Warning: Long chapter ahead! (If you people don't like the chapters long, please do leave that in a comment below!)
I took a day off cause I wasn't well and ended up writing this! Hope y'all like it!
Chakor gulped. She had been trying to avoid this, maybe because she partly felt it was her fault she hadn't listened to him completely 'that' day. This realisation had hit her like a truck when Yuvi had told her about him having her picture in his wallet... even after all those years.
"We should probably go catch some shut eye, after all, it's almost 12.30, huh?" She sounded unsure even to herself. "We don't want to be late for work tomorrow," she laughed nervously, trying to free her hands and walk to her room. Suraj tightened his grip on her and stood up. She closed her eyes, half expecting him to be angry with her behaviour, but nothing happened.
She felt her hands being freed, only to realise Suraj had now positioned himself right next to her on the couch, and had draped an arm over her waist, pulling her impossibly close. She opened her eyes in shock and looked up at him.
There, right in front of her, was Satan himself.
Suraj Rajvanshi, with a mega watt smile plastered on his face. 'It would have been better if he had gotten angry instead,' Chakor thought, crying buckets internally. She knew this face very well. It was his way of saying, "Either oblige to my command or be shown Hell!"
His smile unwavering, he squeezed her arm. "Daaarling," He said in a tone that sent shivers down her spine, "You forget. I'm your Boss. You're excused for being late."
"You'd really go there?" She squinted her eyes, and squeaked out in a timid voice.
He tilted his head in the most mockingly-innocent way, the smile still plastered on his face, "What makes you think I wouldn't?" He said as he lifted her chin.
"Now, where were we?"
Chakor gulped again. She honestly knew this was coming, but she felt distressed telling him that it was all her fault and she had run away without listening to him cause she believed he didn't love her. If she had listened that day, then maybe, just maybe, their lives wouldn't have been so... bad. A tear escaped her eye, which didn't go unnoticed by Suraj. Thinking he had scared her enough, he let the fake smile drop as he pulled her onto his lap.
Unable to meet his eyes at the moment, she buried her face in the crook of his neck, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I'm sorry," she said between sobs. What was she apologising for? For running away or for avoiding the topic altogether?
Suraj rested his hand on the back of her head, kissing the side. "What for?" He asked softly. He felt her tightening her embrace, but chose to let it slide for now. "I... that day... I..." She had started sobbing again. Suraj remained silent, waiting for her to finish. It pained him to do so, and he almost regretted his decision when he felt his shirt starting to get wet. When he felt like he could take no more, Chakor spoke up.
"When you told me a bit of your past, and stated... h... how hard it was for you to love someone, and that... there... there was a time you felt t... that... you would never fall in love," she started wailing now, and Suraj slowly kept patting her head. "I... I thought you... you didn't love me, and I just... ran away. I'm so sorry, Suraj! T... this is all my fault!"
Somewhere in between, he had broken the hug so as to see her face and maybe calm her down, but she just avoided meeting his eyes, choosing to bury her face in her hands now, instead. Sighing, in a low voice, he spoke, "You know, Chakor, you can't clap with just one hand. If you felt I didn't love you, then most probably, I wasn't clear in putting across my emotions,"
She stopped sobbing abruptly, and looked up as he cupped the side of her face. "So, I'm sorry too, for making you feel unloved." He finished, a weak smile on his face.
Chakor, not knowing what else to do, hit him across his chest, before finally pulling him into an embrace again.
"STOP... it's not your fault! It was mine! Stop being so damn kind, I don't deserve it!" She cried into his embrace. This time, he let her do so for a while, for a few minutes that seemed like eternity, cause he was happy, he was glad, cause she was, and still is HIS.
He had known, for a while now, that she still loved him, but he didn't want to believe it, unless the confirmation came from her. He couldn't handle any more heart breaks.
"Does that mean you still love me?" He teased her this time, pulling her up and kissing her cheek. She pouted, her face a tad red, and Suraj felt he could kiss her again, she looked so pretty! He wiped away the tears running down her cheeks, and smiled up at her, raising his eyebrows, urging her to answer his question.
She giggled and nuzzled his nose with her own. "I love you. Always have, always will. I'm forever yours." She closed her eyes and let their foreheads touch. He closed his eyes as well, letting her words sink in. How long had he waited to hear those words?
