The Arrangement

Chapter Nineteen: Repercussions

"I'll have to go and talk to my dad," Vivaan said once they were gone. "Try to convince him to make me a part of the business again."

"Forget that," Farhan snapped. He zeroed in on me. "Fiancé? Fiancé, Aditi?"

"I panicked," I admitted. "I couldn't let my mom think there was something still going on between you and I. But now she's not going to leave until she knows you're back in America- with Preeti."

Preeti's eyes widened when I said that. "What will we do now?"

No one had an answer for that.

"I have to find a way to send them back," I said. My brain worked to come up with something, but to no avail. 

"Look, how long could they possibly wait for us to leave?" Preeti asked. "Eventually, they'll have to go back home, right? We can just wait it out, keep making some excuse until then." Her voice was hopeful, but her eyes were filled with worry. She hadn't expected the extent of the lies that we had told and I felt bad for her.

"We could try that," Vivaan said, looking at me. "Keep telling them that Farhan's relative is still sick. That way we're sticking to that one lie and not making more."

I could feel all their eyes on me, waiting for an answer. Would it work? Would my mom fall for that? How thorough would she be in making sure we were telling the truth? She had already interrogated Preeti and Farhan. 

"We could... we could try it for a while. See what happens," I finally said. 

Farhan took my hand. "It'll be fine."

Vivaan nodded. "I'll go and speak to my dad tomorrow. We'll figure this out. We'll get the life we want, okay?" 

They were all trying to assure me. I must've looked more panicked than I thought. "Yeah," I said. "We'll figure it out."

*

They next day, Vivaan did as he said and went to Darshan's place early in the morning. Farhan and I were still in bed when we heard him leave and we went back to sleep after that. An hour later, Preeti knocked at our door.

"I'm going for a run," she said. "I need to... relieve some stress." 

And then she was gone too. 

"You look like you need to relieve some stress too," Farhan murmured. I could see him watching me from the corner of my eye. I stared up at the ceiling, once more thinking about yesterday.

"I guess."

After a beat, he pulled me onto him, our bodies pressed together, a mischievous smile on his face. Without his glasses, his eyes looked smaller. His usually combed back hair was now messy from sleep, thick and ruffled. "I can think of a good stress reliever," he said. He took my face with one hand and brought it down to meet his lips. 

All thoughts of yesterday went to the back of my mind and I kissed him back. I broke away to look down at him. "Right now? Are you sure?"

"We live with two other people now. I don't think we're going to get another chance." His hand went under my tank top and ran along the dip in my back, going lower and lower until it slipped under my shorts and cupped the curve there.

I tried to control my breathing. "But it's our first time."

"I'm done waiting." Farhan craned his neck and planted kisses along my jawline. I lifted my head, letting his mouth move down to my neck. 

Goddamnit. What were we talking about? "That's... what I had said the first time we tried back home."

"Does the time and place matter? Or the person? You said that too, remember?"