"You would like to go visit our new construction site in Panvel. You might find my idiot son there."
Watching Harshvardhan Chauhan smirking towards her thoughtfully, she remembered the other part of the Chinese legend.
No string broke because of one person, it always took the efforts of two people, them stretching and walking in opposite directions that break the string. It would stretch if one tried walking away, but when the other supported his actions and pulled on the thread, it would snap into two.
Rakshit alone cannot be blamed, nor he could solely break what was between them. Not when it was her following him, wherever he decided to walk, she had to follow him and stop from breaking the string for them.
She stared into space, letting her brain trace those moments of courage that she always stored somewhere. She was searching for the buoyancy within her, the need to jump back.
"Any chance you could sign my half day?" She asked the man who sat like a king behind his magnanimous desk.
Harshvardhan smirked like a proud father. "Consider it done, Baccha."
Shooting him with a grateful grin, she sprinted out of his cabin and inside the lift. Catching several pairs of curious eyes behind her, Shreya made a mad dash for her belongings and within another blink, she was standing outside the main gate. Before she could hail a taxi, a car stopped in front of her and the driver hurried to open the backdoor for her.
Her frown questioned the age-old driver that belonged to Harshvardhan Chauhan.
"Bade Sahab asked me to take you to the farmhouse." The man added cautiously "Or anywhere you wish to go."
"Thank you, uncle. Please take me to wherever your Rakshit sahab is." She politely smiled and sat inside, murmuring to herself. "It is time over for him."
In the next hours that followed, her brain created every scenario that could play in those minutes of their meeting. They might have known the other person for years, yet she felt the excitement in her spine to face him, laced with trepidation and a little hope that they still had a chance.
That fate would still play its part in bringing them together rather than tearing them apart.
They had been so much more than friends all those years back until one day they weren't.
She was 15 when she fell in love with this boy who drank whiskey and shared it with her. He wore arrogance and narcissism like his grins and spoke with a tilt of huskiness that often made her follow his lead without a thought. He was a charmer who didn't know when to stop charging. He took her onto rooftops in rainstorms and liked to twirl her hair in his fingers, making her laugh in thunders that kept her awake. He fetched her flowers from her favorite tree to never let her sleep on her despondence. He was graffiti and sunrises, worn jean jackets, and the leathery smell of old books she so closely kept secured in her room.
Until she couldn't.
He had quickly changed into a man who learned to tackle board meetings and crack deals faster than he learned how to ride bikes and cars. He now was chasing girls who looked pretty, but only until she had stepped back into his life. He wore custom suits and smelled of expensive cologne that she could never get a hold of. Yet, he was the only one who ran towards her worrying out of his mind.
He was her salvation and one could die a thousand deaths to attain it.
Using her twenty seconds of courage was still a fair deal.
"Your destination is here, Shreya Beti." The driver made her aware as the car came to a halt.
"It is." She smiled at him, her words meant more. They were the decision she had come to.
If Rakshit wanted to be chased, she might do it for a change.
After all, why were only the girls entitled to act as hard to get? Men could be difficult to catch too.
It was time we exercised equality and not just demanded it.
Stepping down, the harsh afternoon sun blinded her making her wince. Shielding her eyes, she waved the driver goodbye and blinked to push back the black shadows that appeared in her vision.
There was no farmhouse but an under-construct shell of a place that had four walls with a hatched roof. The cemented plaster was unset, and workers moved around carrying the materials used for construction.
Not wasting any time, she pushed the giant doors that she supposed were only a temporary encase.
"Careful!"
She flinched and screeched in fear, almost falling back due to the loud crash that followed. Debris of sand, cement, and bricks flying all around made her choke another scream of fright, rasping for breath, she waved around as the multiple footsteps ran towards her.
A wall had fallen from above, right in front of the doorstep that she so happily was going to cross, another step inside could have cost her life and her brain seemed to process it all until a frantic and stunned call of her name was heard.
"Shreya!" She was whirled and crashed into a pair of protective arms. A chest that she so well knew was panting heavily, while those biceps crashed her bones.
"Rak-"
As fast as he took her in his arms, with dual speed he pushed her back and glared at her. "Are you insane? Why would you come here all of a sudden, damnit?"
