Fatal Attraction

Part 13

Asmita guided the residents and caretakers of the orphanage towards the entrance, and in the fraction of a second that a demanding relative distracted him from her ethereal sight, her male accomplice had vanished in thin air.

Daksh did not know whether to rejoice that the man was far from Asmita or regret that it would be tougher to unravel the mystery of his identity if he had mixed in the crowd. The pace of his heartbeats increased as Asmita erased the distance between them through every step that she took.

Daksh Malhotra, who was usually confident to the point of arrogance, checked himself out in the glass, which acted as a makeshift mirror, to ensure that he looked dashing enough to sweep her off her feet or at least attract a compliment or a stolen second glance.

His desperation for her attention made him shake his head in disbelief and indignation. He hated the fact that he almost sounded like a lovesick teenager, and it was not characteristic of him to scrounge for female attention.

Asmita was about to walk past him with no blatant acknowledgment of his presence. The sudden stiffness in her body language and the morphing of her exquisite smile into a mere courteous curve of the lips had not escaped his notice.

Daksh stepped in front of the damsel, making his heart dance to her tunes. "Hey! You look great. Resplendent, in fact."

Asmita glared at her female friends, who giggled as they found the exchange quite amusing.

"Thanks."

She tried stepping away from the man, but Daksh wanted the conversation to continue and have her in front of his eyes for longer at any cost.

"Oh, you haven't introduced me to these lovely folks! I would love to know them," he said. He flashed one of his rare smiles at the entourage. The ladies felt their heart flutter when he, one of the top entrepreneurs, took an interest in them, when their own families abandoned them.

"Well, um-"

"Come on, don't be rude. I'll begin the introductions. I am Daksh Malhotra, cousin of the groom. Your turn now, Asmita."

He continued to beam at the crowd, who prompted Asmita to oblige him.

"Okay. Uh, she is the head..."

Her words turned incomprehensible as he focused on her slightly breathy and unintentionally sultry voice. He watched her lips move as she spoke, heard her words while understanding none, and her natural scent strongly reminiscent of jasmine filled his nostrils, and everything else faded away from his focus.

He was rudely jerked back to reality when he realized that she had stopped speaking and it was his turn to reply.

"It is wonderful to meet you all. Please enjoy the night and hope to see you around for the rest of the ceremonies as well!" he said, his eyes sweeping over the crowd for creating good impressions on the minds of those who could render hers impressionable.

"What a humble man!"

"So down-to-earth!"

"Sunita is lucky to get married into this family!"

The words of praise through the murmuring of the crowd reached his ears, but the one whom he had wanted to impress in the first place was as stoic as ever. With a curt bend of her head, Asmita guided them towards the sitting area for the bride's side, taking his smile away along with her.

"Asmita has floored, Bhai, isn't it?" asked Anisha. She startled Amit, who was having a bird's-eye view of the entire scene that had panned out over the past few minutes.

"What?"

Amit feigned ignorance as he was not sure if his cousin wanted his love life discussed by his siblings. Especially Anisha, who would not leave any stone unturned to tease him about the same.

"Oh, come on! I know you cannot see anything beyond your dear to-be fiancee these days, but don't tell me you missed the palpable tension between Bhai and Asmita! The quintessential spark between the brother of the groom and sister of the bride! Can't wait to see that unfold."

Anisha winked suggestively at her startled cousin, who shook his head in disbelief.

"He just praised her, Anisha! You know how he is, right? Charming the women and always the suave gentleman!"

Amit tried to convince his sister out of her plans to ship the awkward couple together, even though he knew it was futile.

Anisha pointed towards Daksh, who continued to steal glances of her. "I know how he is, and I also know how women respond to him. This is different. Asmita worked for him before and although she shows no special interest in him, she behaves differently around him, and that did not deter or discourage him, which means there is certainly something cooking."

"I honestly do not know what to say."

Amit cursed his brother internally for foiling his attempts to convince their sister of his disinterest in the woman by his open display of special interest in her.

"Say nothing, Bhai. Just bet. I bet you the tickets of honeymoon location of your choice that Bhai will propose Asmita by the end of your wedding rituals. What will you do if I win?" asked Anisha. She pulled his cheeks playfully.

"Bhai and propose? You know he has no interest in settling down, right?"

"I feel it is different this time around!"

Anisha raised her imaginary collar in the air, even before any sign of victory.

"Looks like you have lost interest in saving your money or playing safe bets, dear sister. Fine. If you win, I will do whatever you ask for," he said, ruffling her intricate hairstyle, much to her annoyance.

"BHAI!"

She chased him on the entire first floor, but his long legs helped to clinch the victory as he rushed downstairs towards his mother and grandmother who would put a stop to his sister's shenanigans.

Asmita, who was standing along with them, struggled to stifle her laughter after viewing the jovial exchange between the duo. A small part of her hoped and tugged the strings of her hearts that she has had the chance to experience that bliss and thrill of having a brother to tease, a mother who can hide you behind her from all kinds of dangers, and a grandmother to complain about the tiniest of frustrations.

She turned to look at the woman, the bride-to-be, who had taken up all those roles in her life to ensure that she received the best of what they had. Asmita was sure that she might not have had every relationship that she had wanted, but she had everything that she needed in Sunita's love, and the thought made a loving smile break out of her lips.

Daksh did not miss the wave of melancholy and the resurgence of joy, as he read into her longing and unvoiced desires, and realized how diametrically contrasting they were.

Two orphans, thrust into the hands of the unknown because of circumstances, loved and cherished in their ways. While one used the loss of parents as an excuse to explain his flamboyant lifestyle, the other channeled the same pain to empower her.

As admiration intensified and inspiration brewed in him, the attraction had morphed into something more potent and all-encompassing, and the warmth of that inexplicable emotion made goosebumps envelop his form.