Arranged Love

9. Truth, Lies & Hurt

Disclaimer: All the characters written below are imaginary and a work of pure fiction. There is no resemblance to any incident or situation and is written as a work of fiction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please do follow, vote & comment your honest views on this chapter. It would motivate me a lot! <3

Smriti's POV -

It's been 8 days since we last met. Yes! I've been counting days, hours to be precise, but you all do the maths on your own. And no, I'm not desperate. I just want to reciprocate what Vivek makes me feel for him. I also want him to feel sure about me and for that I need to gain his trust.

I've been feeling this way for Vivek from the time I left his car the other day and I didn't want to wait even for a day to express it to him, but unfortunately, he had to go to Jodhpur to handle an emergency case of the royal family.

But finally he's back and I've called him to a cafe to spend the evening together and, in fact, at the moment I'm waiting in the cafe for him to come.

Am I excited? No, definitely not! Am I nervous? Yes, a lot!

"Hi!" This is the first word I'm hearing from his oh-so sweet yet masculine vocal chords in the last 8 days. Yeah, we still don't particularly chat or talk with each other on the phone until necessary.

We've definitely made progress in our relationship from being strangers to being friends, but we are still in the stage of figuring out our budding feelings for each other. And in an attempt to make each other feel comfortable and safe, we try our best to not cross each other's boundaries.

Our parents might have forced us to see each other and get into a relationship, but now we have made a conscious effort to build a relationship of mutual trust, respect and comfort between us.

"Hi!" I gave my best smile to him, getting up from my seat to greet him.

Not knowing whether to hug each other or just shake hands, we awkwardly laugh and he engulfs me in a side hug. A shiver runs through me in merely 5 seconds of close proximity with Vivek.

This is also the first time I'm actually noticing our height difference now that we are hugging. I just reach his shoulders. I'm 5'5 and he looks no less than 6'1. I've always drooled over couples having a height difference on Wattpad but now it just feels surreal. It also adds to my already existing insecurities. What if I don't look good enough for him? Shooing away all the unnecessary thoughts, we sit and place our order.

"Would you like Cappuccino or Americano?" The waiter asked our preferences.

"One Cappuccino for me and for you?" Vivek asked me my preference too.

"I..I'll take tea with sugar." I gave my order with a slight blush making its way onto my face. I don't know why, but I often get embarrassed while placing my order. Mumma generally places order for the whole family when we go out on our rare family dinners.

"Anything else?" The waiter asked us once again.

I shook my head in a no.

" As of now, just 1 cup of Cappuccino and 1 cup of tea for the lady." Vivek placed our order, letting the waiter go.

"So you prefer tea over coffee?" Vivek asked me amusingly while resting his chin on his hand on the table.

"Yeah, I could never develop a taste for coffee. I tried a lot but it's just too bitter." I scrunched my nose, remembering its bitter taste. He chuckled lightly. Oh! What a sight to behold!