"I might." She mumbled glancing behind her shoulder as the dust cleared and she could see a huge part of the wall battered into hundreds of pieces.
"You could have died, you stupid woman!" Rakshit screeched making her jump, no longer did the workers whisper about the context of this mishap, now their interest was the woman in their boss's arms.
"Nothing happened." The reassuring smile she planned to shoot him faltered at his glare and she swallowed, smiling sheepishly she shrugged. "I am fine."
His eyes took a good look at her, from head to toe as if waiting for any injury to pop. Once satisfied, his clenched jaw seemed to loosen and he brushed a palm on his face. He exhaled audibly and turned to a man she assumed to be the architect.
"Sorry, sir." The man fumbled with the words, clearly baffled at the events. "I will check the measures again."
"Do it and get this fixed, Javed. Make sure there will never be something like this again." Rakshit passes a short nod to him and glances between the wall and her again. Shreya bit back her smile that threatened to jump seeing his eyes sweeping her figure again, the relief was prominent. "I am returning back to the hotel. Call me if you should."
A final nod in unsaid understanding was exchanged between him and the others, he took her wrists and pulled her out from the dreadful site.
Glancing back, her brain played all the scenes where she could have died.
"That was so close." She mumbled leaning back against the car seat, watching him throwing her a menacing glare. "I could have become the real Shanti Priya. The only difference here is I would be lying dead below a wall, unlike the chandelier."
"Can you shut the up?" He gritted stomping on the brakes as they reached his hotel. They were inside an underground parking lot. "Get down, dumbhead."
"Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?" Shreya tried hitting him with her bag but missed. Scowling she threw the door open and slammed it shut much to her amusement. If Rakshit Chauhan loved something more than his life, it was these moving metal boxes he lived for.
"Shreya!" He snapped at her actions and took predatory steps towards her. "How dare you hurt my car?"
"Like this." She smiled and swung her fist on his face.
"Ouch," He hissed jumping a meter away from her. "That was a mean punch, woman."
"You deserve more for hiding from me." She scoffed glaring at him. She launched herself on him
His eyes widen sensing the punch but does not move. Her fist hits his stomach harder than he expected, making him growl in protest. "I am sorry!"
"Sorry? Like seriously?" She hissed at him, her handbag ready to strike but held back.
"I get it. You are punishing me for ghosting you and I am really sorry for that." He cradled his face, rubbing his right cheek tenderly. "I didn't realize you could pack so much power in those slender fists. I can taste blood, Meri Jaan."
Shooting his stink eye glares, she huffed in anger. "I wish I could destroy that handsome face of yours but just because I love you and show you off to the world, I cannot."
He froze. Blinking as if he was witnessing an alien, he fished for sane words "You what?"
"If I marry you, I will have to show you off to my cousins and those girls who thought they had a chance with you." She rolled her eyes, flipped her hair back she snorted. "As if they had what one needs to deal with an arse like you."
"Shut up." He chipped with impatience. "I meant what did you say before it."
"That I love you. What did you hear?" She shrugged nonchalantly. Only if he could peak inside her head, her organs were somersaulting and her heart seemed to ready jump out and lay bare to him.
"You are confessing right now?" He blinked, lips parting but nothing left. Clenching his eyes, he shook his head and palmed his face.
Was he shocked or it is a rejection?
She pulled her lips inside, she could not afford to see him slithering her words and heart like nothing. It has taken 13 long years for her to utter them to him. "Are you suffering from some hearing aid that I do not know about?"
"Give me a minute to process, damnit." He chided. "I feel electrocuted."
She rolled her eyes at his over-dramatics and leaned against the car, caressing it as she felt bad hitting it. "You have all 2 minutes to think, after that, I am going inside. I am hungry."
"Ahh! I hate you." He groaned.
"What?" She straightened, ready to hit him again until he was either dead or ready to confess back. "What did you say?"
"Not literally." He clarified immediately, turning, and leaning against the pillar with his palms covering his face. "God!"
"R-Rakshit?" She gulped. All sorts of thoughts of him rejecting her made her throat feel constricted. "Y-you don't h-have to s-say it back?"
