An Arranged Affair

chapter 14 - intrusions

' hello ladies, mind if I join you?" Phillip said, pulling a seat out and sitting down.

He was dressed in a smart suit that screamed designer with a matching tie, his shirt barely concealing the muscles underneath and nothing about him was out of place , the smell of his colonge emanated from him and I wondered why he had to look so hot all the time.

' What are you doing here?" I blurted out

' well I thought it would be nice to see what my wife was up to for lunch, and I decided it was time I met your friend, Simmi wasn't it?" he reached out to shake her hand.

' Hi, I am Philip Malhotra."

Simmi, never one to be lost for words, was silent for the first time in her life.

' Simron Kuar," she said politely giving me the strangest look, but thankfully Stanford came with a tray of food .

For the next half an hour Phillip and Simmi talked , well mostly about her, it almost seemed like an interrogation. They talked about her , her family , what her brothers did and all I could do was sit there, pushing my food around my plate, all of a sudden my appetite was lost and I was feeling slightly sick.

Why was he here?

This was not the kind of place he would eat at, was it? And I wondered what his motives were.

If my life was an Indian drama there would have been a secret boyfriend to whisk me away moments before I had to get married on a gleaming motorcycle or i would have had the courage to run, grab my bags and disappear only to meet my mr right just around the corner.

It this was an Indian drama something dramatic would have happened to stop the wedding just in time.

No. My life was not turning into a drama.

It was turning into a nightmare. A horror story.

And my villian was irresistibly hot and there was no hero in sight.

It seemed like forever before he got up to leave, saying goodbye to me and talking to Stanford on the way out, but when he did, I felt like I could finally breath again.

' Ok, I know you told me was good looking, but girl he is so hot, he's like a fucking walking god! I mean look at that ass and I am sure he is ripped. And you want to take a vow of celibacy for the next three years? Hell if I wasn't with someone I would settle with just three minutes with him...'

'oh shut up Simmi, stop perving on my husband !"

" oh he's your husband now, I thought he was the devil reincarnate!"

"his mother is the devil reincarnate. He is the devils spawn, just a very good looking one, how am I supposed to survive the next three years with that?"

'Well , if I were you, I would just own it, this thing you're in, you know, it wasn't your choice but you could make it your thing, and why is it so bad if you hooked up with that hottie husband of yours? Just give in and have some fun!"

I groaned and picked up my backpack.

' I don't think I'm his type ! im pretty sure he likes blonds."

" well dye your hair blond and just shag the guy already."

"come one Simmi, your such a slut, its so easy for you isn't it? Well its not for me, I've got so much to lose if things go bad, my parents, they could lose everything!" I sighed. She would never get it, Simmi got a high on breaking rules and pushing boundaries.

"lets go, we've got one more class to get through. "

" You are such a boring prude mere jain! One of these days you are going to come over and I'm gonna make you smoke a joint, that will loosen your uptight ass up a bit! " she said linking her arms into mine. ' and you will because I know you love me!" making me laugh out loud as we set off to our next lecture, except my troubles for the day were far from over.

It had been a long day and I was tired. It was going to be an intense semester and I had left a lot of the harder units till last. But it was Simmi's words that got stick in my head. Make it my how, how did I make this marriage , this life my own?

I felt more like Belle in beauty and the beast, trapped with a moody monster.

One minute he was breaking my phone then acting all imposing then he was holding me, comforting all my tears away.

Then I had an idea, a very small idea, but I needed to talk to Simmi. I needed information that only she could help me with.

The ride to Philips office wasn't long and by the time we pulled up to the foyer, he was already waiting, and the back seat of the car was filled with the intoxicating smell oh his cologne when he got in.

My heart started to race at being so close to him and I gripped my newly bought very second hand books tightly around my chest and looked out the widow hoping he wouldn't notice my cheeks blush.

Sit in the front, sit in the front I prayed.

But I swear the gods above where messing with me because the back door opened and he sat at the back with me.

' Had a good day at university dear?" he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

" Wonderful and you?" i said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in mine.

" Now how long are you going to keep up this act Victoria? We both know you don't hate me," and he bent over and whispered into my ear.

" In fact, from they way your breathing and the pink in your cheeks I dare say you like me, and rather a lot." He brushed my hair away from my neck and traced a finger down from my earlobe to my collarbone, his fingers catching on the chain of his grandmothers necklace. My skin tingled where he had touched me. I shifted around where I sat, feeling uncomfortable all of sudden, wishing he would go back to his side of the car, but at the same time, not wanting him to stop.

' Besides, you told me you did."

" I did not!"

" Yes you did, when you were sleeping. You started to talk in your sleep so I grabbed your little finger and you spilled out your hearts deepest secreats."

I shot him an evil look because I had no idea what to think. Had he really done that? I had heard about the finger thing, but did it work? And if it did, what the hell did I talk about?

' Now what's this?" he asked, prying the books from my hands. He looked at them, fingering the well worn dog eared pages, his face had changed to that dark brooding mood that I had gotten familiar with.

He was mad about something.

' Its just my books that I need for this semester." I sputtered, not sure what I had done to piss him off again.

"Stanford pull over."

I watched in horror as Phillip would the window down and threw my books into the trash bin on the curb.

" What did you do that for? Do you know how much those books cost me?" I screamed at him. "How the hell am i supposed to pass my finals if you throw away my books?" I was angry, upset and confused.

Why would he throw away perfectly good books? Books were not supposed to be treated that way.

' Shut up. I need to do something." He barked at me in a tone that scared me to my core as he did something on his phone and I shrank back against the door, staring out the window as the streets whizzed by, but inside I was raging.

This man had gone too far.