Dedicating this chapter to Muskan2728 .Thanks for your encouraging comments dear..
Neha's pov:
Raking my fingers through the front fringes of my hair, I was desperately thinking about the things happened this morning.
I was very certain that an absolutely impossible task has been put before me ,
With what kind of hope did I make that promise to Arjun's dad ??
I couldn't even imagine talking this out to Arjun . The fact is ,there are high probabilities that even our relationship might break if I speak this out.
He loves motor racing as much as he loves me. His love for both is never ending.
How rude it would be to cease him from racing , which is his another life ??
Infact it's his first love , I'm just a new resider in his heart.
How could I ask him to choose between love or race ??
Impossible it is !!
But what his dad said was also right ,
Arjun is my life ,
What if something happens to him while racing ?
But .....
Will he even listen to me ,if I ask him to stop racing ?,
Do I even have the courage to speak to him about this ?
After meeting Krishna uncle ,I was in an pensive state with so much random questions whirling me.
I couldn't concentrate on any of the works.
In between the repeated click sounds of the pen that was positioned between my thumb and the forefinger, I stared at the screen of my laptop for what it seemed like hours . Absolutely , nothing went inside my rusty brain .
Meanwhile "Mam...Mam", I heard a feminine voice ,bringing me away from those hustling thoughts.
I turned my gaze away from the laptop screen towards Leena who stood before me yelling out in her sweet tone .
"Sorry Leena", I uttered and inquired her what's the matter .
She informed about an meeting in a while.
I swayed the right hand towards my chest to see the time on my wrist watch.
It was half past two , still there wasn't any sign of Arjun .
May be he is quite busy with Nikkil .
When it comes to racing he will even forget himself. I sighed thinking of it.
Since Arjun wasn't available , I had to take care of the rendezvous.
So I asked Leena to make the arrangements for the meeting and asked her to inform me once the clients arrive .
_______________________________________
Later part of the day went in a rush running between the clients and documents. It was almost half past six when I finished all the works and settled down on my desk.
After the much tiring noon , I rested my aching back on to the recliner heaving a sigh of relief.
Arjun didn't show up till then and there wasn't any calls or texts from him.
I kind of missed him.
Since it was already late , I decided to call him after reaching home.
When I was about to leave the office my phone rang with a sweet melody in Arjun's voice which we recorded few days back. On hearing his voice , I took the mobile in my hand and gazed the picture displayed along with the caller ID . My lips curved up in happiness.
In overjoy my fingers automatically laced over the answer button.
"Sorry sweetheart , I couldn't come to office today ",he demanded an sorry in his cocky voice which made me exultant.
But I couldn't react to him with the same glee , after all I was in such a delirious state ,"Its okay Arjun ...
Am alright....", I said in a lifeless tone .
"Uhmm.....How did your day go without me..??", he asked .
"Was okayish", I replied to him.
"Are you angry on me dear?? ,your voice seems much dull ... ", he asked caringly.
"Nah...I am alright Arjun ",I lied, for which he sighed and came forward with the next query ," Have you reached home safely... ??"
Instead of lying one more time , I put forth the truth , " I am still at office Arjun , just now am dumping my stuffs inside the tote , I will start in another five minutes", I assured him.
But that was all enough to make him angry. Without letting me speak another word he said, "Am coming to pick you up , Just five minutes ,wait there!! ", he asked me to wait. Without holding up for my yes or no, the call was cut. Obviously no other go,I had to wait for him. I knew arguing is utter waste ,so I started to anticipate for his arrival.
Exactly five minutes , he was standing like a hunk in front of the office building on his ducati . Am sure he must have wobbled his bike in a jet speed , that reminded me of what his dad had warned me.
Seeing me, he waved his hands.
He looked damn hot even after his tiring day of practise. While I gawked his deameanour amidst of the dim street lights , the horn sound of his bike invited me to pace towards him.
As I approached his vicinity ,he started yelling at me not because he was angry but because he is little over protective when it comes to me , " How many times I've told you not to stay late at work?? ".
Adding to that he started lecturing about the unsafe bus travels at night hours.
"Arjun.....", I tried to stop him.
But it wasn't of any use. After a few minutes of advise he blamed himself saying," I should've called you before, it's my fault too ".
After hearing the last line how could I scold him or even talk back to him.
See atlast he is blaming himself for my faults too.
He murmered something under his lips. My crooked mind asked me to seal his lips with mine ,so that he'll stop speaking . But I didn't accept to the thought as I wanted the day to move in a serious note and I didn't want any distractions in between.
