Posted on May 30th, 2017 | Edited on October 29th, 2018
*Fair warning: you might catch the feels on this chapter as you read... so, you know, only read when you know you are in a good frame of mind(; *
| . . . C H A P T E R - 2.12.1 : P L A Y F U L - S I D E . . . |
"What do you want for lunch?"
Arnav looked up from making some changes in a file with a pen. "Why, are you cooking?"
I laughed mockingly at the absurd question. He was quite aware I could not cook. "Funny. You ain't that lucky that I'd cook for you. Hell, I don't even cook for myself."
He chuckled before suggesting, "I don't know. How about something simple, for once?" It was as if he was so used to having extravagant meals that he just wanted to remember what normal was.
I had the perfect take-out in mind. "You got it," I answered walking away from the living room and into the kitchen to place the order, leaving him curious on what I was ordering.
. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .
Arnav bit into what was his sixth slice of pizza, and yet, he was still savoring the taste. "This has to be the best lunch ever."
I took a sip of soda, "You already said that atleast nine times by now."
He whined like a baby, "It's the truth!"
"Whoever knew it was so easy to please you? Really, all it took was a box of pizza and coke."
He rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Right now, I am willing to say I can have pizza every day for the rest of my life. That's how much I've missed eating 'em."
Now, that was news. "When was the last time you had pizza? Cause seriously, it's not that expensive to get - especially considering your bank balance."
He ignored my later taunt. "Probably the last week before graduating from college."
I harshly swallowed the bite in my mouth, "Wh-what? You can't be serious." Much to my disbelief, he nodded. "Wow," I exhaled. "You haven't had pizza in two years?"
He shook his head, grabbing his seventh slice. "Nope."
"Why the hell not? You obviously love it."
"Di is lactose intolerant and pizza without cheese is just not pizza so... Ever since I've returned, I haven't ordered it. I mean, she knows not to eat it but I don't want to, you know?"
I nodded, understanding. He didn't want to eat it in front of Anjali when she couldn't eat it. He didn't want her to feel left out. "So, she has no idea you love pizza?"
"No."
I felt he would continue but I beat him to it. "Well then, she shall never find out." I smiled, "Your secret is safe with me, pizza boy."
"Thank you," he replied gratefully and paused to take a sip. "So, I have a question for you."
"Shoot."
"Your last day in Australia, you went to a club."
I remember he had asked me about that night once before as well. "What about it?"
"You said you don't drink and I want to believe you but it doesn't make sense. You bought a drink. And before you deny it, I know you did because you crashed into me. You didn't see it was me, but I saw you."
Now, I remembered that incident. The person I had crashed into. I didn't know it was him. "You saw me buy the drink. Then, answer this. Wouldn't a person who buys a shot finish it at the bar instead of taking it to the dance floor?"
He considered there and concluded, "So, it wasn't for you. Then?"
"That is not important. You have the answer to the question you truly wanted to know."
He looked like he wanted to protest, get it out of me, but eventually decided to settle. Wowzie. Arnav Singh Raizada was truly changing. He was learning the ins and outs of negotiation and compromising. I did not think I would have ever seen the day, but... lately, he does keep surprising me with his new layers.
Perhaps, it is what prompts me to continue. "Wanna know a secret?" He looked up from his pizza, placing the slice on the paper plate. "I'm allergic to alcohol."
His brows narrowed in confusion. "But that night in Goa..."
I shrugged my shoulders, "I wanted to defy you. You kept pushing me."
He shakes his head to convey disapproval. "Khushi, no matter what the other person has done, you do not put your life in danger for a show of rebellion. Life is not meant to be gambled with like that."
I answered in a soft tone to get him to drop that irritation that he may have a right to feel, "Hey, I know. I get it. Life is precious and all. I have done some stupid careless things in life that I am not proud of. And, you know, I did not tell you this so you could be mad at me."
At my words, he seemed to understand and lets out a breath to release his anger. In a much calmer tone, he questioned. "When did you find out you were allergic to it?"
"Remember Valentine's Day party when I fainted and you took me to the hospital?"
He nodded. "But I thought that was sleep deprivation?"
I clarified, "Yes, but also not having ate enough and drinking a bit of spiked juice at the party."
He inhaled sharply, affected by everything I was telling him and maybe it is slight fear I spot in his eyes. "I didn't know. I'm sorry, Khushi. After getting you to the hospital, I left again."
