Hope you guys like the chapter. 😃
Simply Irresistible - Chapter 10
One month had passed since the show. The thought randomly popped into Astha's mind as she slaved over a new project that she had thrown herself into shortly after her return. Exhausted, she looked around the comfortable office. Around her, employees and co-workers scuttled around busily, tending to all the different work that were being developed.
She wanted to get her thoughts off the past and focused into tasks in front of her. It had been an entire month, and still, every single day, she would remember at least three things about him.
"Astha," someone called, pulling her out of her silly little reverie.
"Hmm?" she looked up. Varan, her junior assistant, was sending her an odd look.
"It's two o' clock, Saturday afternoon. You know we close early on Saturdays. And you never come to work on Saturday anyway! Why have you been throwing yourself into all of this lately?"
"Oh right," Astha grinned sheepishly, deciding to evade his question. "I'll just pack up and go on home. Have a good one, Varan. "
Varan smiled back at her. As promised, Astha packed up, slowly, methodically, because her thoughts were once again wrapped around a six foot something man.
She hadn't heard from him since the show, and she supposed that that was the best approach anyhow.
Everyone had a "The One" somewhere. It took a lot of searching, but in the end, The One was always found. Shlok had just been a minor deterrence from her hunt for The One. But if that was true, why did she keep thinking about him? And not in a negative way, either? As she packed up, she delved into the memory of coming home.
Her mom and dad had been absolutely shocked when they'd seen the episode, which had been broadcasted live.
Even Gauri who visited her the day after she got home from the show was shocked.
"Er, we thought you might want one," Gauri finally admitted. "And honestly, we were just so shocked when he didn't pick you."
"I honestly don't want to talk about this," Astha repeated, slouching down onto her sofa, hoping some of its comfort would sooth her frayed nerves (and heart, although she wouldn't admit it).
"Astha, when the cameras interviewed him before the night, he said he was very, very sure in the girl he was going to pick," Gauri explained earnestly.
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" she'd grumbled. "So he led me on the whole time. I can't believe I ever fancied him! What an awful, awful, awful man!" She had brushed her eyes quickly, not wanting to cry in front of Gauri.
"I wholeheartedly agree," Gauri sympathized. "Ill kill him. I promise."
"He was going to pick you. Everything pointed to it. He wouldn't say anything, of course, since it's bas***d Agnigotri after all, but honestly, he didn't like Radhika. He was really going to pick you, right up till the end. Then I suppose he screwed up."
Astha laughed bitterly. "And that he did," she agreed. "I never want to see him again. Never. In fact I'm glad he ended it where he ended it. It would've been worse if I'd actually let myself feel for him, even love him. I'm glad I didn't."
Now, Astha realized, it had been an entire month since that conversation. In that month, she had suffered through countless dreams about him. But slowly, surely, and oddly, the anger she had originally felt towards him had ebbed.
It didn't mean that she was suddenly all okay with being rejected on national television and stuck into the tabloids, with headlines proclaiming, "Brains over Beauty? Not for Shlok Agnigotri".
That had hurt, especially since she'd only begun to appreciate him because of the way he provided some intellectual stimulation. Nobody would see her hurt. Nobody.
She unlocked the door and entered the neat home, sighing. Dropping her things unceremoniously on a counter top, Astha walked into her bedroom and changed into a more comfortable outfit ironically, one of the salwar she had purchased for the show.
A flowing, so-light-it-was-nearly-white pink salwar that she had once thought was uncomfortable had grown on her so much that it had become one of the most comfortable clothing items that she owned. There had been other changes too. Astha had spent a little bit more time on her looks so her features were always accentuated in the best way possible. It was minimal, but as proved the old adage, "less is more".
She supposed it was just impossible to have lived with twenty-five superficial girls and come away from it unscathed. There was nothing she had to do today, now that she'd been shoved out of her own workplace.
Astha flipped on her television. An announcement on the channel caught her attention and brought her back to the present.
