by Mahi Jay
‘Different how?’ she asked with a mixture of dread and curiosity. She hadn’t realised she’d been so obvious about it. True, she’d pulled away slightly emotionally. But she didn’t really have a choice, did she? Here she was crazy about him and aching for him to return her love, but he didn’t show the merest hint of wanting anything more than what they currently had. She knew he cared about her but she wanted more. So much more.
Aadith let out a sigh. ‘More reserved, maybe? I don’t see the frankness in your eyes any more. It’s as if you are holding a secret. What is it? Did your parents upset you? Did they call and tell you that they didn’t like me?’
Nina’s heart raced. She hadn’t realised he was so perceptive. Had he guessed her secret? she wondered in trepidation. She didn’t want him to know that she was once again the lovesick girl she’d been before. All she had was her pride and when they ended their relationship she wanted to leave with at least that intact. She sought refuge in anger.
‘For once no. I’m not upset with my parents,’ she denied.
‘All right, then. If not with your parents, then with whom? Is it me?’ he persisted.
‘Damn it … Just let it go, will you? You’re like a dog with a bone. There could be a million other things to concern me. The world doesn’t always revolve around you, you know. Everything is not about you,’ she raged.
Aadith looked poleaxed for a minute, to see Nina’s normally cool exterior shatter. But it didn’t last long. On the heels of surprise followed anger. Anger at her unreasonable accusation.
‘You are taking independence and stubbornness a step too far. I thought we were more than just friends. If you can’t let even me in, then you’ve got a problem, lady.’
‘Stop playing the hero for once. You can’t solve everyone’s problems. Besides, I don’t need you to come charging to my rescue. I can take care of myself, thank you very much,’ she shot back.
‘You are clearly spoiling for a fight, but, sorry, I’m not willing to play ball. You and I both know this is merely misdirected anger. When you come to your senses, call me,’ was his parting shot as he strode out of her house.
All her bravado fled the moment she heard the door bang shut behind him. She collapsed into a kitchen chair and lowered her head to the glass of the table. The past week had been horrible. She’d been on tenterhooks the whole time, worried if she’d reveal her love to him, by word or deed. He’d made it crystal clear he’d never share his heart but all she wanted was a place in his. She couldn’t be with him … but equally she couldn’t be without him.
Nina knew she was laying herself open to hurt, which was why she’d tried to pull back slightly. But it had backfired. She’d ended up driving him out of her life herself.
Her whole house seemed empty without his presence. Was her pride more important to her than him? she asked herself. She grabbed her purse quickly and ran to the door when the answer came to her in less than a second.
Aadith was punishing his body with a vengeance, at his home gym. His arms were aching with the strain of pushing heavy weights, but he wasn’t done yet. He didn’t want to have any energy left over to think about Nina. That she’d accused him of being self-involved was easily forgivable because he knew she’d just said it out of anger. But what had hurt was her refusal to share what was actually worrying her. It had cut him deep that she’d not trusted him enough to open up to him.
Normally he was not one to encourage disclosures of a personal nature from the women he dated, nor did he share anything of himself beyond the superficial. He couldn’t understand why he felt so upset about Nina keeping something important to herself. She was good in bed. She didn’t demand shared confidences. She kept things light and impersonal just as he always wanted. But suddenly what they shared felt flat and hollow and left him restless.
Long-dormant feelings of rejection assailed him. Had she grown tired of him? Did she want to move on? Was this emotional distance on her part a prelude to them breaking up? he considered in dismay. He discovered he was disturbingly nowhere close to moving on yet despite his prior, obviously optimistic calculations about how long he was going to stay with her. What more did he want from her? he wondered.
A knock on the door broke his train of thought. As he picked a towel up to wipe the sweat off his face, he called for the person outside to enter. He watched in surprise as Nina pushed the door open and stood before him diffidently. She looked drawn and pale. To say that he was surprised would be an understatement because in all the weeks they’d been together she hadn’t once visited his house. Now here she was standing before him.
‘Hey,’ she said quietly.
