Simply Irresistible (Shlok and Astha FF) (chp 10) (pg23) - Page 13

Oh no I just has a worrying thought, what if radhika tells everyone that aastha was only there as a spy, shock won't be happy

Originally posted by: latha_555

Oh no I just has a worrying thought, what if radhika tells everyone that aastha was only there as a spy, shock won't be happy

hmm that could lead to a big showdown between Shlok and Astha then he can run after her after the fight! That would be big drama and cute too although I would like to see them get closer before Radhika tells people if she were to tell anyone.

first of all... thanks dear for writing as i requested...

hi its really nice story with a 'completely different concept', n very well written too, n cant resist saying ,will love to read something from shlok's point of view too...will be waiting for next update...😊

dat was a really surprising update

Finally aastha and shlok kissed each other. I am loving it. Waiting eagerly for the next part

Here is the next chapter. It's a bit long but I hope you guys like it. 😃

Simply Irresistible - Chapter 9

An odd sensation hacked at Astha's insides as she watched Parvati disappear. The room seemed to have grown larger with the absence of the other girls.

She mused to herself, twenty-five of them had once cloistered inside this room. Twenty-four of them had been hoping to be that last girl there. Out of those twenty-four, only one of them remained. Shaking her head in contemplation, Astha marveled at how far she'd come.

Of course her competitive side hummed with glee when she thought of how she'd ousted all of those gold-diggers. Then again, battled her look-at-the-reasons side, what the hell was she doing frolicking, yes, hideously cavorting around with Shlok Agnigotri?

He was ambling over towards her now. Oh, shit. She looked down at the sofa. Bright red. Mmm, sexy. No, Astha, not sexy, she chided herself. Sofas weren't sexy...but they could be made to be sexy. Depending on what you did with them or how you used them. Crap. Rose was so rubbing off on her.

"Astha," Shlok said warmly sitting down next to her.

"Wine?" She shook her head primly.

"No, thank you. I don't drink "

"I think you should start now" he continued with a small smirk. "Do have some."

"Ask Radhika to," she snapped, her heart pitter-pattering as he shrugged and turned away.

"If you insist," he drawled. "I'll do anything you want."

She giggled. He was trying to seduce her, then? What for? Although of course she wanted to be seduced quite fully and properly, she decided she was not going to be an easy one. They said she was hard-to-get, then why, by golly, she'd play hard-to-get.

"Good!" she said brightly. "Could you leave me alone then?"

"Touchy," he pouted, and turned his amorous attentions (poor boy hadn't had a lay in six weeks, she remembered) to Radhika, who eagerly greeted them and threw them right back at him.

Astha watched as they walked off hand-in-hand to some part of the huge mansion, probably to make out. Astha had never made out before. There had been that time in Switzerland. But she refused to think about it. Shaking her head slightly, she walked over to the bottle of wine that Shlok had been offering her and gingerly poured herself a glass. Might as well.

An hour later Shlok and Radhika came back in to find a slightly tipsy Astha stroking that red couch and murmuring to herself. She sat up abruptly when she saw them and turned beet-red.

"What are you doing back so soon?" she asked, flushed. And then to distract attention from herself, she said as meanly as she could muster, "What's the matter, Shlok? Couldn't keep it up long enough?"

He scowled. Radhika started.

Astha held up her hand. "I'm going to bed. And this wine, what cheap kind of brand is this! Never heard of it! Damn the show. If they can't afford better wines then this world truly is coming to a low-point."

She departed, knowing just how confused Shlok and Radhika might be. It felt good to be the one who was being the puzzle for a change, instead of the puzzled.

"Well," she heard Shlok drawl below. "Looks like she's in a bad mood."

"Why speculate about her, Shlok?" Radhika responded distantly. "I can think of much better things to do"

Shutting the door with a slam, Astha frowned and leaned against its heavy oak. She liked him, she really did. Every word he said it made her want to be with him. She hated him. He was an evil, conniving git who deserved someone like Rose or Radhika anyway. But she couldn't let him know. He was just playing around with her, the same way he'd played around with the other twenty-five girls here. And he was just bas***d-y enough to laugh with glee if he found out just how much she fancied him.

Unhappy and depressed, Astha snapped at a camera man who had followed her up. "Go away," she growled. "I'm about to undress."

"Any words?" the little camera man asked. "Any accusations against Radhika?"

Astha rolled her eyes. "I know you want the... I hate Radhika! Oh, my, gosh, she is the world's biggest bi*ch ever. She totally stole my man!... routine, but I'm not going to give it to you."

