Chaahat

Chapter 3: Meet cute?

ONE WEEK LATER

Riya stands beside Shourya at the Mumbai airport. They had gotten back from Dubai last week and today Xavier is arriving to visit them. Since Riya promised to receive Xavier, she couldn't back out, but the Instagram post has been irking her. Questions still running through her mind even now as she waits for Xavier. Is he married? Who is that woman from the post? Is she going to be coming too?

Shourya puts his arm around Riya to catch her attention. "Hey?"

"Hi bhai." She smiles up at him hoping to get a smile back, but she only gets a worried frown.

"I called your name three times, baache. Where are you lost?"

Riya shakes her head before looking over to the arrivals sign. An announcement goes off, informing everyone that the flight from Chicago has just landed and the passengers will be out soon. Hearing this, Riya's heart races. She feels as if her heart is going faster than it could and would at any given second just fall flat on the floor. The next half an hour goes by like a blur, her eyes glued to the automatic door.

She watches the people walk out, she watches them meet their loved ones and hug them, and she watches people smile brightly as the space around her is soon filled with people.

She zones out and isn't processing anything except for the sound of her heartbeats echoing in her ears. The sound consumes as as she loses herself in them.

"There they are!"

And just like that her heart stops, and silence fills her surroundings as her eyes zone in on the door sliding open. A tall, black-haired man walks out. A hand on the handle of his suitcase and the other hand reaching for his daughter.

"Sofia, precious wait for daddy." His voice is the only thing she seems to hear as she watches him reach for the little girl. Xavier is quick to scoop her in his arms before she gets too far. Once the girl is in his arms, his eyes search around the crowd. The piercing blue eyes land on her and she can't help but almost lose her balance. He is gorgeous, and his eyes are on her.

She smiles, hoping to get on in return. But all she gets is a nod which slightly upsets her. They know each other. Sure, they haven't met since he's had his daughter. Their paths just never crossed over the last couple of years. But they weren't strangers that all she gets is a nod.

She sighs to herself, kicking her little heart for doing somersaults for a man that was just a small crush. She watches them walk over and how Sofia squeals at the sight of Shourya. She clearly knows him. Riya smiles when Sofia peeks over Shourya's shoulder, as if she's looking for someone.
"If you're looking for Meesha, she's not here."
Riya awkwardly stands as Shourya and Xavier chat amongst themselves. He completely ignores her, as if she wasn't even here.

Her little bubble of excitement deflates as they make their way home. She didn't expect to be completely ignored and it hurt. All of a sudden she doesn't want to be here anymore. She doesn't want to be around him, she doesn't want to talk about him, she doesn't want to look at him. Anything to do with it would just make his ignorance sting more.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It's been a few hours since Xavier had been welcomed by the Singhania family, he was in his room trying to unpack as much as he could whilst also trying to feed his daughter. The room was a mess, although he had put away their clothes. Sofia was sitting on the floor with her toys and there were bits of her uneaten food all over the wooden floor. A piece of the sandwich in her hand as she munches on it and also feeds it to her teddy.

He smiles at his daughter as she pushes the last of the sandwich in her mouth. Seeing the crumbs on her face, he reaches for the wet wipe only to be interrupted by a knock. His eyes wonder around the room, realising how messy it is. Before he can try to pick some of the food up, his daughter stands up and rushes to open the door.

The door swings open and reveals the woman he's been avoiding like a plague. He's the least bit interested in talking to her. She's the only sister of Shourya and Xavier knows she's spoilt rotten. And he hates spoilt little girls. And she would most likely be the least bit interested in talking to a man like him. And she's probably disgusted by the dirty room.

"Hi there!"
Riya looks down at the little girl in front of her, she's beautiful. "Hi sweetie."
Xavier watched her squat to Sofia's height and talk to her. He watches the two interact and how Sofia was just melting into her touch. Feeling his eyes on her, she looks up.
"He's so gorgeous."

Her first thought makes her blush, as she takes in his tall figure. His hair was perfect, his eyes were perfect, his hands were perfect. So perfect. So gorgeous. She watches him give her a sheepish smile before moving around the room to tidy up.
"She's a fussy eater. So it gets messy."

She almost lets out a dreamy sigh at the sight of him leaning down to pick stuff up. "Oh, that's okay. I'll send someone over to do that for you."
Her words halt Xavier's actions. He can't help but roll his eyes at her words.
"I like to clean up after myself and my daughter, thank you."

Riya couldn't help but giggle at his gruff, harsh tone. She looks over at Sofia and whispers, "is he always like that?"
Sofia covers her mouth before nodding, "sometimes worse. Papa can be so grumpy sometimes."
Riya can't help but laugh out loud at the little girl's words, which catches Xavier's attention.

He didn't like it. He didn't like the feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had opinions about her, and he didn't want his daughter too attached. "Anyway, I just came to see if you're okay. I'm sure you guys are tired, so I'll leave you to it."
Sofia smiles at Riya, who takes a chocolate out of her pocket at places it in Sofia's hand. "Make sure to ask your dad first, okay?"
Riya quickly turns around and leaves. She felt the energy Xavier was letting out and she didn't want to be a bother to him.

Meanwhile, Sofia hurries and latches to her father's leg, "Papa, she's soo sweet! I like her!"
Looking at his daughter, Xavier responds with a whisper
"Looks like that's the first thing we've disagreed on, my precious."
He wasn't sure what it was,  it there was something that irritated him every time he was around Riya or she is mentioned.

Finding herself in the kitchen, she bumps into her father, "I got your flowers dad! Thank you!"
He furrows his brows at her as he adds sugar to the saucepan with chai.
"I didn't send you any, honey."
Riya looks at her dad, there is a huge bouquet of pink roses in her room. It wasn't there in the morning, it was there when she got back from the airport and it had no note either.

"Oh, well maybe it was bhai or Rohan bhai."
"Not Aarav."
"Never Aarav."

The two laugh at her words before Riya tells him that she'll make chai and bring it to his room soon.