I answered casually to assure him, "Hey, it's okay. We were still fighting then. I don't blame you. Atleast you still brought me to the hospital despite how things between us were." I scoffed to myself on connecting a dot, "Guess you were right, huh? You never stopped being my friend."
He forced a smile on his face which I didn't understand. He should be happy I was acknowledging my faults and giving him a point. Clearing his throat, he spoke. "I'm glad your eating habits have improved atleast."
Being in the mood to be openly sharing, I tell him one more secret. "Ah, you have yourself to thank for that."
"Me?"
"Mhmm." I answered quickly chewing before swallowing and elaborating. "All your messages back in college to remind me to eat... as annoying as I found it, they did remind me to eat. And when you did stop... well, let's just say Kripa and Riddhima took over. I guess that means I owe you a thanks, huh?"
He shook his head, locking his eyes with mine with this unreadable expression. "You don't owe me anything, sweet pea."
I slightly reprimanded, "Arnav, learn to accept credit where it's due. As much as I never admitted it then, I did need help and you were there in every way."
"And made things worse for you."
I pressed my lips together because I could have said that was not the case but that would have been a lie. So, I offer a compromise, "Maybe... but as long as we learn a lesson, right?"
Unconvinced, he still caved in. I really didn't understand why he is so hard on himself. So critical of himself. What is all this guilt he keeps holding on to?
Taking the empty pizza box, I stand up. Just then, he called. "Hey, Khushi?" When I look at him, he continued. "Don't end up in a hospital bed again, okay? Like, ever."
I get the feeling he is not a fan of them either. I blinked at him with a sincere smile catching his concern in the request even if it were a rhetorical one because what sane person would purposely want to end up in the hospital?
I answered, "Will do my best."
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After I returned from the kitchen, he asked - the heavy conversations of the past behind us, "So, what do you want to do now?"
"It's not like we can go outside, right?" I answered and as if on cue, clouds thundered. Even though the middle of the day, it was dark and cloudy outside. It was going to start pouring anytime.
"Movies it is then."
Unfortunately for me, Anjali kept a bunch of chick flicks and romantic movies collection. He popped one of the discs in the living room TV and we settled on the couch across it. Seeing how the movie was a cliché of guy and girl meeting, guy falling for her - but if you ask me, I'll say it's lust given they met two minutes ago and he knows nothing about her to call it love, I watched it with disinterest, often drifting off in my thoughts.
When I heard a moan, I blinked and was confused for a second. Then, I noticed the couple in the movie were in the middle of a very heated make-out session. Frowning, my eyes pried away from the screen - not that hard to do.
It pulled my mind in a flashback of my first kiss.
Correction.
First forced kiss.
I sat up in the couch with a shiver at the memory. Closing my eyes, I tried to block out the memory for it also reminded me of the CD sent by Vivek no more than two days ago.
A warm hand squeezed mine gently, causing me to open my eyes and follow it from my hand to him. The softness around his eyes called out to me. "Watch something else?"
"Please," I said in a hoarse whisper. Removing his hand from atop mine, he stood up to change the movie.
It was hard to grasp that I was getting comfortable when he held my hand. It still caused my body to stiffen for a quick second, but it didn't as much as scare me. In fact, I went on to relax the next second itself.
It didn't send tingles to my skin as it normally did whenever a guy touched me.
I think, it has to do with Arnav specifically.
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The next morning, I woke up to a shattering sound pulling me out of my dreamless state. Arnav held a sheepish look on his face as he stood outside the room that led towards the pool. "Sorry?" I followed the mess by his foot. A broken flower pot.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "What time is it?" Even though I asked, I glanced at the clock to get the answer myself. I gasped, "2 PM? Why didn't you wake me up!"
"You needed that sleep," he answered as he started filling dirt in another pot.
I followed him outside and leaned against the doorway. "I didn't think a guy like you would be into gardening."
He rolled his eyes, "There she goes stereotyping me again."
I laughed in response, knowing he was only teasing and he knew I wasn't being downright judgmental. It was just an observation - a surprising one. "No one will look at you and be able to tell you like getting your hands dirty." He glanced up at me with a smirk and I gasped. "I meant with gardening! Get your head out of the gutter."
He burst off laughing, "Ofcourse, I knew what you meant. Just, the look on your face."
