Shape of the Sun

An awakening?

2am the next morning

Manmeet Chatterjee woke up in a soft bed and with a pounding head. It was hurting like crazy.

Is there any aspirin? And where was she again?

Her eyes took in the room decor that looked too impersonal to be her own room and a spark of alertness and clarity jolted through her. She fully sat up despite the increasing pain in her head and took in her surroundings.

She was in a hotel room? The concept was familiar once she focused on it, a frequent hotel user due to all her business trips and vacations. Panic crept in and she remembered the events of the previous night.

Did that bastard..? No, she confirmed, checking her intact clothes and that she wasn't hurt anywhere. So...who?  Maybe the staff brought her here?

But damn, she needed some aspirin to think this further. Manmeet Chatterjee groaned as she pressed a hand to her temples that felt like it was going to tear apart.

"It feels like a fucking zoo." she managed to whisper.

"You mean fucking circus."

Manmeet's head shot up to find a familiar face staring down at her, teasing in his eyes. Damn. Rajkumar Reddy. She remembered now. And why didn't I hear him walk to the bedside?

He shook his head, as if he could hear her thoughts and handed her an aspirin and a glass of water which she gladly took and downed in a go. After a few minutes, her head felt calmer and that was when she noticed that Rajkumar was sitting beside her now, intensely staring at her like he couldn't tell it was invasive. It made her feel a funny kind of way and she shifted on the bed a bit further.

"Stop looking at me like that, Rajkumar Reddy." she ordered.

"I was in the army back in the UK for a year and half. Trained a bit."

If Manmeet wasn't too disoriented, she would have been able to tell he was tendering an explanation to her earlier suspicion.

"What?"

He shook his head, ignoring her question. His next statement surprised her.

"My father wants us to get married." he paused a bit." What do you think?"

Manmeet Chatterjee felt a familiar throbbing and yet upset all at once. How could he just show up this way, ignore her questions, and ask her this? Of course, she knew of Mr. Reddy's intentions. How could she not know when seven out of his ten words to her were about his dearest son, Rajkumar? And now, what was she to say to this question? Hell, she didn't even know what she thought!

Rajkumar seemed to sense her discomfort and he lightly coughed.

"I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. It's just that you said the word 'zoo' when referring to your migraine, and it bothered me." he gently looked her in the eyes, "It made my heart throb."

Manmeet Chatterjee felt her breath hitch in her throat, the gentleness in his eyes somehow suffocating her. When he used the word, it seemed to take on a much more intimate meaning. As she thought this, Rajkumar Reddy had edged close enough to firmly turn her chin to face him. He was faintly aware that very few men, he dared say no other human being, could do this to Manmeet Chatterjee and get away with it, without the least, a bitch slap. Her silence and heavy breathing seemed to affirm a conjecture in his mind.

Rajkumar Reddy thought that Manmeet Chatterjee might have some emotional debt towards him. Oh, it wasn't deep, true love. It was a bit shallow, but not too much to ignore. It was attraction. He was charming, he got it. They both did. And her acquiescence reflected a certain maturity that made him feel parched. At this moment, Manmeet Chatterjee was springs eternal.

"Manmeet Chatterjee, it made my heart throb. Such beautiful lips", he thumbed her lower lip, " speaking such vulgar words upset me."

His words were slow and deliberate and she stared into his eyes that threatened to burn everything stopping him. I always fight for my things, she remembered him saying when they were younger. Manmeet Chatterjee gently dipped and kissed his thumb. She wasn't a child.

"Kiss me, Rajkumar Reddy."

"Alright."