He was about to say them back, when he felt pair of lips on his own. It was only for a fleeting moment, but that was enough to send shock waves all over Suraj's body. He opened his eyes, clearly surprised, and she smirked at him. He stared at her for a couple of seconds before throwing his head back and laughing.
"Still as daring as ever, I see," he smirked at her.
"Well, I AM Your Woman," she said each word slowly, winking at the end.
Suraj pulled her in for another one.
***
The rest of the day passed by in a blur for the both of them, probably because they didn't meet each other at all. Suraj was out, visiting their company's various other branches, getting to know his counterparts. Chakor was in the office, and Priya had approached her during their break.
"How's Yuvi?" She asked. "Yuvi's good. Made a fuss this morning as well about going to school. He pretended to limp, saying that he was still not fine," she giggled, remembering his antics. Priya laughed as well. "Must have been tough then," she said.
"Not really," Chakor said, a small smile playing on her face as she remembered the morning's events.
Flashback:
"NO! Yuvi can no walk! So Yuvi no go school!" Yuvi had exclaimed, practically RUNNING around the kitchen, flailing his arms like the world was ending. Chakor raised an eyebrow at that.
"Really?" Suraj emerged from behind her, and knelt down to Yuvi's height. "Oh, that's too bad, I thought I would get you ice cream on the way to school." Suraj said, pretending to be upset. Yuvi stopped mid scream, and looked at Suraj with starry eyes.
'The magic of ice cream,' Chakor and Suraj had thought simultaneously, but they were in for a surprise when Yuvi spoke.
"Papa gonna take Yuvi to school?" He asked with puppy eyes, and Suraj, warmth spreading all over him at the high regard the boy held him in, picked him up and kissed him. "Yes, Papa's gonna take you today," he said, feeling proud like never before at the thought of being his father.
**End**
Priya noticed Chakor for a while, before finally nudging her. "What happened?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "And don't lie. It's so obvious something's happened. You're practically glowing, Girl!" Chakor blushed, turning away. "No, nothing happened. You're just imagining things," and she hurriedly walked away, leaving a pouting Priya behind.
Meanwhile, Suraj, Suraj was downright SUFFERING. He had been running around the whole day, meeting up with various people, and he was exhausted. But that wasn't what was bothering him.
Rishab, OhMyGod, RISHAB, he just wouldn't stop smiling.
When he had shown up for work that morning, Rishab had smirked, saying that "Finally the night shift clothes in the back of the car came of use." And after a pause, he had added, "Though that wasn't the kind of night shift they were intended for," and he had left, giggling like a fan girl. Suraj had tried to explain that nothing of the sort had happened, but Rishab Just. Wouldn't. Listen.
Rishab was just so close to squealing like a fan girl that his ship had come true (it had), and Suraj was just as close to throwing him out of the car.
"For the last time, Rishab," Suraj warned, a hand massaging his temples. "Hmm?" He turned toward Suraj, a dreamy smile on his face.
*Snap*
"That does it. I'm not letting you marry Ragini." And Rishab's face took 0.002 seconds to go from happy to horrified. "NO!" he exclaimed, and Suraj hit the back of his head. "I will, if you don't stop smiling like an idiot," Rishab fake sobbed, before a smirk adorned his face, AGAIN.
"So did you tell her you love her at least?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Ye..." and Suraj stopped, remembering last night. "No," he said softly.
"NO?!" And Rishab took the stance of an Indian mom when her daughter refuses to learn to cook. "Why not?!" He screamed, on the verge of going nuts.
Suraj backed away seeing Rishab's new avatar. "I didn't get a chance to," he tried to defend himself. Rishab huffed indignantly, and sat back in his seat.
"Then there's only one thing to do," he said in a low voice. 'Oh no,' Suraj internally screamed. The smirk was back on Rishab's face, and he was rubbing his hands while giggling like a maniac. 'No no no,'
"I have a plan." Rishab announced, proudly.
'F**k no!' Suraj was doomed.
***
Chakor had packed Yuvi's and her basic necessities in two bags, and after picking him up from Kindergarten, she had proceeded to go to the address Rishab had sent her. Yuvi's teacher, a kindly old woman, had smiled at her, like a mother would at her child, and had patted her shoulders.
"Your son was really happy today, telling everyone about his father." She smiled, and Chakor tried to respond, but was somehow unable to do so.
