Tum Hi Ho

Chapter 25

 Paridhi woke up after a refreshing and dreamless sleep in the morning. She tried to open her eyes, but oddly they were swollen and heavy. So she decided to stay in bed for a few more minutes. She snuggled close to the warm pillow she was hugging. Suddenly the pillow moved and she noticed thumping sound. This jolted her awake and she opened her eyes to realize that she was in fact hugging a human body. The pillow was Darshan's chest. As she felt him stir, she suddenly pulled away, her abrupt movements causing Darshan to wake up. He opened his eyes lazily and stared around, wondering how had he slept in his father's room. Then his eyes landed on Paridhi who was looking at him with a mixture of shock and fear. He froze, how was he supposed to explain this? He decided to take the nonchalant approach, if he acted like nothing was wrong, probably Paridhi wouldn't think too much about it. "Hey..good morning." He said and Paridhi flinched. She had went into a panic mode and had started thinking or rather over thinking about how she had ended up sleeping with Darshan. She was embarrassed by the fact that it must have been her who made him sleep like that. She remembered crying and hugging him tightly last night. "Darshan...err...I am sorry. You had to deal with me last night. It's just...I was..." She tried to explain, but Darshan cut her off. "It's ok Pari. Stop saying sorry for things that are not your fault. Now come on get showered. I heard you telling Hardik that you make good pasta. Any chance I could get to eat it today?" He asked and Paridhi chuckled. "Okay, you go get showered too. I will make it for you." After Darshan went out, Paridhi sat on the bed and remembered how he called her Pari. No one had took her name with such tender affection before. She found it odd that she didn't even notice when Darshan had started to call her Pari instead of Paridhi. But she found the nickname endearing, especially as it came through Darshan's mouth. She was also amazed by the fact that his touch didn't repulse her like every other male's touch did. Even though Nikhil had been her boyfriend for two years, she had never let him touch her. She felt uncomfortable around every guy, but in Darshan's case it was different. She felt his touch warm, comforting. She craved more of it. Fuckk....what the hell was I thinking? She wondered. No, even though Darshan was behaving with her normally, he was doing it because he was a good human being. She should be grateful to him for his kindness and stay away from him. He was just helping a girl in need. Paridhi sighed. She had to stop thinking about this and get on with her normal life. She had decided to hide everything from her parents. They would freak out and get angry at her. She didn't need that. Anyways, there was no way she was going to marry Nikhil now. He was out of question. She also knew a way to make him keep his mouth shut. Darshan had beaten him up and she had broken her relationship with him. That was punishment enough for him. 30 minutes later, Paridhi walked out of washroom, determined to get over with yesterdays incidents and have a fresh start. She strolled into the kitchen which was empty. Darshan wasn't done yet and she chuckled to herself knowing that sometimes, when he was in mood, he took hours to get showered. He was such a diva. The mere thought of Darshan brought a smile on her face and it was this smiling-Paridhi-standing-in-kitchen sight that greeted Darshan as he walked out of his room. He was seeing her smile like this after a long time. In fact, he hadn't seen her smile at all since he stopped talking to her. That thought made him frown, did that mean she was upset when he stopped talking to her? Of course she must have been upset, he was practically her friend. But that didn't mean she would stop smiling when he stopped speaking with her. Maybe he hadn't noticed her properly as he had been busy trying to stay away from her. He felt a new hope as he watched her standing in his kitchen. The scene was what he had dreamed once. Her, standing in his kitchen as his wife. Maybe, he had a chance now that Nikhil wasn't in her life anymore. He knew that he would have to take it slow, as she was assaulted and she was not going to be ready for a new relationship any time soon. But at least he had a chance, a hope to have her in his life.  Darshan smiled at that thought and walked towards her, greeting her with a 'good morning.' Paridhi was startled at his voice and this told Darshan that she was going to take time to heal. "Ohh...good morning ...I...errr ....don't know where you keep the ingredients." She told him and Darshan chuckled. "I totally forgot. Come on..." He said, moving over to the counter and opening a cabinet. "Here's pasta, take it....And here is the spices box if you need it....butter, cheese and vegetables are in the fridge if you need them. Anything else?" "Umm...cornflour?" Paridhi asked and Darshan frowned. "Is that your secret ingredient? Let me see...cornflour...I think it's..here." he handed her the jar. Paridhi took it and started working. Darshan hovered around, watching her work. When he had asked her to cook pasta, his intention had been to divert Paridhi's mind and distract her from the pain she was feeling. His plan was working as he saw her chopping vegetables with full concentration. This was the first time he was seeing her apart from her PA role. It felt intimate, as if he was getting to know that other part of her life. It bothered him that Nikhil had probably seen this closely, but he also felt smug when he realized that Nikhil had lost her forever. "What should I do?" Darshan asked quickly when Paridhi caught him staring at her. "I don't need anything else. But if you want to drink tea or coffee, I think you should make it yourself. I...err...don't know how to make tea and coffee." "You can cook, but you can't make tea or coffee?" He asked her, surprised. "I never needed to learn it as I don't drink any of those myself." Paridhi shrugged as she watched him pull out a pot and pour milk in it. They both worked silently and Hardik who had came to visit Darshan was shocked to see them working like an old married couple in the kitchen. Hardik had let himself in with a spare key as usual, so neither Paridhi nor Darshan had noticed him. He quietly clicked a few pictures and also made a short video before Darshan noticed him. He immediately tensed up, knowing that Paridhi didn't want to tell anyone what had happened, but they also hadn't come up with a cover story. What was he supposed to tell Hardik when he asked? He quietly nudged Paridhi to alert her and then loudly greeted Hardik. "Arree bhai. Aaj subah subah yaha kaise?" He asked and Hardik shrugged. "Dude, Paridhi ke aate hi bhul gaya? You were the one who called me to jam for the new songs." Hardik was surprised to see Paridhi there as he had noticed how rudely Darshan had been behaving with her. He knew Darshan wouldn't tell him anything so he decided to take a different approach. "Hey Paridhi. Tum kaise aa gayi yaha? Wo bhi subah subah?" Paridhi, who had been frozen for few moments came to her senses and sighed. She noticed that Darshan was about to say something, probably some excuse but before he could say anything she spoke up. "It's ok Darshan. I trust Hardik. I think I can tell him. But I...errr..don't know if I will be able to explain everything. You tell him until I make the pasta." Darshan nodded and motioned Hardik towards the balcony. Hardik was in rage by the time Darshan finished telling Hardik how Nikhil had assaulted her and Darshan had saved her. He obviously didn't tell him about his feelings, but Hardik had already started getting suspicious because of the way Darshan behaved whenever he was around Paridhi. He wasn't sure yet, so he stayed quite about that matter. But he used few choice swear words for Nikhil and promised Darshan to help Paridhi in whatever way needed. They had the breakfast together and Paridhi decided to go house-hunting in the afternoon. Darshan was bit disappointed when Paridhi told him about it, but he offered to go with her. Paridhi declined, stating that it would look odd if The Darshan Raval went house-hunting in middle class areas. Darshan was even more disappointed at that, but he didn't say anything.

// I have a something to say again. The short story, Pehli Mohobbat, which is a Darshan Raval fanfic, is completed now. Anyone interested can go and read it. Please VOTE and comment. Feedbacks are very important for us.//