I grabbed a fistful of dirt from the bag and threw it at him. "Jerk."
He warned dangerously, that smirk still on his face. "You started it."
"What?" I asked in confusion but got my answer when I was splashed with water from the water pipe. Gasping and squealing, I make every attempt to escape the force of it, walking backwards and not realizing when I reached the edge of the pool and fell backwards. He reached to grab my hand but only ended up falling in the pool with me.
Ignoring the fact that I was in the pool and my clothes were sticking to my skin, I gloated. "Serves you right."
He was quick to accuse back, "Started because you threw dirt at me."
"Me? You were the one who made..." I trailed off trying to find the right choice of words, not wanting to fall prey once again to double meanings. He urged me on, knowing exactly where my dilemma laid. I glared at the obvious amusement on his face. "You know what? Go to hell."
He had the guts to cheekily respond, "Only if you come with me. Can't leave you here all alone."
"Ugh!" I let out an irritated growl and walked around him before planting my hands on the tiles and pulling myself out of the pool. I huffed at my soaking self and when he decided to splash water at my back, I turned to him to throw a dirty glare.
His playful side could be very much irritating.
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| . . . C H A P T E R - 2.12.2 : S E V E N - L I V E S . . . |
The next day, Tuesday. As much as I did not want to go back to work, I knew I had to. I couldn't miss another day by calling it sick when physically, I wasn't sick. After getting ready, I was walking downstairs when I overhead Arnav in his room when I pass by it.
"Aman, just handle my meetings today. I'm not coming in... Why? Personal reasons. And you know what? I'm your boss, not the other way around. I don't owe you any explanations. Now do as I asked."
Frustrated, he threw his phone on the bed. I was slightly confused on why he didn't want to go to work when he was already dressed in a white button up and dark brown dress pants. All he needed to put on was a coat and tie. Why was he changing his mind after getting ready?
Seeing me standing by the doorway, he asked. "Need a ride to work?"
"So, you'll drop me at work but not go yourself when you're up and ready?" I asked walking inside the room. "Why, are you sick? And don't say you don't owe me any explanations either because like Aman, I too work for you."
His eyes scolded back for mocking him before picking up his tie lying on the bed. "Because of this."
"A tie?" I questioned unable to understand how that little thing has wronged him.
"I'm not going to work without a tie. I'm the boss. I have to be dressed to par."
"But your tie is right there. What's the problem?"
He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Uh... yeah. I can't tie a tie to save my life."
For a second, I gaped at him. What person who runs a business and is 24 does not know how to work a tie? "How... how do you...?"
He seemed to understand my question for he informed, "Di."
While teasing, I stepped forward and put forth my palm, "Shame on you, Arnav. Here, give me the tie." When he placed the fabric in my hand, I put it around my neck and started to work on making the perfect bow. "It's the simplest thing on Earth."
"That's what people say about tying shoe strings too. It's not, is it?"
I narrowed my eyes at him to determine if he was being dead serious. "I am so judging you right now."
He mocked back with his eyes, "When do you not?"
I raised my brow in a threat, "Do you want my help or not?"
He shut up at that and once the tie was fixed, I carefully pulled it over my head and handed it over. "Seriously, I might have to tell di to stop spoiling you. Learn to pull your own weight."
While putting it on and fixing the collars, he answered. "It's just a tie."
"Exactly," I use it against him, "Just a tie. Not rocket science. Learn it."
"Why? You can just do it for me."
I crossed my arms over my chest, "Oh, really? Now why would I do that?"
He picked up his coat and while we started walking down the stairs, swung it around to slip his hands through the sleeves. "Well, we'll be married. Naturally, this kind of stuff is passed down to the wife."
I laughed for he was going to be so disappointed if he really had this impression of how our marriage of compromise was going to be - that was if we even got to the marriage stage considering. "Very funny, Raizada. Never in a hundred years will I be picking out your clothes, doing your laundry, and what nots that wives in this country seem to take pride in doing for their husbands. Like seriously, don't they have anything better to do than picking up others' slack?"
He carelessly shrugged his shoulder, "Maybe next lifetime then."
I was taken aback for the time being when he ignored my later rant and focused in on my 'hundred years' comment. What the actual fuck? I very well know we Indians believe in reincarnation and the bond of marriage to last seven lifetimes, but this... his words... as if he actually believes it'll be real and... just what?!
