Sleeping With The Enemy

Chapter 32

"Legally you are still married." Arohi and Arjun both fell back on to the sofa in shock. Silence filled the room as they continued to stare at a fidgeting Arvind and a smiling Neha. And then they heard a burst of laughter from Arjun. And another, until Arohi turned around with a throw cushion ready to suffocate Arjun with it. Arjun caught her wrist before the cushion made contact. His eyes filled with laughter, a big smirk on his face. "Is that anyway to treat your husband Mrs. Singhania?" Arohi glared at Arjun, struggling to get her hand back. "Let go!" she snapped. "Nope." "That's not going to happen in this lifetime, and probably not the next one either." Arjun replied with a smug look on his face. Arohi continued to glare at Arjun and then turning around to Neha she said "Di, I know you and jiju are lying." "This is just your way of getting Arjun and I back together because you think we are right for each other." "But I know there is no way this can be possible." "I saw divorce papers!" "I submitted them." Arvind looked at Arohi with a guilty expression. "You saw what we wanted you to see." "You don't know legal jargon." "I just made up some official looking documents and flashed it infront of your face." "You were so heartbroken that day you barely glanced at them. Arjun looked at Arohi who's wrist he was still holding. Bringing her hand up to his lips, he kissed it softly. "You were heartbroken?" "I got so drunk the day, my copy of the papers came, and I still haven't even bothered to open the envelope with them in them." Arohi tried yanking her hand back. "I wasn't heartbroken!" "I was happy to be rid of you!" she snapped finally getting her hand back. Arjun gave her a slow smile. "Well sorry babe, that fantasy of yours is never coming true now." "You won't be getting rid of me anytime sooner." he announced with relish as he leaned back against the sofa folding his arms across his chest. Arohi jumped up. "I can't believe you did this to me!?!" she yelled at her sister and then bringing down her voice trying to calm herself down she said with tears in her eyes. "You're my sister, why would you do this?" "You knew what he had done to me." "Why would you have thought we would ever reconcile?" Arohi asked. Neha sighed. "Arohi, I'm sorry but I did it for your own good." "I had my doubts about Arjun sleeping with Natasha." "I've known him a long time I just didn't think he would do that, but what I do know is in his anger and stubbornness he may make you think he did." "He's acted rashly in anger before and so have you." "I was going to give it another year and then tell the both of you what Arvind and I had done." "And then leave it up to you to decide what you would do with this information but things obviously worked out differently." Tears streamed down Arohi's face. "What if i had fallen in love with someone sooner and had wanted to marry that person?!" "What would you have done then?" Arohi asked. Neha gave Arohi a sad smile. "Arjun has always lived in your heart, I don't think you have it in you to fall in love with another man." Neha replied. "WRONG!" "WRONG!" WRONG!" Arohi yelled. "He is not in my heart." "We are absolutely wrong for each other and what should have been done years ago will be done now!" "We will get divorced now!" she said firmly.. Arjun who had been listening quietly finally spoke up "I don't want a divorce and neither do you." "If this isn't a sign then I don't know what is!" "You and I are meant to be together, even when the odds are against us fate pushes us back together." "We love each other and we have a child together." "Why can't we just give this a shot?" he asked. "Because I am engaged to another man!" she snapped turning away. Arjun's hand clenched into a fist as he felt anger settle over him. "You're a married woman!" he said in a soft but furious voice. "It would be good for you to remember that." he added. "And it would be good for you to go to hell!" she snapped turning to face him. "Arohi, Arjun please don't start this." Arvind begged. "In hindsight we shouldn't have tried to play god in your lives." "Neha was convinced that Arjun didn't cheat on Arohi but I hadn't been." "I was there that night and know what I saw, and I know Arjun's anger and I knew he could go to any lengths at that moment for revenge, even sleep with Natasha." "But once Neha had put that niggling sense of doubt in my head I finally agreed to go with it." "What both of you did to your relationship was horrible." "Arohi making such a huge decision about aborting your child and hiding it from Arjun and then deciding to keep Riya and not tell Arjun he had a child." "Arjun, you're supposed to be the mature one but in your rage you did the worst thing a man could do to his wife." "Cheating on her." "Even though it wasn't true you led her to believe it, hurting her." "Both of you were wrong, both of you are at fault and as far as I'm concerned both of you deserve each other!" Both Arjun and Arohi stared at a clearly angry Arvind. They had not expected this kind of reaction from him. "We did what we thought best at the time now what you two do is your own business!" Arvind stated grabbing Neha's hand and squeezing it.

