Dhruv's POV:
This idiot..
How could she not give me a chance to speak for God's sake? Though I am not ready for the new responsibilities, at least I could ask for some time to think over it..right but without giving me any chance to speak, she stormed off.
Sighing helplessly, I shook my head and went to the study room after collecting all the files and my laptop.
At least I could work for some time in peace to keep the thoughts in my mind at bay.
I completely forgot the time and immersed myself in work. When I turned my head, I noticed through the window that it was getting dark. So I decided to wrap up my work and intended to spend some time with my family.
I stood up and stretched my limbs to relieve myself from the numbness. After tidying up everything, I headed to my room.
When I went inside, I caught the glimpse of Aarna, who was sitting on the swing on the balcony while mumbling something incoherently to herself with her phone in her hand.
I moved to her and stood behind her silently. That was when I heard her mutterings clearly.
"Is she showing off in front of me or what? What if Arjun Bava is taking her on a dinner date? Is there any need for her to rub it on my face? Hmmph! See now. Even Daksha Akka started probing me. How can I tell her that my husband is such a boring person and except for working he doesn't know anything!! No..no. Then what will happen to my image..moreover what will happen to his mighty image? Whatever! Let it be."
She was talking to herself while sighing occasionally by holding her head.
After hearing her rants, I rubbed my nose guiltily as in these one month of our marriage, I never took her out as other normal couples do.
She too must have some expectations from this marriage but she never once voiced them out because of my unwavering past.
At these thoughts, I decided something and cleared my throat to make her aware of my presence. She got startled by it and immediately looked back at me with her eyes wide opened.
"What the hell? Why do you always frighten me by appearing out of nowhere so silently? " She shouted while patting her heart slowly.
" Nothing. Get ready. We are going out."
Announcing it, I headed to the washroom to freshen up, ignoring her confused gaze.
By the time I came outside, she was coming out of the closet while holding her dress.
When she saw me, she immediately rushed to my side and asked me while placing a hand on my forehead, "Dhruv, are you okay?"
I scoffed at her dramatic self and removed her hand.
"I am perfectly fine. Go and get ready quickly."
"No. Something is seriously wrong with you. If not, why would you ask me out so suddenly?" She exclaimed.
"For your information, I didn't ask you out. I just want to take you out for a casual dinner." I said calmly without looking at her.
She stared at me intently for a while and went inside the washroom while shaking her head.
To give her some privacy, I went downstairs after collecting my wallet and car keys.
After reaching there, I took my place beside my Grandpa who was listening to some old songs from his ancient radio with his eyes closed.
Without disturbing him, I leaned backward, rested my head on the top of the back pillow, and started gazing at the ceiling in a daze.
I came out of my reverie when grandpa nudged me. I straightened myself and shifted my gaze to Aarna who was informing mom about us going out.
She was talking while moving her hands expressively with a bright smile on her face. She wore a maroon-colored simple salwar suit which complemented her skin tone and making it look even fairer than usual.
Thinking about this, I never once saw her dressed up in an exaggerating manner till now. She always wears modest dresses and her makeup-free look always gives a refreshing feel.
Anyone can spend their time gazing at her serene face which is always adorned with a bright smile. She is really a perfect girl that anyone could ever ask for. She can be mature, caring, silly, childish, and innocent at the same time.
'How good it will be if I am capable of loving her,' I thought in my mind while looking at her without blinking my eyes
No one would feel bored in her company but sometimes, when I look into her eyes, I felt like she too has some untold tales and her smile carries an unyielding pain.
But every time that thought came to my mind, I always told myself that was impossible. She is a carefree soul. I don't think she has problems in her life as she has a good and loving family, understanding friends..etc. She didn't lack anything.
So it might be just my imagination.
I was so busy admiring her, I didn't even notice when she came and stood in front of me. She was looking at me with her silly smile while folding her hands to her front.
Everything was decent until she decided to open her stupid mouth.
"I know I am pretty and cute but you don't need to drool over my face in front of everyone."
Hearing this, everyone around me burst out into peels of laughter, and being embarrassed, I glared at her for having no filters while talking.
Without paying any heed to their teasing glances, I stormed out with my car keys and I could feel her following me while giggling like a teenager.
Even after we got settled in the car, she kept on giggling at me. Feeling irritated, I glared at her and warned
"Open that damn mouth again and see what I will do with you,"
These words shut her up immediately but I could still hear her muffled laughs. Though I was annoyed, I chose to ignore her as it was of no use.