Clearing my throat, I questioned. "What makes you think this isn't our seventh?"
"If it was, I'd feel it."
"You would feel it?" I couldn't understand what he was talking about.
He answered while locking up the house, "Reincarnation is essentially a journey of our souls, right? The concept that even when our body dies, our soul lives on? So, if this was our last chance, yes, trust me; I would feel it."
"You're not making any sense."
When he stopped walking just paces away from the car parked in the driveway, I paused as well to look at him. He pointed to his chest, "I would feel it hurt here and I would know."
I stared at him for the longest, the meaning slowly but surely catching in my heart and it started to race. I had no idea how to respond to something like this. Why did he say things as such lately that always had my heart racing and left me speechless?
He took a step towards me and the blank expression of his morphed into a soft smile. "Besides, even if it were our last, what makes you think I wouldn't still find you in the next one?"
Well. Atleast, that bit of arrogance that was all him was back. Still, I felt the atmosphere lighten with it as a chuckle escaped my throat. Arnav Singh Raizada. Always trying to control things, even if those things were just out of hand and termed with fate and destiny, things beyond life itself.
When I glanced up at him, he winked and started to walk around me. The beep of the car unlocking as he pressed the button on his remote returned me to reality. Following behind, I rhetorically questioned, "Why are we even talking about this?"
How did we get on this topic?
Just before we get inside the car, he stopped, holding his door ajar and looking at me over the roof of the car. "Why not? I'd like to believe it."
He slipped inside the driver seat while I stood there with my hand frozen on the door handle. Believe it? Believe what? Getting inside and trying to act normal, putting on the seatbelt, I replied. "It's crazy though. It doesn't happen."
He didn't answer right away as he was backing out of the driveway but once we were on the road, he picked up the conversation again. "Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. I don't believe in God so I'd be the last person to ask about this, but still... let's just humor ourselves."
"So, what? You'd want to be stuck with me again and again? Who knows, maybe in next lifetime, you'll be married to Lavanya. You, her, and Aarav. The perfect little family. Isn't that much better? I wouldn't be stepping over your lives."
He briefly glanced at me, taking his eyes off the road, as if a means to scold me for thinking I am an interference in their life. "That perfect little family would still be incomplete without you because Lavanya and I are not written in the cards."
"And you think the two of us are? A marriage of convenience where we live a life as friends."
He opened his mouth for a quick retort but seemed to change his mind. With a hand on the gear stick and changing lanes, he countered but in a calmer tone void of any irritation that I had initially spotted. "Imagine that the next time we find each other, the two of us wouldn't be in such dark places respectively."
His eyes met mine for a quick second before they returned to the road. For a second when our eyes had locked, I couldn't help but be pulled back to that first moment at the beach when he'd asked me to imagine. I almost held my breath, somewhere understanding that he had more to say... and he didn't disappoint.
"Imagine a future that doesn't seem so bleak. Imagine..." as he spoke, I saw his eyes linger over my hand which was resting over my thigh.
Was he wanting to hold it but going against it thinking I would not be comfortable with it? The last time he had seemed to touch me without physically going through the action. Feeling a certain pressure over my heart, I felt my hand turn sweaty and I couldn't help but wipe it against my pants.
He blinked away, noticing the reaction. "...a world which will be a happier place - one which wouldn't have been cruel to us; and that since the start, we wouldn't be hurting... Imagine that we wouldn't have a past weighing us down and I wouldn't have done stupid things like kissing Amanda to push you away or that you..." He suddenly stopped having realized what he just let slip by while speaking freely without a filter over his thoughts.
And suddenly, I was dragged back to reality. Last time, he had strung the chords of my heart. That moment had somewhere meant everything to me. I had started to recognize a different layer of him. I had fallen for that. And today, I had no idea what to feel. What to process.
It was as if someone snapped their fingers and the magic had been drained from the atmosphere, from the air I was breathing. It was no longer thick with intensity. I was no longer in my own world catching the old feelings by replaying those memories from that night at the beach. I was back to present with his words washing to the shore everything that was a mess between us. Everything that needed to be talked about.
He glanced at me with hesitation, "Any chance you can ignore what I last said?"
No way in hell.
I answered with a question, "What do you mean it was to push me away?"