Arohi came out of her shock first. "Leave Arjun!" she snapped. "I'll have divorce papers sent to your house tomorrow you can sign them and we can move on from this horrible bump in the road." Arjun scowled. "I won't be signing any papers." "Get yours and Riya's things packed, you're moving home with me ASAP!" Arohi gasped. "How dare you?!" "Riya and I aren't going anywhere?" "Alright that's fine, I'll just move in here then." "I'm sure your ex fiance would really enjoy that." Arjun said with a smug smile. Arohi's eyes grew wide with anger. "Go to hell Arjun Singhania!" she snapped turning on her heal and rushing into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Arjun stared at the closed door infront of him for a few moments and then turning around he said "I think that went well, don't you?" he asked. Neha stared worriedly first at him and then at Arohi's closed door. "Maybe we made a mistake." she said softly. Arjun shook her head. "No, you didn't" "All I can do is thank you so much for believing more in our relationship then Arohi and I ever did." "I've been given a second chance and I have no plans of making the same mistakes twice." "I love Arohi and I know she loves me just as much.. but she's scared." "I even understand that, and now I will have a chance to make things right between us." "A chance to help her see what our family would be like and I know in my heart once she sees that she'll never want to leave." "She'll never want a divorce." Arjun said firmly as he picked up a picture of Arohi and Riya and stared at it determinedly.

Arohi went through a series of emotions over night. Spending half of it pacing her room in anger and frustration and then finally as she climbed into her bed she felt a huge weight settle over her, threatening to stifle her. Sobs racking her body. Why did everything have to be so hard? As if things weren't difficult enough, now her and Ajrun were still married! She was still bond to the only man she will and ever love. A small part of her felt happiness and joy but a larger part of her felt dread. This was what she'd been afraid of all along. Her and Arjun together were such a volatile combination. Such a toxic destructive combination. No she needed to get that divorce one way or another, she couldn't let him, or her...or worse Riya, suffer the consequences of their love. And Amar, oh god Amar, this would hurt him so much. What would she even say to him? At that moment she felt anger towards her sister and jiju for putting her into this position, and for Arjun who she knew would fight her tooth and nail to prevent this divorce.


Arjun didn't hear a peep out of Arohi for the next two days, and no divorce papers arrived. One would think these were all positive signs, that maybe Arohi was thinking about things, processing this new turn of events and maybe coming to terms with them. Yup, one might take that as a positive sign but not Arjun! With each passing hour that he didn't hear from Arohi he got more and more worried. The more Arohi thought and "processed" the harder things were going to get. The more set in her ways she was going to be. But he couldn't do anything and that was the hardest part, waiting for her to make the first move. He had a plan but he couldn't put it into action until she approached him. But now he knew he would need to re-evaluate. If Arohi didn't come to him in the next 24 hours he was going to have to go to her. She couldn't hide out forever and he couldn't take the chance of her doing something crazy before listening to his plan.

Arohi stared at the divorce papers in her hand. "Go in there and get it done!" she told herself calmly as she stood outside Arjun's house at 9:00 the same night. She knew he was home, she felt bad but she'd had Riya call him an hour ago to say good night and he had told Riya he'd be going to bed soon too. She could have waited until morning but she had delayed enough as is! She just needed for this latest nightmare to end. The lawyer had taken longer then expected to draw up the divorce papers, and she could have had them couriered over but she knew Arjun would never sign them that way. She would need to convince him. And ofcourse there had been the issue of telling Amar, about Arjun and her still being married. That had not gone over well and Amar had fumed and swore and raged against Arjun until finally calming down. She had reassured him she had no intention of cancelling their engagement. Feeling the little drizzle of rain, Arohi came out of her thoughts. Staring up at the black clouds in the sky. Lately she'd been feeling that a permanent black cloud had been following her around putting a damper not just on her mood but her whole damn life! Straightening her back she told herself "Stay strong and what ever you do... DON'T LET HIM TOUCH YOU!." Because she knew the second he touched her she usually lost all ability to think rationally.