"And now, India's first! Yes, the event that we've all been looking forward to the much-awaited wedding of our Bachelor couple, televised for you all to see! Shlok Agnigotri, son of the influential Niranjan Agnigotri and social butterfly Anjali Agnigotri marries Radhika Dalimo, a beautiful high-class debutante, daughter of the prominent Rani Dalimo and her husband, Rajpat Dalimo."
Astha froze. Her hand gripped the remote so tightly that she was afraid it would crack. They were getting married?! Of course they were getting married. For the first two weeks after she'd returned, Astha had refused to even think about what Shlok and Radhika's future was, but slowly she'd let herself imagine it.
She just hadn't expected it to be so soon. As she stared at the scene in front of her, the wedding preparations were being made. Up came an interview with Radhika.
"I'm just thrilled," Radhika squealed, looking pretty in a soft yellow dress(she had just stepped out of the shower and was about to don her bride gear).
"It was a bit rough at first," she admitted, "but now it's lovely. Our parents approve of the match and we are just so delighted!"
Something hot and fiery raced through Astha's veins. Some distant, logical part of her brain pinpointed it as jealousy, but right now her emotions were controlling her. He was getting married to Radhika. One of the easiest ways to get over him had been to think that, well, at least she hadn't really been bested by Radhika. She knew he'd proposed, but some part of her just kept waiting to hear of their break-up.
It was not going to happen. Astha felt stinging tears in her eyes and brushed them away. Why was she so upset over this? She'd shed things over many trivial matters, but somehow this seemed important. How could he affect her so badly? She'd never expected her to fall so badly for a boy and there was only one explanation. She didn't just fancy him. She wanted him to be happy. If marrying Radhika was going to make him happy, then that was the way it was going to be.
She would be strong. She would be Astha Kiloskar. It was for the better, anyway, that they weren't together. He was right. It simply wouldn't work. He was Shlok Agnigotri and she was Astha Kiloskar. And even if the rest of the world fell away, he was still Shlok and she was Astha.
Astha Agnigotri even sounded strange (a lie. She thought it sounded lovely). The truth was, she loved him, and she wanted him to be happy.
"Well," Astha mumbled to herself, "I suppose everyone has a first love. But not everyone gets to be with him. I'll find number two," she promised herself.
Turning her attention back to the television, Astha debated whether or not she should continue watching. It was simply emotional torture to see the man you loved wed someone else on primetime TV. And, not to mention, it was a long show, with the ceremony not even starting until six p.m. Right now, it was only three-thirty.
Soon she realized that she hadn't even seen a glimpse of the groom-to-be. He simply hadn't been mentioned since that moment that their wedding plans had been announced.
The camera was focused on Radhika getting ready and excitedly telling the bridesmaids that the ceremony was going to be absolutely perfect. Astha recognized one of the bridesmaids, Rita. She remembered that Rota had been on the show, too, at the very beginning. Rota didn't look sad in the least. Then again, Rota hadn't made it past the first round. Rita wasn't in love with the groom. Rita didn't have to see someone else marry him.
Grimly, Astha turned off the television. She didn't need to subject herself to this.
She glanced outside and her gaze met clear blue skies. Deciding that the only way to shake the blues off was to walk in perfect weather, Astha smiled and put on a brave face, and then stepped out, drenching herself in the warm sunshine.
**
Shlok Agnigotri sat outside in one of the expensive chairs placed on the lawns. The sprawling grounds belonged to a famous park just outside of city. Radhika had proclaimed it utterly perfect and beautiful and "the most romantic place we could ever get married".
In all honesty, he couldn't care less. It wasn't as if Radhika was a bad match. She was quite pretty, vivacious, and friendly. His parents liked her, and although Anjali had been very surprised when he'd picked her, she'd quickly swallowed any feelings of unease and thrown herself into wedding preparations.
His father, he knew, didn't really care who he picked, so it was alright from that angle as well. But there was one little thing that niggled constantly at the back of Shlok's mind.
The thought plagued him day after day, every day, and he just couldn't stop thinking about it. She wasn't Astha.
Radhika was great, but she wasn't Astha. Astha was different. Astha was inexplicable. He hadn't let himself think about Astha since that night but, he decided; now he could.
