He politely walked her to a what seemed like a guest bedroom and carefully dropped her luggage on the bedside. Giving her a couple of pointers about the house, he excused himself so that she could rest. As soon as he left, she made sure to lock the door and seated herself on the bed. Her sigh was a mixture of contentment and relief, picking her phone - she started to dial, "Uff...Everything happened so quickly. I should inform Mihika about this"
Mihika was her cousin sister and her partner in crime. She had always helped in what she did. Mihika picked up in less than three rings, indicating how exasperate my family was. She practically yells to the phone, " Akka, where the hell are you!?"
"Hello to you too, Miku"
Mihika wasn't impressed by her sister's too-cool behaviour, "Akka, How can you be so cool? Where are you?"
She brushes it off, "Chinta mat kar Miku. I'm fine. Main Delhi me hoon" [Don't worry. I'm in Delhi]
"Come back right away. Aap Chennai me hi thik ho. Everyone is so worried about you" [You're doing fine in chennai]
"Miku. Don't eat my head. Main thik hoon Delhi main."
"Akka, but where are you staying?"
She shrugged, looking out of the window "Kisi ke Ghar pe. I don't know his name" [Someone's house]
She could feel mihika panicking from miles away "Don't know the name? Hang on...Akka, what did you say? His? Seriously aap kisi anjaan aadmi ke Ghar par ho?" [Are you really in some stranger's house?]
"Yes! I lied to him that my life is in danger and I got shelter" Just then, she hears some ruffling noises behind her. As she turned around to see what was happening, it was the same man that helped her - now packing her bags and walking out. She drops her phone on the bed and rushes towards him, "What are you doing?"
He casually replies "Sending you out of my house" as if that were a sentence one spoke and heard every day. A shock registered on her face which she quickly tried to mask. She pulled up her soap opera demeanour, shedding a single tear "Why? You told me I can live here".
He drops her luggage, looks at her as she had spoken of a taboo subject. He lifts his head up high, comes dangerously close to her, "I even told you that I hate lies"
Okay, what do I do now? she wondered;
1) Pretend she didn't know what he was talking about
2) Tell him she's not lying (but wouldn't that be a lie?)
3) become a statue. Yep, perfect. This was it.
He started at her coldly, maintaining his perfect monotonous tone "You lied to me once before, you're lying to me now". She kept mum, her eyes fixated on her feet as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. It was killing her that she had lied to him, she always assumed she was kind of person who would be down to do some interesting stuff like lying but this - his despondent look, cold voice was definitely upsetting her. He had helped her so much, after all, considering he was a stranger. He nodded thoughtfully and whispered, "Okay, I'll tell you the truth"
He considers her offer for a minute and nods his head for her to continue. She says snarkily, "Only on one condition - that you'll allow me to stay in your house tonight" He frowns and folds his arms across his chest, "This is my house and you're no one to put forward your conditions. Your story, go!"
She begins to think about how to start her story but fails every time. She finally rambles, "So, funny story - I ran from my house"
"Ran-? what ?" he face drops, filling with terror. He runs his hands through his fluffy tempting hair contemplating the situation, "Is this a police case? Are you a minor? oh god"
"Thanks for thinking I look like a minor, you know, young" she joked to lighten the situation. But it didn't work, he was still tense. She then lifted her hands in frustration, "I'm not a minor, chill" She went and occupied a seat on the couch and prompted him to do so. He followed her suit, still confused about running away from house thing.
She takes a deep breath and starts, "Actually meri shaadi set huvi hai aur" [Actually I was about to get married- ]
"Tumhe ladka pasand nahi hai" he guessed, cutting her off in between [You didn't like the guy]
"Haan, vo bhi ladka accha nahi hai" [Yeah, and he's not really nice]
When she explains that, he is visibly confused. His face screams for more explanation. She shakes her head and continues, "See, Basically I'm a Tamilian. So, Amma wants me to marry a Tamil-Brahmin boy itself. And she found this bakra and I don't-"
"Want to get married to him. We're past that point. Why?" he huffs impatiently
"Come on, He flirts with anything with two legs, how can anyone marry him?" she says bitterly looking into the void, clearly disgusted by his behaviour "Roz main dekh thi hoon Apni clinic se, different different ladkiyon ke Saath" [Every day I watch him from my clinic with different girls]
"Clinic? Tum clinic main kaam karti ho" [You work in clinic?] he asks her, diverting her from her story. She nods her head in a yes. He then clarifies, "Toh tum nurse ho" [So are you a nurse?]
"Nurse? Nurse nahi, main Doctor hoon" [Not nurse, I'm a doctor] she snaps, annoyed by his comment.
"Doctor aur tum?" He laughed [YOU are a doctor?]
"Excuse me? Iss main hasne ki kya baat hai. I'm a dentist" [Excuse me, What's so funny? I'm a dentist] she says in a high pitched voice and he's more amused now, "Toh Dentist Kaho na doctor kyu bol rahi hu" [Then introduce yourself as a dentist, why a doctor?]
"Dentist bhi Doctor hi hoti hai, mister. Haven't you seen before?" she challenges him, pointing her fingers at him. He smirks, "I have seen Dentists, Sure. But I have definitely not seen a lying doc - sorry dentist"
She throws him a dirty look, crosses her arms and leans on the sofa. The smiling him notices her pouting. He decides not to trouble her anymore and let her finish her story, "So you ran. But why? You can call off the wedding, right?"
