HER ONE NIGHT STAND

THE DECISION

Myra was nervous. The entire day she had been engrossed in her work so she did not have much time to think about her situation but now that she was at home her mind was playing tricks with her. She was imagining all sorts of things. She had prepared a simple dinner of Rajma Chawal (red beans and rice) with a mixed fruit Raita.

It was eight o clock but Ritwik had not come. Maybe he would not come since he was a confirmed bachelor and a baby would not come in his scheme of things but she was wrong.

Ritwik knew he was late. It was nine o clock but his meeting with the investors had taken longer than usual. He had expected the meeting to be over by seven but one or two of the investors had needed major convincing so it had taken longer.

He was nervous as hell because he was not sure how to deal with this situation but he was sure that he wanted this baby. Infact it had only been a few hours but he was feeling affectionate to this new entry in his life.

"Myra I am sorry I am late but I got delayed at work."

"You don't have to apologise I know you have a major corporation to run and you are very busy. I don't think this meeting was required anyway. I told you before and I repeat again we don't want anything from you both me and my baby. I can look after my child on my own. We don't need any financial support. However you are welcome to visit the baby. I will never hide from him his father's identity and he or she is free to be with you whenever desired."

"What a speech my dear, but you forget this baby belongs to both of us so we will decide together. You cannot decide his future without my consent. As for being a part of this child's life I will not be a part time father. The decision is done. You will marry me and we will raise this child together. The baby is heir to the Singhania Group so he will be treated accordingly. He will learn to be part of this family right from the day he is born. Secondly he will be needed to be protected because of the wealth he will inherit. Can you provide him the lifestyle he will get with me? No you can't."

"I will not marry you just because of this baby. I will marry for love . I don't care for you millions. You and I both know we are not compatible. In fact we will not see eye to eye on various matters so this marriage is doomed from the beginning."

"That is where you are wrong Myra. We are very compatible. Our compatibility has resulted in this baby."

"That night was just a mistake"

"But it was a very pleasant mistake, something I would love to repeat. The sex between us was explosive."

"As for compatability I can show you right now how compatible we are", saying this he lowered his mouth and kissed her gently at first but then when she didn't respond he further forced her to open her lips.

She could not resist him any longer and kissed him back. She was ready for him. At this moment she simply wanted to remove her clothes to pull open his shirt and to go to bed with him.

He wanted her and he could see that she was fully aroused but this was serious business so he stopped the kiss.

Myra suddenly felt cold when he left her mouth.

"See my dear how good we are with each other? I could have taken you right here and you couldn't have stopped me. Think calmly and then decide . We can have a good marriage because we are both intellectuals, we are good in bed together and last but not the least we both love this baby. If we are dedicated to make this marriage work we will succeed."

"Since we both are responsible for him we should decide what is best. There is no doubt that you will be a good mother for him but who looks after when you work in your office where as I can provide an army of nannies to look after. Secondly in our society we still look down upon single mothers and such children are called "Bastards". Do you want this for your child? If so then you are a selfish lady looking after yourself and not that tiny tot whose welfare will be your responsibility . What about you parents? How will they react ?You take your time and give me an answer by next week. I am going to Mumbai tomorrow and will be back by Friday next week. You can give me your answer by then"

Ritwik was hell bent on convincing her that marriage was the best possible solution. He did not love her but he wanted his child to be born within wedlock. He respected Myra and even liked her so marriage to her would not be a problem. She was an intelligent lady so she would be fun to be around. Since they had been explosive in bed so the physical aspect of their marriage was an added benefit. The idea of having a home to come to in the evening was not sounding so bad after all.

All through dinner Myra kept quiet. She seemed to be in deep thought. This was a good sign. Ritwik left her house on a happy note. He was convinced that he would get a positive answer by next week.

The next week Myra had lots of work piled up. On top of that she was now suffering from morning sickness. She was not able to eat anything. Sometimes she would simply eat a few biscuits the entire day. The doctor advised her to try to eat as the baby was in formative stage and she also needed energy to work.

Jia had called and somehow had judged that she was not well. She had offered to come home early or to call their mother but Myra had refused stating it was viral fever and she would be ok in a day or two.

Ritwik called religiously every night asking her about her health and advising her to take care. Not once he mentioned their marriage discussion. Myra was frustrated. She knew that marriage to Ritwik was the best solution but she wanted him to love her.

He could at least pretend to like her but his tone was formal as if they were going to have a business transaction.

She had made up her mind to marry him for the sake of their baby. By Friday she was tired, hungry and exhausted. Ritwik had invited her to a restaurant in Gurgaon and his driver was to pick her up. She dressed normally without enthusiasm because today she had not been able to even digest a glass of juice so she felt weak.

Ritwik was waiting for her. He had bought a bouquet of roses and a large diamond and ruby ring to announce their engagement.

When he saw Myra enter he realized that she had lost weight. There were dark circles under her eyes and she seemed tired. He was damn sure she had not eaten properly and was overworked. He would have a word with her boss- the owner of SN Advertising Gaurav Gupta who was an old friend.

He pulled out a chair for her- a first for him and before she could say something he ordered some fresh lime for her.

"Myra what have you done to yourself? You have lost weight. This is not good for the baby."

"I am sorry for being a bad mother to your baby but I can't help it I can't even digest water let aside some food. At this time of the year my workload is also double."

"I will ask Gaurav to reduce your workload and to give you some time off."

"You may be friends with our CEO but I intend to complete my work since all my clients depend on me. Also I don't want Gaurav to know about us.

He is a good friend and I will say whatever needs to be said."

The friendly manner in which she mentioned Gaurav sent a wave of jealousy across him. Also the fact that she wanted to hide their relationship angered him. She was too weak to argue so he let the matter pass.

He offered her the lime juice and some fruit pudding. He knew she had a sweet tooth. However the moment she ate two spoons of the pudding she had to rush to the restroom. He would speak to his friend Tarun who had just had a baby and fix an appointment with the gynaecologist first thing in the morning.

When she came back her face was pale. At that moment he felt protective of her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and ask her to take it easy. He decided to take her home and leave the discussion for the next day. He literally lifted her out of the restaurant and dropped her home.

On the way in the car she was confused. Maybe he had decided not to marry her after all, she decided to confront him.

"So, now when I have decided to marry you, you decide that we should not marry. This is why you did not discuss anything in the restaurant?.

Ritwik was quite amused. "Myra never doubt my intentions. I am going to marry you. I didn't discuss anything because you are not well, saying this he slipped the gorgeous ring on her finger.

Myra was too tired to say something so when he laid her on her bed covering her with a blanket she fell asleep immediately.

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