Shlok didn't quite know how he felt for her, but judging by the fact that he thought about her everyday and regretted quite completely his last-minute decision, the feelings were strong.
He had meant to pick her. When she'd walked down that red carpet towards him, he'd felt nervous, something he'd never, in all his life, felt towards a girl.
She had looked beautiful. Even at that point, he was all for asking her. And then he'd started and he had remembered everything that had seemed to melt into the background during the show. The simple fact that he was Shlok Agnigotri and she was Astha Kiloskar. He had disliked her immensely from the first moment he met her, and even after, he hadn't thought about her very much.
There was just so much history behind them. What would the rest of the people in his life say? His friends, Agnigotri relatives, even to some extent, his parents? What would they all say to her? Would they treat her the way she deserved to be treated?
After all, marriage was permanent.
When he asked Radhika to marry him, he thought he was doing the right thing. He thought he was protecting Astha from the possible wrath of those who still believed in class status, those who still counted the fact that she was just daughter of government employee, those who would hold her middle class upbringing against her.
And he wasn't quite sure he wasn't one of them. He wasn't quite sure if he could forget her heritage, her family, her friends.
Marriage wasn't just a joining of two people, it was a joining of two lives. Their lives would undoubtedly clash.
A month ago, he hadn't thought about the possibility that maybe their lives would adapt. Maybe their lives would mold. One month ago, he realized suddenly, he had been a coward. His father would sneer in disgust at the thought.
Shlok had rejected the girl he felt nervous around, the girl he couldn't stop thinking about, the girl that gave him a sick swoop in his stomach because he wasn't sure he could handle it. Now when he looked back on it, Shlok felt sick that he could even do something like that.
"We'd appreciate if you gave an interview, Mr. Agnigotri," someone interrupted his thoughts. He glanced up in surprise and was unreservedly puzzled when a cameraman looked back at him steadily.
"You know, for the wedding," the cameraman explained.
"Oh, right, that," Shlok, who had for the first time properly allowed himself to think of Astha, had in the process completely forgotten about the important upcoming event.
"Yes?" the cameraman prompted, positioning the camera on him.
"You know," Shlok suddenly said, "I'm not getting married. I'll be right back."
Abruptly, he stood up, leaving behind a bewildered cameraman. He didn't know where Radhika was, and telling her that the wedding was off was something he was a little apprehensive about, but he wasn't going to choose the spineless, cowardly, gutless way out again. This time he would be strong. This time he would listen to his instincts.
He combed the lawns in desperation, but there was no sign of Radhika. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Shlok!" He spun around.
"Mother," he acknowledged.
"Why in the name of Merlin are you not getting ready? Your wedding is in a scant hour and a half! There is just so much to do. And with all these reporters around, it just makes it more difficult. These are the times I wish we weren't a high-profile family," she chuckled.
"Mother." Shlok hadn't heard a word of what his mother had said. His thoughts were wrapped (quite literally) around Astha. Astha was the one girl he hadn't really done anything with on the show.
Sexist as it was, he couldn't help but think, save the best for the last.
And now he'd lost her. He'd lost the only one he had remotely cared about. He had to get her back. Even if it meant pulling the hero stunt like that blasted movie heroes.
"Shlok? Have you been listening to me?" his mother suddenly demanded.
"No," he replied honestly, "not a word."
She looked taken aback. "What in the world are you thinking about?"
He took a deep breath. He might as well spit the truth. "Astha."
His mother's look was one of astonishment and admonishment mixed. "Well," she frowned, "now is hardly the time to be thinking of her. You had the choice, Shlok, and you picked Radhika. Please don't tell me you aren't happy with your decision."
"I'm not happy with my decision," Shlok muttered.
It was at times like these that he felt he truly was the spoiled brat that everyone accused him of being. But it was different now, wasn't it? He'd realized his mistake. That was the first step, wasn't it? His mother didn't seem to think so.
"Shlok," she shook her head, "You chose Radhika over Astha. You must live with the consequences. And you know a marriage is permanent. I'd suggest you learn to like it, and forget about past mistakes."
