"You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back." -Barbara De Angelis
NINA KAPOOR
"Where do you wanna eat?" Arjun asked as we got out of the elevator.
"Where ever there's food." I shrugged. He chuckled at my statement.
"Alright, wait for me, I'll just ask if there is any cafe close by." I nodded and decided to wait by the entrance.
Day one in Paris!!
I walked out too absorbed soaking in the sight in front of my eyes, that I didn't realize there were a bunch of reporters outside, who were now rushing to me. My reflexes kicked in fast and I ran back into the hotel faster than I run on seeing a cockroach.
I looked behind me to ensure they didn't come in following me when I collided with a strong, hard chest and lost my balance.
I was about to fall due to the sudden impact but a strong arm caught me by my waist while mine wounded themselves around a neck.
By now I just know its Arjun because I've fallen like way too much for my own good. He keeps appearing out of the blue and I keep running into him and this goes on repeat. Almost everyday!
Slowly I opened my right eye to peek and look at a now smirking Arjun looking directly into my eyes with amusement.
"You can't stay away from me can you?" he raised his brows at me. I concentrated on ignoring the tingling feelings I'm getting on my waist.
No matter how many times we end up like this, my body heats up leaving tingling feelings, my heart fluttering and the butterflies in my stomach doing somersault.
"Earth to Sunshine?" he smirked
I gave him a 'seriously' look and was about to give him a piece of my mind stating it was all HIS fault, not MINE but got interrupted by sounds of flashes and clicks.
Oh hell no!
I quickly stood straight, swatted his hands from my waist and peeked out to find them pushing each other and clicking photos of us, looking happy and satisfied about it.
How I wish to break that camera of theirs! And stab them to death with their own pen!
"Lets not get aggressive sunshine." he laughed and rubbed my back while I frowned.
"Hm?" I tilted my head up questioningly as to what he was talking about.
"You just said you want to break their cameras, and stab to death with their pen." he said amused.
"I'm thinking out loud way too much now a days" I muttered.
"You still are." he chuckled
Oh Go-.....wait, what did he call me? Wasn't it princess?
"Sunshine?" where does he come up these kind of nicknames?
"Yeah, princess sounds.....common, plus you are the light in my life, so sunshine." he booped by nose then wrapped his hands around my waist.
All his small gestures made my heart jump in joy.
He then whispered "Stay close, they won't be around anymore after now."
I was unsure but nodded looking at the photo clicking imbecile idiots, eagerly waiting for us to come out, so they can start asking questions like 'have you decided a name for your kid?'
I swear if they ask any question like that I'm gonna break their nose. And then kill them.
I can be aggressive when I want to be!
Sure
I rolled my eyes mentally at her.
Arjun typed something on his phone, then guided me to the entrance where two security guards were trying their level best to keep the reporters from entering inside and scaring the living crap out of the guests here looking at us weirdly.
I feel bad for them.
As we kept getting close to them, Arjun's grip on my waist tightened, his grip was firm yet gentle, my hand fisted his shirt to make sure I don't get lost in that crowd out there.
By the time we got there, there were 4 bodyguards dressed in black suits barricading the paparazzi with the security helping them.
As we got out Arjun whispered "Just smile, I'll take care of the rest."
I have a feeling that him taking 'care' of this would not be nice or sweet.
Never did.
I nodded nonetheless and took a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for their ridiculous and stupid questions.
"Mr. Kapoor, please state your reason for this sudden visit to Paris?"
"Mrs. Kapoor are you pregnant? Do you have any idea about the gender?" I really have the urge to slap that person across their face and then kick them where the sun doesn't shine.
"Mrs. Arjun, have you gotten married to him for money?" I was second away from throwing my sneaker at that person, or atleast their direction.
"Sir, mam here, just one photo"
"SMILE!" Flash, click.
I'm gonna be blind today.
A lot more questions followed after that, I tuned them out and concentrated on my cheeks that started hurting due to all this smiling now and my heart which was beating quiet fast for some reason.