Arjun frowned when he heard banging at his front door. He wasn't expecting anyone, especially not in this downpour. As he opened the door he was surprised to see a drenched to the bone Arohi. "What took you so long?!" she snapped as she rushed in pushing him aside. Arjun paused as he looked back at her and then quietly shut the door. "Well hello to you too." he said with a smile. Arohi with her hands on her hips glared back at him. "I've been banging on the door for 5 minutes!" she snapped. "I was in the study on the phone with one of my manager's in Mumbai." "I didn't hear you." he answered. Arohi frowned, she knew from last time she had been here this late that his housekeeper left by 8:00 which was good because they needed to have this conversation alone. "I need to talk to you." she began and then sneezed. "Good, I need to talk to you too, but first we need to get you out of your wet clothes." he replied. Arohi's eyes widened as she quickly stepped back " Oh no we don't!" she said with another sneeze. Why the hell did she stand out in the rain for so long? she thought miserably to herself. Arjun raised his brows as he watched her sneeze two more times. "Will you for once in your life, stop being so stubborn and change out of your wet clothes?" he asked. "Into what?" she snapped. A slow devlish smile spread across Arjun's face "Nothing, would do just fine with me." he said in a husky voice, making Arohi blush. "Do you have something I can borrow?" she finally asked, ignoring his remark altogether. Arjun sighed "You can't blame a guy for trying can you?" he asked starting to walk towards his bedroom. Arohi paused and then followed, stopping just outside his bedroom. Keeping her eyes diverted from the large bed that sat in the middle of the room. The bed that Arjun had done sinful things to her in, things that she had had her moaning in pleasure. Arjun pulled out a t-shirt and sweats from his closet holding it out to her. "Here, this t-shirt should be like a dress on you." he said with a smirk. "I'm not that short!" she snapped, still standing outside his bedroom. "Arohi, what are you doing?" "Are you planning on changing out in the hallway?" he asked. Arjun bit her lip nervously and then eyed the smirk on his face. "Yes, infact I am!" she replied. Arjun sighed and took the few steps it too to reach her. But instead of handing her the clothes, he suddenly picked her up, tossiner her over his shoulder. "ARJUN!" she screamed. "Put me down!" "Right now Arjun Singhania!" she yelled pounding on his back. Ignoring her, he marched her into the bathroom and straight into his shower. Pulling off her t-shirt and unbottoning her jeans as she continued to scream in surprise and embarrassement! "Ajrun, let go, stop it!" "You're being ridiculous!" Were some of the things coming out of her mouth as he completely undressed her. So much for not letting him touch her she thought to herself as she finally stood naked infront of him, trying to hide herself, blush and glare all at the same time. "Sweetheart, no need to try to cover yourself up." "Every inch of that sexy body, every mole, every birth mark, every curve is permently imprinted on my brain." he said in a husky voice as he reached around her and turned on the hot shower. "Take your time, I'll make us some coffee and then we can sit down and talk properly." he said with a smile as he turned around and left the bathroom.

Arohi stood underneath the hot water as it poured over her chilled body. What the hell had just happened here?! She had come with a plan! A bloody plan. Convince Arjun to sign the papers by speaking to him rathionally and logically. Laying down the law, forcing him to sign the papers. And somehow, as it usually did when her and Arjun were involved, her whole plan had gone hairwire. And now she stood naked, in Arjun's shower about to change into his clothes. How had she lost all control of the situation so fast?!