"I've seen you in dark times, child. I'm happy that sunshine has returned to your world," she had said, before smiling and walking back to her cabin. No pun intended, but her words really warmed Chakor's heart. 'Sunshine, huh?' She smiled to herself as she walked with Yuvi to their new home. Suraj had told Yuvi in the morning that they would be coming to his house for a while, and the young boy had questioned why his father lived in a different house. Suraj bit his tongue as he didn't know what to say. He finally managed to convince the lad saying that NOW they would all be staying together, and hence they would all be staying in a bigger house.
Yuvi was more than happy about that, and had spent his entire day waiting to go to his new house. Rishab had left a spare key in the office for Chakor, and slowly, with unsteady fingers, she turned the key in the lock. Yuvi meanwhile, was jumping up and down, and the minute he heard the click of the lock opening, he pushed the door open and ran in... and almost collided with a box.
There were boxes everywhere, which was justified, since Suraj hadn't had time to unpack, mostly because he had spent the last couple of days at her place.
She messaged Rishab that she had reached, and slowly, carefully she made her way through the boxes. There weren't many, since he was living alone, after all. 'But then why is it a 3 bedroom house?' She mused, looking around the huge place.
Rishab arrived shortly after, saying that Suraj wouldn't be coming today since he was working over time. Rishab seemed oddly happy while saying this, which left Chakor confused. He helped them to settle down, and left after making sure they were comfortable.
Chakor tucked Yuvi and herself in to the King size bed in the master bedroom, while wondering about tomorrow. Tomorrow was more or less an unofficial holiday, due to the evening party. It was merely an excuse really, everyone just wanted a long weekend. Since Yuvi didn't have school tomorrow, she decided she could wake up late, before drifting off.
.
.
.
Suraj, meanwhile, was 'working overtime' at Rishab's apartment, binge watching proposal videos on YouTube, as per Rishab's orders. It was 3 in the morning, and he was still wondering about the best way to propose Chakor. Rubbing his eyes and sighing, he felt around the couch for 'The Box'. It had a little dust collected over it, since it had been stowed away for 5 years now, only to be taken out today. Rishab had got it for him, when he went to his place. He ghosted his hands over the leather covering, thinking about tomorrow, or rather, today. Rishab's plan was for him to propose to her during the party.
'How does he come up with such ideas? It almost feels like I have another sister behind me,' he thought idly, thinking about how Ragini had been excited all those years ago as well. He could hear Rishab's snores and he silently glared across the room, into darkness. 'He's snoring like a lion after giving me this assignment,' Suraj thought, irritated, before continuing to watch videos.
He did so till he finally thought of one on his own, and quite happy with his own way, he had decided to finally sleep... only to see the Sun rising over the horizon.
***
The staff were bustling about the venue the next afternoon, going over the decorations and the menu and pretty much everything, AGAIN. Rishab was supervising the work, since Suraj was sleeping back at his place. 'Do they really expect that things will vanish into thin air?', Rishab thought, amused at their behaviour.
'Except maybe food,' he added mentally as he stole another kaju katli. He was pretty excited for today, he could hardly contain himself. Suraj had looked satisfied when he had left that morning, so he guessed that he had something planned for the evening. 'He must have, since he asked me to go get the ring,' he thought. 'Oh well, I'll just have to wait.'
The party commenced a couple hours later, and guests began filling in the venue one by one. Rishab had changed into his three piece suit in between, and boy, he looked dashing. All the ladies were straining their eyes to see if he had a wedding ring on.
"Careful, you might end up causing a cat fight looking so handsome," he heard a woman's voice behind him, followed by a giggle. "You're joking," he laughed it off, turning toward Chakor.
And WOW. She looked gorgeous in that form fitting lilac dress. She had left her hair open that day, with only a single shiny clip to the side. She worn a thin white stone studded bracelet, with matching earrings. Though her get up was simple, she looked elegant and... Beautiful.
'I should have called in secret camera men to record the proposal,' he thought.
"Rishu!" He heard a scream and looked down to see Yuvi a few feet away from him, in dress pants and a shirt and a cute little waistcoat, already a young businessman! Yuvi ran toward him and Rishab did the same, catching him and twirling him around as Yuvi jumped toward him. Seriously, all that was missing was 'Teri meri prem kahaani,' playing in the background.
Chakor giggled at their closeness and looked around. The hall was quite filled up by now, both with their staff members as well as staff members from other branches. Rishab and Yuvi had disappeared into the crowd, but she was pretty sure they were both pigging downstairs.