Arjun raised his hand to calm them down a bit which worked to my surprise. He then spoke,
"I would appreciate it if this would not repeat again. It causes a lot of problems for us, the guest and staff of this hotel, and the others around us. This will be the first and last time this happens and if it happens again or I catch you sneaking around us or following us, well you don't want to find out what I do. Clear?" he said in his colder than ice voice, looking void of all emotions except anger directed towards them. His voice sent a shiver down my body.
Well, perks of being an arrogant person to the strangers and haters.
They looked at him in fear but nodded their heads like obedient kids but didn't budge.
"Well, LEAVE" he growled at them, they soon disappeared from here.
Ok, that was totally unexpected!
"How did you do that?" I asked in disbelief.
He shrugged then smirked "I do own the largest company in the globe. I have the power to ruin them before they can open their mouth." I rolled my eyes at him, but its true, he has power, a whole lot of it. He can destroy you with a snap of his fingers or a nod of his head.
"Have anyone ever mentioned you smirk more than you have spoken and laughed in your whole life?" I asked kind of annoyed.
"They don't dare to." his smirk widened and his expression changed to a proud one.
I shook my head and sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"
"I can think of a few things." he kind of bent down to my eye level, his smirk permanently plastered on his face. His eyes held something close to mischief and bad.
That's worse than than a deadly combination.
He then whispered "Want to know what they are?" he gazed into my wide eyes. My stomach turned upside down at this, my heart beating out of my ribcage. I gulped a lump that formed in my throat.
He's lost it....and its all because of YOU!
Did he hit his head in the washroom while taking a shower!? Or in the plane? Or maybe someone is controlling his brain?
There are so many possibilities!!
Oh my god! Maybe this is Arjun's long lost permanently smirking twin?
That explains a lott!!!
Stop before you embarrass yourself even more!
He chuckled at my comical expression and pulled me closer to him by securing his hands around my waist again "Lets go, I'm getting hungry now."
I sigh in relief "Where are we going again?"
"Somewhere where there is food" he said.
I rolled my eyes at him.
"There's a small cafe down there, apparently the food and coffee is great so we'll go there and then walk around and explore around." he said to which I agreed immediately.
We walked down the road with him holding me close, like I'm going to run away if he lets me go, making small talks about random things and scanning the pretty sights around us.
"When are we calling mom and dad?" I asked
We haven't spoken to them yet nor messaged them.
Mom might end up filing a missing person's report since she thinks we are careless.
"After breakfast?" he asked observing the portraits made by an elderly, kind looking man.
"You mean brunch? Its already 12." I smiled
"How did we get so late?" he muttered while walking away after giving a curt nod at the old man. I smiled at the him and replied to Arjun.
"Wonder whose fault it was" I rolled my eyes while he smirked....again.
"How I wish to wipe that smirk off your face." I mumbled under my breath but he heard it....much to my dismay.
"You can" he looked down at me. His eyes glinting in mischief.
I frowned in confusion, he gave me a 'think harder' look.
After a good 2 minutes with me staring at him and thinking what he was trying to sat, I understood, I looked at him shocked and quickly averted my gaze to the ground to hid my face which now had a blush that settled on my cheeks and ears. My heart was now beating so fast I'm pretty sure Arjun can hear it.
"You don't have to hide from me sunshine, I honestly love that color on your face, makes you look even more adorable." he smiled.
My mouth dropped open touching the ground, my face completely red due to embarrassment.
Did he just say that?
The rest of the walk, silence filled the air, no words were formed by me plus the scenery was way too stunning to look away or even talk.
My face now had a smile attached to my face.
The streets were filled with people walking, talking, smiling, having a good time. Kids riding cycles, boats slowly sliding on the surface of the water, leaves falling on the ground softly, shops filled either with colorful and fresh flowers or souvenirs for tourist to keep a part of Paris with them. Cafe's filled with people enjoying their time. A good, calming scent filling the air as we walked.
Soon we reached a small, cozy, welcoming cafe that had a homey vibe to it. Arjun opened the door and let me walk in first.
I smiled and walked in chirping a 'thank you' to which he dramatically bowed causing me to giggle. As soon as we entered, a mouth watering aroma filled our nose.
We were greeted by a women possibly in her mid 40s, she had a motherly smile and vibe around her.
