Pyaar Kya Hain (#1)

Chapter 4 "Hanging by the edge"

I turned around and saw an old lady about in her late fifties. She was wearing a beautiful blue kurta. She had big jhumkas in her ears. It's as if like she was embracing our Indian culture in a foreign country. Her tomatoes that were in her tote bag spilled all over the ground but hopefully none of them got squashed. I quickly bent down and helped her with the tomatoes.

"No no. Leave it dear. I'll buy new ones. No need to trouble yourself." She says in a soothing motherly tone.

"It's okay. Anyway it's my fault. I'm sorry. App thik to hein na?" (Are you okay?)

"Areh wah! Tum Hindi bhi bol lete ho. Kaha se ho tum?" (Great! You can speak Hindi. Where are you from?)

"Mumbai. I came here for my masters degree. Aunty, very rarely I find an Indian embracing his culture like you. You look so beautiful in this kurta. By the way I'm Neha."

"Hi Neha. It's nice to meet you. You're a very kind soul. Aur ek hein mera nalayak beta. Koi kaam ka nahi." (And then there's my son. Useless.)

"Come on aunty I'll help you to your car." She guides me to her car and I help her to get on it. Then she offers me a ride too but I shake my head and tell her that I have a company. As much as he is an asshole, he's being really sweet today and I do have an attraction towards him. Oh shit! I still don't know his name. How could I forget to ask about his name?

I walk back to the bench and find him glaring at me. What's wrong with him now? What did I do wrong now? I thought we were having fun. He gives me my raspberry flavoured ice cream and completely ignores me. I contemplate whether to ask him about what's wrong but then I think about enjoying my ice cream in peace. But the problem with me is that I can't ignore those who around me get hurt because of me so I ask him straight away.

"What's wrong? What did I do wrong this time huh? Why are you so grumpy all the time? I'm sorry if I upset you. Come on say something! Don't just flat out ignore me. I should've gone with that old lady who offered me a ride but now I'm stuck with you grumpy asshole."

At that he slowly looks in my direction and I gulp at the rage and hunger shining in his eyes. He shifts closer to me and tucks a stray of my hair behind my ear and kisses me gently on the cheek. Then he looks at me very closely as if he can read my thoughts.

"Are you finished? Finish your ice cream fast. It's almost nighttime. We will stop at a nearby restaurant to have dinner and then I'll drop you off at your uni." He says before looking away.

I'm a little disappointed because I thought we'd spend more time together but then I remembered that he's an asshole so it's better this way. I quickly finish my ice cream and start to get up but the moment I stand I fall back down on the bench. He glances at me and shakes his head before he carries me in his arms bridal style. Many passersby look at us as if we're ghosts and I hide my face in his chest to hide my embarrassment. From here I can smell his cologne. It feels like an eternity has passed by the time we reach the car. The moment he places me down on the ground I push him against his chest and open my door and get in my seat and put on my seatbelt. He doesn't react the slightest bit and returns to his seat and starts to turn the car around.

I face him and say "Why'd you do that? Everyone was looking at us strangely."

"You could barely stand. You were limping. And so what if everyone was looking? Fuck them. What do you want to eat tonight?" He changes the topic.

"Italian or Chinese. Where are we eating anyway?"

"That's for me to worry about. You just enjoy the ride." God! It's impossible to converse with him.

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After a while he parks the car in front of a secluded building. At first I contemplate whether to go out of the car or not then my stomach growls in hunger and I slowly start to get out of the car. He motions at me to follow after him. I quietly follow him, afraid that if I make a noise then something will come out of the dark. We get inside the building and walk through a hallway before we get inside a lift. He taps the fifth floor and we wait in silence. Then we get out of the lift and walk towards the left side of the hall. We stop in front of a massive double door that opens up without even having to knock like in those haunted movies. I pull on his sleeve and he glances back at me. He must've seen the worry on my face because he holds my hand in his and gives me a reassuring smile and tugs me along with him. Inside the room looks exactly like a Chinese restaurant we sit down on a table. A waiter comes in with a bottle of champagne and places it on our table and provides us with our menus. I look at the dishes and order a soup because I don't even know the items listed in this menu. There's no price tag beside the dishes name. Maybe this is a private restaurant that he owns. He pours himself a glass of champagne and offers me some but I refuse. Not only am I a light wait but I forget about everything I do when I'm drunk. Then he orders some sushi, noodles and a dessert. After we finish eating our dinner we go back towards the car. And drive back to the uni.

After about half an hour we reach the uni and I get down of the car. He also walks beside me to drop me off at my room. When we reach my dorm room he turns me around to face him. He takes both of my hand in his and pulls me closer to him.

"I had a good day today with you. I'm sorry for acting like an asshole earlier. It's just something that happened back at my home. Can I kiss you?" He asks desperately.

"Tell me your name first and I might let you." To that he chuckles softly and says "Ahaan, my name is Ahaan Malhotra." Wait a minute? Did he just say his name is Ahaan Malhotra as in the future heir of Malhotra industries? I barely get time to register to that fact when he pulls me towards him and kisses me. No not kisses me but he claims my mouth. He kisses me with such a hunger that my mind starts to spin. I softly moan into his mouth. He wraps his arms around my waist and tightens his hold on me. He slams me to the door and I gasp but he swallows the sound by his capturing mouth. He only stops when we both run out of breath. Then he gently kisses my forehead and softly says "I'll see you again Neha good night" then he walks away and I keep thinking about the fact that I kissed Ahaan Malhotra. The CEO of Malhotra industries and Furytech.

I tiptoe quietly around my room so that I don't wake up the other girls. I get into bed thinking about our day and for the first time in a really long time a smile grazes my lips and I fall asleep.