He grinned. "You just did, sugar," and walked off hurriedly before she could castrate him.

Astha mumbled an expletive in his direction but otherwise slumped down onto her bed. There was no point in following him anyway, and it was just too much effort to actually have to kill him, then hide the body, and then think of an alibi.

She had already degraded herself enough by simply participating on the show. What would one more little incident do? The public's opinion of Astha Kiloskar,had already changed. Now she was Astha Kiloskar, Participant on The Bachelor, Girl Who Vied for Marrying Shlok Agnigotri and Girl Who Actually Fell For The bas***d.

Radhika probably didn't even fancy him as much as Astha did. He was smart. Ooh, he was smart. He liked plants and reading.

Just as she changed for the night and was ready to turn off the lights, Radhika stepped into the room, her face happy and bubbly.

"Astha," she crowed happily.

"I'm very tired, Radhika," Astha said as miserably as she could muster. "Perhaps some other time you can tell me just how Shlok Agnigotri gropes a girl."

"Oh, it was fantastic! Scratch that, marvelous!"

Astha rolled over and turned off the lights, but that didn't shake Radhika off.

Astha fell asleep to Radhika droning on and on. "and then he said that I looked lovely".

"Mmm" mumbled Astha.

Just when Astha thought that Radhika was drifting off, she was flooded by that voice again.

"Astha? Do you think he's my soul mate? Oh god. I've found my soul mate. I know I have. Jesus! I'm tingling! Astha! He's my soul mate! My soul mate, damn it, my soul mate!"

Sleep was out of the question. If soul mates were preventing her from sleeping, then life was tougher than she thought.

"Radhika!" she seethed. "It is one a.m. I'm really tired. I know, I know, it's absolutely silly of me to be sleepy at one, abnormal as it is but can you just accept it and have a soul mate discussion in the morning?" she snapped.

Radhika blinked. Astha groaned. "So, anyway, yeah, oh, gosh. Do you really think he's my soul mate? How many girls can say they met their soul mate through a TV show? Isn't that freaking cool!"

Needless to say, Astha woke up the next morning an absolute mess. Her hair was worse than normal, she was sure she had tea bags planted firmly under her eyes, and her head pounded in misery, aching for a more peaceful sleep.

Radhika was bright and chipper, on the other hand. "Astha," she said, and her voice seemed to ooze with happiness. "I'm excited. Tomorrow, tomorrow we're going to go visit his mansion! Am I visiting first or are you?"

Astha shrugged. "The host will probably waltz in any second and tell us. She's got a nasty habit of doing so," she continued.

"I really hate that woman."

In response to Astha's outburst, Radhika's eyes grew wide and she stared. "Really?" she giggled. "Why?"

"Because," she responded glumly. "She's so annoying. And she expects us to think her damned star is the next Prince Charles or something."

"Prince Charles is dreamy, isn't he?" Radhika said, still giggling. "

Oh, Radhika!" Astha sighed. Whatever floats your boat. "He's old! And anyway, I thought you felt that way about Shlok!"

"I do! It's okay to feel that way about lots of people, Astha, but you only have one soul mate. And he's so mine. Isn't he? You can tell. Black goes so well with brunette. Lurrrve it!" Radhika had begun to apply make up as she gossiped. "I'm so totally excited. What do you think I should say to him, advice counselor?"

"Look," Astha replied, deftly avoiding a spray of perfume (going right for the eye there, that was!). "It's not just that, I'm a brunette, too," she finally finished up nervously, hoping Radhika would understand the implications that well, her brunette hair went well with his black (she hoped).

Oh," Radhika frowned, turning to look at Astha, and Astha had to quickly side step a jabbing eyeliner (Sweet god! T'was a war zone!). "So you are, oh my gosh! You want to go blonde, don't you?!" Well, so much for that. Radhika obviously didn't understand.

"No, no," Astha soothed. "Not at all, I don't believe in dying your hair, one should always love what she has! I mean, unless your hair is turning grey"

But she was cut off by a super excited Radhika. "It's okay, Astha. Nonsense! Embrace your inner blonde! I was a blonde just a few months ago. It's amazing. Blondes do have the most fun!"

"I don't care about fun," Astha said blankly.

"Of course you do," Radhika replied distractedly as she began to frantically comb the room for something or the other.

"Aha, got it!" She pulled blonde har colring kit and Astha's heart began to race.

"Um," she began cleverly, "what are you doing?"

"I'm going to color you hair"

"No, stay away from me."

