A Second Chance

Chapter 7

This chapter is dedicated to crickfreak for giving her suggestions regarding this story. Thanks a lot! :D

Chapter 7

 

Emily woke up totally refreshed the next day. She had slept like a baby after a long time and she had only Akshay to thank for that. One of his arms was under head and had served like a perfect pillow and the other was draped around her waist making her feel warm and safe. The more she stayed with him the more her defences crumbled. But the insecurities stayed. What if he left too? What if he didn’t find her good enough anymore? After all Bryan had left her too. He must have some reason behind it. He said they had never been in love but she had never realised that. She was very much in love when he left, maybe still was. But then she looked at the man wrapped around her. If she was still in love with Bryan, how could she have feelings for him? She had accepted she found him attractive a long time ago, but there was a lot more to this. She didn’t crave his touch only, she craved his company, the way he spoke, the way he laughed, the way he flirted with, the way he told her everything she wanted to know about his country. He was perfect. She felt him move and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to be caught staring.

When she felt his breathing even out again she opened her eyes, he looked so peaceful in his sleep. His pitch black hair was messy and she had the sudden urge to touch them. Hoping that he wouldn’t wake up she started running her fingers through them. They were soft and she heard him release a sound of satisfaction, somehow it made her happy too. Then he opened his eyes and two black orbs were staring back at her, she found herself unable to look away. Moreover she didn’t want to. Akshay had not given her a single reason to be afraid of him. He had been a gentleman through and through and at that moment she wished this whole fiasco with Bryan hadn’t happened. Before him, she had been wilder. Before he broke her heart she had been an expert in throwing caution to the wind and following her heart. She wanted to be that carefree woman again. A woman, who did what her heart desired, grabbed what she wanted. She wanted to be that Emily again. But she had learned new stuff, lived more, knew more about life now. She could never be that Emily again. But she could become Akshay’s Emelia. He called her name so beautifully. She had never really understood her name. People either name their children Emily or Amelia. Her mother had been part French and had wanted to name her Amelia while her father liked the name Emily because that was his grandmother’s name. So they had come to a compromise and named her Emelia. A mixture of both the names. As she grew up her friends started calling her Em or Emily only. Very few people called her Emelia now. Akshay did. And that made her very happy.

Growing up, she had always hated her name because the kids had picked on her because of it. Maybe it was human nature, people made fun of things they didn’t understand or liked and didn’t have. It had taken meeting Ashley and Bryan in college to free her of this weird hate for her name. Both of them had loved her name and told her this is what made her unique. She had started believing that too. But after Bryan she started thinking that maybe she was too weird for him to love her. Why would he go for Emelia when he could go for Ashley? She was the epitome of beautiful after all. Blond haired, blue eyed and with the perfect curves, she was everything Emily was not. On the other hand, Emily didn’t even have a normal name. But she was slowly getting her old self back, losing her insecurities because of the way Akshay looked at her, made her feel, spoke to her. She had a long way to go, but she had started moving.

“You space out a lot don’t you?” Akshay was smiling at her teasingly.

“I was thinking about you.” She admitted truthfully.

Akshay seemed taken aback by what she had said. But she just smiled at him. She could show him she was interested too, that he wasn’t the only one trying. Once the shock subsided Akshay’s face metamorphed into a beautiful smile and it was Emily’s turn to hold her breath. He looked so sexy. His hair was messy, he was grinning mischievously and he had a naughty glint in his eyes. She moved forward and kissed his cheek.