she made the maid leaves.

"They were not very polite gawking at you like that. I'm glad to hear that you like it there, that means I will not have to kidnap you again in the future?" She asked, smiling.

"Of course, I'm sorry grandma that I do not talk often. I'm kind of doing my own thing sometimes and end up not giving people that deserve it my attention."

"Yes, I can see that. You are like your grandfather. He told me by the way that he was impressed with your way of dealing with unpleasant people."

"I'm not sure if he phrased it like that." Nathaniel said with a knowing look.

"Well, he did not say it in so many words but I have been married with that particular man for more than forty years. I know what is going on in his mind. I was going to the market this morning to buy fresh food, I like it too when I get some air and it's good for my legs. I need to be escorted by strong men to take my bags of grossery. Usually I bring some of our security guards but since you are here, I was hoping that you will be my escort."

"Don't say anymore grandma, let me shower, put some clothes on and I will walk with you there." Nathaniel said, running to the first floor, making Diane smile pleasantly.

A half hour later, they were both inside the farmers market, walking between the stands. One of the security guards had driven them here and was waiting in the car while they were shopping. It had taken some convincing to get him to stay in the car. He usually had hard instruction against leaving Diane alone and Nathaniel had to be firm with him to convince him to not follow them. The grandmother and grandson pair just wanted to shop alone without anyone following them and Nathaniel knew he was enough to keep both of them safe.

"What are you thinking about these watermelons dear?" Diane asked, giving him a fruit.

"They look good grandma and I will be happy to eat them." Nathaniel answered.

It was true that in NY he did not eat healthily and rarely any fruits. It was a bad habit that he had and he needed to stop doing it soon because he needed to reinforce his body if he wanted to use his soul power to reinforce his muscles without permanent damage on himself. He was thinking about taking some of the fruits that he bought with his grandmother home to eat them there.

Paying what they owe, Diane and Nathaniel kept walking together. Nathaniel could see that his grandmother was a regular here as each of the sellers were familiar with her and engaged easily into a conversation.

"So, Mary told me that you have a girlfriend now?" Diane said.

"Not really, nothing serious so far. We just want to have fun." Nathaniel answered.

"Ah, young people these days." She shook her head, disappointed. "Is she from a good family at least?"

"Grandma." Nathaniel sighed.

"What? I just want to see my only grandson with a girl that deserves him." Diane defended.

"Yes, I know grandma but don't worry about it alright? Like I said, it's not that serious between us."

"Alright, I will trust you for now. Can you go to that stand and bring me a couple of lemons? I need to rest my legs a little."

"Of course, I will be right back." Nathaniel said, walking in the direction of that stand.

Diane did not even have the time to sit when she spotted someone that she knew walking stand by a stand like she was doing.

"Victoria?" Diane called.

Hearing the call, the woman's head turned in the direction the voice was coming from and saw who was calling her. Excusing herself from the vendor, she walked in the direction of Diane and the two women kissed each others cheek.

"h.e.l.lo Diane, good surprise to see you here."

"Yes likewise. I do not get to see you here often."

"It's true but it is a weekend special for us. Are you here all by yourself?" Victoria asked, looking around Diane.

"No, I'm being escorted by my lovely grandson." She answered, turning where Nathaniel was. "Nathaniel, dear. Can you come here please?"

Hearing the call, Nathaniel urged himself to pay for the lemon fast and walked to his grandmother. She was talking with a woman around forty years old. She had brown hair, green eyes and was quite pretty. He could see that the woman had undergone some esthetic surgery on her nose but still her face was really familiar to Nathaniel.

"h.e.l.lo, I'm Nathaniel Lyndon." He introduced himself as his two hands were taken up by the grocery bags.

"Dear, this is Victoria Livingston. A good friend of mine." Diane introduced.

"Glad to meet you, young man. I remember now that we were invited to your welcome back party but were forced to miss it because we were out of the country at that time."

"It's understandable." Nathaniel answered. That last name of her was sounding really familiar to him. He was sure he was missing something really obvious right now.

"And you, are you alone?" Diane asked.

"No, of course not, I'm with my two daughters. They should be around here somewhere." Victoria said, searching behind her until she finally found them. "Girls come here please." She called.

A few moments later two really beautiful girls around twenty years old appeared giggling behind a stand and made their way over to them. One of them was hidden by Victoria but Nathaniel could clearly see the other. She was around twenty five years old with the same black hair as her mother but with dark eyes. She was extremely pretty and Nathaniel was once again hit by that impression of familiarity that he got previously.

That's when the second girl finally appeared behind her mother and the two of them locked eyes, freezing in place.

"Let me introduce you." Victoria started to say before she was quickly interrupted.

"Nath?" The girl exclaimed in surprise.

"Madie?" He answered in the same way.

"Nath?" Diane repeated.

"Madie?" Victoria and her daughter repeated even more surprised.

"Wait, you know each other?" Madison's sister asked.

"Yes, we are in the same college." Madison answered quickly, trying to hide her fl.u.s.tered expression from her sister and mother.

"Well, it is really a small world sometimes." Victoria said, laughing a little.

Diane smiled but did not say anything in response. That fl.u.s.tered expression on her grandson and the girl did not escape her scrutinizing eyes and she was sure that there was more to this story. The sister of Madison was not fooled for a second either and started smiling.

"Hi, I'm Elisabeth Livingston. Glad to meet you." She said.

"Nathaniel Lyndon, glad to meet you too." He introduced himself right back.

"So you know my sister right? Can I know how? Even if you are both in Columbia, this is a big place so I'm curious to know. I'm also curious to know why Madison did not kill you when you called her 'Madie'". She hates nicknames, it is well known."

"Don"t answer that Nath! Elisabeth here is as curious as a cat, the more you answer her, the more she will we want to know." She warned.

Understanding what her daughter was implying and the reaction of Madison, Victoria picked up quickly on what was going on and also started smiling.

"Nathaniel. I'm not sure if you know this but this weekend it's my son's birthday and the family is meeting in our house in the Hampton. You know that kind of event is always more enjoyable when you are with some company. Alas Madison here will be all alone this weekend. Since you seem to be friends, can I ask you to act as an escort for my daughter?"

"Mother!" Madison exclaimed wrongly.

"I do this for you Madison." Victoria answered, her eyes flickering to her before coming back to Nathaniel, expectantly.

"Thank you for the invite but I'm already busy being the escort of my loving grandmother here." Nathaniel answered with a little smile. He had refused because he had noticed the pleading look in Madison eyes and did not want to intrude in her life.

"Don't worry about me, dear. Since you two are friends, it will not be very gentlemanly if you were to leave Madison all alone this weekend." Diane interjected mischievously.

Seeing that he would not get any help from his grandmother, he resigned himself to accept.

"Of course I will come." He finally answered.

"Glad to hear it. I'm sure Madison will text you our address and the hour to the party later. Now, we need to get going. It was a pleasure Diane." Victoria said before leaving. Elisabeth took Madison's hand and dragged her with her and started to talk to her, eyeing Nathaniel a couple of times.