Taking her time in the shower she tried once again to pull herself together and go over her plan. Be calm, don't lose contol over the sitution again and TELL him, don't ask Arjun what and how things will be handled..tell him. And above all, NO TOUCHING! Drying herself she pulled on the t-shirt that sure enough did look like a dress on her and a pair of gray sweatpants that she had to fold over numerous times at the waist to make them fit. Glancing in the mirror she felt another blush make it's way up her neck. Wearing Arjun's clothes just felt so intimate. They even smelled like him. Resisting the urge to breathe in his scent, she frowned at her foolishness and turned, leaving Arjun's room. As she climbed down the few steps leading to the living room she saw the fireplace was now on, warming up the whole dimly lit room. Arohi walked up to the fireplace holding out her hands. She felt warm and toasty. "Feel better now?" Arjun asked from close behind her. Arohi moved suddenly and backed right into him, feeling his strong hands catch a hold of her arms to steady her. "I, yes I feel better now." she answered softly, stepping awayquickly and turning around. Arjun gave her a warm smile. "Good, now sit infront of the fireplace and I'll grab the coffee." he said putting a warm throw over her shoulders. Arohi stared after him as he walked into the kitchen. This would be so much easier if he was being a jerk. Instead he was being sweet and caring and and suddenly Arohi felt like crying. Why did he need to make everything so hard?!" Arjun brought two steaming cups of coffee out and placed them on the table infront of Arohi who now sat on the sofa, staring into the fireplace. "You okay?" he asked as he sat down next her to. Arohi nodded. The two continued to stare at the burning firewood until Arohi finally spoke. "I think you and I both know why I'm here, so without wasting anymore time." she said pulling out the divorce papers from her purse. "I've had my lawyer draw up real divorce papers and since we've been seperated for over the prerequisite year we can start divorce proceedings right away and it could be final within a couple of months." she said. Arjun frowned as he looked down at the papers Arohi had handed him. "And what if one spouse doesn't want the divorce." he asked. Arohi glared at him "Then that spouse is pretty stupid!" Arjun glared back at her. "If it's stupid to hold on to the most important people in my life, my wife and my daughter, then I guess I'm stupid!" "If it's stupid to love ones wife and want to work at my marriage then again I'm stupid!" he said with a scowl. "I am not backing off from my earlier decision Arjun." I don't want to be married to you." she said stubbornly. "You are a liar!" he snapped. "And before you go any further and launch into your reasons for why we shouldn't be together let me tell you this...I am not giving you a divoirce without a fight!" "Come hell or high water but you're stuck with me!" Now it was Arohi's turn to scowl. "You would look so stupid and desperate if you pursue this!" she said furiously . "So be it, I don't care what other people think." he said with a shrug. Arohi stared back at him as he picked up his coffee mug and took a sip and then sent a confident smile her way. "I am not staying married to you!" "I don't love..." Her words weren't even out of her mouth and she was being slammed against him, his eyes glinting with anger. "Let's test that non love you have for me!" he snapped covering her lips with his for a hot intense kiss. Arohi clung to his shoulders, matching him in intensity as she kissed him back. Her hands moving to the nape of his neck as he pulled away from her lips and kissed the hollow of her neck. "So sweet, this right here is defiently your sweet spot he said hoaresly as he bit her neck gently, and then chuckled as she moaned in pleasure. "Arjun" she said with soft sigh as his lips came back to hers for another toe curling kiss. And then suddenly Arjun moved back, physically moving her away from him as he got up and went to go stand infront of the fireplace, trying to stop himself from dragging her into his bedroom and making love to her. Not yet, not yet, he reminded himself as he glanced at her swollen plump lips and dazed eyes.