"This is the mistake," Shlok unexpectedly decided he was indeed going to go through with something, although it wasn't the marriage. "And I'm off to tell Radhika that it's not going to happen. I'm going to correct it."
He left his mother looking aghast behind him, not even waiting for a response. Shlok felt reckless as he barged into the dressing rooms. Radhika was standing there instructing some other women he didn't know on how exactly she'd like her make-up done.
Shlok pitied her, but mostly, he cursed himself for doing what he was about to do. And that was breaking two women's hearts.
**
Astha came back from her brisk walk in the warm weather feeling refreshed. It had cleared her thoughts and temporarily taken her mind off of him. She'd even bumped into her neighbor, Ajith, walking his dog and the two of them had chatted for a few moments. Ajith was single. Who knew what could happen? Maybe Sam was The One.
She'd spent one month pining after Shlok. It was definitely time to move on, and time to grow some courage. With these thoughts in mind, Astha was completely unprepared for the sight in front of her when she walked into her house.
Standing in front of her was the man she was about to forget. The man she was about to erase from her memories. Shlok Agnigotri himself. She couldn't help it. She screamed.
He looked panicked. "Astha, I didn't mean to upset you," he began. T
he Astha Kiloskar of old came roaring back. "Oh, that's rich," she snarled at him. "Well, you are upsetting me right now. I'd suggest you leave if you want to rectify that."
He looked downcast, and then looked up to meet her eyes. Try as she might, she couldn't look away at first. It took her a good ten seconds to finally be able to pull away.
"What do you want?" she finally ground out.
His answer was simple and unexpected. "You."
Her heart leapt at the word, but her mind was doubtful. She couldn't take him back. Not after what he had done to her ego. Not after a rejection on national television.
"I'm not some property, Agnigotri," she replied quietly, dangerously.
Rapidly he had become Agnigotri again. The Agnigotri of old had risen in her eyes, just as the Astha of old had leapt up within her. He was still that sodding nancy boy who cried for mummy and daddy when things didn't go his way. She was still the egotistical, uncompromising stubborn little girl who simply couldn't let defeat reach her.
He moved closer, and clasped her hands. She pulled away as if she were burned.
"Don't touch me."
"Okay. I won't."
A part of her was surprised that he was agreeing so readily. She tried another tactic.
"Get out."
"No."
In painful resignation she sat down on her couch silently, waiting for him to explain himself. He knelt on the floor in front of her and she couldn't help but think just how cheesy this whole thing was when she suddenly remembered. "Aren't you supposed to be at your own wedding right now?!"
He looked uncomfortable. "Yes," he answered softly. "But I called it off."
Out of all the things she possibly expected, this was not one of them. Mouth open in shock, Astha switched on the television to confirm his story.
"We are the first to bring you this unexpected piece of news," a reporter was shouting into the television, "the wedding between Shlok Agnigotri and Radhika is off! Yes, that's right, the wedding is no more."
Astha turned it off and stared at Shlok, still unable to say anything.
"I know," he began awkwardly, "that that's a bit unexpected." "
You broke her heart," Astha whispered, looking pained. "You broke her heart."
Shlok's own heart swelled with appreciation for the woman in front of him. Her first thought wasn't about the two of them, it was about Radhika and he knew that the two of them hadn't even gotten along that well.
Astha was white. Shlok Agnigotri, heartbreaker.
Not only had he turned her down, he'd strung Radhika along like a puppet for his sick plans.
"I can't believe you."
"I didn't break her heart," Shlok explained gently. "When I told her that I couldn't go through with this she knew. While she was understandably upset, some part of her knew all along that I didn't love her and she didn't love me."
"Of course she loved you!" Astha cried. "You dolt! She spent so much time just moaning about you and talking about you and wanting to be with you and she thought she was your soul mate and"
"She was infatuated with me," Shlok corrected. "That's not what love is about. Lovem you have to work at love. And, Astha, though it pains me to say this," he stopped to take a breath and Astha's heartbeat inadvertently doubled, "I think that I"
He trailed off. He wasn't ready to say it and she wasn't ready to hear it. But they both knew it, and they both knew it was true. It was mutual.
"How did you get here anyway?" she changed the subject.
