Tum Hi Ho

Chapter 27

 Paridhi who had stood frozen at her place, watching the interaction of Darshan and his father now stared at Darshan shocked at what he had told his father. She knew there must have been some reason behind it. Darshan wasn't stupid, he did everything with a specific reason. Darshan sensed her stare and sighed.
"Come here." He told her, walking towards the balcony and closed the door after Paridhi had stepped out so that his dad won't hear the conversation.
"I know you must be wondering why I told dad whatever I told him. The reason is simple. I don't think we should tell him about the assault and everything. But then if we don't give a solid reason for your stay, he will start assuming things. The only thing he will never allow me to do is casual flings and random sex with strangers. But if you are here without a good reason, the first thing he will assume is that we are having sex, which we are not. I don't want him to think of you or me that way. But he approves of me having a committed relationship. We can show him that we are in a relationship for a few months. That way you can stay here as long as you want and dad wouldn't assume things." Darshan explained and Paridhi found it a little too complicated.

"But Darshan you could have just said that I was over for some work and ended up staying the night. Or you could have told partial truth that I was here because I was hunting for a house. Why make a fake story and complicate it so much?" Paridhi asked and Darshan sighed. "Honestly, I thought of all these things afterwards. I actually blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. I don't know why or how, but in that moment I just said it without thinking about anything else. Let's just act. Just a few days, then dad wouldn't bother us. He is actually a chill person, just a little strict with morals he has taught me." Darshan tried to convince Paridhi, but Paridhi still had doubts.
"This isn't right Darshan. We are lying to him and we are going against the basic moral. And what about the team, your fans and media? What if they got to know? I am getting a bad feeling here. I don't know...." Paridhi trailed off when Darshan stared at her with puppy face. Fuck that puppy face, she thought and sighed.
"Alright, just handle it however you want." She said with a sigh and walked off to her room. Darshan stared at her retreating form and sighed.
The actual reason was that he wanted his dad to see Paridhi as a good girl. He didn't want his dad to think low of her, he wanted him to approve of her as his daughter in law. And if his dad had known the truth, who knew how he would react? Though his father was a chill person and had changed according to the modern times, he still held morals and ethics in high regards and his view of right and wrong was a bit rigid. The only way to make him think good of Paridhi was telling his father that he was dating her and showing him how committed she was to Darshan and how much she loved Darshan. And while his father approved of her, he would slowly make her fall in love with him actually and everything would be sorted.
All of this had flashed through his mind when he had seen his dad at the door step and realized that he would have to give an explanation of Paridhi's presence in the house. So he had deliberately told his father that Paridhi was his girlfriend. After his dad showered, they had a quite breakfast which Paridhi had hurriedly made after showering and getting dressed in proper traditional clothes. Darshan had been unable to look away from her and this was obviously noticed by Rajendra uncle, but he remained quite. He asked a few basic questions to Paridhi, making casual conversation. Darshan was tensed throughout the breakfast, but Paridhi managed it smartly.
After the breakfast, Darshan's dad walked to Darshan's room. Darshan who had been waiting for him faced his father. Rajendra uncle looked at his son sternly and with a serious face. Darshan explained in short about how he had liked Paridhi since she had started working with him and then how he had fallen for her. This was plain truth so Darshan didn't even have to lie or act. He then proceeded to tell about how he had proposed and Paridhi had accepted.
"There was some problem with the plumbing in her house and she didn't have convenient place to stay, so I offered her to stay with me." Darshan ended his explanation, feeling bad that he had to lie to his father. Rajendra uncle, who had listened to the explanation quietly looked away from his son.
"I didn't expect this from you, son." He said and Darshan was startled. He had never thought that his father would be angry at him for dating a girl. "Dad....I..err..." He stuttered, trying to find the right words.
Rajendra uncle spoke up again, "How did you manage to find such a beautiful and good girl?" and then laughed at Darshan's confused expression. Darshan was relieved and he too smiled. "Dad...you scared me. So you like her?" He asked and Rajendra uncle nodded.
"Of course, she is beautiful and she is well behaved and good mannered. I think it's a good choice and you should consider getting married. I have noticed how you stare at her longingly and I have also noticed her looking at you with so much love in her eyes."
 Darshan was surprised at that. He was impressed that Paridhi had good acting skills. But he blushed when he realized what his dad said.
"Dad, shadiiii....abhi bahot time hai." He said, rubbing his neck and walked out of the room.

 As Darshan sat in his studio he could imagine Paridhi as his wife, wearing a sari and mangalsutra. He imagined kissing her tender lips, making her moan his name....
"Darshan?" He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard Paridhi call his name. He blushed when he realized what he had been thinking about her just a moment ago.
"Ha bolo...?" He asked. "The maid is here, go tell her what you want to eat. And tell her not to make food for me, I am going out to meet Nikhil." Darshan froze at his mention. "Ni..Nikhil? But why? Do you need me to come with you?" He asked concerned and Paridhi shook her head. "No...err...we want to sort out our relationship...I mean...well....we need to talk about what happened and I have to make sure everything is alright. He just called, apologizing for whatever he did and asked me to meet him. Don't worry, he won't do anything. I will make sure of it." Paridhi said, and suddenly Darshan's anger rose. He clenched his fist to control himself and just nodded. He sat there fuming long after Paridhi was gone. So she was getting back with that bastard. Darshan was livid with anger.  He needed to talk to someone. But who would understand him? Hardik...yes...only he could be trusted for this matter. Darshan called Hardik and asked him to come over immediately. 

"But she didn't exactly say that she was getting back together with him." Hardik tried to argue. He had been there for half hour and had listened to Darshan patiently as Darshan had confessed about how he had fallen in love with Paridhi. Hardik was sure that Paridhi wasn't going to go back to Nikhil.
"Sorting out relationship must have meant breakup Darshan. She must have gone to break up with him officially." He tried to console Darshan, but Darshan shook his head.
"No Hardik, she looked happy, there was a shine in her eyes. I think she is going back to him. But why? I don't understand. He tried to molest her, he assaulted her. And from what I heard when she and Preeti were discussing, their relationship wasn't even a happy one. Preeti was saying again and again that Nikhil was wrong choice for her. Then why would she go back? Is that Nikhil blackmailing her?"
Hardik sighed. "Darshan, listen. Thodi der ruko. When she comes back, ask her whether she got back with him or not. And I think you should confess your feelings to her." Darshan glared at him. "I don't know if she loves me or not, how am I supposed to confess my feelings to her? What if she says no?" They argued back and forth until Darshan agreed to wait for her to come back before assuming anything.