Leaving away those lusty thoughts I apologised to him by saying , "Arjun..am sorry da......I even forgot to notice the time in the midst of all the works.
You remember that new Italy project ..?? , today we had a meeting with their representative ,that's why it became little late. ", I summed up all the reasons.
"Okay......Now get on!", he said without speaking much .
Without dawdling much of our time ,I got over and sat comfortably holding him from behind.
Before igniting the bike's engine, he asked, "Did you atleast eat??".
That's when it struck ,I totally forgot to eat in those engulfing thoughts and back to back works.
I nodded my head in negative. That made him all angry again.
He teetered on the roads , racing with the wind. The chill air that brushed my face gave me an earthly feeling. I wish all my confusions get a solution from the invisible layers of the wind.
The bike came to halt in front of a restaurent. I had to hold him tight for a grip when the bike jolted suddenly before it came to halt.
I knew that he would bring me to an restaurent. He will never stop worrying about me , my health , every little thing that regards me.
After locking his bike in the parking , he took me inside. After walking through few empty chairs , we took two opposite seats in the corner of the room. After ordering our dinner ,we sat gazing each other in silence.
Now that I was gazing him eye to eye in the posh lights, I could clearly guess that something was bothering him. His eyes failed to show the usual bliss, it evidenced some kind of weirdness.
"Why is he like this ?, I haven't even opened the topic yet, before that what's annoying him......
Is it the right time to talk to him? ", confusion hit me hard .
I broke the silence and asked, "Arjun, what are you thinking about??, Anything wrong.....??"
"Uhmmm ...yeah.., I've to ask you something? ?", he stuttered putting up a puzzle.
Now that made me tense a little so I started biting the nails of my fingers one by one.
Seeing me fraught a little , he moved forward his leaning back and took my hand in his . He began to fondle the bitten regions of my nails ,which enticed me.
"Now what's wrong with my beloved ? ", he asked , that endearment made me gladden with a smile ,then it lit me with the fact that he had asked what's wrong and now I got to answer it .
"How are you going to unwrap the things his dad asked to...??
Damn , you filthy mouth !!" , I yelled at myself.
Arjun's pov:
We sat in silence looking at each other , the usual exuberance in her eyes were missing . Those little orbs were brimming with an different story.
I felt that she was muddling something inside her, which should have stopped her from acting normal . The usual charm wasn't lining her chubby face, only her eyes was enough to picture something unusual. I've never seen them this much expressionless . But today it was .
I guessed that , it might be due to the whole day of hectic work.
Since I wasn't there , she must have done my part of work too, also she didn't take her lunch . All these together must have made her dull , I myself drew upto an conclusion.
But,I felt guilty for putting my burden on her .
When I was about to question her if anything was wrong with her, she too came up with the same question.
I was befuddled to hear that from her. How does she read my mind everytime I've some problem ??
When I told her that I had to ask her something important, her expressions changed to some sort of fright and confusion. Her reactions were weird, seeing that ,I questioned her," What's wrong with my beloved ??"
Instead of paying heed to my question, she got engrossed in her own thoughts. I diverted her by snapping my fingers in front of heer eyes.
Shrugging off her shoulders, she uttered, " First you tell me Arjun, what do you wanna ask ??"
Without arguing much , I put forth the thing that was nudging me for the entire day ," Can we postpone our engagement??" , I asked her.
Her eyes went wide apart , she choked the food she was having in her mouth.
"Careful... ", I said, placing the cup of water in her hands.
Gulping few sips of water from the cup ,she asked ,"But why ??", with much of confusion seated in her.
"I might sound selfish ....",I started the lines ,but words did'nt come out straight from my throat, so I paused for a second.
"What's the reason ?? Just spit it out without giving breaks ! ", she asked furiously.
As I tried to gather up the words , she asked this ," By any chance are you giving any second thoughts on our marriage...??", which made me tremble.
When did I tell her that I am going to call off the wedding ??
I was just talking about the postponing of our engagement..How could she think this much worst??
Without letting her think much more, I revealed the reason to her,"I have to leave to Austria for the championship a week earlier. The date falls exactly on our betrothal date ..that's why dear.... ",I sighed after pouring down my pathetic situation to her.
She remained quiet, whereas the grip on the fork in her hand loosened, that made the fork to fall on the ceramic plate with a thud.
That thud sound in the silent place , made our hearts race.
I waited for her answer.
She didn't say an yes , neither she nodded her head in affirmation,she sat quietly which made me quiver. If it was any other day ,she would've said an okay even before I ask her. Now that she didn't say anything I was much disappointed.
