The Imperfect Marriage - Kaise Mujhe Tum Mil Gaye Fanfic

4. Can't shake the feeling away

Virat dressed himself in sleek navy blue trousers and a body-hugging  white shirt coupled with navy blue blazer. He wore his watch and checked himself in the mirror. To say he looked hot is an understatement. Virat was genetically blessed with good looks and he worked very hard to keep his body toned. He was pleased with what he saw in the mirror. He was not really excited about his date but he had a reputation and he had to maintain it! 

At sharp 7:30 pm, he reached Stuti's home. Suddenly, he felt a little nervous as he had not met Stuti is ages and now he was taking her on a date. Without actually knowing her much or at all! It was too late to back out now. He walked towards the door and rang the doorbell. The door opened within seconds and he saw Stuti for the first time in decades. She was wearing a knee length black dress and a gold neck ring. Her hair was down and she wore beautiful golden dangers in her ears. She smiled warmly at Virat and hugged him. Virat was taken aback by the unexpected action. He hugged her back lightly. 

"Viraat yaar, you have grown up to be so handsome. Who would have thought?", she said mockingly. 

"Thanks and everybody. You don't look pretty bad yourself", he smiled at her. "Anyways, let's go?"

"Arey wait na, come inside and meet my parents. They have not seen you since we were little kids.", Stuti said.

Virat felt a little uncomfortable with the idea meeting the parents of the woman he was taking out on a first date & said, "Let's reserve that for later. I don't like getting. We need to reach before 8 pm and with Gurgaon's traffic at this hour, every minute is precious."

Stuti agreed and by 8 pm they were seated in the luxury ambience of St. Regis restaurant. Stuti was a fan of Italian food so they ordered carbonara arancini, spaghetti Aglio e Olio and Ricotta lasagna paired with Tiramisu as the perfect dessert. Virat did not expect to have such a good time with Stuti. They enjoyed a scrumptious meal with fun filled conversation & hearty laughs. Most of their conversation was about their childhood memories with each other. Stuti had set up her own fashion label 4 months ago and was dedicated towards its suceess. Her parents were very wealthy & had their own thriving business in the FMCG industry but Stuti's heart was always in fashion designing so she established her own venture. By the time, they were finished, it was past 9:30 pm. Virat dropped Stuti home and drove off towards his hotel. He was glad he listened to his mother and went out with Stuti. But he was not sure what to tell his mother. He did have a great time with Stuti but it was more of a dinner with a friend than a romantic one. Maybe things could take a turn towards something more but Virat was in no way ready to pursue a relationship at this time. He had been in a toxic relationship before and was not ready to engage in anything like that again. I would just have to tell mom that I am not interested in Stuti like that. 

Virat was parking his car in the hotel parking zoen when his mother called him. "Mom, I will be in my room in a few minutes. See you then." He hung up saying that. He knew why his mother was calling. 

Virat's mother, Babita Singh Ahuja, was already pacing infront of his room when he reached there. Virat just shook his head as he knew exactly why she was here. 

"Beta, how was the date? Did you like Stuti?", she asked excitedly. 

"Mom, let us at least go inside the room first before you shoot me down with your investigation", Virat laughed and swiped his room card to unlock the door. 

Once in, his mother looked at him inquiringly and said, "So???"

"Mom, Stuti is a great girl. I really like her. Bef-"

Before he could continue, she shrieked rather loudly and happily, "I knew it! I am so happy-"

This time Virat cut her off, "Wait!! I like her but more as a friend I met a couple decades later. Nothing more." 

"Oh, that is fine. Friendship can blossom into a relationship beta. Give it a chance."

"Mom, I really am not ready for that. Please can we not talk about it anymore. I am dead tired."

Babita knew her son well and did not pester him further and left saying goodnight. 

Once alone, Virat took a shower and went to bed thinking about the day he had. He officially took over the work of the new company and made some big decisions on the first day itself. And he met a long lost friend and shared a fun evening with her. He was quite contended with the events of the day until Amruta's red & swollen eyes flashed infront his eyes. A feeling of sadness & guilt suddenly overcame everything else. For some reason, he absolutely hated seeing her crying. Granted, he did not like anyone crying but this was a little too personal. As if it was someone he cared about, although it was just an employee he had met the very same day. He conciously tried thinking about how she spoke back to him so that he could shake away the sinking feeling. He really wanted to shoo this feeling away. He was not used to feeling so intesely for basically strangers. The last thought before sleep engulfed him was if he should apologize to Amruta the nexy day. 

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