Ohm's POV:
In brown jacket, blue and white stripped t-shirt and coffee pants came the guy I was waiting for. With his backpack on a shoulder and mobile in the other hand he entered the cabin. From 5 feet afar I could smell him. It was the same scent that I remember from the last time. The warm scent that makes me feel at ease. But that gets me worked up at the same time. It's weird how I remember this guy's scent. It's the first time I have noticed such things in someone. Like how his dimple is visible even when he is just looking around taking in my cabin view.
He then looked at me and his expressions went blank. I always thought I am good at reading people, but with him, I don't know what is going on in that head ever.
How shall I greet him? The way I greet others who come to meet me here?
"Welcome to Pawat Manufacturers." I said in as formal tone as possible. Given the situation, it was hard to smile but I tried and it turned out in grimace.
His expression shifted and he smirked at me.
"I am not here for a business meeting."
Yeah, I messed up first thing here.
"Uhm... Have a seat then." I tried to be formal again.
"Thanks" he said blankly.
Maintaining his expression, he put down his backpack on the other chair and took a seat in front of me.
"Long time, no see." I said now with a smile. I am feeling funny here. It's all too dramatic how we two are sitting here in front of each other after all that happened.
"I didn't wish to see you again in the first place." He replied sarcastically.
"Ow! Then why bother?" I asked playing along the sarcasm raising my eyebrow.
"You know what? Someone spiked my drink back in Vegas and that led me to sign a few papers unknowingly and here I am... bothered as hell."
"Trust me, if I knew that spiking your drink is going to result in this, I would have kept my distance from you from the very first instance I saw you."
"That would have been the best thing."
"Can't deny that."
We gave each other icy glare for a while. But then he started fidgeting. Like he was losing his cool. I guess the volcano can blast anytime.
"Do you need something to drink?" I asked to calm him.
He banged his hand on the table. "Asshole!" he snapped and got up.
"Hey!" I got up too. How dare he call me that in my own office?
"You mother**ker! What do you expect us to do now? Am I supposed to have a Hi-Tea party with you here? Huh?"
"Really? I was just being courteous."
"Courtesy! Such words coming from you? Are you sure you even know how to be human?"
"Hey, you better watch it. You are in my company right now."
"So?"
So? He is asking me so? Bloody low life photographer.
"How shall I explain to a naïve kid like you? It's like I am the king of this jungle. One roar, and they will kick you out."
He laughed hard.
"Roar? Are you referring to Lion King! With you it's more like kingdom of Apes!" he trolled me.
"How dare you!"
"How dare I? How dare you spike my drink?"
"You messed with me first."
"Who the hell did what? Are you still hallucinating."
"You ignored me."
"I didn't even know you dammit."
"So what? No one can ignore me."
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Do I look like I am kidding?"
"You know what? This conversation is going nowhere."
"Of course, coz you didn't come to converse anyway. You simply wanted attention. Right?"
"Bullshit! How can someone talk to you? You learn to talk like humans first."
"Who am I then? Animal?"
"Alien! I wish you could go back to your own planet."
"You -"
"You -"
We both were screaming raising our fingers at each other when Aim came clapping with blank expressions on her face. We both went silent and looked at her.
"Wow! I see chemistry here. You both are already arguing like a married couple." She said looking at both of us. We both exchanged glances and turned our faces instantly taking deep breaths to calm down.
"Aim, what the hell?" I snapped at her.
"Oh well, I came to remind you about 2 things. One: This is your office Ohm, if not for yourself then at least for our family's reputation, calm down and talk. And Two: You both need to talk this out and cooperate. Unless one of you is actually happy to be married to the other person."
"No way!" we both replied unanimously.
"See! You two know how to get along. Hope you guys know how to talk too. If I hear you guys screaming again, I will broadcast the whole footage from that CCTV camera to the entire office." She said pointing towards the camera.
"Sorry." Nanon said guiltily looking at her and she sighed and nodded. Then sprinted out of the cabin while throwing angry glances at me.
A peon came in with two glasses of water and kept it on the table and left quietly. We both looked at each other and picked one glass each and drank the whole in one go.
Nanon's POV:
Handsome. Insanely handsome. From top to toe he speaks brands and class. How can he look so perfect? I am pissed off at myself every time I see him. Firstly, because I can't help admire his charm and secondly he downright pisses me off with his crooked smile and fierce eyes. All this combined, I lost my temper back there.