Aadith just nodded; words escaped him. She looked so sombre that he began to wonder if she was there to break up with him. His face tightened in determination, readying for a fight. He wasn’t going to let her end it, he decided.
‘You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?’ she asked. He could barely manage a shrug.
‘I’m sorry I messed up. You were right, I was upset about something. I just wasn’t ready to share it then.’
Nina’s heart thumped madly as she watched his impassive face. Had she pushed him away for ever, just when she’d decided to fight for all the time with him that she could get? Just when she’d wanted to risk taking a chance, even when she knew she’d end up with a broken heart? Oh, God, please let this not be over yet, she prayed fervently. She needed to tell him something that he would believe.
‘But you’re ready now?’ he asked.
‘I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t, would I? I just got overwhelmed, I guess. You … me … Us … It got a bit too real for me for a while there,’ she explained with a futile gesture. ‘When we went to meet my parents, it was hard to lie to them. Of all the times, when they finally feel I’ve done something right, I’m going to have to turn around and tell them I screwed it up. That is definitely not going to be easy and that was preying heavily on my mind,’ she revealed.
Will he accept it? she wondered uneasily. She hoped this would do for now. If he grilled her further she might end up telling him everything. Maybe, when the time was right she might pick up the courage to tell him how she felt. But not right now, she thought guiltily. It was still too soon.
Aadith felt as if a ton of weight were lifted off his chest. He knew for certain, from the way she shielded her eyes, that it wasn’t the full truth. But he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. The mere fact that this was not the end was a huge relief. Why he should feel like that was not something he wanted to examine further. It was enough for now that she was here and things were back to normal.
‘Come here,’ he said softly. All her fierce independence camouflaged a vulnerability in her that reached out to him. She aroused his protective instincts and his primitive instincts.
Nina’s steps towards him were unsteady. His steely grey eyes looked like molten silver as they held her in a powerful grip. Clad in a black sleeveless tee shirt and grey track bottoms with the sweat dampening his hair, he looked virile and all hard male.
‘This is where you belong,’ he said roughly.
The husky rasp of his voice set her spine tingling, as did the index finger of his left hand that was hooked onto the front of her top, inexorably drawing her closer. Her breath hitched in her throat. His other hand traced her lips in a gentle caress that curled her toes. Her lips parted of their own volition. Aadith’s mouth met hers on a tentative note. As if he wanted to savour the moment. It was a kiss that was tender and sweet. Their lips clung, parted and returned again and again. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to his bedroom.
It was a very masculine room done in soft greys and a striking purple. It screamed of style and luxury. It also reminded her of why she hadn’t been willing to come to this house.
‘Join me for a bath?’ he asked, stripping his tee shirt off, his sculpted bare chest glistening with sweat. A light smattering of curly hair darkened his chest and made him look i
ncredibly sexy. He was seriously drool worthy. No wonder he had girls and women screaming his name wherever he went, thought Nina with a slight smile. And this hunk was all hers. At least for now.
‘No, you go ahead. I’m too lazy for one now … Maybe I’ll just watch you,’ she said impishly.
A while later she lay ensconced in his arms, deliciously spent and happy. She let her fingers draw lazy circles on his chest. ‘Did you realise we just had our first make-up sex after a fight?’
Aadith laughed out loud at that. ‘If you are going to treat me to fabulous sex every time we fight, then you are going to have a fight on your hands every day.’
‘Sorry, this applies only for the times I’m in the wrong and pick a fight. You find your own way to apologise,’ she retorted playfully.
‘You cheater! You know I can’t resist you and you used that to get me to forgive you!’
‘Well, I merely hinted at it. You fell for it.’
‘I’ll have my revenge, then,’ he declared before tickling her neck and sending her into peals of laughter and pleading for surrender shortly after. It was some time before he finally showed mercy and she was once again curled into his arms.
‘Not that I’ve seen all of it, but this house is a surprise for me,’ she murmured.
‘Why? What were you expecting?’
‘From your reputation, I thought this would be a party place, a rocking bachelor pad. But this is so serene and welcoming,’ she said with considerable surprise.
