The Five Year Marriage Contract

Chapter 9

I knock on the door and am surprised when it yanks open not a second later. Had he been waiting for me?

'Hi!' Adi stammers. He was surprised. Maybe he hadn't expected me to obey his orders. Then again, why was I?

'Why are you greeting me? We saw each other just half an hour ago.' I glance at him and feel my cheeks burning up. He was naked and the only thing he had on was the towel around his waist. For a second, I lose my grip on reality after a hot punch of desire overwhelms me. I probably had a mouth-watering expression on my face, but I couldn't be bothered. Adi was so gorgeous and the feelings that he had woken in me were gnawing at me. His hair was still damp and clingy, I wanted to touch him, feel his hot skin under my fingertips and then kiss him. A hot devouring kiss.

'I thought you were going to be a no show. You just took me by surprise.' he turns and walks toward his closet. I hear him shuffling around in there, then a few seconds later, he re-emerges wearing a t-shirt over a pair of black shorts. He looked so American.

I take in a deep breath and fold my arms to restrain myself from reaching out toward him. I was certainly having the worst case of confused feelings right now. I wanted to hate him but my love for him just overpowered that. My desire for him only made things more complicated than ever.

'As if you didn't just order me to do so.' I mumble to myself. 'What did you want?' I ask his back. No way was I ever going to muster the courage to ask when he was looking straight at me.

'You don't know?'

'Given the fact that I just asked, the answer is no.' I roll my eyes at him and he starts laughing. I don't budge. What was he playing at? 'What is it now, Adi?'

'You're still the feisty girl you were when we first met. Remember the time Abdul caught us stealing jalebi's? You stood your ground and took the blame. You even fought to show that it had been your fault we were stealing in the first place. He was so shocked and let us go.'

I smile as I remember the day he was talking about. 'Yes, I was always saving your butt!'

'Mmm, I think I was obsessed with you after that.' He reaches out for me but drops his hand almost immediately.

'Because I had to save you all the time?'

'No. Because you were a dream come true.' He sits on the edge of his bed and I roll my eyes at him. He pats the spot beside him and I move toward him without thinking of whether it was a good idea or not.

'Before you say anything, I want to apologize. I know that I pushed you into a marriage that you did not want and then I made you sign a contract that forces you into so much more. It was wrong of me.' Adi takes my hands in his and I wait. I had no way to answer his apology and I was scared that if I said anything, he would stop and close up again. 'I also promised you on the night of our wedding, that I was going to tell you everything. All about Elena and whatever else you wanted to know. Well, we can start now.'

He was serious! I look into his eyes and realise that I didn't know where to begin. Well, with the most troubling things first, in case he decided to bail after one question.

'I want to know about Elena first. What is your relationship?'

He takes in a deep breath and for a second I regret asking this. What if the answer was something I was dreading. A few months ago I was okay knowing that Adi had girlfriends during his eight years abroad, but now, things have changed. Even if ours wasn't the normal type of marriage, I still loved him, cared about him, and thought of him as only mine! Jealousy rears its ugly head and my chest seizes up in panic.