FF: Marriage on the Rebound-Entire FF P.111-3 10/4 - Page 16

don't worry...Prachi is becoming herself very soon! 😆😆

Told you I'd be wrong😆, I'm glad though because now my admiration for Milind has increased considerably, I like him so much more now that I know he's genuine.

Loved the last update kash! The interiors of the aircraft sound breath-takingly beautiful! The plush leather seater, the dim lights, the attendants....oh forget all that- HE OWNS A PRIVATE JET!!! Now I definitely want someone like him *dreaming* hehehe

Milind is a sweetheart...! The last line was a killer- 'what am I here for'! Oh, that was amazing...! He's such a charmer! Wonder for how long will Prachi escape all that! Im waiting for Prachi to open up a bit more...It'll be a delight to see them bond!

Waiting for your next update sweety..! This FF is brilliant..!

CHAPTER 6

'Welcome, Mr. Mishra, Mrs. Mishra.' The young Chinese man who bowed to them surprised Prachi with his personal knowledge of who they were, but it didn't seem to surprise Milind at all.

'My wife is exhausted, Lee,' he said with brisk informality. 'Are we in my usual suite?'

'Yes sir. I'll make sure your luggage is sent up.'

'Thank You.' Milind replied. 'Come on.' Milind took Prachi's arm possessively. "It's very humid here even at 10 o'clock at night. Let's get inside before we melt.'

Prachi was feeling slightly over-awed by all the special treatment as they went in. She had known Milind was important ' after all, he was head of the great Mishra Corporation. But she thought this kind of treatment was reserved for government dignitaries and film stars only!

As they stepped into the lift, Prachi felt she was in danger of wilting. Suddenly, Milind's arm came about her shoulders and held her against him.

'Hang on a little longer,' he said quietly into her ear. 'Then you can have a nice long shower to freshen up before we go in search of dinner.'

Dinner? 'All I want to do is fall into bed,' she told him on a stifled yawn.

'No can do, I'm afraid,' he refused. 'We have a dinner meeting with our Hong Kong branch manager as soon as we both have freshened up. In the eyes of everyone who matters, we are man and wife. And in the role of wife it is your duty to be at my side when I entertain.'

She subsided wearily against him. A small smile touched his mouth as he watched her, but there was no hint of softening. That solid chin of his still jutted out in stubborn determination, and she let out a stifled sigh.

'One day soon I'm going to put a stop to your bullying, Milind,' she promised him on another yawn.

'Really?' he looked at her in surprise. Then he gave a wry grin and said 'Good. I'll look forward to it.'

Their room was a luxurious suite, with beige carpet and creamy damask beige and gold furnishings. She barely had time to take in the spacious sitting room, with its soft settees and elegant dining table, before Milind took a hold of her arm again and walked her through another door.

It was a bedroom, furnished in the same colors but with a huge king-size bed covered with a gold silk quilt.

'The bathroom is through there,' Milind indicated with a nod of his head. 'Go and take a shower, wake yourself up, while I check on the bags.'

Twenty minutes later, wrapped in a white hotel bathrobe, she came back into the bedroom to find that everything had already been unpacked and put away for her. And hanging on the wardrobe was a fresh set of clothes ' yet another display of Milind's peremptory manner. He'd selected a cream linen shirt-waister dress with a brown linen jacket and a brown leather belt. Brown leather shoes were sat neatly to attention on the floor. But it was the items laid out on the bed that caught her attention. Cream silk underwear and a soft, slinky white silk nightdress with narrow fragile shoestring straps with matching gown were draped over the gold quilt.

What the hell'? She wondered in a moment's blank incomprehension, then felt the first rumblings of mutiny begin to bubble inside her. She angrily strode up to the wardrobe and slid the door open. There was row of the most beautiful set of mainly Indian sarees and salwars hanging inside plus three western style outfits and four other nightdresses similar to the one lying on the bed but in different colors.

