Love that Hurts

ENTROPY

2 days 6 hours and 5 minutes.

That's how long it had been since Raina had started avoiding Aryan like the plague. Hint of someone breathing or the emergence of a shadow was enough to send her running to another, isolated part of their penthouse.

Was she embarassed? Yes but there was also a caution mixed with it, caution against an act that could very well happen again.

Raina was busy with marinating the chicken breast when she heard the main lock turn. This time she would have to talk to him, because there was an important news to be delivered. She had applied for a PhD programme in the city's university and most prestigious university and had gotten a response back, offering her an interview.

In came Aryan, his head still wet from the sweat from practice, and his cheeks glowing red. Raina felt her stomach churn, looking at his ever handsome face.

Snap out of it!

"I need to talk to you. ", she said, fidgeting with her hands. There was so much tension in the air you could cut it with a knife. He smirked to himself, set his kit down and slowly walked towards her. Raina held her ground and eyed his cautiously.

He jutted his face and when his lips were near her ears, whispered, " Yes, love. "

Aryan pulled back while maintaining eye contact, looking deep into her eyes and observing every little twitch in her face. Oh, how he longed to see it after a strenuous day!

"I-I had applied for a research programme and I have an interview tomorrow, so if everything goes fine I might be given a position. ", she said cautiously. He smiled a hearty smile and engulfed her in a bone crushing hug.

" Congratulations. I hope the interview goes well. Either way, I'm so proud of you. "

Raina felt a strange warmth building up in her body, it felt nice. Someone was proud of her and had said it outright. He was proud of her work and her intelligence. But -

Flashback

"You like pulling her down, don't you? Good Lord! You're such a narcissit. You think you are so much better than her. ", he said rashly.

"You leave me alone in the street! I had to come back home, alone! In the middle of the night! And you still want to talk about that? How many times I have to say, that I wasn't showing off? They asked me about my work and I told them the same. If your mistress felt threatened by my admiration, I don't have anything more to say. For the record, I do think I'm better than her not because I'm smarter, because I have the conscience to not be a homewrecker!"

"The only one wrecking something here is you! You wrecked my goddamned life, you ruined everything good in my life. Why can't you just leave? ", Aryan shut the door in his face with a thud. Raina scurried to the spare room downstairs and cried into the pillow to muffle her cries. Why did she have to be stuck here? Why didn't she have the power to say no to marrying a man she had never met before in her life? Why did their parents have to push them into this bottomless pit of hurt and betrayal? Why did it have to be this way?

Flashback ends

"You sure this won't make your mistress jealous? ", she asked him, bitterly. He had filled her up with so much venom and self loathing, so much doubt and such large chunks of insecurities that every time she felt at peace his words would rear their ugly heads and ruin it all for her.

His stare intensified, he slowly cupped her cheeks and kissed her with much intensity. "There is just you, and from now on, there will just be you. Get that inside your head or I have a million different ways to show it to you. "

They had dinner in silence as Aryan held her hands in his. They were eating their desserts when her phone lit up, it was a text from Joey. His grasp on the spoon tightened, so did it on her hand.

"You still talk to him? "

"I wasn't supposed to? "

"I trust you but I don't like a low life getting cozy with my wife. "

" Oh, I can get more than a little cozy if I want 'cause you don't own me and I'm not married to you. "

Raina got up and started walking to the sink, Aryan caught her hand yet again, spun her around and made her land on his lap.

" Don't challenge me, love. I can do so much more than you think I can." , she started fidgeting in his lap not realising that her posterior was rubbing up against his member.

"Sit still woman or you're gonna be responsible for what happens next! ", Aryan said. Raina turned crimson in embarassment and after about half a minute of stroking her cheeks, he let her get up.

Next morning

The interview had gone well for Raina as she had been able to answer the questions well enough and much required confidence. She out of the physics departmental building when her phone in her hand buzzed.

He's with me.

She had to be successful with her plan.

**************************************

Precap

"Does it hurt? ", Raina looked at him with pain in her eyes, unaware of the fact that she was singlehandedly ruining her own plan, bringing him closer to her.

Aryan's lips upturned a little and he slowly shook his head.

Now, nothing will as long as you're with me.