The Wedding Whisperer

Chapter 17: The Date Night

A few days later, Akshara rolled in bed, trying to avoid looking at the clock on her bedside table. She was on her break, just like her entire team that week, and she could continue to lie in bed, but she had a big dilemma to deal with.

The Bride's Brother

Why did he have to say those words that night?

He was the one making her mind go into overdrive while her heart tried to take charge of the situation.

"Akshara, you still in bed?" Aarohi laughed as she stood at her bedroom door. "Are you going out with us?"

Akshara smiled at Aarohi. "No. You guys go have fun."

"What's gotten into you this week? You're so lost."

Akshara shrugged. "Nothing."

"Something is up. You've been awfully quiet the past few days."

Akshara managed to smile. "I'm good. Have fun."

"See you later." Aarohi left her to her thoughts and to the internal debate between her heart and mind that had been going on for a few days now—from the moment Abhimanyu invited her to dinner and made his intentions clear.

Why did he have to do that?

There was no denying that she had a strong infatuation toward him, but she would have gotten over him eventually. Maybe, maybe not, but she knew it would have been painful just from the way she felt the past few days.

Her heart started to thud again when she remembered the way he looked at her. His eyes speaking volumes, the unspoken words her heart understood. And however much she tried to dismiss all her feelings as a deep attraction to how ideal of a man Abhimanyu was, she could not. She finally looked at the clock; it was past five, and Abhimanyu had said the reservations were for seven that evening.

"I want to go," she said out loud, as if to silence the voice that had been putting more and more doubts in her mind.

She sat up and shook her shoulders as if to shake off the doubts she held and walked into the bathroom. The restaurant he had asked her to meet him at was a good thirty-minute ride from her apartment, and since she had been so distracted the past few days, she decided to take a cab to the restaurant.

She opened her closet and stood looking at her clothes. After a lot of back and forth, she settled for a baby pink pleated skirt that hit below her knees and paired it with a black boat-neck, cap-sleeved silk blouse. She chose clothes she would be comfortable and cool in on the warm evening.

Forty-five minutes later, she waited for her cab to arrive. She was a nervous wreck and considered canceling a million times in the last ten minutes.

What is the problem? What could go wrong?

She closed her eyes, realizing that no matter where the dinner took them, she would be left heartbroken forever when things ended between Abhimanyu and her. They both were attracted to each other, and for her, there was no denying that she had felt it deep inside. She didn't know when, but she had been falling in love with the idea of being with someone like him.

Don't you dare lie to yourself again... You want him, not just anyone like him.

She took in a hissy breath and fought back the pangs of anxiety as the cab rode through the slow traffic. She leaned her head back on the seat and wondered what the dinner meant for Abhimanyu—a man who could have any woman he wanted had told her he didn't want to ignore what he was feeling for her.

What if those feelings were temporary?

She closed her eyes, unable to handle the crazy thoughts. She let the worst-case scenario play out in her head, and she knew she was about to shoot herself in the foot. There was still a chance to cancel, and she pulled out her phone to send him a text message.