We took a seat at a corner at a 2 people table by the window. A cute brunette waitress in her mid 20s came to us smiling brightly and handed us a menu. I thanked her and started browsing through the menu.
I settled with blueberry pancake and chocolate sauce while Arjun ordered himself eggs, baked potato and bacon along with coffee for the both of us.
We waited for our food in silence watching the busy streets. The cafe was filled with people but it was still peaceful and quiet.
"Voilà madame, monsieur...votre nourriture. Votre café sera là dans quelques minutes. " the same waitress cut the silence and placed our food infront of us. I thanked her to which she nodded. (Translation: Here you go mam, sir...your food. Your coffee will be here in a few minutes.)
She then gave a warm and friendly smile "Elle est extrêmement belle et douce, votre chanceux monsieur" she told Arjun pointing at me and smiling. (Translation: She's extremely beautiful and sweet, your lucky sir.)
I frowned not understanding what she meant.
Arjun too smiled looking at me.....admiration filled his eyes as he responded to her without breaking our eye contact "L'est et je le suis vraiment... merci." (Translation: She is and I really am....thank you.)
She nodded "Vous êtes tous les deux vraiment mignons ensemble... en tout cas profitez de votre repas et je suis désolé de vous avoir fait perdre votre temps. Amusez-vous et s'il vous plaît appelez-moi si vous avez besoin d'autre chose." she said and left once Arjun nodded his head not breaking eye contact with me. (Translation: You both are really cute together....anyways enjoy your meal and I am sorry for wasting your time. Have fun and please call me if you need anything else.)
"What did she say?" I raised my brows questioningly.
"Something I already knew." he flashed me a smile, which was very new and looked absolutely adorable on him and showed off his hidden dimples. I was really starting to think his dimples vanished.
I nodded, I was confused but didn't push it.
"You should smile like this more, your dimples look really cute on you." the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. I slapped my mouth shut with my hands, my eyes wide. Please tell me I didn't just say that.
He smirked but soon flashed me his dimple smile and then spoke.
"Its reserved only for you. So I will smile like that only when its you. And thank you very much but cute is not me, I'm the hot and sexy stuff." he gave me the same smile causing my ears to turn red.
I rolled my eyes at him. Arrogant much?
He smiled again and dug into his food and I followed and took a bit of my pancake and I was instantly in heaven.
"Its delicious" I moaned and closed my eyes savoring the taste which brought back my dead taste buds.
He chuckled at me and leaned forward and stretched his hand out to me.
I froze in my place not aware of what he was doing.
He reached and wiped the corner of my lips with his thumb. My heart going at 200 miles per minute, the dragon in my stomach roaring.
"Chocolate sauce" he showed his thumb to me.
"Oh" I took out a tissue and was about to hand it to him but that didn't look necessary since he just licked his thumb clean of the sauce. My breath hitched in my throat and I nearly chocked.
I stopped mid way passing him the tissue on witnessing that, but that didn't effect him.
Never does
He just took the tissue from my hand with a smirk and then brought his hands close to my face and closed my open mouth holding my chin.
I came back to my senses, blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming then slowly glanced up to meet Arjun's luring black eyes already looking at me with affection and....love? I don't know. His lips were tugged up in a small smile.
We again got lost in each others eyes, his eyes flashed so many emotions and none of them showed any signs of disgust or anger.
I took this time in soaking his facial features, his black orbs, thick long lashes making his eyes a hundred times more gorgeous, turn-up shaped nose, an extremely sharp jawline covered in an subtle beard which complemented his facial features and his pink full lips, tugged up in a small smile, which look so kissable right now. His hair was a completely different story. His black locks falling messily on his forehead giving a extra sexy kick to his already handsome face. The dark grey t-shirt settled on his body like a second skin just meant to cover him up, his muscles bulging out making any girl stare at him and their imagination going extremely wild.
I could forever stare at him like this but we were soon broken out of our trance by the waitress.
"Votre café- oh désolé, je ne voulais pas vous interrompre, continuez s'il vous plaît." she flashed me a apologetic smile and quickly kept our coffee and left with a smirk. (Translation: Your coffe- oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, please carry on.)
