New FF: Heer's Secret prt22 pg96 Jun9 - Page 11

After the receptionist had told him that a certain female was waiting for him downstairs in the lobby, the first thing that came to mind was Heer. At first he thought that his mind just jumped to the conclusion that it wanted to; the chances that Heer would actually come out of her way to meet with him were slim to none, and he would put money on the latter option.

Just to make sure his mind and ears were not playing tricks on him, he repeated his question, "I'm sorry, but could you repeat that name again please?"

"Yes sir, a Ms. Heer Maan is here to see you," replied the receptionist.

Once she repeated the name Prem was turned into an instant statue, not moving at all, barely even breathing. At first his mind was void of any thought, not a single thing on his mind. Then, in a matter of seconds, or nanoseconds, Prem's mind was swirling with thoughts, pictures and questions…all about Heer, needless to say. After gathering his thoughts he finally spoke.

"Please inform the lady that I will be down in fifteen minutes as I am busy with another matter at the moment. Ask her to wait in the lobby. Also, send up one cup of your strongest coffee – black, no cream or sugar – and send up an additional two shots of the strongest espresso as well. I want those here within the next two minutes."

"Yes sir, right away," the girl finally responded.

Knowing that Heer had actually come to see him was enough to sober him up; but he wasn't taking any chances. After about a bottle and a half of Scotch he needed all the help he could get. He searched through is closet and pulled out something to wear, as the knock came announcing the room service he requested. He grabbed the tray, threw a note at the bell-boy, a large one he was sure, and closed the door. First he gulped down one of the espresso shots that were still piping hot, next came the cup of black coffee, which was strong as hell. As he polished his designer shoes he gulped down the other remaining espresso. He could have gotten people to do it for him, but he didn't have the time. Once the caffeine was in him, he ran to the bathroom. He took a cold shower which helped awaken all of his senses, as if they weren't awake enough already. He shaved at the speed of light, and by what could only be called a miracle, he didn't cut himself. He gelled his hair back and brushed it into place. Once he was changed into the suit and shoes, he put on his Rolex and sprayed some Cool Water. He had all the expensive designer fragrances, but he knew that Cool Water was one of Heer's favorites; at this point he needed all the help he could get.

Glancing at the watch he saw that he had a few minutes left, so he took that time to gather himself. "Come on Prem, buck up! It's just Heer; she is not the Queen of England for God's sake! Get it together! Just be your usual cool and collected self, don't let her see that she rattles you. You can do it." Prem let out a sigh and repeated his little self-motivating pep talk once more.

Looking at himself in the mirror one last time he whispered, "It's now or never," then turned and walked out of the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heer was sitting at the bar of the Radisson Hotel, as she waited for Prem to come down. When she had arrived she asked the receptionist to ring up Prem's room and inform him that she was here to see him. She smirked to herself and gave herself a high five in her head. He didn't know that she was coming because Heer didn't call him first. He hated to be caught off guard and by surprise, but since he hated it, naturally, Heer loved it. The receptionist informed her that Mr. Jhuneja would be down in fifteen minutes, and that she should wait for him in the lobby.

It had been over fifteen minutes, sixteen minutes and thirty-six seconds to be exact; Heer knew, because every second that passed felt like an hour. When the bubbly receptionist told her that Prem wanted her to wait in the lobby, Heer politely nodded her head and smiled. She glanced at the plush arm chairs that decorated the lobby and decided to not sit there. Instead she went to the bar, she would be damned if she was going to let him lay down the rules and regulations.

Looking at her watch once more she cursed at what was taking him so long. Then, suddenly, with out turning around she knew that he was near by, her spine tingled, even after over four years, her body knew him. The fragrance of Cool Water filtered through the air, it was the scent that she loved most on him, and she knew why he wore it; he was going to use anything he could to his advantage. She turned to see that he was descending the stairs, looking devilishly handsome, head to toe in black...his signature color. When his eyes meet with hers fire ignited in the center of the room, for them anyway.

Heer was surprised at how painful it was to look at him again, after all these years. She had known every nuance of his face, her fingers had roamed every inch of his hard body, her gentle touch lingering over the inch-long scar just above his right eyebrow; she knew every intimate place, yet as he walked towards her, it was as if she had never known him at all.

"Hello Heer," Prem said.

His voice was just as she had remembered it, deep, smooth, and heart wrenching. She tried to hide her body's reaction to the velvet tones of his voice, the tones that she had yearned to hear over the past years.

"Hello," she said as she met his dark gaze briefly, hoping he wouldn't be able to read the guilt that was in her eyes; the guilt of the secret she had hidden for years.

"You're looking good," he said as his eyes grazed once over her entire figure. "Have you put on some weight?" he finished.

Heer looked at him wide eyed, still taking in his dig on her.

"I see that your idea of what passes as a compliment is still rather twisted," she bit out.

Prem raised on eyebrow in intrigue and the corner of his mouth rose in a mock-smile, "I see that you are still as touchy as ever." His gaze fell and rested on her breasts for a few seconds until he met her eyes again, "It suits you. I always did think you were bone-thin."

"Must have been all the stress and frustration of living in a house with you!" she shot back before she could stop herself.

A silence fell between then, and Heer wanted to kick herself for letting him see how he affected her. How she wished she could see Prem with out it doing permanent damage to her well-being, emotionally that is.

She saw Prem frown and put down the drink he had ordered and let out an almost inaudible sigh...almost inaudible. "You are probably right," he said.

His voice was laced with traces of regret. It had caught Heer by surprise, causing her to swivel on her bar stool and caused her to stare at him in disbelief.

"You said you would be down in 15 minutes, what took you so long?"

"My, my Heer, I didn't know you were this restless to see me," he said with a quirked up eyebrow.

