An Arranged Affair

chapter 4 - a new day

Victoria's POV

The sun shone down on me, teasing me with its warmth. I stretched out my arms, trying to loosen the tension on my body and stopped.

I had fallen asleep in the couch last night. How was I in a bed?

I sat up slowly, I was still in my wedding outfit, jewellery and all, and looked to my right, there sleeping soundly on the edge of the bed, his back turned to me, was my husband, Phillip Malhotra, the man I vowed that I would hate forever and whose life I had planned to make as miserable as possible so that he ended this marriage as fast as possible, while the prenup had addressed everything about me leaving him, it didn't mention anything about if he left me.

And I intended to use that oversight to my full advantage.

I slid out of bed quietly, the time on the bedside clock was just past 7am, and I walked quietly to the bathroom, cursing as the bells on my anklets jingled with every stop I look, taking my suitcase with me.

The bathroom was just as impressive as the bedroom, tiled from celling to floor, it was spacious, with a shower unit, spa bath and double vanity, it had been designed for a couple in mind and probably cost more than I could even dream about.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror I realised that I looked terrible, my makeup was cracking, hair was in a mess, my false eyelashes were peeling away and I looked like something more from a horror movie rather than a beautiful Indian bride.

Suddenly anger flooded through me, this was not how my life was supposed to go, this was not how I was supposed to be spending my first day as a married woman,.

Where was my prince charming that Mumma and told me stories about as a young girl?

where was the romance, the dates, the flowers, the sweet gifts?

I was supposed to be hopelessly in love when I got married, I was supposed to glow with happiness and be whisked away on a romantic honeymoon.

It was not supposed to be like this, I was not supposed to be the sad and desperate thing that looked back at me,.

I pulled off the fake eyelashes and I started ripping off all the excessive jewellery from my body, throwing them carelessly into the bin nearby, pulling out the dozens of bobby pins that held up my hair, pulling it free from the constricting updo and letting it fall in waves. I unpinned my dupatta that doubled as a veil and let it fall to the ground, relieved as so much weight fell of my body. I tried the zip of my top,which suddetly seem too tight and constricted my chest but it was stuck.

I stopped when I got to my mangala sutra, this nuptial chain meant so much to millions of women around the world, and as a little girl I watched in admiration as my mother wore hers everyday, wondering when it would be my turn to wear one, I couldn't throw this one away no matter how much I hated the circumstances by which it was given to me, instead I unclipped it carefully and placed it on the vanity.

Next it was those dreadful anklets, that had made so much noise and last the bangles. I had bangles on my arms from wrist to almost elbow, red and gold with sparkling crystals, but the most important where the slim red glass ones, flecked with gold and embedded with crystals, they where supposed to signify the prosperity of the marriage and it was inauspicious if they broke.

Inauspicious or not, I pulled them off my arms, throwing them into the bin, watching as some shattered into small pieces, crying out as one of the glass bangles broke and tore against my skin, leaving a small cut along that started to ooze with blood and I turned to find something to clean up with when two strong hands grabbed my arms.

*******
Phillips POV

I hadn't expected to be woken up like that, the sound of her scream pulling me out of my deep slumber, I jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom, the blood draining from my face when I saw the bright red blood trickle down her arm. She couldn't be so desperate that she would try and commit suicide - could she?

" What the hell do you think you're doing?" I yelled, my grip on her arms tighter than what it should have been, I loosened my grip a bit, afraid that I would snap her tiny wrists. " Do you really think that suicide is the answer for anything?'

Her hazel brown eyes looked back at me, and I could see her wincing in pain, as she tried to try herself from my grip, but when she heard the word ' suicide' her whole demeanour changed.

' Suicide? Really don't flatter yourself!" she yelled back and stopped struggling a bit, and I released my grip a bit, bad move, because as soon as I did she slipped out of my grip and shoved me hard. I wasn't expecting that and stumbled back a bit.

' For your information I got cut on by one of these blasted glass bangles. Suicide? Really? Honestly if I was going to off myself I wouldn't do it where there were people to save me. My parents fucked up and I got stuck marrying you, but suicide? Really?'

I looked back at her, her hands were at her hips, her midriff on full display as all she was wearing now was her lengha without the veil and I admired her toned figure, her hair was wild and her eyes were dark with anger. Day one and I had somehow managed to piss off my new wife, although she reminded me more of a wildcat caught in a corner, the blood from her cut was starting to congeal leaving a sticky red streak on her arm, a few drops falling onto her outfit.

She gave me a look that said stop staring or else and I reached behind her to the vanity and opened the glass doors, pulling out a first aid kit and handed it to her.

' Clean yourself up and have a shower. Breakfast will be here soon and I need to get ready for work.' I said , and turned to leave, hearing her groan and swear under her breath.

' umm...Mr Malholtra...ummm ... sir?"

' its Phillip, I think considering that we are married , Sir, would seem rather inappropriate.'

She nodded. " Phillip?" she started, as if she was unsure what to say, " Thank you.For the first aid kit.'

I smiled. " you're welcome.'

' I have to ask you a favour" she asked, she was blushing now and was clearly embarrassed, her eyes were lowered to the floor and she shuffled her feet.

" what?" oh no.. what did she want?

"I need help with my zip, I can't get my top off by myself, I think the zip is stuck."

I nearly died of laughter at her predicament, and walked towards her again, this time she slowly turned her back towards mem unsure at first and pulled her hair to the side, exposing the zip for her top. this was a first for me, most women who wanted me to undress them were not usually this shy.

' Don't laugh!" she said exasperatedly ' I'm not exactly thrilled about this. Just undo the zipper and keep your eyes on the ceiling.'

I could barely contain my laughter and undid the zip as quickly as I could and tried to avoid skin contact, the teeth catching in the zip, and as soon as her top was free she spun around, kicked me out of my own bathroom, and I collapsed on my bed in laughter.