She walked around in search of some of her own colleagues, and was looking around when she heard gasps from around her, till the hall went silent. She turned back, and it was as if she had been hit by a bus.
There, standing a few feet away from her, was Suraj, looking handsome as ever, probably even more handsome than she had ever seen him, in a formal, but also rugged look.
He wore black formal pants coupled with a light grey slim fit shirt with pulled back sleeves that accentuated his toned body, and completed the attire with a black waist coat. He had left the blazer out, but really, he looked striking. And that half smirk playing on his lips was like icing on the cake, adding to his charisma.
Immediately, people surrounded him, and Chakor moved backward, letting people past her. Frankly, she had yet to regain her composure, since her heart had literally started beating as fast as a race car when she saw him.
"Whew, someone turn on the air con," Priya told as she came and stood beside her. She had worn a long, lightly frilled black gown, with netted sleeves and golden earrings. "You look pretty, Priya," she complimented her. Priya meanwhile, kept looking at Chakor, up and down, till she raised her eyebrows appreciatively. "Bandha hot hai, but you're the bomb, babe!" She winked, and Chakor turned red.
Before Chakor could reply, she felt the room go quiet again, and turned around to see Suraj walking... Right. Toward. Her. She didn't know why, even though he was far away, she felt overpowered by his charisma tonight, and moved a step back, which didn't miss his eyes. His eyebrow shot up, and he gave her a defiant smirk, a challenging one, and Chakor swore her heart just leaped out and ran to hug him. By God, he hadn't even touched her, Hell, he wasn't even close enough, but still, just his look, and there had been tingling sensations all over her body, and her face felt hot, being the subject of his gaze.
"You haven't been introduced yet, right?" Priya suddenly spoke up and Chakor looked at her, confused. And then it hit her. She and Suraj had never met in office. She gulped. What could she tell Priya? I know him, no, I don't just know him, I'm also living in his house right now?
Before she could think of a reply, Suraj was in front of them. He smiled and nodded at Priya, and then looked at Chakor. Priya was about to speak up, when music filled the room. Behind them, people, mostly couples, moved to the dance floor and Suraj turned back to Chakor, the same defiant smirk adorning his lips.
"May I have this dance?" He bowed slightly and held out his hand. Chakor blinked at him, before gingerly holding out her hand. Suraj took her hand in his, and almost teleported them to the middle of the dance floor. He held her waist with one hand, while she rested hers on his shoulder in the traditional salsa pose. Chakor looked around at the numerous eyes staring at them. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. It was at this time that Rishab came up with Yuvi (they had been pigging, like Chakor guessed!)
"Suraj!" Chakor squeaked as he pulled her closer. "You look beautiful today, Love," he said in his deep voice and she looked up at him, all her attention on him. And all the other people were forgotten as they stared into each other's eyes, lost in the deep abyss.
'Hope fully they don't end up doing any PDA business,' Rishab thought, looking at them from a distance. He was actually so happy he could jump 10 feet in the air, but some force, namely gravity, kept him rooted to the ground.
*Tu naseebo sa, mere haatho pe
Shuru se likha hai,
Mera haq hai tu, aasmano se
Mujhe jo lagta hai*
He twirled her around, before pulling her back toward him, both his hands on her waist now.
*Tere kadmo pe, jahan rakdo main
Kabhi jo kahe tu
Koi shaq ho tho
Aazmaalena kissi din mujhe*
In one swift motion, he lifted her up and circled the place he stood.
*Maujood hai har saans mein
Tu har dafa yeh tay hai
Tu hai dawa ya dard hai
Par hai mera yeh tay hai,*
He brought her down and moved forward two steps, then moving backward one.
*Maujood hai har saans mein
Tu har dafa yeh tay hai
Tu hai dawa ya dard hai
Par hai mera yeh tay hai*
And then he abruptly stopped, along with the pause in the song. He knelt down and pulled out the leather box, opening it and thrusting it toward her.
There, lay the most beautiful ring, a thin platinum one, with two white diamonds on either side of a blue one.
He looked up at her and before he could say anything, she collapsed beside him on the floor and held his hands, on the verge of tears.
*Tere bin jee na paunga
Sach much marr hi jaunga,
Yeh tay hai,
Yeh tay hai.*
Members Lounge
CID
