The file sitting in front of Armaan for the last hour was finally picked up. He had been lost in Nandini's thoughts since he had gotten to work but now he was sure he'd fully give his attention to work while he is here. If it were the old Armaan, he would've been adding hours after work to stay home but this Armaan was thinking of ways to just see a glimpse of his wife.
Life couldn't have ever been better. Armaan and Nandini had finally found a peaceful solace in one another and fell even deeper in love as days passed. They both couldn't have ever asked for more.
As he finished going through the file, the door flung open and walked in his two annoying best friends. Armaan didn't even to look at them to know it's them and groan. It wasn't anything new.
"Before you tell us to leave, like always, the answer is no." Armaan shut his mouth immediately and shifted his attention to his laptop. There was no point in fighting with them or kicking them out. They wouldn't leave, not at least until they have annoyed every single cell of his.
"So, how is lover boy's life going?" Armaan gave Rishab an 'are-you-serious' look as he heard the nickname. "You're no less. You're even worse." he retorted back. Which was true. Rishab's attention was only on Divya ever since he had met her. And ever since they had gotten married, let's just say he knew nothing outside of their love life.
"It's fun seeing you both like this. It tells me to not make the mistake like you guys and marry someone." Sameer said with a relaxed smile, lying back in his chair. Rishab and Armaan rolled their eyes at him and moved their attention away from him. "What about that girl? The one your mom set you up with." It took Sameer a second to realize what he was talking about. Once he did, his cheeks heated up while his palms started sweating. This didn't go unnoticed by either of the two.
"Seems like it's going well." Rishab playfully said, grinning. Armaan gave Rishab a knowing look with an upside smile. It was quite normal for him to smile and laugh a bit with them now. But outside of his friends and Nandini, he was still the same cold businessman.
Sameer turned even more flustered. "Are you going to tell us?" Sighing, Sameer said, "We've been texting and calling ever since I've came back from Jaipur. She's sweet, very shy. Mom's been bugging me and asking me about my answer, but I need more time. At least another month." Hearing him, Rishab's lips turned into a huge grin. "Now I understand why you've been acting even more quiet lately." Sameer just shook his head, looking away, flustered.
"I can't believe this idiot is blushing like a girl." Armaan sarcastically said. Sameer threw a pen a Armaan, which he caught and threw at a confused Rishab. "What the hell did I do?" Armaan looked at Sameer, who looked back at him. "Don't get us started." Sameer said. Rishab huffed, sitting back in his chair. "You both always team up against me. You guys are just jealous I'm more handsome then you both." Rishab taunted. "Keep telling yourself that." Armaan sighed while Sameer scoffed.
"Can we talk about Armaan now? That's what we're always here for." Rishab said, turning the topic around towards Armaan. Armaan rolled his eyes, staring at his laptop screen, knowing it was time to be really annoyed. "Right. So, how's your love life going Oberio sahab?" Sameer asked with a mischievous grin. Armaan gave him a bored look, telling him to shut up.
"I would not like to discuss my personal matters with you two idiots." They both scoffed at his words. "You don't have to tell us, it's written all over your face." Armaan raised his eyebrow at them, questioning them. "We can tell you're madly in love with Nandini. It's quite obvious. All you do is think about her everywhere you go. You couldn't make it any more obvious." Rishab said in a 'duh' tone. "Oh and, what happened to "keep hoping and wishing, no one has ever been able to do so and neither will she be able too." Huh?" Sameer mimicked Armaan, who ignored their looks and looked at his laptop, remembering that line clearly.
"You had said that line during your engagement, I remember. And you were so confident about your words. But look. She did end up changing you. She did something we couldn't do in years, just in a few months. She really is different." Armaan had to admit to that. She was. She was different then any other women he has ever met. But she was a good different. The reason why he had fallen for her. "And Romeo is back in his thoughts again of Juliette." Rishab shook his head, sighing.
"You know what, let's just call her and see how's she feeling right now about this Romeo." Rishab said with a look on his face that said 'I'm-so-smart'. Armaan's eyes widened as he knew his friends would blabber on any shit to her. Rishab took his phone out and dialed Nandini's number. Seeing this, Armaan freaked out and immediately tried to snatch the phone out of his hand. Rishab was quick to take it further away. But Armaan didn't give up, he tried to reach over his entire desk and as he was, to his luck, Nandini picked up the call.
"Hello?" Hearing her voice, Armaan huffed as he sat back in his seat. Rishab just grinned at Armaan, earning back a glare from him. "Hello?" Realizing she was still on call, Rishab said, "Hey Nandini. How are you?" Sameer wanted to laugh at Armaan's annoyed face. "Hi bhai! I'm good. How are you? And how is Divya di?" Nandini asked from the other side. "We're both good." Silence fell on both ends as they both didn't know what to say.