She started pacing the room and thought angrily that from the moment she's left her aunt and uncle's house, Milind had not allowed her to take a single piece of her own luggage. All of the clothes she had so lovingly bought for her wedding had been left at Shah House and now, in its place she was expected to wear clothes that were chosen by someone who had no idea as to what she liked or disliked. It didn't matter that the clothes were exquisitely beautiful and must have cost a small fortune. She stopped and glared at the nightdress and underwear on the bed.

Milind appeared in the doorway of the bedroom. 'Feeling better now?'

Prachi pushed her hands into the white robe pockets and turned slowly to face him. 'I am not wearing these clothes' she cried angrily.

He went totally still and after a moment's pause he said casually, 'Why? Don't you like them?'

'It isn't a case of like,' she said. 'You shouldn't have discarded my own things.'

'Well, you didn't protest at the time. It seemed you hated the sight of those things and I hated them too. So I got rid of them. OK? And even if it isn't OK it's too damned late. You're my wife now, Prachi, he added grimly. 'Not Neevs'. And things you bought to please him will certainly not please me.'

'But all that money and extravagance, Milind!' she cried.

'Don't trouble yourself about it,' Milind said tightly. 'The 'extravagance' is my problem, not yours. I can more than afford it. Get dressed,' he commanded, anger flashing across his eyes as he watched her sink heavily onto the edge of the bed. 'We still have a dinner to attend'.

There was total silence as he watched her staring at the floor with a dazed look on her face.

'Look,' he continued, turning impatiently away from her, 'if you would hurry up in here, I would appreciate it. Only, I need a shower and a change of clothes myself before we...''

'W-what do you mean?' Prachi gasped, her head jerking up all of a sudden and beginning to feel dizzy with all the shocks he seemed hell-bent on laying on her.

Milind turned back slowly to look at her again, his eyes narrowed and became very guarded. Then he said carefully, 'About what, exactly?'

'Milind,' she breathed, 'I... We aren't sh-sharing this bedroom, are we?'

'Of course,' he confirmed, eyes narrowing even further when the color drained away from her face. 'This is a one-bedroom suite. Of course we have to share it.'

Prachi stared at him in horror. A one-bedroom suite. With only one bed!

'No,' she whispered. 'That's not fair. I've done everything else you've expected me to do, Milind. But I will not sleep in the same bed as you.'

'And why not?' he demanded, sounding so arrogantly surprised that she wanted to hit him! 'There is no sin that I know of in a man and his wife sharing the same bed.'

'In this case there is', she disputed, trying hard to keep her voice as even as his. Sleep with Milind ' close to Milind? She shook her long mane of hair. She just couldn't do it. 'We have a deal, you and I. A deal which involves saving face and nothing else!'

'Exactly,' he agreed, sounding annoyingly calm and logical in the face of her alarm. 'This is the best one-bedroom suite this hotel has to offer. It's the one I always use when I come here. People know me in this hotel, Prachi,' he said grimly. 'How do you think it would look to them if I suddenly asked them for one their two-bedroom suites when they know I've just taken myself a lovely bride?'

She stared at him, suddenly understanding him exactly. In this particular situation, Milind was saving his own face. And she knew that she did not have a single protest she could offer against him doing that.

Milind knew it too. No wonder he was such a brilliant businessman, she thought. The man could cut any argument to shreds without even having to try hard!

She knew he had won the argument. Even so, her sense of pride would not allow him to have the last word.

'Well, I'm too tired to attend a business dinner. So if you don't mind, I will pass on the dinner. I am just going to go to bed whether you like it or not.'

For a moment she saw a look of anger and amazement on his face, and then she saw him take in a tight control on his emotions and a shuttered look come into his eyes.

'Very well, If that is what you want. I will have room service send a tray up. I will be back late, so don't wait up for me.' And then he was gone and Prachi was left staring blankly at the empty space he had left behind.