Arohi shook her head and tried to pull herself out of the sensual fog that Arjun had so easily put her into. And by the looks of it he wasn't effected at all. "I have a proposal for you." "Something that will be satisfying for both of us." she heard him say as he went and sat on the chaise infront of her. Far enough that he wouldn't grab her again, but close enough to see her expression when he laid out his "proposal." "You say you don't want this marriage, I say I do." "So what I'm proposing is that we stay married for the next 6 months, live together, you give me the chance to change your mind and if after those 6 months you still haven't changed your mind about us I will let you go, no questions asked." Arohi stared at him like he'd gone crazy and then gave a short laugh. "Unbelieavlble!" "You've lost your mind if you think that I'm going to go for that plan!" she said shaking her head in disgust. Arjun's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with my plan?" he asked. "What's wrong, what's wrong?" she repeated with a hystercial laugh. "What's right with it?!" "You want to play house for 6 months, in which I know you're going to seduce me at every turn, and ofcourse emotionally blackmaiil me, trying to pressure me into thinking the way you want." "So you think I'll be able to change your mind?" he asked trumphiantly. "NO!" she snapped. "I've made up my mind, I will not be changing it." Arjun shrugged. "So if you've made up your mind then there should be no problem." "We can live together for 6 months and then you can go back to your Amar." "I'll know I tried to save my marriage even if I didn't succeed atleast I tried and you already know you won't succeumble to pressures from me so as far as I can see it's a win/win sitation for both of us." Arohi frowned, he had successfully pushed her into a corner. "What if I say hell no to your whole plan." she asked. "That's fine, you can say no but this divorce you want so bad, will not take months, it'll take years and years." "I'll drag it out for years." "By the time the divorce actually does come through, we would have already had Riya married and settled." he said in a hard, confident tone. Arohi frowned and stared at him. She knew he would do exactly what he'd just said. She knew exactly what he was capable of doing to get what he wanted. And right now he wanted Riya and her. She could kill di and jiju for placing her into this situaiton. "What will this proposal entail?" she finally asked. Arjun tried not to smile, victory was close but not his yet. He needed to tread lightly. "Well, you and Riya will move here." "We'll live and share this home together." "We'll continue to raise Riya together and..." Arohi interupted him getting to the other issue she had with the proposal. "Sleeping arrangements?" "I will not be sharing a bed with you." she said. Arjun stared at her waiting for her to continue. "I, I, you and I will not have a physical relationship." she stammered. Arjun didn't answer for a few moments and then finally said "okay." Arohi's head snapped up and she stared at him in shock. Okay? Just like that. No arguement. No persuasion. she thought to herself, now that sure didn't sound like Arjun. "Okay?" she asked out loud "I don't believe you!" Arjun frowned. "I promise I will not make love to you unless you specifically ask me to make love to you." he said seriously. Arohi bit her bottom lip. "I won't ask you!" she snapped. "Well then we should have no problems." he replied with a smile. Arohi let out a frustrated sigh. She doubted they wouldn't have problems. But she didn't see another way out of this. "I will continue to live my own life." "No trying to manipulate me into thinking this relationship will work." she added. Arjun nodded. "No manipulating, if you decide to stay in this relationship it'll be based on what you feel." "Decisions you came upon on your own accord." he said. Arohi stared at him suspiciously. "And 6 months is a ridiculous amount of time, I'll only agree to this proposal if it's 3 months!" she said firmly. Arjun stared at her for a moment and then with a big smile said "3 months is perfect!" Arohi's eyes widened as she continued to stare at him with suspicion. Why did she feel like she'd just been conned. Why did she feel like he hadn't expected more then 3 months anyways? Arjun tried to keep the trumpiant smile off his face. His wife and daughter were finally moving back home, where they belonged. Now he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that they stayed exactly where they belonged.


Once she had agreed to Arjun's proposal he had wanted her and Riya to move in the very next day but she had said no. And to her surprise he hadn't pushed. She'd moved in, 5 days later, only bringing essentials for her and Riya. Afterall there wasn't any point in bringing too many things. They were just visiting, not moving in forvever. Convincing Amar hadn't been easy either. He'd shown up at Arjun's office and told him off apparently. Not that Arjun or Amar had told her that, that was information she'd learned from DJ. DJ had been heartbroken that Riya and Arohi were leaving but Arohi had reassured her they would visit often and be back before she knew it. Riya on the other hand had been estatic finding out that they were having a an extended sleepover at daddy's house. Arohi had done her best to keep everything casual, telling Riya they were only visiting and will be back home very soon, but Riya was too excited too really pay attention. Packing every last one of her toys with her so that they wouldn't feel scared staying alone at the guest house while she went to go visit daddy. Arohi prayed to god that this new arrangement of hers and Arjun's didn't have an adverse affect on Riya, making her believe that Mama and daddy were actually really together. That they were some sort of real family.


Moments after Arohi rang the doorbell, Arjun's smiling housekeeper opened the door. "Mrs. Singhania and Riya baby come in, come in." "Sir has been waiting for you." she said happily. Riya ran into the house clutching her princess doll. "Daddy!" she screamed running into Arjun's arms and giggling as he swung her around and around. Her chubby little arms wrapping around his neck tightly as she gave him a wet kiss on the cheek. "Guess what Daddy, mama and I come for a seepover!" she said excitedly. Arjun smiled at his exuberant child. "I know, we're going to have to show your mama how to have a proper sleepover." he said. "I show her, I show her..." Riya sang looking at her mom. "We pay barbies, and then we read story book and eat popcorn and sometimes we watch cartoons too!" she said excitedly. Arohi who still stood in the entrance of Arjun's home smiled at Riya fondly. "That sounds like so much fun, thank you for including me princess Riya." she said. "Your belcome!" Riya exclaimed. "Daddy and I talked and decided that we needed a mama to make our sleepovers purfect!" Riya said. "But mama will you seep with daddy or me?" "I have a pincess bed you know?!" Riya said excitedly. Arohi's eyes met Arjun's intense ones and she looked away quickly. "Riya, let's get you and your mom settled and then we can decide who she's going to sleep with." he said with a smirk as Arohi gasped. "Who she'd be sleeping with indeed?!