I took her to the Royal paradise hotel and after parking the car, I got down and went to her side to open the door for her but before I could it, I heard someone calling my name.
"Dhruv,"
So I turned around and after catching sight of that person, I closed my eyes and mentally cursed my luck.
She was the one who proposed me to marry her out of nowhere and she still hadn't given up on her attempts of making me agree with her demand
[PS: She is Ms.Sarma from the prologue of this book]
"Dhruv, what a surprise. I never expected that I would bump into you here," She came towards me and about to hold my arm but I dodged her touch and stepped back a little.
I looked at Aarna from the car window and saw her face twisting in anger while glaring at the intruder, Ms. Sarma
Seeing this situation was going out of my hands, I immediately said in my usual cold tone, "Miss, we aren't that familiar. So stop addressing me so intimately."
Aarna gave me an impressive look and I nodded at her slightly, feeling great at myself.
"Dhruv, I know you are angry at me for asking you to marry me abruptly and I am really sorry for my impulsive behavior back then. Let bygones be bygones. Why don't we start everything afresh? Instead of getting married, we can start dating to get to know each other well."
I mentally cringed at her words and glanced at Aarna, who was already looking at me with a 'is it true' look and scowled at me angrily.
I immediately shook my head and seeing this, she opened the car door instantly and stood beside me before coming out of it.
She held my arm and gave me a sickly sweet smile after giving Ms. Sarma a look.
"Baby, who is that old lady?" She asked me while dragging that word 'baby' and batted her eyelashes at me innocently. I cringed a little bit but managed to mask it immediately.
"Who are you calling the old lady here? Moreover, who are you? Why are you clinging onto him shamelessly?"
The moment these words left her mouth, I glared at her and placed my hand on Aarna's waist before pulling her close to me.
I looked down at the meek woman who was clearly taking advantage of the situation and snuggling into my chest by playing with the button of my shirt. I chose to turn a blind eye to it and decided to act along with her.
"Why don't you introduce yourself to her?" I told her in a gentle tone while rubbing her hair to which she pouted at me in a whining manner but nonetheless nodded at me.
So shameless.
I scoffed internally at her docile behavior and shifted my glance to the lady in front of me.
"Hi, old lady. I am Aarna Dhruv Raj. You can call me Mrs.Dhruv too." she introduced herself and winked at her cheekily.
"What!!"
Hearing Aarna's introduction, Ms. Sarma's countenance changed a little, and she looked at us in disbelief.
"Dhruv-"
"It's Mr.Dhruv for you, " Aarna cut her off fiercely.
"I.. Dhr- I mean, Mr. Dhruv, is it true? Are you really got married?" She fumbled on her words.
I nodded at her slowly before detaching myself from the clinging Aarna. I held her palm with mine and started walking ahead, not paying attention to Ms. Sarma anymore.
"Didn't you say that your heart is already occupied by someone? Then is this marriage loveless? Are you forced into this relationship?" She shouted at our backs and I could feel that Aarna stiffened up a little after hearing her words.
But when I looked at her, she masked it and passed me her usual smile. Unable to look at her, I turned my head to the other side.
"Answer me, Mr. Dhruv. Is my analysis completely true? Is that why you are unable to answer me? Let me tell you, other than me, no one is compatible with you." She shouted while looking at Aarna fiercely.
I was about to retort her by covering Aarna with my body from her line of sight but Aarna shoved me aside and glared at Ms. Sarma.
"Aish. Old lady, why are you so weird.? Whether my husband has someone in his heart or not, what does it have to do with you? Besides, he is already married to me and no longer single. So stop coveting the thing that doesn't belong to you. Also, you are so old, it can't be that you aren't married yet right?"
"Stop calling me an old lady."
"If you aren't an old lady, then what? What's your age? 40?"
I only heard that age is a sensitive matter for women but looking at Ms. Sarma's face, I got to know that it was completely true. I stifled my laughter and stood sideways to enjoy the show.
"I am 28. I am 28." She shouted at Aarna angrily. Tsk..tsk..If it goes like this, her lungs must be exploded with anger.
"I don't believe it. I am 25, old lady." Aarna pointed at her face, " I am prettier, younger, I have a better figure than you. Moreover, I am from a well-reputed family. Ohh. I forgot I look cute too. So tell me who is more compatible with him? Wouldn't he be stupid if he chose you over me.?"