He sighed realizing I wasn't going to let this go. Why would I?! "It's... complicated to explain and not a driving conversation. Please, just... accept that it was a mistake and I shouldn't have acted on that impulse."
I have so many things to say right now. To question. And I cannot help but feel mad that he does not answer when I thought over the weekend, things had been for the better between us... the best ever. Even when in college, I hadn't felt this close to him ever because over the weekend, he had shared... opened up to me.
He must have understood my feelings given the silent treatment I gave and neither did he try to talk to me the rest of the car ride as if he knew... it would lead to me asking questions he obviously still wasn't comfortable answering. It just upset me more that he wasn't even trying... when wasn't it just last week that he had said in his office that whenever I asked a question, he would try to answer?
When he pulled up in a parking spot kept reserved for him in the basement of the office building, I unbuckled my seat belt and reached for the door handle. I was stopped with a tug on my purse and I followed it to him. "Khushi, to be with you, seven lives are not enough."
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| . . . C H A P T E R - 2.12.3 : R E S T O R I N G - B A L A N C E . . . |
What the hell does he even mean by that? Going back to the stupid reincarnation topic when there is obviously a more imminent one.
I couldn't help the anger in my tone as I snapped back at him. "And am I going to have to wait seven lives for you to finally be honest with me?"
It was ridiculous. What was so freaking complicated in an answer that he could not give, but could apologize for and call it an impulsive mistake?
When he did not answer, I shook my head in disappointment and jerking my purse out of his grip, I stepped out of the car and walked around.
He was quick to fall in step beside me. "Khushi, please, let's not fight."
I scoffed, stopping. I was the one fighting? Normally that might be the case but no. Not this time. "All you had to do was answer, Arnav. I think I have been patient enough all this time. I tried giving you space to come to me yourself. And was it not you who said you were going to answer from now on instead of changing the topic? What is so damn hard that instead you pull back when we've had a few good days so far?"
He raised his voice by a timber, "Nothing between us is easy, Khushi. I wish it was, but it isn't. Why can't you get that?"
I shook my head in disappointment. Did he think I did not know that things between us were not easy? That it wasn't easy to work out our hurt from the past to move ahead? I did know that! I was trying here; why couldn't he do that too?
It was pointless wasting energy in being mad when it was going to be the same circle of destruction over and over again. No matter how much I try to break the pattern, he had to be willing too.
"That's too bad then," I quietly answered and turned to continue walking.
I only stopped when seconds later, in a normal voice, he spoke again. "My uncle."
The gap between my brows furrowed in confusion and I turned back to face him. I repeated in an attempt to encourage him into continuing. "Your uncle?" What does he have to do with us?
He breathed out, taking slow steps towards me before stopping at two feet distance between us. "He wanted something... and he threatened to take Aarav away from me."
My breath hitched unable to fathom how any person can involve a child into anything just to get something they wanted. Everything Kripa always said about her father being strict, orthodox, and all the reasons she didn't like going home... Sometimes I would think she was exaggerating given it was normal for a child to not see eye to eye with their parents.
Searching my eyes for understanding, he continued. "He would have threatened to take away everyone I cared about, sweet pea. And I couldn't let you be dragged into my life's mess again when you had things of your own. At that time, you had made that very clear and I know it's not a justified reason, and I should have let you decide what you could and couldn't handle but... yes. I pushed you away... thinking it was for the better..."
He added in a pleading voice, "But I was wrong. I was so wrong. I never should have done that. I should have told you. I should have come to you instead of pushing you away. I wish I hadn't been a coward and instead just told you what was going on. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, don't hate me again. Don't... don't give up on me, please. I'm ... trying. I know I need to try better and..."
I swallowed a large lump in my throat for the third time since he began explaining to fight my emotions and not be this affected at his breaking voice, him fighting the tears from welling up in his own eyes. There have been assumptions of him crying before, but it had always been in the dark. I had never been able to see his face. But right now, that vulnerability. Begging me to not give up on him. It shattered something inside of me. It breaks something delicate inside of me.
I always kept waiting on him, on everyone, after my sexual abuse to give up on me. I am always difficult on everyone... as if just testing how long they will put up with me. And Arnav? He never gave up on me. No. Is he not one of the biggest reasons there has been an improvement in me over the college years? And here he is. Just asking me for the same. Needing me to not give up on him.