Arjun chuckled at what she said.
"What did she say? And why was she smirking?" I frowned looking in the direction she left.
"She apologized to interrupt us." he too smirked and sipped his coffee. Heat crawled up the cheeks, I looked away and continued eating and sipping my steaming cup of delicious coffee, occasionally stealing glances at Arjun who wore his smug smirk the whole time.
Does his lips not hurt of smirking so much? I mean come on how much can a human smirk a day?
There should be limited numbers for smirking per day and I bet he would have exceeded the limits the minute he opened his eyes.
We finished our brunch, paid and bid bye to the waitress who surprisingly hugged me. I was shocked but returned it. She introduced herself as Charlotte.
I made a friend today!
After our introductions, which was hard due to the language barrier, we left saying we would come back. Once we were out I spoke
"She's nice" Arjun hummed in response and kept looking around frowning slightly.
"Come on, this way" he intertwined our finger together and tugged to the left.
I obliged and walked with him "Where are we going?" I was still in awe of the place. My eyes kept travelling here and there. I did catch women ogling over my hot as hell husband making me very pissed. The next day after Arjun revealing me as his wife, women whoever recognized me either stared at me in awe, envy or they mostly glared at me. I mean come on its not my fault!
I was way too engrossed in my thoughts that I stepped on a puddle of water so I glanced at my white sneaker to make sure they didn't get muddy, thankfully they didn't. My eyes then fixated on our fingers, which were intertwined. My small hand fit perfectly in his large surprisingly warm ones. It looked as though our hands were made for each other.
"Book store, I saw one last night while coming." he said pulling me out of my thoughts and dragging me with him.
"Really?!" I asked excited
"Really!" he said in the same tone as me.
I rolled my eyes at him but I was excited to get a book, although I did bring a few, but no harm in getting more. Its good to read. Due to his height and long giant legs, his steps were huge, I had to run at times to keep up with him.
I then remembered about calling mom and dad, so we did on our way, we spoke to them and by the end of the call mom had recited her instructions all over again....for the third time in 10 minutes. She still thinks we are 10 and apparently that's all we are to her.
After reassuring mom and bidding them a bye, then talking to Veer who had called as well, we got to the book store, I got three books along with four bookmarks which Arjun forcefully brought as he saw me eyeing them longer. Two of the bookmarks happened to be Harry Potter's.
We then roamed around the area, going in and out of stores, buying things here and there. We even brought hot chocolate in the evening, the food and drinks here are unbelievingly tasty.
Later we were sitting by a fountain, I rested my head on Arjun's shoulder while he kept our intertwined hand on his lower thigh, enjoying the sunset which looked incredible. After a while we decided to head back to the hotel since it was already 7pm plus I was tired.
I kept the shopping bags on the kitchen counter, too lazy to open them right now. I went to our room only to remember I don't have any pants.
I sighed, what do I wear, my grey pants are dirty, I dirtied it while crying earlier.
"Why are you frowning?" Arjun asked scaring me.
I kept my hand on my chest to calm myself down "Why do you keep appearing out of the blue and scare me!?" I glared at him. I might end up dying of a heart attack like this.
"Sorry" he didn't look sorry at all, he looked entertained.
"Now why are you frowning?" he came closer only then did I notice he had changed into his sweatshirt and pant.
How can a person look hot even in that!?
"I don't any pants, there are only shorts and my grey pants got dirty." I pouted.
"Wear the shorts. I'm not gonna do anything." he said in a mischievous tone.
"Your unbelievable." I sighed and shook my head while he gave me his dimple smile.
Two times a day! That's huge!!!
"Go on" he lightly pushed me towards the washroom.
I looked at him for a minute debating if I should or not.
I finally decided to wear my shorts, since I had no other choice, I took out my grey full sleeved top and shorts pajama set and went to the washroom to change.
I pulled my hair into a bun, cleaned my wrists of all the foundation covering my scars.
I looked at them and suddenly the first time I cut myself flashed in front of my eyes.
Flashback (Nina's age:12 years):
"Kill yourself, here use this, it'll help." Ankita threw a pocket knife on me and went away snickering with her friends.