I waited for her response patiently. After a pause for few minutes ,she hummed ," Okayy Arjun !!,Anything for you.... ".
This squeezed away my doubts . I was much happy that she had accepted to postpone our engagement. That enlightened my mood so much . I wanted to hug her tight for being with me always , but I couldn't do that in a public place.
Instead I uttered ," Thanks dear ,I knew you would always support my passion , I promise that I found the true meaning of this saying "Behind every successful man there is a woman" in you my dear.
You are my soul to success ,my love..", I admitted whole heartedly.
Tears popped out of her dark orbs.
To change the scene from turning to an over emotional one , I changed the topic ," But ... I need your help to talk to our parents about this .." I asked for her help now. Postponing our engagement is truly a big deal. Only she could help me out to sort out this problem.
"But Arjun...",she gasped.
"Won't you help me darling ?? ",I asked her pouting my lips like she does all the time to convince me.
"Hmmm...",she said in a husky voice.
"What happened to the non stop chatter box today??", I asked her.
Because she wasn't normal. Not in her dreams , she replies in one words. Her answers mostly would be long blabbers with so much enthusiasm.
I could easily guess that something was going inside her.
"What's wrong baby??",I queried.
She was concentrating on her food ,as if I was talking to someone else. As I observed her for a while , there it struck me that she wanted to ask me something.
"Now tell me ,what's that nudging you?", I asked her. Her gaze switched from her plates to me.
She saw me from the deepest corner of her eyes , her mouth were on its flow chewing the food. After swallowing the chunks of food she spoke.
"Arjun ...
I'm just asking it ,don't take it seriously , but you have to answer me straight ...",she put up a puzzle .
"Go for it !!",I uttered promising to answer her.
"If it comes between love and passion ,what will you choose ?? ", she throwed such an hypothetical question.
This wasn't the one I expected from her. Stunned by her sudden doubt ,I gaped her silently in confusion.
"From where did this thought come in to her mind. These many days she was the one who encouraged and supported me next to Nikkil ,now all of a sudden why does she ask to choose between love and race ?",
I wondered.
"Doesn't she like the idea of postponing our engagement ??
Is that why she is asking so....", so many thoughts were storming inside me.
In the middle of my confusions and queries , I heard her echoing voice , "Arjunnn...," ,she was calling out me.
"Hmmmm...",was the only thing I could say.
Suddenly she bursted out in laughter holding her stomach. I couldn't react to her psychotic ravings , I clenched the glass of water and gave a idle look at her with my utterly confused eyes.
"See your panic striken face Arjun..., ", she chuckled ,choking the water she had in her mouth.
"How was my acting?? ", she raised her invisible collars.
Was she acting to me this much time??
I became more furious now. There is a limit for everything , and this is not the thing to play with. I was at the edge of my fury. But she was at the edge of her chuckles .That made my rage to rise to its peak.
"NEHA", I snarled .
That made her shrug and she stopped her laughs at once and gazed me with an am-so-sorry look . Her pitiful eyes met mine and her lips murmered an sorry.
"Finished your food ??,
Shall we leave now?? ", I asked her stiffening my face without responding to her sorry.
"Ye.....yess", she stammered.
I asked the waiter for the bill. As soon as the waiter came with the bill , I paid for it and stood up in a hurry and walked outside taking longer strides.
She followed me calling out "Arjun ,....Arjun stop...Arjun..."
Once we reached the place ,where I had parked my bike ,she screamed to the limits of her voice ,"ARJUN"
When I turned to her side , her tiny eyes were all watery . She holded my wrist and uttered, " I was just kidding Arjun, I am really sorry... ".Her voice was much low and droplets of tears fell down her cheek.
Seeing her standing with watery eyes, I felt bad for behaving very rude to her. But still I couldn't take what she asked before few seconds. I couldn't accept that she acted. I felt it so much real ,that it hardly clenched my heart.
I decided to stop showing my angry face ,because if I continue to show my fury , she wouldn't get on my bike and it might start an argument between us. So I took her hands from my wrist , gave tight squeeze and assured her that it was okay .
Only then she climbed over my bike, I started the engine and rode in silence, racing with the wind .
The wind breeze smooched us , silence played a melonchaly between us.
After leaving her safely at home ,
I throttled my engine and rode faster in the empty roads of the streets. Her question repeatedly echoed inside me,
"What will you choose between Love and passion ??",
"Why did she ask me such a question?"
"Was she really kidding or did she ask it for real??, if it was for real ,how can I choose between my two lives ??
Please tell me how was the chapter? Was it okay or dramatic?
And wishing omahazeeya good luck to start her new semester!!