"Shreya." He exhaled her name in a whisper and ate the distance between them. With him towering above her, she glued her back to his car. "Are you sure?"
"I m-mean if you are n-not sure, you k-know you can not say." She licked her lips, averting her gaze but he was quick to cup her chin and turn back.
"No. Not that." he corrected sighing. "I meant are you sure that you still love me? You said you h-hated me."
His stammer made her smile, almost. Hearing her say those words surely hurt him too. Suddenly, her fading confidence was back, thrumming in her blood.
"Of course, I mean it." She stated. "I love you. I never stopped. I may have tried loving other people after you but I could never bring myself to erase you from within me. You are a part of me, Rakshit. A bigger part than I ever acknowledged. You make me what I am. There can never be Shreya Thapar without Rakshit Chauhan in her."
"Then why did you say that?" He was hung up on those words and she was controlling her urge to slam his head in this very car door.
"Because there are parts of you I completely abhor, Rakshit Chauhan." She snapped, stabbing a finger in his chest. "But that nowhere means that there are no parts that I don't love. I hate some minuscule parts of yours, like how you are so annoying at times, how you snatch my sweets from me, or this man-child who does the most idiotic things in the world. But, I love the man who could scold my ears away for my carelessness. I love this you who looks at me like I am the 8th wonder of the world like I am the only one who matters. I love the boy who would fight my bullies and let me play to my heart's content, who always shared his lunch with me irrespective of I brought mine or not. There are so many parts that I love and I could go an eternity to state them."
"God." He pulled his lower lips inside his mouth. "I have waited so long to hear this from you. I have been in love with you for so long."
"Really?" She blinked in surprise, his face broke into a raw, unmasked declaration of his feelings.
"Yes, Shreya." He nodded. His fingers found hers and he watched her knuckles. The big engagement ring screaming his right on her. "I have loved you so long that I do not even remember when I started seeing you as more than a little girl. I kept falling for you year after year and when you had ultimately left, I realized what a fool I was for pushing you away from me. I did so many things, like so many to bring you back into my life. I love you. I love you so much that I can never say it enough."
"What do you mean?" Her mind stopped picking his words. "What all you did, Rakshit?"
He flushed and averted his gaze. "This is no place to discuss, meri jaan. We should go in."
"No. No. No!" She yanked him back to her. "We complete this here. Spit it out, Rakshit. What did you do?"
He pinched his eyes shut, groaning at being caught. "Those scandals. I planned it. I have been fabricating the entire plot to get you back home and make you work for me. Your start-up failure fueled my efforts and you were back before I could ruin more of my name in those gossip sites."
"That is why you never sued them." She gaped at the realization. "You never let me demand a fact check but only got them to withdraw the news and paint a clear picture of yours."
"There was no facts or truth to those pieces." He nodded bashfully. "I made them take the pictures and frame the headlines in my favor."
"So, you never fucked your secretory or that supermodel who left your suite the next morning?" Her eyes widened as all those news came back to her.
"I might have paid them two." He mumbled in guilt. "My secretary was trying to seduce me for a while so I used her crush for me. I also gave her a glorious letter of recommendation when I asked her to leave. And that model, well you could say that I had booked two rooms and she was with her boyfriend in a room booked in my name."
"Goodness." She shook her head in disbelief "So you never were a part of those scandals but you framed them."
He shrugged. "I did what I thought was the best."
"You are such an asshole." She shook her head, resigned from thinking more. "I thought I could do but I seriously signed up for this craziness. You have surpassed all the levels in here."
"What can I say? You signed your life to me." He was grinning. "And, now that you have declared your love for me, you got no way out of this mess, Shreya Thapar. You are mine. Mine."
The audacity of this man.
"Now." He closed any distance between them, he gently kissed her temple, and placed his forehead against hers. "Can you tell me what you feel again, meri jaan? Please. I cannot seem to get me enough fill."
"You want to hear it, again?" She cupped his face, her thump rubbing his cheek as the stubble pierced her skin.
"I do." His breath fanned her lips.
"Rakshit, I..." She trailed feeling his inhaling her fragrance and humming in approval. "I am..."
"Say it, Shreya." He groaned in impatience.