"Don't flatter yourself."

"If you insist," he mocked.

"My mother told me why you are in town," she said, waiting for a reaction from him. She watched as something flickered in his eyes, as he shot the rest of his drink back. He remained silent so she continued, "Why did you tell me your parents were dead when we met?"

"It was the easiest thing to do at the time, it seemed simple that way," Prem replied.

"Yes, well lying was always second nature for you wasn't it Prem? Why should the truth matter?!" Heer bit down on her tongue as soon as those words left her mouth because she realized just how much of a hypocrite she was being.

"Believe it or not, I hated lying to you Heer. I thought things would be less complicated then if I had to explain everything."

Heer decided to move on from the subject. What was done was done, there was no going back. "When did you arrive in town?" she asked him.

"A few weeks ago, for my fathers' funeral. I wanted to wait until after the service to contact you. I wanted to see if he left me anything in his will, anything that made it worth staying here," he said.

Something in his voice told Heer that he wasn't completely certain if his father would him left him anything at all. It shocked Heer at how much she wanted to reach out and touch him, hug him, comfort him for what he was going through.

"It must be really hard for you right now?" she asked, her voice full of compassion.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Prem grimaced as she showed such compassion for him and his feelings. He watched as she twirled the straw in her drink with her shaky hands, the uneasiness caused due to his presence was obvious.

'Hard' didn't even begin to describe how he had been feeling these past few days. The hardest thing he had ever done in his life was look her up that afternoon. His pride, his damned pride, had insisted that he would be a fool for looking her up, but in the end his heart won over his pride for just one look at her. He had to see her, he just had to.

"It has not been easy, I'll tell you that much," he admitted, staring into his empty glass.

He felt her shift beside, and had to stop himself from hauling her into his arms and kissing her senseless. She looked fantastic, as she always did. However, now it was different. She had grown into her body, in a way that few women now days do. She was curvy and ripe, more womanly than he remembered her. If only they had met now, with no past there to haunt them. But they did, they did have past; but I wasn't their past that divided them - it had been his.

He had to change the subject.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How is your family? Your father?" he asked, but Heer was fully aware of his need to change the subject.

At the mention of her family a smile came to her face naturally. "Dad, well Dad is great. He is retired now. Enjoying being able to play with...Aar…errm..."

"Golf?" Prem added, unaware of what Heer was about to say.

Heer clung to the accidental life line he had just unknowingly thrown at her. "Yes...yes golf. He plays lots of golf," Heer replied. She could have killed herself for almost mentioning Aarav.

"I know for a fact that your mom is still kicking," he said with a smirk. "I always did like your parents."

The warmth and respect, unmistakable in his voice. It did something to her heart to have him talk about her family like that.

While they had been together Heer had brought Prem home a few times to meet the family. He showed respect and admiration for her parents, and love and adornment for her sisters. They had all loved him, and he had loved them just as much. Of course at the time her family didn't know that she lived with him, or that she was sleeping with him; as far as they knew, Prem and Heer were just boyfriend and girlfriend.

"How about your sisters?" Prem asked again, after a small pause.

Heer's eyes filled with pride and a smile came to her lips. "Ashlesha is in her final year for getting her nursing degree. She works as a student nurse at the local hospital. She is still the biggest fighter for the underdog, she volunteers at a shelter and orphanage in between school and work. Meher...well...she is trying her best at acting. Last month she was a pot plant in a school musical; we were all very proud of her."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes you, what have you been doing with yourself lately?"

Heer didn't know what to say. 'Oh you know, managing my career/business, my family. Did I mention I have also been raising your son for the past nearly 4 years also?' That wouldn't work. "Not much. I run a small antique shop with a business partner Preet Singh, 'Old Treasures' is what we call it."

"Yes I have heard of that place. How is it to work with Mr. Singh?" he questioned.

"He's...he's nice. Preet is one of my best and closest friends." Heer mentally scolded herself for not being able to come up with a better word than 'nice' to describe Preet.

"Are you sleeping with him?"

Heer's eyes shot up and looked at him, her cheeks flaming with heat and embarrassment. "That is entirely none of your business!" she yelled back.

He didn't reply for some time, instead he just looked at her and played with the ice in his cup. After what seemed like an eternity he finally broke the silence, "My, my...you are touchy, aren't you?"

Heer couldn't do this, she couldn't act calm and collected in the presence of Prem Jhuneja; it was time to end this meeting. "I'm not touchy. I just don't see how my private life has anything to do with you."

After another silence Heer watched as Prem took his hand and placed it on top of hers on the counter. "Heer..." his thumb drew sensual circles on her wrist, "...I'd like to see you while I'm here." He took another breath and continued, "I am here for a few weeks and I thought that we could..." he deliberately paused over the words "...catch up."

"Catch up? Exactly what do you mean by that?" Heer asked oblivious to Prem's implications.

Prem remained quite; he knew that the meaning would eventually sink in. Heer was a wild cat in bed, but he had taught her everything she knew, she had been totally innocent before him. He wanted this fling with Heer to quench any and all desire his body had for her once and for all. Prem was sure that his body wanted hers only because it hadn't known that the last time was literally the last time. This time he would make his peace with the death of their relationship. Didn't they say that break-up sex was the best sex; their brake-up sex was long over due, more than four years over due. Prem, for one, was ready to collect payment.

The meaning of the words finally sunk in and Heer was angered but managed to remain calm, "I'm sorry but I gave up being your bed-warmer years ago, I refuse to accept the title once again. I cannot see you; I have no desire in seeing you." She paused for a few seconds before she said, "I am engaged to be married. I'm engaged to my friend and business partner, Preet Singh."

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hey guys...looking forward to comments...what do you think prem will say 😉😉

JAZ