I looked at the pocket knife, my eyes filling with fresh set of tears, lips quivering, hands shivering. I kept it in my pocket and walked away from there.
I came back to the house and went to my room without quickly before mom could stop me to take her anger and frustration out on me.
I went to the washroom to take a bath when I stood looking at myself in the mirror, she's right, I'm fat and ugly. No one needs me, I should maybe just kill myself.
I then remembered the knife she had given me, I took it out, looked at the sharp, shining blade in my hand, then my wrist.
No Ninu, don't do it, your nothing they say, please don't Ninu, just put it away, please!
My conscience screamed at me but I ignored her and slowly cut my wrist. I winced at the pain but it felt oddly.....satisfying.
I knew it was not going to kill me....and I wasn't happy about it. I wanted to give up, because I knew I lost, there's no way I can win against these challenges that life was throwing at me. But I could use this to help cope with my pain.
I wiped my tears and only noticed my basin was now completely covered in blood, I immediately covered my wrist to stop any further flowing of blood and quickly fished for the first aid kit that was kept in my cupboard. I washed my hand and winced once a while due to the stinging pain, then applied ointment and covered it up with the least amount of dressing possible.
I wore full sleeved top, and walked out like nothing happened , skipped dinner and cried myself to sleep like every other day.
From that day on I had only worn full sleeved tops, only when I learnt about foundation, I started wearing quarter sleeved ones.
End of flashback
I opened my eyes to see that they are now filled with tears.
Why do I always ruin the day I'm happy, ruin it by remembering the days that no kid should ever suffer through. Why do I always let my brain drift to the past?
Why can't I just accept it and move on? Why can't I just.....forget it? Like it never happened.
"Ninu?" I heard Arjun's voice on the other side of the door.
"Yeah?" I wiped the tear and turned the shower on so he wouldn't suspect anything.
"I'm ordering room service, what do you want to eat? Also any movie you wanna watch?" he asked.
Maybe I should try my luck
"Umm....order anything you want just make sure mine doesn't have capsicums and movie...how about Annabelle: Comes Home?" this was a long shot but I had to try.
"Fine and nice try, a movie that doesn't involve horror?" his voice became fainter.
"Um...how about Beauty and the Beast?" I was in the mood for horror but he killed it so maybe disney.
"Ok but we're not watching the animated one, we've seen it way too many times with Kajol." he asked his voice clearer and sounded slightly annoyed.
I giggled "Agreed" I yell turning the shower off.
"Thank god" I heard his footsteps disappear. I just smiled.
I looked at myself in the mirror again and sighed.
I forget about all the bad and problems in my life when I'm with him. He's helping so much without even having the slightest idea about it. His presence alone makes me happy.
I wash my face again, smiled and make sure my eyes and nose don't look red and puffy.
After calming myself down I opened the washroom door to be met with darkness. I go out to find Arjun searching for 'Beauty and the Beast'.
"Hey, I ordered dinner, should be here in sometime." he said selecting the movie when his eyes travelled down to my exposed legs.
Shoot! I forgot I was in shorts.
I shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another when he looked away and cleared his throat.
"Shall we?" I tried clearing the awkwardness that filled the room suddenly.
"Yeah" he sighed and slumped on the couch. I tugged my shorts to pull it down slightly, then sat down next him.
Dinner was served in a few minutes, Arjun had ordered chicken lasagna, white wine and strawberry cheesecake.
Yum!
I thanked the butler, and went to the kitchen to get us water. I returned to find Arjun pouring both the wine in the two glasses.
Once we got settled, we dug in and man, it was delicious.
We finished dinner, I put the plates in the dishwasher, filled my glass with more water and joined Arjun who was intensely watching the movie, I yawned and the last thing I remember was falling asleep on something amazingly comfortable. The couch didn't seem this comfortable but I was already pulled into sleep to check what it was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yayy!!! I finally got the chapter done!!!!!
A special thanks to @Aaaaaaaa____yuoo for commenting on my last chapter and giving me a suggestion. I've considered it and applied it, thank you so much for your suggestions, it helped a lot!!!!😍😍😃😃
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