"Was there anything important you called for?" Nandini asked, thinking it must be. "No, I just wanted to know how life was going. Because you know, Armaan and you..." Armaan mentally groaned at his words. Where the hell was he taking this conversation. Nandini on the other hand, she was turning red as the moments passed. She knew Rishab and Sameer probably knew everything between Armaan and her now. And she also knew they would tease her.
"How's he treating you?" Nandini didn't know how to respond but just spoke from her heart. "He's nice. Still boring though. But I don't think I can change that. I'll just have to work with that." Rishab and Sameer bit back their laughter while Armaan fixed his ears to her words. He wanted to know everything she thought about him.
"I still can't believe you fell for him out of the four billion men in this world. But I can't say anything now. It was meant to be." Rishab dramatically sighed, making Armaan glare at him once again. Nandini chuckled from the other side. "Does he still stay late at work or comes back home on time?" Nandini sighed at his question. "Obviously work. I don't know how he likes to work so much. He even works once he gets home. I swear he loves that stupid laptop more then me. I might just throw it out the window one day."
All three of them were taken aback by her sudden outburst. Nandini didn't even hesitate and fired back her response. They all knew she had intense hatred for his laptop. Armaan hadn't expected this much hatred though. He should start hiding his laptop away from her as he knew she wouldn't hesitate to do what she said.
Armaan glared at Rishab, who was dying to laugh, telling him to turn off the phone. "Actually, I'll call you back in a bit. Something came up. Until then, keep thinking of ways to murder his laptop." Nandini lightly laughed and bid bye, ending the call.
Not even a second after the call ended, both Sameer and Rishab burst into laughter. Armaan just sulked in his chair, knowing his wife very well would murder his laptop. "I pray you and your laptop the best." Rishab said, still laughing. Armaan just groaned. "I still can't believe I fell for such a murderous women. She won't hesitate to kill me if I even pinch her." They shook their head, laughing, knowing he was right. "Good luck for the future." Sameer said.
Soon enough they had composed themselves. "So, what have you bought her so far?" Armaan raised his eyebrow at that question, looking over at Rishab. "What do you mean? Am I supposed to buy her something?" Rishab and Sameer stared at Armaan, their mouths hung open, with disbelief. "Seriously? You haven't given her anything!?" Armaan gave them a confused look. "Bro, even I know this and I'm single as fuck."
Seeing Armaan's confused face, Rishab explained. "You're supposed to buy something for her once in a while so she knows how much you still love her. It shows her you care." Armaan gave them a bewildered look. "She already knows I do. What's the point of a stupid gift." They shook their head, unable to believe their friend. All they could do was pray for his future.
"Tsk, you dumbass, you have to buy her gifts still! Every girl waits for those gifts. If you don't give her any, she'll ignore you and won't talk to you." Rishab explained, knowing this very well due to experience. He hadn't once given Divya a gift on their six month anniversary and she hadn't spoken to him for a week. Yup. A whole week.
"So I'm supposed to buy her something?" Armaan said, sitting up and thinking. "Yes you dipshit." Armaan started thinking. He hadn't bought her anything. She hadn't said anything about it, but which girl asks for gifts herself? She hadn't showed any sense of anger either, but what if she turned mad soon. Shit, he needed to buy something fast.
"What am I supposed to buy? Jewelry? A diamond set? What about a diamond bracelet? Or-" "Dude, it doesn't have to be that big. It has to be something meaningful to her. Something she likes. For example, if she likes candy, you buy her candy." Armaan's mouth turned in an 'o' shape. It got him thinking. What did Nandini like and what would be meaningful to her? The wheels in Armaan's mind started turning. And soon enough, he knew what he was going to get. All he hoped was for that she would like it.
• • • • •
As Armaan entered the room, his eyes fell upon Nandini, who was jumping on the bed with music playing in the background. If it would have been any other day, he would've been yelling at Nandini and scolding her to get down, but today, today he was enjoying watching her and didn't want to stop her.
Armaan leaned against the door, crossing his arms against his chest, as he watched his beautiful but childish wife. A tiny smirk formed on his face as he noticed she was unknown to his gaze.
Nandini danced and jumped on the bed to the beat of the music as if she had no care in the world. Her hair flew with every move she did while a huge smile was glued to her face. She was enjoying life to the fullest.