"Wrong! This is not your America to do whatever you want" she glared at him
"London" he corrected
"Like that matters. My parents are never gonna listen to me. So I chose what option I had best" she said in a defeated tone. He asked again, still confused "Why didn't you tell your parents about how he is?"
"Again, As if they will listen" she rolled her eyes
"I'm sure running away from home wasn't the only option. Like, come on" He disputed but in a calm and rational manner. He, for one, knew first hand that it was a bad option. Maybe she shouldn't be taking this step is there were peaceful ways to solve it
"There was no other option. Yeh sab last-minute shaadi rokna and all sirf film main hota hai real-life main nahi" [Stopping the wedding at last minute and all happens only in movies and not in real life] She tells him, pointing her fingers in the air dramatically. "See. I have no issues with marrying, it's just the guy I'm getting married to. He is not right and no one listens to me"
"I'm sorry, that sucks. So, What next?"
"Nothing. Tomorrow I'll leave and see where I can go" she shrugs
"Where you can go. Matlab Tum Ghar nahi jaa rahi ho?" [You mean, you're not going to your house?]
"Of course not. Tum meri mom ko nahi jaante I'm damn sure vo agle two weeks tak marriage ki Saari tayariyan aise hi rakhi hogi ki jab main aa jaon vo mujhe pakad ke shaadi kara de" [You don't know my mom. I'm damn sure she would have kept all the wedding preparations till next two weeks waiting for the moment I return home, so she can get me married]
"Ek second. Kab hai shaadi?" [Hang on, When is the wedding?]
"Yesterday" she replies coolly
"Tum shaadi ke mantap se bhaagi?" he asks, shocked. She looks at him, amused and laughs, "Nahi re. Apne kamre se" [Did you run from the aisle? ][No, I ran from my room]
"Kamre se. What the -, Why didn't you reject it first only?" he howled, looking at her with widened eyes. She sighs, "I was told I was getting married just three days before the date of the wedding"
"Seriously?" he asks, his mouth gaping open. How can anyone not know about their own wedding? Oh this poor girl!
"Sacchi! They just announced shaadi hai and after three days, bam - wedding. If I'm being honest, I don't think he's interested too" she reasoned, burying her face in her palms "I don't know why I seem to have all the problems in the world? I try to avoid it so much but-"
"I understand, You don't go looking for problems it usually finds you", he says in a sympathetic tone. He weirdly understood what he was trying to say. She groans, "Right. Why me?"
"Why you? Oh my god, why only you?" he exclaims dramatically.
"Are you joking?" she asks with a flat face. He laughs wholeheartedly, "Of course, I am, woman". She shakes her head, "See mister. I'm extremely sorry for the inconvenience I have created here. I'll leave tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Promise"
"Oh hello, Where will you go?"
"I don't know, hotel or something" she muttered thinking of options.
"hotel mein rahogi? No, Don't" He considered the situation carefully for a moment before speaking, "Do one thing you stay here only". Although she was ecstatic, she was also shocked and wanted to make sure she heard him right, "Here? But are you sure?"
"Sure. Stay here. you're safe and jab tumhare Ghar ka shaadi ka drama khatam ho Jaye, then you go" [When this marriage drama will end in your house, You can leave from here]
She smiled, internally thanking Murugan. She suddenly says, "Humne itni Saari baaten Karli but we still don't know each other's names" [We talked so much but we still don't know each other's names]
"Ah-ha. Right, Raman Kumar Bhalla" he extended his hand. She followed the same," Ishita Iyer" He got up and walked away. He paused to ask, "Dinner?"
"I've eaten" she replied, placing her hands on her stomach. He stood there staring at her before uttering the words he did, "Tum bahot daring ho" [You're very daring]
"How?"
"Itni Raat ko, Ek anjaan aadmi ke Ghar reh rahi ho. Usko toh propose bhi kar Diya" [In this dead of night, you are staying in an unknown man's house. And you proposed him also] he claps his hand as a joke and she laughs, "Actually-"
"Agar Maine Kuch kar Diya tho. Socho" [What if I do something..?] he feigns a crafty face, pretending to hold a knife and then winks at her. She replies firmly, "Nahi, Aisa Kuch nahi Hoga" [Nothing like that will happen ]
"Itna confidence mujhpe?" he lifts his eyebrows
"Yes. By the way, where is your room?"
"Why are you asking? I'll tell you before only, Main Aisa aadmi nahi hoon. What do you want to do with me?" he jested, still keeping his signature smile intact.
"Nothing like that. I was just asking. If you don't want to tell, it's fine by me"
"My room is in that corner of the house. I usually bolt the doors but if you want I'll let it be op-" he moved towards her. Her cheeks tinted crimson, "Not needed. Go away" She pushed him out.
"Good Night" he wished and gave a killer smile and went.
Ishita sat in that room wondering why was she blushing at that man's comment when she had to be angry. That wasn't a thing to be coloured on. In his thoughts, she slowly drifted to sleep
Another side Raman was thinking why he let her in? Why did he help her? She was neither a friend nor a relative to be offered a shelter. Why did he speak those lines at last? It definitely wasn't a thing to be spoken to a stranger and that to a girl. A man who was serious all the time, now flirted with a stranger girl. In her thoughts, he drifted into sleep.
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Ok, That's it, guys. Let's see how these sleeping people fall for each other. Please do feel free to tell me how this update is. Criticism and appreciation both are welcome. Thank you for your incredible response on the first chapter. Much love x