I don't think I still comprehend what is going on. Kartavya only picked me up once from work in our two months of marriage. He said he picked me up because we were going on a date. I had to pinch myself.
When I saw him sitting in the car so majestically, I had to stop myself from drooling. This guy is like walking sex on legs. In his grey pinstripe suit. He looks like an adonis. With his sharp jawline and 5 o' clock stubble he looked ruggedly handsome. He smelled so good I wanted to wrap my hands around his body and inhale his scent to my heart's content.
All my anger towards him vanished the day before yesterday when I got a call from Dadi saying how he came by the house and apologised profusely for his mistake and said he promised not to do it again. I wanted to call him and ask him why he didn't tell me but I decided against it. It was so hard to keep my distance and pretend I didn't just want to throw my hands around him and kiss him senselessly.
"Hum kaha ja rahe hai? Yeh Ghar janeka rasta nahi hai." I asked, when I noticed we weren't taking the usual route home.
(Where are we going? This is not the route to our house.)
"We are going to my penthouse. I want to have us some privacy"
"Oh okay." The car stopped in front of a huge building.
"We are here." Daniel came around and opened my door. I got out thanking him. Kartavya came towards me and held my hand. Tingles shot up my arm and my body was on fire with his close proximity. "Ready?"
"Yeah." We go into the building. The lobby of the building was high class and fancy with gold and with white interior design.
"Good evening, Mr.Raichand." The lady sitting at the reception greeted Kartavya with a smile on her face. She looked at me and gave me a sweet smile. I smiled at her.
"Good evening Sasha." He nodded at her. We made our way to an elevator which had 'private' written on it. He presses the call button.
"This elevator is the only one that goes up to the penthouse and it has code. I will give you the code okay." The elevator door opened, he released my hand and ushered me inside the elevator. The door started to close, I looked up at him and he's already watching me with his hazel eyes which are alive with desire.
It's there in the air, between us, the electricity. The tension surrounds us as we make our way to the penthouse, I could cut it with a knife. Soon we reached the penthouse and he ushered me inside with his hand on the small of my back. As soon as we entered the foyer came into view. It has some paintings of landscapes which I don't recognize. On the left side is a table decorated with flowers.
We entered into a large living room with a floor to ceiling window which gave the view of the city and it was breathtaking. The L shaped white couch are was placed in front of the window. The whole apartment was sophisticated and classy. I like it.
"Do you want something to drink?" Kartavya went towards the kitchen, I followed him and stood at the kitchen island
"What do we have?" I inquired, moving around the island and went to the fridge. He was looking at me when I pulled out a bottle of wine. He raised an eyebrow. I just shrugged.
"Okay. Let me just get the glasses." He opened the cupboard and pulled out two glasses. He poured the wine and gave me a glass and took one himself.
"So, what now?" I asked.
"Now we will have a nice dinner and then talk."
"Dinner I don't see any food. Do you want me to make dinner now?"
"I took care of it, don't worry."
"Oh, you've had the cook already make the dinner. Nice." He looked slightly offended when I said that. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I was confused.
"Nothing." he just shook his head. "Okay, go wait for me on the terrace i'll be right there"
"Can I help you with anything?" I placed the glass on the island.
"No, go sit." he said with finality. Sighing, I went to the terrace and was once again shocked. There was a small round dining table decorated beautifully with flowers. There were candles and it looked intimate and cosy. I couldn't stop the smile that was spreading on my lips. I went towards the table to take a good look at the set up. The view and the fairy lights were all so beautiful I just let out a happy laugh.
I could feel eyes on me from behind, I turned around to see him standing there with flowers in his hand. He had a small smile on his face, he walked towards me and handed me the flowers.
"Oh my god these are my favourite, they are so beautiful Kartavya." I took the flowers and brought them close to smell them. Wow, they smell so good. "Thank you." I said with a smile.
"C'mon let's sit." He guided me back to the table and pulled out my chair.
"Thank you." I sat. he went to his table and sat down,
"Do you like it?" He gestured all around the terrace which was decorated very beautifully.
"Yes. bahut acha laga mujhe. Kab kiya aap ne yeh sab?" I asked while looking around.
(Yes, i like it so much, when did you do all this)
"In the afternoon, I left work early and decided that I wanted to have dinner with you. Since we haven't been able to talk properly since we got married." He took the bottle and started pouring drinks for us.
"Cheers to our first date and many more to come." he said, raising his glass. We clink our glasses. He pressed a button on the table and after a few minutes a maid came out and placed food on the table. We were looking at each other while she was placing the plates. It was chicken alfredo and it looked absolutely delicious.
"This looks delicious. I'm starving." I said, taking a sip of my wine.
"Try it." I took a bite of my food and a moan slipped out of me. "Oh my god, this tastes so delicious." I looked at him looking at me with a smile on my face. "You should try it because it tastes delicious."
"I know how it tastes." He took a bite and there was no reaction. He just shrugged when I raised an eyebrow. That's when realisation dawned on me.
