My (fake) Wedding

CONFESSIONS WITH COFFEE

When Shivaay stormed into his bedroom - the left side of his face was still burning from Annika's slap. Who would have thought that the innocent girl had strength enough for such a blow? The stinging sensation served as a memento of another, more unpleasant, feeling, which was unlikely to go away as easily or as quickly. Shivaay Singh Oberoi- an uncommon occurrence - was plagued by pangs of conscience. The feeling - in itself rather disagreeable, and to which he was largely unaccustomed - fueled his rage. But the more he raged, the more his conscience tormented him. It was a vicious cycle.

You and Tia are an abomination. How these words scorched his ears, resonating over, and over, and over. Her kindness was not for him, whom she had judged and convicted. He was an abomination. He thought her the purest thing he had ever seen.

If you had any feelings whatsoever, you would have told them the truth and stopped this farce!

He knew she was right; and he knew equally well that he was powerless. An abomination he may be, but there was some comfort in knowing that what happened with Tia wasn't his fault. Yet the insolent women has the guts to call him, as if he will ever pick her call again.

He could not quite grasp how his decision to take a call away from the bursting music had spiraled into the angry scene of which he was reminded by his burning left cheek. The night was going so well and then Tia happened to talk to him in the lot. Why would Tia do that i.e. kiss him just out of the blue when he was clearly not in his senses. His frustration over his leading part in the unpleasant exchange added to his exasperation. The root of the problem, of course, was that she had taken him by surprise. He had expected her to throw condescending, accusing words in his face; he had expected her to pronounce her judgement on him cruelly. The kindness in her soft voice was so utterly startling that he dared not believe it, thinking it a lie or an expression of commiseration. Like she expected that.

 His pride, already revolting against her influence, was wounded by the thought that he might be an object of pity in her eyes. A man who has fallen so far beyond any hope of redemption that his family, and by extension he himself, were to be pitied. The thought left his ego severely bruised. Combined with the way she had won his grudging admiration and utterly captivated him by her presence, her glowing brown eyes, while remaining oddly unapproachable in her righteousness, it was hardly surprising that, in a moment of bitterness, Shivaay's mind could not credit with belief the extraordinary generosity of Annika Vadhera.

He could do so now that her presence did not overwhelm him, and the thought of his own callousness filled him with remorse, making him wish dearly he had chocked on his words. The slap in the face he had received from her was more than deserved. The greatest torture, generously supplied by his memory, was the image of her angry tears and the hurt expression on her face. When he was driving to his place, it haunted him; in the darkness of his room, it hounded him; and when he fell into a restless sleep, Annika's indignant face hovered accusingly above him.

Annika awoke late the next morning, taking advantage of having resigned from her job. The enticing smell of coffee reached her nostrils, and she decided that staying in half-slumber was less appealing than a cup of warm, energizing liquid. She got up from her uncomfortable position on the floor and headed for the bathroom, from which she emerged refreshed, her desire for caffeine heightened. She went to the kitchen, downstairs. As she reached for a mug, her eyes fell briefly on the sofa. When her brain registered a form there, her gaze instinctively returned to it. She felt her blood turn to ice water in her veins, when she observed Shivaay Singh Oberoi sitting on her couch, a cup of coffee in his hand, his back to her. At first, she thought it was an illusion. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping the mirage would disappear, but when she opened them again, he was still there, his head slightly turned to the side as though to better hear her movements.