The Marriage Contract

11 - A Hero, A Heroine and A Villian Too

Akshara rummaged through her closet for a nice top to wear with her dark wash blue skinny jeans. Despite Richa taking her shopping for clothes, Akshara found herself at crossroads trying to match the most basic piece of clothing —dark wash jeans —with an appropriate fitting top.

She didn't even know why she was feeling anxious and getting butterflies in her stomach at the thought of seeing Abhimanyu again. It's not as if it was a real date. And she definitely wasn't getting all dressed up for him. Why would she even think she needed to impress him of all people? Nope.

But then why was she having such a hard time choosing an appropriate top to wear?

Getting agitated by her own indecisiveness, Akshara closed her eyes, counted to 10 as she scavenged through her tops and decided to wear the top her hand landed on at the end of the countdown.

As Akshara opened her eyes to view the top, she was grateful it landed on a pretty simple yet elegant forest green silk spaghetti strap crop top which dipped right above her wait at the back with a golden chain running horizontally alongside the top, connecting the two straps together.

She'd just finished getting herself dressed and looking presentable when her doorbell rang, taking her by surprise.

Was it Ronak again? She could swear ever since the time he'd shown her those videos of her and Abhimanyu, she could feel his creepy eyes following her everywhere. As much as she went out of her way to avoid him, he went out of his way to make sure to bump into her in she hallways by 'accident'.

She shuddered at the thought of bumping into Ronak again. She so wished there was someone she could talk to about Ronak and how unsafe she felt —but who? It's not like she had any friends. Or anyone who'd be willing to do anything about him.

Akshara made her way to the front door and opened the door and was surprised to find a similarly dressed Abhimanyu standing on the other side. He, like her was wearing a dark green top, dark wash jeans except he was wearing a black bomber jacket on top.

To say he looked handsome was an understatement and would not provide justice to how casually smart, suave and sexy he looked.

What the hell Akshara?! Since when have you started becoming attracted to him? The logical Akshara from within questioned, horrified at her own thoughts.

Since I have a pair of working eyes and a working female body parts, the other, crazier, prone to making bad life choices Akshara answered.

"What are you doing here?!" The words came out more high pitched and frantic than she had intended.

Why did watching The Abhimanyu Birla —the man who was born into generational wealth standing at the footsteps of her dingy 1 bedroom studio apartment make her feel embarrassed and socially inferior?

"No hello? No hi? Is that how you treat your boyfriend? Where are your manners?" Abhimanyu teased, glancing at Akshara from top to bottom.

She was not wearing any makeup and truth be told, she looked beautiful, ravishingly so without a smidge of makeup on her. The 4 inch heels she was wearing added to her height but still only brought her up to his chin. The clothes she wore —coincidently matching with his made her look feminine and petite.

Akshara folded her arms over her chest. "You should not be the one talking about manners. What are you doing here?"

Abhimanyu shrugged his shoulders and walked into her apartment as if he owned the place. "Why? Can a boyfriend not come to pick up his girlfriend for their movie date?" He answered innocently, turning around with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.