"Don't worry about him. He'll be fine." Akshara felt a heavy presence walk up and stand beside her. She turned around to see Harshvardhan Birla looking down at her with a drink in his hand, before glancing in the direction Abhimanyu had disappeared.
"He's really angry." Akshara stared in Abhimanyu's direction. "I'm sorry if his chances to obtain votes for the CEO position got affected because of me. It was truly not my intention. I'm sorry." Akshara apologized, profusely looking up in Harshvardhan's direction.
"Do you want to know something about my son, Akshara?"
Akshara nodded her head. "Yes."
"He doesn't like it when someone undermines themselves. I saw the way the group of people whispering about you made you nervous. And if I could see it, he could see it too. And he hated the fact that you let those group of strangers shake your confidence. More than them whispering nasty things about you, he didn't like and appreciate how you began underestimating yourself. And then when he went to confront them, instead of supporting him, you reprimanded him." Harshvardhan explained.
"But that's not why I reprimanded him!" She had been worried about him and his dream —the one thing he'd asked her for —to make sure this night went perfectly.
"I know that. I understand what your intentions were. And he does too. But he's just too hotheaded at the moment to think clearly and appreciate you for trying. Go after him, and bring him back Akshara." Harshvardhan smiled at her, giving her a nudge a proverbial nudge in Abhimanyu's direction.
Akshara looked back at Harshvardhan with furrowed brows. For a man who seemed to not get along with his son, Harshvardhan surely understood his son better than he let on.
"Can I ask you a question, sir?"
"Why don't Abhimanyu and I get along if I understand my son so well? Is that it?"
Akshara nodded her head like a doe caught in the headlights, trying to make sense of the father-son relationship.
"Some relationships are just meant to be complicated." Harshvardhan replied, taking a sip of his whiskey.
"I disagree, sir. I believe relationships are complicated only if you allow them to be complicated. It's evident you care for your son. So why don't you let him see it too?"
"Some things are better left the way they are, Akshara. Because the bitter truth can sometimes break a person more than what a little white can do to help build a person up, keep them content."
Akshara frowned at Harshvardhan's cryptic words. What did he mean by the truth can hurt a person whilst a little white lie could keep them stable? Was he lying to Abhimanyu? Was he purposely making his own son hate him? Why? Why would a father want his own son to hate him?
"Don't think too much, Akshara. Like I told you, relationships are complicated and sometimes it's best they stay that way."
"But don't you want him to call you dad? Papa? And that too not sarcastically or mockingly? But just as a son, who loves and respects his father?" Akshara questioned, tugging on Harshvardhan's parental strings of hope.
Harshvardhan sighed. "That ship has sailed a long time back." He mumbled. "And now if you'd excuse me, my date is here. I need to attend to her."
"Wait, can I ask you one last question before you leave?"
"Yes."
"Why are you being so nice to me today? I thought you didn't like me?"
"I admit I wasn't too fond of you at first but now...now you seem like a alright girl with a good head above your shoulders. It's subtle but I can see the affect you have on Abhimanyu. You're starting to mean something to him. He's forming a bond, a relationship...he's starting to care. And that's all I ever wanted from my son."
"He cares for his patients..." Akshara mentioned, confused about why Abhimanyu caring about someone was such a huge deal.
"Yes...yes he does." Harshvardhan agreed, but his eyes told a whole different story. He didn't know if Akshara was actually dense enough to not understand the changes occurring in Abhimanyu or was purposely overlooking the truer, deeper meaning of Harshvardhan's words.
"Will you tell me one day? The bitter truth you're referring to? The one you're protecting Abhimanyu from?"
Harshvardhan turned around to face her, smiling at her knowingly. She wasn't dense at all. Quite the opposite. In fact, this girl standing in front of him was quite intelligent —emotionally.
"You're crossing your boundaries, kid." He grinned.
"I know. But will you?" Akshara grinned back.
"Maybe." He mumbled, before turning his back to Akshara, leaving Akshara satisfied.
Akshara watched as Harshvardhan walk off, her eyes darted to the woman he was walking towards. Her eyes widened in shock, her mouth agape as she watched Harshvardhan pull Richa into a tight embrace. Richa? Abhimanyu's dad was dating Richa?
She watched as Harshvardhan and Richa smiled affectionately at each other before they made their way towards another group of people, where Harshvardhan began to make introductions.