Arohi went to work getting Riya settled, which basically entailed adding more toys to her already overflowing toy room. "I can't believe you've given her a whole room for her toys!" Arohi snapped, shaking her head. Arjun preteneded not to hear her. He was in too good of a mood to let anything get to him. And he knew Arohi didn't mean to be difficult, but she also wasn't happy to be in the situation he had put her. "Do you want to see your room?" he asked as the two watched Riya playing with her dollhouse. "Sure," Arohi said hesitantly. As they walked out of the playroom Arohi half expected Arjun to stop infront of his room. She even had a biting comment ready for him regarding what she thought of his high handedness. But no, Arjun kept walking by his room. Arohi followed him feeling a slight sense of disappointment settle over her as she glanced back at Arjun's door. You're a fool! she told herself a moment later as Arjun stepped into the bedroom next to his. "So this is your room." "It's got it's own bathroom and a walk in closet to house all your clothes and shoes." "Thanks, it's lovely." she replied looking around at the soothing sage colored walls and light wood furniture. A pretty green and white quilt covered the large bed. "This is your home now so do with it what you like." he began. "Temporary home." Arohi quickly added. "Sure, whatever you say." "But still your home." "If you need anything else to settle in just ask." "Orelse run the place as you see fit." he said with a smile. "I'm just a guest, I can't run your home." she said taking a step back quickly as she saw Arjun move towartds her. His hand came up to cup her face gently. "You're my wife, everything that is mine is yours first." "This home belongs to you." "The staff are yours to direct and most importantly.. I'm yours...and when it comes to me, I not only belong to you but I'm also willing to be directed to do whatever you want, whenever you want it." he said in a soft husky voice. Arohi stared at him, licking her bottom lip nervously as his words and voice seduced him. "You're at it again!" she said moving back so quickly she tumbled on to the bed. "At what?" Arjun asked staring down at Arohi sprawled on her bed. Arohi quickly scrambled up and away. "You promised you would not seduce me!" she stammered. Arjun grinned. "No baby, I promised I wouldn't make love to you until you asked me too." "And I won't." 'I won't make loveto you until you are begging me to take you." "But not at any time did I promise not to seduce you." he said in that deep sexy voice of his that usually sent shivers up her spine. This time was no different.. "You're contorting things!" "You're purposely changing things around to suit you!" she said furiously. "Me, seriously Arohi, I'm hurt." "I would never do that." "I would never do that to the woman I love." he replied with a hurt expression on his face. Arohi stared at him suspicioiusly. Arjun could not be trusted, he said one thing and did something totally different! Arjun watched the play of emotions across Arohi's face. She made him want to pull her against him and kiss her senseless until she didn't doubt any part of their relationship. "Arohi, I don't think you have anything to worry about becuase as I rememeber you already made it clear in previous conversations that you are 'not that into me'." "FINALLY!" she snapped throwing her hands up in the air as she got off the bed. "You finally got it." "I am not that into you." she said with a smug smile. "So there we go, even if I do seduce you, you won't be seduced." Arjun said as he moved towards her door. Arohi nodded smiling , "Yes, I won't be sed..." Arohi didn't finish her sentence becasue as Arjun walked out of her room she saw something that had her pausing and cursing herself. She saw him smiling like the cat that got the canary. The smile that showed that he thought he had her exacttly where he wanted her! PIcking up a pillow she threw it at the now empty doorway.. She could hear him chuckling as he walked away. That man was the most irritating, cocky, pig headed individual she had ever met in her life. She resolved that even if it was the last thing she did in her life she would wipe that bloody cocksure smile off his face orelse her name wasn't Arohi Ahluwalia! Wincing she frowned... Singhania."