"You cooked this." I blurted out in shock. "I didn't know you could cook"
"I'm glad you like the food. And I learned to cook when I went abroad for my studies. I was tired of eating take outs and wanted home made food. Dad offered to hire a chef but I refused since I didn't want anyone in my space so I learned to cook."
"Oh wow. You definitely know how to cook." I can't stop eating. It was delicious.
"So, you said you wanted to talk about something." I mumbled looking at him.
"Yeah we will, after the dinner. Right now I just want you to enjoy your food." What did he want to talk about? That has to wait until we eat.
"Okay. then tell me about yourself then." I wanted to know him, like really know him, not what the world knows.
"Don't you know me already." he raised an eyebrow with amusement in his eyes.
"No, I want to know you, the real you, not what everyone perceives you are."
"Do you, now?"
"Yes." After that we started talking about each other. I got to know many things that I didn't know about him. His likes and dislikes. His hobbies, him and I kinda have similar states in music, he told me about his best friends who I only met once at the marriage since they've been busy with work. His life back when he was abroad. He asked me about myself and I told him everything, except my time with Badi maa and bade papa. And he told me everything except his relationship with his ex. I know we should probably talk about that with each other but it's just not the right time.
We laughed so much and had such a good time that I don't want to spoil the mood by telling him about my abuse or asking about his ex.
"I'm full, this is my favourite chicken alfredo till date." I said leaning back and rubbing my stomach.
"So, mujhe lagta hai ki aap ko dessert nahi chahiye." He smirked. I quickly sat up straight.
(So, I guess you don't want dessert)
"I always have space for dessert." I smile sheepishly. "Kya vo bhi apne banaya?" I asked excitedly.
(Did you make that too?)
"Kash main bana pata. But unfortunately I didn't have the time." He grunted sullenly. He signalled the man standing at the corner. The man went inside and returned with dessert.
(i wish i did it)
He placed two plates of tiramisu in front of us. "How do you know all these? First the flowers and now my favourite dessert. I just told you about this." he smirked and shrugged.
******
We were just sitting on the couch that was on the terrace with a glass of wine each just enjoying each other's company. The night looked beautiful with a few stars in the sky, the wind blowing made it even more enticing. I was enjoying the view when he cleared his throat. I turned to look at him to notice he was already watching me with an expression I can't decipher.
"I wanted to have this conversation since dinner at your grandparents place but I never got the chance." He moved closer to me and sat right next to me. His thighs were touching mine and I could feel his body heat.
"Okay, what is it?"
"I don't know how to say this but i'm going to try and say it, you don't have to answer right away you can take your time and think about it. But don't take too long."
"Just get to the point, Kartavya." Sighing he turned towards me and held both my hands in his and looked me right in the eye.
"See, i'm going to be honest at first I was not interested in getting married and then maa and Dadi forced me so after some contemplation I said yes to you. I thought we could have a relationship where we respect each other and just be our own individuals and not interfere in each other's lives but I was so wrong." he let out a chuckle. My heart was beating faster at where this was going. But I don't want to get my hopes up. So I just remained silent, letting him continue.
"You change every fucking plan of mine Anika. Ye sab kyu hua, kaise hua mujhe kuch pata nahi lekin mujhe ye pata hai ki, my eyes always search for you in a room full of people. I want to spend time with you. Ki Mein office se kabi jaldi nahi aya but I started coming early just for you because all I think about is you. You know I was not a jealous person but I was jealous of my family that they get to spend so much time with you. I just looked at you from my office when you were Bhabhi, Karthik and Kavya in the backyard. I wanted to come there just to see you smile at me like you do with them but I didn't want to spoil your mood since you and I didn't really have that kind of relationship."
(Anika, I don't know how and when this happened, but I know one thing)
(I never came early from work)
It was actually happening. I can't believe he had the same thoughts as me.
"So, I'll just get to the point and tell you that I want to give us a chance, our marriage a chance. I like you, Anika a lot and I want to see what the future has in store for us." he looked nervous when I just kept staring at him. "You don't have to tell me anything right now, take your time okay."
"I'm speechless Kartavya, all this time I thought you were simply not interested in this marriage and didn't want to do anything with me and thought all the little moments we had were lapse in your judgement. You were warm once then you would turn cold. You wouldn't even look at me sometimes. And after last week I completely lost faith that we would have anything between us. You were giving me a whiplash with your attitude"
"No, It wasn't that I was just coming to terms with my feelings for you. I never had these kinds of feelings towards anyone. They were confusing me and to be honest they scared the shit out of me. And the moments we had were not any lapse of judgement. I knew what I was doing because I wanted to. I didn't mean to hurt you, that was never my intention, but unknowingly I hurt you a lot more than I thought. I'm really sorry I would bever hurt you ever again intentionally. If you give me a chance I will prove that to you. I will alway cherish you."
*****
Finally they are moving forward in their relationship.
What do you think are they moving too fast?
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