He just admitted he cared about me... not in what sense, but just that he did. I could always feel it to be implied, but it was a different matter for him to actually express it verbally. And with it, again, conveying that he couldn't bear my hate... as I understood just to what extent that silent treatment in the car for a few minutes had affected him. The fear of it lasting pushing him to talk. Why did I do that - let anger get the best of me? Just days ago, when he had first told me he would take 'starting over' seriously, I had promised myself I'd just be there and allow him the time he needed to open up to me, step by step. Then suddenly, why did I push him to his breaking point?
If it had been happening to me instead, how would I have felt?
My hand trembled but I still followed my heart's calling and placed it over his cheek. His eyes closed at once, that water he had been holding back trailing down, turning into a tear. "I'm sorry too." I said in a whisper.
Hearing my voice, his eyes reopened locking with mine in a mix of fear, for me, seeing my hand on his cheek, and concern. My heart clenched in its cage. This guy in front of me, worrying for my comfort despite his own emotional state. He attempted to lean his head back when I held my hand on him in a firmer grip to get my fingers to not shake.
"You had to pick Aarav and make him a priority. I get it," I reassured him that despite his actions, he was trying to do right by his son. I could not hold him at fault for that ever. If I had known this all along, yes, I would not have spent last two years harboring negative feelings but knowing of it now, he had to know I did not hate him for it.
No. Far from it. How could I hate him for choosing his son? His family?
If anything, I think I respect him even more. No matter what the consequences had been, he did what needed to be done for Aarav. He's never talked about Aarav to me and I could have never imagined him in this role, but in this moment, I do find myself seeing him as a father despite his young age.
I see the man who has always tried the best he could to excel in each role given to him. A brother. A father. A friend.
Even when I thought he broke his promises to me, I now realize that's not what he had done. He had tried to salvage what he could of all his relationships. He had to reprioritize in his life and despite knowing what it would do to him personally - the cost it would take of his soul - he still went through it. Perhaps, I still know very little about him. I don't know him or his character as well as I told myself that I did.
A lot about him, I am just now discovering because this whole time, I have been ignorant. Blind in my anger for him and the world. From the get go, I put him in a category and judged him accordingly since. But slowly, little by little, that curtain was lifting from my eyes and I am starting to see things clearly for as they are, not for how I have been molding them as in my head.
My breath was ragged as I inhaled to push over my emotional state and express, "You were not a coward, Arnav. It takes strength to be willing to make any sacrifice necessary for family. That's what you did. You don't need to ever feel ashamed for it, or even apologize - least of all to me."
He brought his hand to rest over my palm and moved it off his cheek as if he knew the longer it remained there, the more affected I would be. He nodded, exhaled and blinked a few times to push aside the moistened eyes and asked. "Are we okay?"
I smiled back at him, "We're better than okay."
He nodded again as if needing to convince himself. I wish I could read his mind, understand why it all meant so much to him. What I meant to him... my forgiveness, my anger, my hatred... why it all affected him so much.
Maybe, I already know.
Kripa, Lavanya... they tell me he lets me get to him in a way he doesn't let anyone else... but, why? All the things he says to me... the countless things he does... they go beyond the line of friendship, do they not?
I think I finally get it.
"Get what?" He asked, and I realized I had said it aloud instead of in my head.
Instead of making up an excuse, I answered, "Something Riddhima had said. 'If he's all the wrongs in a single right, then be all the rights in his single wrong.' I didn't understand what she meant at the time."
Arnav... in one right action, he had done plenty wrongs. It is just a matter of restoring balance in our relationship.
"Now you do?"
I smiled up at him, my heart feeling the lightest it has in a long time. "Now, I do."
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| . . . A U T H O R - N O T E . . . |
Phew! Once again, except for the movie scene and morning by the pool, everything else is new- making it the longest chapter of the book and undoubtedly my favorite one as well. Certainly a turning point between the two as they each rely on the other just a little bit more. I hope you love it just as much as I pushed myself into writing it as best as i could! Please, Please let me know what your take is on what I am going to call 'the signature scene' of Dare. I have tried, tried, and tried to make it even be somewhere on the same scale as the previous scene from book 1. Not sure how much I have succeeded and I let you be the judge of it :D
I hope you have a wonderful week ahead! It's again a busy one for me and I just need to get through tomorrow to feel like I can get through rest of the week. See you soon!