‘I don’t entertain much at home. It was always easier to do it elsewhere. Besides, it could get dicey when you want the women to leave after the deed is done. They tend to expect cuddles if it is at home,’ he confessed unapologetically.
‘Shut up! You’re shameless!’ she exclaimed. ‘So should I be gathering my clothes and leaving now too?’
Aadith looked surprisingly solemn as he said, ‘Still looking for an excuse to get away? You’re not getting one—and from now on I want you to spend all your days and nights here.’
Nina looked up at him dazedly. ‘Are you asking me to move in here?’
‘I guess I am,’ he admitted huskily. He hadn’t realised he was ready for it himself until this very moment.
Nina let her lashes shield the intensity of her eyes. She was sure all that she was feeling would be clearly shining through. Was this a baby step towards more? she wondered happily.
‘Won’t this complicate things when we break it off?’ she pointed out.
‘Let’s worry about that when it happens’ growled Aadith as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He needed to stop her talking about the end so often. It felt as if there were a sand clock between them, silently letting their time together slide away.
For the first time Nina felt confident enough to invite him out. ‘I’ve got a vacation coming up—can we get away somewhere?’ she asked drowsily.
Aadith instinctively started to say yes, but then remembered a previous engagement he’d committed to a while ago.
‘There’s a charity dinner scheduled for the day after tomorrow, for an important cause I support. After that’s done I think I can squeeze some time in before I start work on my next project.’
‘All right, sounds like a plan,’ she agreed.
‘I doubt I’ve mentioned it before but this charity I’m supporting sponsors education for under-privileged kids and I’m part of the evening’s entertainment. So if you are free do you think you could accompany me?’
Nina muttered her assent as her breathing settled into the light, even pattern of sleep.
Sleep did not come so easily for Aadith. He understood that Nina bringing herself to make plans with him was a breakthrough. She was opening up to him and for some reason it put a smile on his face. Somehow making plans with her didn’t make him feel as tied up as it had with other women previously. Maybe it was because he knew she wouldn’t ever try to hold him back.
But whatever it was he knew he wanted her in his arms and his life for a considerable while longer.
The weekend was busy for Aadith with the rehearsals for the show taking up most of his time. He agreed to pick Nina up before the event. A couple of days later, clad in an emerald-green georgette sari with the butter-soft folds draped around her sensuously, Nina looked breathtaking when he arrived to pick her up. Long chandelier earrings and a cocktail ring were her only adornments. It left her slender neck enticingly bare. Aadith felt his heart swell with pride at the thought that he was the man she was going with.
‘You look good enough to eat,’ he growled as he escorted her into his car.
Nina smiled her thanks. ‘And you sound like the big bad wolf waiting to gobble up Red Riding Hood,’ teased Nina.
‘Nope, sorry, I’ve got a better prey in mind,’ he whispered, bending down to nuzzle the side of her neck.
Nina arched her neck back to allow him better access. His hands slipped around her bare midriff to the small of her back to pull her closer to him. Aadith wanted to groan out loud—a small tug and she would almost be on top of him. She was his very own temptress, one he couldn’t seem to resist.
‘At this rate we’re going to end up very rumpled at the venue.’
Nina snorted. ‘Like you could look anything other than hot and steamy. I’ll probably be the one looking bedraggled. And unerringly the tabloids will splash pictures of me at my very worst.’
‘You couldn’t look bad even if you tried,’ he said, moving away from her to look into her heart-stoppingly pretty face.
Nina rolled her eyes at that.
The who’s who of the Mumbai social circuit thronged the event. She could see several clients of hers dotting the crowd.
‘Will you be all right until I join you for dinner?’ asked Aadith absently as he escorted her to a table bearing their names. He needed to go over the steps with the choreographer and the back-up dancers once more.
‘I know a lot of these people. I’ll be fine. You go ahead.’
‘It was pre-assigned, so I couldn’t do anything about this,’ he added and gestured to the other plaques on the table. Two of those bore the names of his director Vinay and his co-star Tanisha.