Akshara shook her head, trying to recover from the shock as she turned to face the exit which lead to the balcony. Where an angry Abhimanyu awaited her. She took a deep breath and took her first steps towards her future.
~*~
The sweet summer breeze sent a chill through Akshara's back as she stepped outside, facing Abhimanyu's back. Slowly and quietly, she strolled up behind Abhimanyu with hesitant steps.
Abhimanyu felt Akshara's presence just as she closed the balcony door behind him. Abhimanyu gripped the railing in front of him tighter, making his knuckles turn a pale white.
Akshara stepped up beside Abhimanyu, taking a deep and calculated breath. She sneaked a quick peek at Abhimanyu, watching his jaw tick and lock into place. Boy, he really was angry.
Abhimanyu could see Akshara glancing at him from his peripheral vision. There was so much he wanted to say to her. Hold it, Abhimanyu. Hold your stance. Don't give in too easily, the devil on his left shoulder urged him.
Akshara nudged Abhimanyu's forearm with her shoulder. "Are you mad at me?" She asked, innocently.
Abhimanyu didn't respond. Instead, he faced away from Akshara, gazing in the distance at the vacant night sky.
Akshara frowned at the lack of response from Abhimanyu and thus she nudged him again, albeit more forcefully this time.
Again, Abhimanyu didn't respond to her antics and instead, moved a bit to the side, putting some distance between them.
Not willing to give up, Akshara slid closer to Abhimanyu, nudging him again but to not avail. Akshara titled her body towards Abhimanyu and nudged him once more, using all her upper body weight.
"You know you can keep trying but you weigh no more than a feather so in the end you'll just end up bruising yourself." Abhimanyu pointed out, grumpily, making Akshara smile victoriously.
"Aww, is that you're way of saying you care for me?" Akshara teased, playfully.
"Care? I thought you referred to my care as 'creating a scene.'" Abhimanyu pointed out, bitterly.
Akshara's playful smile disappeared and instead was replaced by a smile filled with gratitude and understanding. She turned Abhimanyu so they were both facing each other. She stretched both her hands out, holding both his hands in hers, gently brushing the back of his hands with the pads of her thumb.
Abhimanyu's heart constricted at the warmth of Akshara's tender touch. He felt overwhelmed with a unknown feeling —a new sentiment which he hadn't ever felt before. The feeling was so new, so brazen he couldn't been put a name to it. He didn't even know what it was called. But all he knew was that he felt it. Something new. Something unusual. Something good.
"Abhimanyu, that is not what I meant and you know
It too." Akshara broke the silence, clearing the air.
"No, I don't know what you meant." Yes, he did.
"You aren't really going to make me spell it out for you, are you?" Akshara huffed, biting her lower lip.
Abhimanyu's gaze traced Akshara's actions as she hit down on her lower lip. He'd noticed how full, plump and heart shaped her lips were before but seeing them now, in this lighting, it made him realize how soft, seductive and alluring they were too.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He shook his head, his eyes fixated on the curve of her lips.
Akshara brushed the insides of her palm against the exterior of Abhimanyu's hands. "Abhimanyu, what you did in there, defending me like that, no one has ever done that for me before. Not today, even with Ronak, the way you punched him for me, the way you protected me —it was the first time someone has ever done that. Before, it used to just be me against the world. And now I have you. It's going to get me a little bit of time to get used to, you know, to understand that I'm not alone anymore. That I have a friend —that I have you." A lone tear began to roll down Akshara's cheek as she thought back to all the times she had to protect herself from this cruel and selfish world.
Abhimanyu let go of Akshara's hand as he pointed his index finger at Akshara's jaw, collecting the lone tear before it had a chance to hit the ground.
"Akshara..." Abhimanyu began to apologize. He had been angry, yes, but he never meant to make her cry.
"Stop it. Now that you have my waterworks going, you're going to have to listen to the entire thing." She scolded, smacking him on the arm.
"Really, you have to. I'm not angry any more."
"Yes, but if you don't let me finish then I'll be mad and it won't be easy for you to placate me." She threatened him, sniffling in the process.
Abhimanyu felt his lips curving up into a smile. "And you call me a clown." He joked, earning another playful smack on the arm from Akshara.
"Shut up! You're just rubbing off on me."