Damn..this was so entertaining.
I was cheering her mentally, completely forgetting the fact that they were fighting over me. So after remembering myself that I was the main party involved, I rushed towards Aarna's side and pulled her back.
When Ms.Sarma was about to speak further, I cut her off rudely, "Miss, mind your business. Don't cross your limits. I clearly showed my disinterest in you. So stop your delusions and don't dare to appear in front of my sight again. "
Saying this, I dragged Aarna inside the hotel, ignoring her protests, and showed the waiter my platinum membership card.
Since I am one of those shareholders of this hotel, I had the privilege of coming and going whenever I want without bothering about pre-booking.
When we entered a private cabin, Aarna released herself from my hold and got settled on the seat while huffing at me. I shook my head at her and sat in front of her.
I poured myself some water and drank it. While doing so, I noticed that she was looking at me intently and I raised my eyebrows at her in a questioning manner for which she shook her head and waved it off.
I didn't probe her any further and took the menu to place my order only for it to be got snatched rudely by her from my hand. Ignoring my glare, she started marking all the dishes that attracted her eye.
"Do you able to eat all of them?" I asked her in disbelief.
"Are you underestimating me?" She asked while cocking her brows at me and returned the menu to me.
"I just don't want the food to get wasted," I said calmly while marking my order and handed the menu to the waiter once he appeared in the room.
"It won't. Don't worry. Trust my appetite." She assured me and I rolled my eyes at her.
Once they served the dishes, she started gobbling down like a starving gluttonous. Without touching my food, I simply looked at her in amusement who was relishing her food without having any care for this world, with a smile on her face.
True to her words, she wiped out every dish so cleanly and I chuckled a little when she was looking at all the empty dishes with her wide eyes as if her appetite didn't get satisfied yet and subconsciously my hand shot forward to wipe the corner of her lips.
By the time, I realized what I was doing, it was too late as she was already looking at me as if I was an alien. So I awkwardly retracted my hand and threw a tissue at her to cover my embarrassment.
"Wipe yourself cleanly. You don't have any manners, " I chided her.
"Clean freak, " she scoffed at me while dabbing her mouth with the tissue that I had thrown at her
After that, she leaned back and glanced at me while patting her bloated tummy.
"You owe me a favor, " she stated and I looked at her in confusion.
"For what?"
"For helping you in squatting an annoying fly away from you, " She said so proudly.
"You did it out of jealousy and I didn't ask you for any help, "
"Why would I be jealous?"
"Because you have a teeny-weeny crush on me, "
"Youuu"
"You can deny it if you want, "
"Fine. You win." She sneered at me and turned her head before glaring at me.
"Let's go, " I announced but she just sat there like a log without even budging a little
"Aarna, let's go," I asked her once again and she shook her head stubbornly.
"I won't come unless you agree with my request," She stated like a kid who was throwing a tantrum.
"Stop your silly behavior and make a move, " I told her in an irritated tone.
"You know, I have another way to make you agree with my request i.e., involving Athayya in this matter. So agree with it before I tell her everything that happened earlier. The choice is yours." She said cockily.
Having no choice, I sighed helplessly and asked her to state her request.
"Yayy. It means you will agree with whatever my request is..right?"
I nodded at her slowly and after getting a response from me, she came to my side and sat beside me while holding my arm.
"Take me to a theme park, "
To say, I was shocked at her demand would be an understatement.
"Are you serious?" I asked her, a little surprised at her strange request and she nodded her head vigorously.
"Are you a kid to go there?"
"Pretty please. I visited it when I was a kid and I want to visit it again for a long time but no one is interested in accompanying me and going there alone won't be fun at all." She said while looking at me with a pleading gaze.
"Aarna, you have to-"
"Please Dhruv, just consider it as an opportunity to repay me since you got this pretty and cute Aarna as your wife. Please..please"
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her and unable to bear her whining, I agreed with her request reluctantly.
Seeing me agreeing with her, she hugged me tightly and smacked her lips on my cheek, making my eyes wide open at her action.
She might not be aware of her actions as she was gloating to herself while mumbling something like 'such an easy peasy task'
'What the hell is wrong with her today ?' I thought while looking at her gleaming face which was quite resembling a child who got his favorite candy.
Thanks for reading.
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Next update: Thursday.
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