"You will look., Stunning, Ravishing., Fantastic." She stated gleefully. "I swear, even Shlok will find you undoubtedly attractive."

"I don't care, I don't care," Astha mumbled unhappily.

"Just trying to help, Astha! You know you will look much better as a blonde. It hides your huge nose and shows off your otherwise small eyes."

"Just shut up!" Astha groaned. She hated to be so rude, but Radhika had crossed the limit.

"You know. All I wanted to do was help. But if you can't even take that, then just go screw yourself. You little bi*ch""

"Bit*h" Astha finished muttering under her breath.

"Whatever. I tried to explain it to you. You keep assuming I'm just some cow sitting here waiting for the show to end. Well I've been here six weeks and you know what? I'm just as anxious as you! I too have kissed Shlok, okay?"

Radhika's voice, which seemed to get squeakier as she got more excited, positively resembled a mouse. "You did?" she whispered. "Was it awkward? I bet it was. He isn't your soul mate," she spat.

"Yeah well I'm not dumb enough to believe he is," Astha replied venomously.

"Did you just call me dumb?" Radhika's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"So what if I did," Astha threw her hands up in the air. She was fed up of this whole thing. All this trouble for one boy. It was ridiculous yet riveting at the same time. Interesting and horrible. Paradox. Damn.

"Then, then, ok, Astha, you wanna play games?" Radhika asked coolly, which seemed a marvelous feat for the hot-headed young girl.

"Maybe you think you're playing games," Astha responded, noticing how silly the situation was. Preposterous, even. "But you can't handle it."

"Oh is that what you think? Is it? Is it? You want a piece of me? Cuz watch out, bi*ch, you're going to get it."

Astha stepped back. Radhika was taking this a bit too seriously, wasn't she?

"You think you can get Shlok?" Radhika continued, every word of her rant serious and deadly. Except that it was a very high-pitched serious and deadly. "You think so? Well, you're nothing compared to me. You know he's going to pick me. Totally."

Astha stumbled on her words. "Excuse me? He doesn't even like you! He personally told me!" Okay, so it was a lie. But whatever. The situation called for it.

"Uh-uh. I'm not taking this. From now on, Miss Astha Kiloskar, it's war. W-A-R-R. War."

Astha giggled, swore, and frowned in the same three seconds. "All right," she finally said. "You're on." What had she gotten herself into?

**

In a week, she'd be back home. Either with Shlok, or without. With new resolve, she packed her suitcase. Just then, Radika walked into the room with a frown on her face.

"Astha," she began, "you didn't take my face cream, did you? I can't find it anywhere and I'm leaving in five minutes to go meet Shlok's parents."

"No, Radhika," Astha replied, genuinely surprised, "I've been on the phone the whole morning. I've no idea where it is."

"I don't believe you," Radhika growled. "I simply don't believe you."

"Then don't," came Astha's cross retort.

Astha spent the day reading and at night had a quick dinner alone.

The next morning dawned clear and at nine Radhika came home looking pleased. "I think I impressed Niranjan, but I don't know. Anjali didn't say much. She's the quiet type," she said quickly. "The house is so gorge. If I live there I know just how I'm going to do up all the rooms! It's going to be beautiful!"

In the afternoon Shlok came by and Astha nervously opened up the door for him.

"Hey," she began.

"Hello," he smiled faintly. "Got your things? We'll bee driving in my motorcycle".

Astha's stomach swooped. "Ride? Motorcylce?" she echoed. "I don't, well, what I mean to say is that, I can't, well, I don't" she trailed off suddenly very anxious and miserable.

He grinned. "Don't ride, I take it?"

She grimaced. "Well, no, not really, can't we just, I dunno, drive there?"

"Drive?" He laughed.

A few seconds later he turned around and looked at her pointedly. "Come on! I didn't know you weren't following me!"

"Look, Shlok," she began awkwardly, and then decided to just say it. "The truth is, I'm scared of motorcycles."

"Hey, no problem," he said quickly, glancing at her expression with amusement, "I'm with you. Nothing will happen" he said in a sensual voice.

Astha trembled with anticipation, and then cursed herself for caring. How did it matter if his voice was low and sensual and alluring and, stop it, she instructed herself firmly. Just stop it.

"Take your hand out and place it here." He placed her hand over his waist, and Astha completely forgot about her surrounding. She inhaled a sharp breath and instead concentrated on the feel of smooth long fingers against her own shorter ones. Just when she had delved into innumerable fantasies pulled right out of those romance novels, a hard shaft popped into her hand.