"And you were saying..."
"Ugh! I had a whole speech prepared but you distracted me. Now I forgot what I was going to say."
"Hmm, bad memory. Probably should have your brain of yours checked out before it starts malfunctioning." He teased, making light of the moment as Akshara wiped her tears away from her moist eyes.
Akshara took a deep and calming breath before looking back at Abhimanyu with seriousness in her eyes. "Thank you for defending and protecting me. No one has ever done it before —so it's all new to me. But I am going to be eternally grateful to you."
"I didn't do it for you to be indebted to me, Akshara. I did it because or was the right thing to do."
"I know. And the reason I was trying to stop you from defending me wasn't because I was embarrassed or being unsupportive of you, but because everyone —including the board members were watching you. When you left home earlier, you told me how important it was for you that tonight went perfectly, that there be no mistakes, no fuck ups today. And I'm not saying what you did for me back there was a fuck up but I don't want that —that moment to be the reason why this important day for you gets ruined."
Akshara took a deep breath, staring in Abhimanyu's eyes intently, making sure he understood the depth of each and every word she was speaking. "Because if your confrontation with those low-life leeches is the reason the board members vote against you, I'll never be able to forgive myself. That's why I was trying to stop you. Not because I'm not happy for what you did for me, but because the disappointment of your chances of becoming a CEO being negatively affected by those leeches will far outweigh the happiness I felt from the support you showered me with back there."
Abhimanyu nodded his head, understanding each and every word that came out of Akshara's mouth. She cared for him. She valued his word. He had told her one simple thing —that today was a very important day for him —and she took it to heart. Abhimanyu was surprised by the amount of sheer willpower and dedication Akshara enacted towards a small thing he'd confessed to her in passing.
This woman standing in front of him, she was more worried about him and the promise she had made to him about not ruining his day than her own self respect. She was trying to...
"You were trying to protect me. You were trying to protect the promise you gave me." He pointed out, his eyes growing soft as he stared at her in understanding.
Akshara's cheeks flushed. "What? No! Of course not! I was tying to protect myself so you don't blame me later on. Why'd I protect you?"
Liar. "You do know you're a terrible liar."
"Ha! And how'd you know I'm a terrible liar?"
"Oh that's easy. Because your cheeks turn red when you're lying."
"Oh please. My cheeks turn red when I'm blushing too!"
"So you're saying I make you blush." He smirked.
"No! That's not what I said!" Akshara fumbled, feeling her cheeks darken.
"Oh, your cheeks are turning red right now. Are you blushing or are you lying?" He grinned.
Akshara huffed, unable to answer Abhimanyu's answer knowing full fell she stepped into her own trap. "Whatever, shut up! I'm going back inside, come if you want to."
As Akshara began to walk back towards the ballroom, she felt Abhimanyu grab her hand, tracing her wrist gently before intertwining his fingers with hers, making her heart skip a beat. Akshara felt her breathing quicken as her steps came to a halt and her legs felt like giving away.
She felt a jolt of electricity rush through her body as Abhimanyu twirled her around with one swift move, making her lose balance as she found herself rolling in towards Abhimanyu's body, clutching his shoulders for support.
Abhimanyu's large hand settled at the lower of Akshara's bare back and his fingers curved around her waist as he stared intently into her eyes, looking down at the outline of the bridge of her nose down to the curve of her lips and the almond shaped eyes that were staring back at him, nervously.
"Thank you, Akshara." 3 words. 3 simple words which encompassed a whole world of emotion Abhimanyu wanted to convey.
Akshars nodded her head, lost in his large, round eyes, too overwhelmed, her senses heightened at the proximity of their bodies, and his heated touch making her body feel overtly sensitive at all the right places to form a proper audible response.
Abhimanyu smiled down at Akshara. "Shall we then go inside, my dear wife?"
"Yes." Akshara's voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. Akshara let go of the deathly grip she had on Abhimanyu's shoulders and stood up straight, facing the ballroom.
"Then we are we waiting for?" Abhimanyu let go of his hand on Akshara's back and instead intertwined their hands together, interlocking their fingers. They gave each other one last smile as they walked back inside the ballroom, with Akshara trying her hardest to calm her raging heartbeat.
Abhimanyu Birla was a very alluringly dangerous man and sometimes even injurious to one's health, if he wanted to be.