"I am hungry." Her grin was followed by a burst of laughter as he jumped back from her as if her words scalded him.
"Shreya!" He barked in annoyance.
Her laughter resonated in the empty parking space, while he soon followed with chuckles. Pulling her in his arms, he let her have a good laugh while he took in her warmth.
"I live for you, Shreya. I need, want, desire, and dream only of you, Shreya Thapar. There is no one else." His declaration made her stick herself to him. "There will be never."
"I will believe you," she trailed parting from him, the mischievous grin on her lips. "But only after you feed me."
"Fine. Come on." He rolled his eyes. "You are acting as if you were starved for a decade."
"I was." She supplied, grinning at his confused stare as he held the door open for her. "I was starved of your love for a decade."
"Cheesy much?" He grinned at her choice of words.
"It's all you." She poked her tongue out. She drooled at the smell of food as they quickly stepped inside the restaurant.
"You are definitely acting unlike the Shreya I know." He shook his head in amusement, pulling a chair for her as he waited for her to sit. He placed a small kiss on her shoulder and took the opposite seat. "But no doubt, I like this one better."
"Only like?" She cocked a daring brow.
"No, love." He chuckled leaning as he flicked her nose. "I love this one better."
"Good." She sat placing her arms on the table and watching him. "Now feed me so that we can get back on the road. I think we have another milestone to achieve today."
"Which one?" He asked with curiosity.
"You will know." She grinned like a Cheshire cat, knowing something he didn't.
True to her words, they were on the road in the next hour. It was a three-hour drive but her insides and emotions were at an all-time high.
It may be the burden being lifted off her or his fingers that played with hers, never letting go even when he changed gears. Glancing at them holding hands, she felt a warmth fluttering in her heart.
"Why did you take my phone with you?" She asked and watched him glance at her, his happy smile folding back and replaced with a smirk.
"Won't you like to know?" He wasn't offended or tensed. He didn't sound like that but his voice held an underlaced pride. A sense of victory.
"Rakshit." She urged and his smirk widened.
"Do you think I would sit back after everything you told me?" He changed the gear as they entered the city.
"What did you do?" She didn't fear his actions. She knew who Rakshit Chauhan interacted with. The underground racing was not just that but a lot more of connections.
"Checked your phone to retrieve any of the old call recordings and luckily, we did." He glanced at her and back to the road. "You are no longer indebted to anyone. I have taken care of that bastard who made you cry in the washroom that day. Girish Pandey, the loan shark, no more exists. He has regretted every word and threat he gave you in these last months."
"What did you do to him?" She swallowed at his name.
He scoffed "Took him to dinner and served him with Karma."
She nodded, not wanting to know the details. He had this weird way of dealing with things that she needed to accept if they were going to be together for a period. Also, that man always made her feel weak, she did not want to feel a pinch of pity for him. "W-what else did you do in the p-past days?"
"Nothing much." He answered with deviltry flashing through his dark orbs. "I am yet to catch that pig who scammed you. I have the best people at my disposal who are working their way around. They have traced the pictures and located the device. They are getting it destroyed as we talk. They have tabs on him as well."
"I-I want him to suffer, R-Rakshit." She confided in him, her words a mere whisper.
"At this point, you could ask for stars and I will get them for you, meri jaan." He kissed their joined hands. "I will make that coward pay every second of agony you had to go through. I will avenge every droplet of blood you lost because of him. He won't be getting a second of peace from this moment onwards. I promise."
"I will hold onto that." She believed him. She wanted to with every cell in her.
"Do it." He nodded. "Do it and I shall never let you down."
■ ■ ■
The same morning...
A chocolate bar with caramel inside.
She held the bar she retrieved from her father-in-law's office, hidden behind the piles of files that she knew he would be munching as soon as he was alone. Harshvardhan Chauhan was notoriously famous for sneaking chocolates when his doctor had strictly prohibited him from any sugary object owing to his type B diabetes. But the man was stubborn the same way her husband.
Stubborn streak was prominent in these Chauhan men and all of them had guilty pleasures.
For Harshvardhan, it was his chocolates.