Nandini twirled and when she stopped, her gaze settled on the figure that had been ogling at her since the past five minutes. Nandini halted in her steps, noticing the smirk on his face. He looked at her with his eyebrow raised, causing her cheeks to heat up. She immediately jumped off the bed and turned off the music from her phone.
Nandini pushed back her hair behind her ear, flustered, as Armaan made his way in front of her. He crossed his arms against his chest, staring at her with the same smirk. "Before you start your lecture on making a mess, I'll clean the stupid bed before we go to sleep." Nandini quickly said, thinking that was about to leave his mouth. Which it would, only if it was any other day before he actually had confessed.
"Good, but I wasn't going to say that." Nandini scrunched her eyebrows, surprised. He wasn't going to scold her? Hallelujah. "Then what were you going to say?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips. "Just that..." Armaan brought his face closer to her's, making Nandini's breath get stuck in her throat. She thought he was going to kiss her but his lips passed her face and went closer to her ear. "...you look cute."
Armaan was quick to withdraw himself and he felt accomplished as he saw her face red as a tomato. Winking at a shocked Nandini, Armaan placed the gift bag he was holding on the coffee table and moved towards the closet. Opening the door of the closet, he said, "And that's for you." and entered the closet, leaving a confused, still flustered, Nandini behind.
As the door of the closet closed, Nandini calmed down and came back to the real world. She remembered his words and her eyes landed on the gift bag on the coffee table. Her feet automatically took her towards it. Nandini sat on the sofa and hesitantly grabbed the gift bag, her cheeks already turning red thinking about getting a gift from Armaan.
Slowly, Nandini took out items from the bag. There were two things, wrapped in gift-wrapping paper. Unwrapping the first thing, a huge smile made its way to Nandini's face. It was set of two pairs of jhumkas. The first one was a beautiful silver pair while the second one was a multi-colored one. Jhumkas had been one of Nandini's biggest obsessions since forever and were the only type of jewelry she liked. Seeing Armaan buy them for her, she couldn't help but mentally squeal.
Realizing there was another gift, Nandini placed the jhumkas down gently and unwrapped the other one. The smile on her face turned into a grin as she stared at the items in front of her. There were three boxes of all different types of chocolates she loved. Chocolates were one of the other things she always obsessed over. She could survive on them.
Armaan exited the closet and his eyes landed on a smiling Nandini, looking at the gifts, making him relaxed. He could tell she liked them, which made him glad as he wasn't sure if she would.
Hearing the door close, Nandini looked up and saw Armaan staring at her. She smiled even wider as she saw him. Armaan made his way towards the sofa and just as he was about to sit down, Nandini threw herself on to him, causing him to fall onto the sofa with Nandini on top of him. "Thank you!!" she squealed happily. Armaan was taken aback but when he saw her happy face, a smile of his own made its way to his face.
"For?" he acted dumb. "For all these gifts! I didn't expect these at all." Nandini moved back to her spot and Armaan sat down normally too. "How did you even know I like these chocolates and jhumkas? I don't remember ever telling you." Armaan scratched the nape of his neck while Nandini gave him an innocent questioning look.
"You might not believe it but I know everything about you. In these past months, all I ever did was notice you. I noticed ever little thing of yours. I noticed that you rarely ever wore jewelry and when you did, it would be these earrings. And you'd happily wear them. Also the chocolates, I've walked in on you a couple of times eating these and have noticed these wrappers." Armaan looked away as if he had been caught. Nandini bit back the smile which was trying to show.
Nandini couldn't believe Armaan really noticed her so deeply. She thought it was only her noticing whatever he did but it seems as if he was also. "Awww, you're so cute." Nandini squeezed Armaan's cheek, making him give her a 'you're-so-annoying' look. "I am not cute. I'm hot and handsome, thank you very much." Nandini rolled her eyes at him flaunting himself.
"I still can't believe or even think of you going out and buying these things. The Armaan Oberio, going into a shop and buying these for his wife. Amazing, right?" Armaan shook his head at her thinking. "It was hella weird. I didn't know anything but a girl at the jewelry shop helped me while I described it to her. Then I got the chocolates from one of the other stores. And the packaging, I also got that done. So all I did was just pay." It now made more sense to Nandini as this seemed more of an Armaan thing to do.
"But still, you thought about me and bought me these. I couldn't have been more happier." Nandini's smile was what Armaan wanted to see and he was successful. More then successful. "Rishab and Sameer told me to. I didn't even know I was supposed to buy gifts. But now I do, so be ready for even better gifts." Hearing his words, Nandini now understood why this was so sudden. "Were you there when bhai called?"
Nandini raised her eyebrow at him, making him look away and nod. "Good, you should know I will murder your laptop if you do anything." Nandini simply said. Armaan huffed while Nandini just gave him a tight-lipped smile.