Nina groaned out loud. ‘She’ll poison my food if she can get away with it.’ She shuddered; she didn’t want to share a meal with that woman.
Aadith laughed. ‘If I offer to rescue you, will you accuse me of trying to play hero again?’
‘Not this time. I would gladly accept it,’ she exclaimed with a dramatic sigh.
As soon as Aadith left, Nina found herself eagerly surrounded by a few of her clients. Now that she was engaged to one of the country’s hottest young stars, each of them seemed to want to include her in their social group. It was easy in some ways seeing her clients socially—it helped to create the right image and opened more doors for her. But in other ways it was tough. To balance the fine line between professionalism and personal preferences was tricky, realised Nina.
She discreetly scanned the crowd, hoping to catch a friendly face to make good her escape. When she spotted cricketer Gaurav Tiwary she politely excused herself and fled the group.
‘I hear congratulations are in order,’ said Gaurav as soon as Nina reached him. He gave her a one-armed hug and air kissed.
Over the course of their campaign to transform him from the proverbial bad boy to the poster boy of Indian cricket, they’d become firm friends. She still handled his account and hence was pretty comfortable with him.
‘You are one sly one, aren’t you? No wonder I never stood a chance with you, when I had a movie star as an opponent,’ he grumbled.
‘And the battle continues, score one for movie stars,’ quipped Nina with a laugh. It was an accepted fact in the country that major endorsement deals were either signed by cricketers or matinee idols. So the competition between them was fierce sometimes.
‘Tell him it’s not over yet until the knot is tied, or the deal is inked, as you would term it. You may yet see the error of your ways a
nd come back to me,’ teased Gaurav. ‘But until then could you introduce me to some of the gorgeous young girls your fiancé works with?’ he asked with an unabashed grin. ‘To tide me over,’ he finished mock piteously.
Nina burst into laughter at his comment. He was an incorrigible flirt and not to be taken seriously at any cost.
‘Well, there’s Tanisha Dass. I could introduce you to her,’ she offered, hoping he’d take her up on it.
‘Been there, done that. If you can catch my drift,’ he drawled cheekily.
Nina swatted his arms and said, ‘Ewww … Don’t be so crude!’
‘So where’s your table? And, more importantly, where’s your fiancé?’
Nina looked glum as she answered, ‘He’s performing tonight and I’m stuck on a table with Tanisha.’
‘My date for the evening fell through at the last moment and I wasn’t in the mood to entertain anyone else,’ he said with a soft look on his face that had Nina wondering who it was that had his attention.
‘So the chair next to me is free—perhaps you’d join me? It would help take my mind off things,’ he offered sombrely.
Gaurav looked in serious need of company and, besides, she didn’t really want to share an evening with her, so Nina took him up on his offer to sit at his table. She called Vinay, the director, to let him know that she was joining a friend and wouldn’t be at their table.
As she watched Aadith perform onstage there couldn’t have been a more enthusiastic audience than her. Gaurav saw her face fill with love and pride as she cheered him on. He felt a pang. That was what he’d always wanted. Not just adulation, something much bigger and stronger. An emotion that tugged at the heart.
As Aadith made his way back to the table after his performance, he couldn’t see Nina there. His heart leapt. Was she sick? Had Tanisha upset her? he wondered crossly. If she had then he was going to give her a piece of his mind.
‘Where’s Nina?’ he asked Vinay as soon as he reached the table. Vinay pointed to a table a couple of rows ahead of theirs. Aadith could see Nina clearly from where he was sitting but he was not in her line of sight. All her conversation seemed to be addressed to a tall, good-looking guy seated next to her. He recognised the cricketer on sight and noted that they looked fantastic together. He schooled his face into an indifferent mask and watched her out of the corner of his eye. Every time Nina laughed at anything Gaurav said, it pricked him. When he caught her swatting the cricketer’s arm he seethed. When she leaned closer to check something out on his mobile phone, Aadith wanted to wrench the phone and smash it to pieces. That they were engrossed in each other’s company and oblivious to the rest of the table was apparent even from afar.