But now we are now sitting quietly since ten minutes for calming down. After that heated conversation I know it's going to be difficult coping with this ape. But if I have no choice then I will have to be the bigger person here. I need to talk this out.
"The contract. Why do you think Tay made it in such a way?"
He eyed me for a few seconds when I finally started talking and then he turned towards me.
"He was afraid New would feel guilty and if pressured by his family, he may even decide to give up on the wedding." He finally replied.
"Why would New do such a thing? He loves Tay."
"Yeah but, New loves his family too."
"Who doesn't?"
"Do you ever try to talk like just talk and not argue?" He asked shaking his head.
"Ok... Alright. So now what? This contract says that this wedding can't be annulled till the families sign the letters saying they absolutely can't be with each other?"
"Yes and if the two people wanted to get a divorce, they are supposed to stay with each other for a minimum of six months."
"This is insane. Do the parties involved need to give proofs of living together too?"
"Something of that sort." He replied as irritated as I was.
"Why was the contract not having the names already? Why was it like fill in the blanks?" I asked confused.
"I asked Tay the same thing last night, he told me that someone was getting this kind of contract prepared and he read it and he asked to create a same copy with his and New's names. The consultant tried to be over-smart and created a generic contract for both."
"Dammit!"
We looked at each other and the marriage contract and certificate in front of us. This was the first time in last 2 days that I realized he was in this puddle with me. He was worried too. He was looking for help like me. Even if he was responsible for spiking the drinks, it not entirely his fault that the registrar got confused. I was clinging to him too. And maybe that's why the two of us need to work this out together.
"So what are we going to do? I mean what do you propose?" I asked him.
"You are asking me?"
"Is anybody else here?"
He eyed me again before answering. "We have three options. The first one is that the contract is valid for two years. After that it is over. Then the marriage can be deemed annulled if we wish to. So we can keep it a secret for two years and then it's over."
Two years? I can't deal with it for so long. I need to go ahead with Rith. And I can't start with wrong note. And dealing with this Ape for two years? I can't.
"What's the other option?" I asked curious.
"We can get families involved and make them write statements saying we two and our families can't coexist and so we want this contract to be annulled."
I don't know how liberal his family is with him. I don't know what this guy's sexual orientation is. I don't know how cooperative his staff and friends are. But my dad might beat me to death if he got to know that I married a guy. I can't risk it.
"And the third option?"
"The third option is for us to stay together for at least 6 months and then file a divorce saying we tried to live together but we couldn't be happy."
"Stop saying 'We'. It's annoying."
He looked at me in disbelief. "Fine. You and I can go with the third option."
Sigh. "Let's take a few pictures here and there and we will say we stayed together. What say?"
"I don't want to risk it. Let's stay together and we will be able to get this over with quickly. What kind of proofs they will ask I don't know. So better safe than sorry." He said throwing the contract paper at the desk.
"How can that be possible?"
"Simple, I'll clear a room for you at my home. Come and stay with us. You will get 7-star facilities too."
"No way I am staying at your place." I snapped.
"Then how are we going to stay together?"
"You come and stay with me in my condo then. I stay with my brother and a friend there."
"Why will I stay in a lowly condo with you, your brother and your friend?"
Ah! Is it going to be this difficult always?
"We can't do it this way."
"Yes agreed. So then let's find a place somewhere that will belong to both of us only. No one from your end or mine will be staying with us."
I looked at him surprised.
His expressions changed and he gave me that similar crooked smile.
"Are you scared to be alone with me, honey?" he teased.
Bloody asshole!
"No, my dear, I just don't want to deal with any more complexities than we are dealing with already." I played along.
He sneered and shook his head. "Anyway, you won't be able to afford staying in a place that I find suitable. So, I'll buy a condo and we will move there."
"How I afford is my business. You just name the place and I'll pay half of the money."
"Are you really a photographer or you are into some shady business too?" he teased me further.
"As I said, none of your business."
"Fine. Let's do this."
"Fine." I extended my hand and he raised his fist for the fist-bump. Where have I done this before? I can't recall.
He was looking at me expectantly so I bumped my fist with his, sealing the deal.
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This is my first ever attempt at a fanfic. I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please keep voting and commenting. I need feedback for improving my chapters further.
Thank you once again. :-)