"And Armaan, you don't have to buy me any gifts or anything to show me how much you love me. I know you love me, a lot, and that's enough." Nandini squeezed Armaan's hands, warmly smiling at him. Armaan's heart bloomed at her words as he couldn't have been any more happier to have such a loyal and beautiful soul that loves him. He knew his choice was right.
"I just want you to be happy. And I'll do anything for your happiness." Armaan held her hands in his, staring right into her eyes with a gentle look. "I'm happy as long as you're with me." They both were. Lost in each other's eyes. They both were happy with the decision they had made. The decision of confessing their love.
Nandini suddenly remembered something and knew it was the right moment to say it. "You know what would make me even happier?" Armaan gave her a questioning look, narrowing his eyes at her. "A promise." Confused, he asked, "A promise? For what?" Nandini sighed and knew it was a perfect moment to say it. And it's not like it will harm anyone. "Will you fulfill the promise?" she asked. "First tell me what it is about." Armaan said. Exhaling, Nandini said, "I want you to promise me that you'll never drink again."
Armaan was shocked by her words. He hadn't expected her to ask him for this. He was even surprised. "Nandini..-" "Armaan, I know you drink. And I've seen you drink. I've even seen you drunk. It's not like I'm against you drinking, even though I hate alcohol, but the times I have seen you drunk, I know it will harm you one day. Your drinking gets out of hand at times. And I don't know what I will do if something happens, god forbid, to you. I want you to stop drinking for that reason." she explained her side of view.
Armaan took in her words and understood her point of view. But it's something he was truly attached to. It was his only method of coping with stress. How could he give it up so easily? "Nandini, you have to understand. It's not that easy. Drinking is my only solution for my problems. I don't have anyone else to express my stress. I-" "You have me. You don't need alcohol to relieve your stress. You have me to vent off too." Nandini tried to tell him.
"But Nandini..." Armaan trailed off, not knowing how to explain further as her argument was stronger. Nandini gave him her puppy eyes which he groaned at. He knew what she was trying to do. He also knew she was only doing this for his health. And this was the least he could do for her. "Fine. I promise." Nandini squealed, clapping her hands like a child, making Armaan chuckle. "You better not break this promise. I better not ever see you drinking again." Armaan sighed, nodding. "As you say ma'am." Nandini smiled, content.
• • • • •
Nandini came out of the bathroom after doing her nightly routine. She noticed Armaan working in the lightly dimmed room, on the bed with his laptop. Nandini shook her head. Some things never change.
Nandini moved towards the dresser. Grabbing the lotion, Nandini smothered it onto her hands and rubbed it in. She moved on and grabbed her brush, brushing it through her long hair. By now, Armaan had forgotten the laptop in front of him and his gaze was fixed on Nandini. It was very hard to not notice her when everything she did caused his feelings to arise even more.
Nandini decided to put her hair in a low ponytail. Nandini was tying her hair in a hair tie but suddenly someone undid it. Nandini looked through the mirror and saw Armaan behind her with the hair tie in his hand. He dropped the hair tie on the dresser, leaving Nandini confused.
Armaan pushed Nandini's hair to the side, his fingers brushing against her skin, causing tingles to run through her body. Her face heated up as her palms turned sweaty. Suddenly, Armaan placed his lips on the side of Nandini's neck. Nandini's eyes closed feeling his lips against her burning skin.
Armaan didn't stop there and his lips trailed up, leaving butterfly kisses along her neck, up to her ear. His lips brushed against her ear, making Nandini squeeze her palms close. She bit back the moan that was trying to make its way out of her. Nandini was enjoying this new feeling which was forming inside the pit of her stomach.
Seeing Nandini not fight back, Armaan turned her around, facing him. He placed his lips on her collarbone, leaving more kisses all over her neck. "Armaan." a whimper left her mouth. She was asking for more. Armaan wanted to take this further too. But he knew they should stop or else he wouldn't be able to control himself because he also knew she wasn't ready yet.
Armaan stopped and he himself backed away. Armaan looked at Nandini and saw her eyes were tightly shut and her face was beetroot red. She was out of breath and gasping in air. She expected Armaan to want this to be taken further but she was glad he didn't. Armaan instead placed a long kiss on her forehead, which made butterflies arise once again in her stomach. "You're not ready yet. But the day you will be, I promise you, you won't regret it." And Armaan always stayed true to his word.
________________________________________________________________________
Namaste guys!
How did you like this chapter?
Awww, they're so cute together!
There relationship is in such a blissful stage.
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Thank you for reading!
- Gurleen