She snorted and pocketed the bar in her pant pockets when another object caught her eye. This time, it was a bouquet of roses being carried towards the conference room door. Her husband's current office resident.
She felt the warmth rushing through her, she had subconsciously started addressing Anirudh Chauhan as her husband in her thoughts, in her words, and in her actions to.
"Dada." She called behind the peon and quickly ate up the distance between, smiling at the familiar man. "Where did this come from?"
Her eyes roamed the huge flower arrangements, freshly bloomed roses glistening under the bright light. The same that one uses to confess their love and admiration, something that Anirudh Chauhan seemed to hold a soft spot for.
Not that it was a common knowledge. Only some people knew about Anirudh's obsession with flowers. One of them is the gardener who gets an earful each time he misses fertilizing his rose field.
"They are for Anirudh sir." The staff answered. "Receptionist send this up. It was delivered some time back."
"Do we have a name?" Spangs of jealousy shot in her blood and her eyes twitched at the mention of someone sending his favorite flowers to him.
"I don't know, Ma'am." The man looked uncomfortable, cluelessly holding her object of interrogation.
"Is there an issue here?" From the hilt, Dishant interrupted the conversation and announced his present.
"This came for Anirudh sir."
Dishant glanced between Dhwani and the bouquets, his lips twitching in an invisible smirk that she was quick to catch. The man seemed to hold some grudges against her that she could never find roots in.
"Oh, nice. Please place it inside for him. Anirudh sir loves roses. What better thing to see if not favorite flowers after spending some grueling hours in the board meeting? Right, Mrs. Chauhan?" The mocking was clear and she felt him peering into her head to get a reaction.
"Of course. He likes them a lot." Dhwani tried smiling as the white card caught her attention, yet she did not pluck it out. Reading a message meant for him seemed like intruding on his privacy. Husband or not, she was still too far to get so much hold on his life and the people around her seemed keen on reminding her the same.
She sidestepped nodding politely and allowed space for the two men to make their way.
The peon scrambled towards completing his allotted task and Dishant left for wherever he was supposed to, leaving her with a million thoughts and irrational emotions that she had never witnessed before.
She glared at those flowers until the door closed. Though innocent, they were subject to her dislike from the moment they were addressed to Anirudh by someone who definitely was not family. They alone were enough to ignite her insecurities.
Not that Anirudh was leaving any stone unturned to make her known of her presence in his life. It has been weeks and each day has been better than the last. He was giving his everything to show how much he wanted her in his life and she could never be ungrateful for him.
He was bringing her old self back. Piece by piece, he was arranging her broken puzzles and feeling the gaps with his utmost care and dedication. Not once did he leave her a minute to think about their past, each day he was occupying her mind more and more. He had made her habitual to him and there was no way out of this for Dhwani.
Anirudh had inserted himself into her life as if he was always meant to be, and it was making her happy.
He made her happy. The thought of being a maybe was now replaced by being a choice.
"Petal?"
His choice.
She spun on her heels and found him standing behind her.
"You are back." The smile was quick to return and his own appreciated her.
"Why are you standing out? Were you waiting for me?" He mused suggestively, a mirthful grin on his lips.
Dhwani flushed realizing her thinking marathon had kept her in the very place she stood, glaring at his cabin door. "No...I mean yes. I was waiting to see you."
"Really? Seems like today is a great day." He winked and guided her towards the door, placing his arm around her. "Come on in. You do not have to stand out waiting for me or you could have left a message for me. I would have come to you. I'll always come to you."
It was these affirmations he threw that made her forget everything. No insecurities competed with the words he said to her or to the actions he displayed.
Uncaring of the other eyes that followed them, these days Anirudh was more open. He would seek her attention during lunch, taking her to the cafeteria or his cabin, or would stop to watch and talk to her anytime they crossed each other in the office. He yearned for her presence and this alone made her feel wanted.
They entered the small conference room that he had turned into a temporary office for the time being and she felt his demeanor change, along with hers. There was a grin on his lips and his steps hurried as he crossed the distance between him and those ugly roses.
"How did they come here?" He was all smiles and chirping. Watching him, she could feel her jaw clench at every second that passed. How she wished they would have withered and lost their beauty by the time he got inside.