Shlok grinned. "Through a friend of yours. She wasn't very willing to help me, though." Astha laughed.
"Which friend?" "A certain Gauri. She threatened to castrate me."
Astha tensed. She had half-thought that Shlok had come back here because he realized what an idiot he'd been and now he wanted to fix that. She was definitely not going to agree to the scheme, but what if said scheme wasn't even on his mind?
"Astha," he soothed, as if sensing her distress, "I've come here to apologize. I never meant to do that. I wanted to ask you."
"But you didn't," she reminded, not unkindly, her initial hatred towards him slowly seeping out.
"Look, I'll get you something to eat, or drink, I feel like a bad hostess."
"I'm hardly a guest," he laughed bitterly.
Astha was inclined to agree. "But still, if you want anything."
"No, I'm fine," Shlok reassured her. "I've got to tell you the things on my mind. I mean, whether we're discussing something silly like, I dunno, bedspreads or something like botany or even this, you've always been the perfect person to converse with. You're so intelligent."
She didn't say anything, and if he'd asked her to, she wouldn't know what exactly to say. How were you supposed to respond when the man who rejected you in front of a million people came back and told you that you were intelligent and he wanted you back? That didn't happen in romance novels. In those novels, that man didn't reject you. He chose you and kissed you and made sweet love to you and your life was just heaven.
Real life, unfortunately, was a genuine disappointment after such fantasies.
"Astha," Shlok finally continued, letting his words sink in, "I made the stupidest mistake that night. I'm a right arse and I deserve to be castrated. See, I'm even agreeing with Gauri," he joked half-heartedly.
She had to crack a smile.
"I was a coward," he said softly. "I wanted to tell you that night how I felt but I couldn't. I couldn't because I thought everyone else mattered. But in the end all that matters is who's involved, and nobody's involved in my affairs except well, me. And you."
"You're bordering on sappy," Astha reminded him cheekily.
He pulled her up off the couch and grabbed her hand. "I can't believe this women," he cried, "I tell her what's on my mind and she tells me I'm sappy?"
"Only kidding!" she laughed.
"Astha," he took a deep breath, "I'm here to ask you, well, for a date. It won't be as fancy as a date from the Bachelor unless you want it to be and it won't be followed around by the cameras but I just, I just want to"
Astha's betraying heart soared at the chance and cried for her to take it, but there was simply no way that her ego would let her.
"I'm sorry, Shlok," she sighed, "but I can't. I've moved on and I can't come back."
He looked resolute. "It took a lot of courage for me to come here. I knew I'd made the wrong decision, but I had the strength to correct my mistake. Astha, I had to swallow my pride and come back to you. Imagine how that felt, crawling back to the girl that I had rejected. It was so humiliating, such a deep bruise on my ego, but I did it because," he took a deep breath and rushed out with it, "I never thought I'd say it to any girl, but I love you. And so I let go, and I'm here now, and I'm actually begging and this is also a first for me, hideous as it is for you to forgive me."
He looked disgusted with himself.
Astha had to stifle a giggle. "You said you loved me."
He blushed, a soft reddish tinge on his pale face. It was adorable.
"Say it again," she demanded.
"Why?" he looked reluctant.
"Because I need to hear it."
"You're a cruel, cruel woman," he scowled, "but if it means you'll forgive me, I will. I, er love you."
She knew he meant it, although he was reluctant to say it. It was just against his nature to admit something to close to his heart. Astha realized that he had given up a lot to be with her, to rectify that night, and she couldn't just throw it back in her face.
Besides, she really did want to know how it felt like to be carried up the stairs by a roguish young man and thrown on a bed full of rose petals with soft candles lit all around (courtesy of romance novels).
"Okay," she squeezed his hand, "you're on."
And then she promptly experienced her first, proper kiss.
"Many more where that came from," he grinned snarkily, and Astha had to resist the urge to hit him.
"I love you, you idiot," she grinned, getting the words off her chest.
"And when people ask how we met"
"We'll just tell them it was an awfully long story," he finished.
And that it was.
The End.❤️
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Udne Ki Aasha
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