"Now what?" she asked softly.

"Now hold onto me tight," came the reassurance from his sexy voice.

"I think I'm going to fall off," she whispered with a giggle. "I can't do this."

"Yes you can. Now hold on to me." And then he took off.

"It's amazing, isn't it." He asked.

And it certainly was. Although Astha was fairly sure he was referring to the feeling of whooshing through the air, she rather enjoyed the whole put-your-arms-around-me bit. His body was warm against the cool air and it was really, really hard to not have indecent thoughts about a certain black haired beautiful man in front of her, especially after reading detailed accounts of such instances in romance novels.

Fortunately or unfortunately, she couldn't tell, they soon reached Agnigotri mansion.

Even though she had seen it once beofer, it looked evern more massive now.

He led her into the mansion, through elaborate gardens, a huge sprawling pool, sauna, and hot tub, and a gazebo (for small parties, Shlok informed her). Waiting for them was Anjali Agnogotri.

"Hello," she greeted them warmly. "It's nice to see you again Astha."

Astha smiled and graciously took the woman's regal hand. "Yes. Thank you for letting me visit today."

"Oh, it's no problem, we're well, I'm so excited that Shlok's finally listened to me and looked for a proper girlfriend, maybe even use of the big M word, right Shlok?"

Shlok seemed to ignore his mother. She went on anyway. "So it was just lovely to have you two girls visit; Shlok's final two! He must really like you."

Astha smiled and looked over at Shlok who mumbled something about this being rather awkward and escaped to the bathroom.

"Well, come on in," Anjali continued her fresh chatter and led Astha into one of the drawing rooms. "Niranjan should be down any second."

"So tell me," Anjali began excitedly. "Do you really fancy my son?"

Astha knew she had to word her answer carefully. No mother wanted anything bad said about her son; at the same time, she didn't want to sound desperate or anything.

"That's why I'm here, isn't it," she finally joked. "No, but seriously, he's a very learned man."

Anjali nodded. "He always did love school. Very bright."

"Oh, here's Niranjan!"

Niranjan walked regally into the study and sat down.

"The other one?" he asked Anjali, who nodded.

"So you must be Astha Kiloskar. I remember you."

Astha couldn't help but feel terrified of this man.

"Er, yes," she at last said. "It's nice to see you again sir," she finally began uncomfortably.

Niranjan looked grim. "I see you are interested in wedding my son?" he finally asked.

Astha paled. "Well," she started diplomatically, "Marriage is a big step. This show is a little over six weeks long, and in the occasion that Shlok does, er, pick me, I would insist on a long engagement just so we could know if we're truly suited to each other, because I believe that there is no way to assess complete compatibility on a television show."

It was silent for a moment, and then came Niranjan' grim voice. "Well said, Miss Kiloskar. Well said. Anjali, have the cooks fixed up dinner?"

His comment effectively lightened the mood.

"Oh, yes, I'll have them serve it right away!" she called and hurried off to the kitchen.

Although Astha was fairly sure she'd at least gotten the grudging respect of Niranjan, she didn't exactly want to be left alone with him. Luckily, at that instant that Astha was about to ask for the restroom, Shlok walked into the room.

"Father," he greeted Niranjan. "I see you've met Astha."

"Yes," came Niranjan' derisive reply. "Now I believe your mother is waiting for us in the dining hall. Shall we?"

Astha traipsed after Shlok and his father into the dining hall, which was spectacularly decorated.

"It's beautiful," she breathed. "Who thought of the idea of having Shakespeare's works magically swirl round the ceiling?"

Anjali smiled softly. "I designed most of the decorations in this place," she said modestly.

"They're absolutely exquisite," Astha praised sincerely. "Beautiful. If I were ever to move in here, I wouldn't change a thing!"

Anjali laughed. "After yesterday's guest Radhika I'd thought my designs were truly outdated. She seemed eager to change them, didn't she, Niranjan?"

Niranjan agreed with his wife. "She did." Although Astha was interested to know what the Agnigotri's thought of Radhika, Niranjan seemed keen on keeping silent throughout the meal.

Anjali, however, nattered away and asked Astha many questions.

Shlok remained silent throughout dinner, only speaking when directly spoken to. After dinner, they sipped some dessert and then Shlok claimed that he was exhausted and he was going to bed.

"Come on," he said to Astha, "I'll show you your room."

Astha followed him out through long corridors before they finally reached a large guest room.

"Well, here you are. If you need anything, my room's just down this corridor."