"Some admirer of yours." She chipped bitterly.
"Jealous much?" He joked ignoring her glare and quickly searched the bouquet to pluck the white card while her insides burned at his actions. "Did you know, Raima Banerjee sent this? It says she is thankful to us for choosing her as the new face of our upcoming product launch. Aren't they beautiful?"
"They are." She gritted her teeth while her husband had his eyes focused only on those flowers. "Just like her."
"Yes, she is beautiful too but not more than these flowers."
Why couldn't he say that she wasn't more beautiful than her? He could have praised his wife but no, this man was busy appreciating these bushes that were dumped with a lot of red and bad smell. She had started hating roses.
"They smell so good and the petals are so soft." His smile made hers fade. "I will have to thank her for them. I suppose her photoshoot is scheduled today on the 5th floor. I will also go and see the arrangements. 1 stone for 2 birds."
She was certainly drawing her patience to not trash those flowers and smack Raima Bannerjee with some advice on how she should stay away from married men, or better, she could dump this man into the ocean for the fishes to have a gala time.
"I have a meeting." She announced suddenly, wanting to distract him from gushing at his new gift but failed as he never averted his eyes from them for one whole second. "I am leaving."
"I thought you wanted to talk." His words came with a frown yet he never looked away from them.
"Yeah." She ate back her scowl. "Now I don't. I am getting late."
"No problem. We can talk during the lunch." He suggested and finally stepped back from his flowers. He took a glance at his phone and then back at her.
Clenching her fist, she exhaled flaring her nostrils. "No. I am going to the orphanage. Forget lunch." Or dinner for that matter. She is not going to leave him for making her feel this.
Not waiting for his reply, she stormed out of his cabin and towards hers. She didn't plan for visiting the foundation but now she wanted to. She couldn't bear to stay on the same roof as those flowers and Raima Bannerjee. Packing her things she whirled on her heels to stomp out of this place.
Stabbing the button for calling the elevator, she tapped on the tiled floor with her arms crossed. If only this metal box wasn't testing her patience.
The doors parted.
"Are you leaving, already?"
Jumping at the sudden whisper behind her, she huffed and stormed inside the elevator. Not looking at him once as he followed her.
"Could you please press 5th floor, Petal?" Anirudh requested as his brow arched suggestively. No, she wasn't facing him but she could still see him in the reflection.
"It is Mrs. Chauhan for you." She gritted. "And no, I am not your secretary. Do it yourself, Mr. Chauhan."
He chuckled at her reply and leaned near her, slowly he pressed the floor button and she crushed her molars. "I thought you had a meeting?"
"Yes, at the orphanage." She hissed glaring at the floors. The lift couldn't have moved faster than this, does it?
"May I know the agenda?" He leaned against the wall, legs, and arms crossed.
"No. You cannot." She snapped.
"Why?"
"Don't talk to me!" She snapped, twirling towards him. "Why are you here alone? You should have carried your dear roses with you or wait, why will you? You are going to see Raima Bannerjee. What will those flowers do, be a third wheel between you two?"
He blinked slowly, his smile stretched turning into a chuckle.
"You are enjoying this? Well, go on. Laugh." Dhwani scowled "You care so much for your flowers, you can also sleep in the garden today."
He laughed harder, slapping a palm on the side to lean his weight as he hunched and laughed to his content.
She gritted, turning as the lift chimed announcing the fifth floor. "Get out."
"Will you not come with me?" He asked between his chuckles.
"No. Out." Dhwani held his arm and threw him out, almost.
"Petal!" Anirudh's eyes widened and he stumbled a little, only to hold the doors and quickly straighten.
She parted her lips to retaliate but he pushed her to the wall, a palm cupping her mouth shut. He tapped the button and closed the door shut. As the lift started descending, he pressed on the Stop tab.
She wiggled in his hold but he shook his head and pressed his lips on his palm. If not for the barrier, his lips would have touched hers. The very thought froze her. Her eyes widened and her efforts to free herself from his hold went down the drain.
Once calm, he smiled and caressed her cheeks with his free hand.
"Damn! You are one jealous woman, my wife."
A not-so first kiss. Well, these two always were a part of slow burn.