"Thanks," she replied. "Hey thanks for dinner and everything. Your parents aren't what I expected."

He cracked a smile. "Yeah. Hey, I guess I should've told you earlier, but you look really pretty tonight."

She melted. She hated when he did this, well, hated it and loved it too, but it spun her out of control and all she ever wanted was control. She knew that in a relationship with this man, she could forget about having control but "Thank you."

And then he kissed her, and it was exactly like last time. Brilliant and unimaginably wonderful. They tumbled onto the bed and somewhere Astha was protesting but pheromones raged and she couldn't help but notice his slender hands, his pale neck, his aristocratic nose. A good kissing session later, Astha was pushing him off. She'd battled and battled and decided she wasn't about to go any further with him; it might make her look tawdry because she wasn't even sure if he was going to pick her. In fact, she was quite worried he wouldn't.

"Enough," she stated firmly. "I don't want to go any further."

Lips swollen from kissing he slid off and walked away. "Okay. I respect that." And then a moment later, as he was stepping out, "Good night, Astha."

"Good night." She got dressed for bed, slid in, turned off the lights and dreamed of laughter in the halls of Agnigotri mansion.

The next morning, she was back with Radhika.

Radhika squealed when she saw her. "Didn't you just love it?" she prodded in anticipation.

"Yes, it was really nice," she finally said. "Look, you know that the thing is tonight. Let's just hang out alone today."

Radhika agreed. "We should keep in touch after the show, right?"

Astha felt pained. "Um, yeah, sure, whatever," she finally just said in a rush and went up to her room. She spent the day working on some research she hadn't touched in weeks. It was difficult work and it took her mind off of the impending ceremony, in which Shlok would reject one of them and propose to the other (or so was planned; it was perfectly possible he would reject both of them). She wouldn't see Radhika again unless she wanted to after the show; because they would both meet Shlok separately and privately (except for the whole this was on prime television bit) where he would inform them of his decision. They wouldn't even know who met him first, so she'd be completely in the dark until she actually got there and spoke to him.

Finally evening approached. Nervously, Astha donned a very pretty saree, nice heels, and added a slight touch of enhancing make up to her face. An hour later she found herself seated in a limousine making her way over to Shlok Agnigotri. She was undeniably nervous.

What if he didn't pick her? He knew she liked him; she'd let him kiss her more than once, and he was always dodgy between the two of them. It was best not to think about it. And before she knew it, they were there. She didn't know if Radhika had already seen him or if she was the first one to meet him that evening. She stepped out of the limo and made her way to where he was standing amid roses and candles.

Very pretty, but she hardly noticed the decor; her heart was pumping much too fast.

"Hey," he said softly when he saw her.

"Hey," she responded just as softly.

"Well, I might as well get started," he lightly began. He clasped her hands within his.

She tingled.

"Look, when this show began I was really pissed off that you were here."

She laughed. "The feeling was mutual, I assure you."

"And I originally kept you because I was mad and you know, wanted to just bother you a bit and stuff and then we had a while where we really didn't like each other. I still remember that awful thing you did to my hair!"

"And I still remember that stunt at L'Acqua," she teased.

"So I guess we're even. But what I'm trying to say is, Astha, my feelings towards you have really changed. I'm closer to you and there's a connection and I mean, it's really nice but what I'm trying to say is" He paused.

She noted that he looked incredibly nervous.

"I think that this is going to be brill.., no, I mean, okay, well, while it's been fun on the show," he suddenly said, his words coming much easier, "I just don't know if it's going to work later on, with all the, you know, history behind us. And that's why I'm going to pick Radhika. It's just going to be easier. Thank you, Astha, for sticking on the show. I hope we can be friends when it's all blown over, because as I said, I think we get along much better now."

In the middle of the speech, Astha thought hauntingly, he had changed his mind. She refused to let herself cry in front of him. Summoning up any strength that she had after she had been so thoroughly shattered, she spoke.

"Yes. I do think so as well," she said icily. "But I don't think we can be friends. You said it yourself. There's just too much history."

And with that, she spun on her heel and walked back to the car. Not quickly. Not in pain. Head held high and back perfectly straight, she made sure she looked every bit as aristocratic as she could finally muster. Only when she got into the car did she let the tears fall.

To be cont..

a lovely update dear

This was just amazing...and I really wanted him to chose radhika over astha...yupp coz this gives more scope for further story and romance..
They both need to realise yet..lplz give us shloks feelings tooo...

he chose radhika 😲