Early update! Happy reading.

***

"Let's go," Aadarsh who had been standing against the car, heard Ruhaani's voice and turned. She had taken way too much time to get ready than usual.

He turned to her, ready to give her an earful about being late but no words came out. She was dressed in a simple cotton dress but looked breathtaking beautiful.

She had paired a plain deep red colored kurti, that was sleeveless with a pink dupatta with red floral prints that she wore on the side on her shoulder. The kurti had a square neckline exposing her collar bones and skin around her neck, unlike the high collared and the closed round necks she usually wore. Big bright jhumkas adorned her ears. She looked more than nice.

"Are we waiting for something else?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, correcting the dupatta that hung on one shoulder.

"Nope, you have delayed us long enough!" He countered and opened the door of the car. He glanced at her as she sat inside after placing some carrier bags in the backseat. His gaze smoothly glided down the skin on her arm as she collected the dupatta on her lap and shut the door.

It was the first time she had worn a sleeveless dress. It suited her so much. He drove the car out while she focused on playing some music.

He looked at her from the corner of her eyes again. She had leaned forward, to adjust the AC vent of the car in the front. In the process, he got a glimpse of her cleavage. He immediately shifted his gaze to the road and held the steering wheel tighter with his right hand, while the forefinger of his other hand ran over his eyebrow thoughtfully. Why didn't she dress-up like this more often?

The tune of the song filled the silence and was then followed by the lyrics,

Yeh ladka haaye allah kaisa hai deewana

Kitna mushkil hai tauba isko samjhana

Ke dheere dheere dil beqarar hota hai

Hote hote hote pyar hota hai

Irked at the words of the song, Aadarsh pressed the button to move forward to next song.

"it was such a nice song." She exclaimed.

"It was boring!"

Ruhaani huffed and sat back in the seat thoughtfully one played.

Ek ajnabi haseena se

Yun mulakaat ho gayi...

"I heard you have a toothache," Aadarsh initiated the conversation as he halted the car at a red signal. "Let's stop by at Dr Mahale's clinic. It's on the way."

"No, I am fine." Ruhaani demurred.

"No Shit! You have been in pain. Just fucking admi..."

Ruhaani turned to him with widened eyes.

Aadarsh looked at her and then sighed. "I apologize, for my language. I meant that, I know you have been suffering from toothache since like weeks. So what is it? You're scared of doctors? Dentists? They don't bite, just so you know."

"I am not scared. And I think you're scared. You have just been trying to push meeting Badi Bua. I know this is a tactic to avoid it again. We're going straight to her place not any where else." Ruhaani replied.

"Too late, I already took the right turn. And for the record, I am not scared. You're the one who is scared of dentists. You have a problem, you go to the doctor. Simple."

"Then you should stay with one at all times," Ruhaani muttered under her breath looking out of the window.

"What?"

Ruhaani simply ignored him.

Her day had actually started on quite a good note. First and foremost, she had woken up early and totally fresh, despite sleeping late.

Second, she had spent some quality time with both Mukti and Pari and the guilt from last night was gone.

Finally, the most remarkable one was, Abhi sharing his rebound plan to recover from his heartbreak phase. Something he had sat up late in the night and put together with help from the internet.

Abhi's Rebound Plan was as follows:

1. Be the best version of yourself. Look good and feel good.

2. Don't waste time thinking about the person who broke your heart or is the reason you're in the mess. Ignore the fact that you ever had feelings for them. Or at least try to distract yourself every time you find yourself thinking about them.

3. Date yourself. Part of bouncing back from a breakup is relearning how to be single...again. Being desirable. Being happy with yourself. Don't go chasing another relationship immediately.

4. Social Media timeout. So that you don't end up seeing people happy in relationships and begin to cry over your heartbreak.

5. Go outdoors. Go for a walk. Exercise. Try a feel-good-activity.

Ruhaani wasn't sure if the plan would help Abhi. But she had decided to apply it to herself. She had to stop feeling miserable and this could be the solution to her miseries.

She had taken the time to pull out one of the new dresses from her wardrobe, iron-pressed it and donned it. She had even put nail paint on her fingers matching to her dress, which she hardly did on a regular day. She already felt nice about herself.

She hadn't thought of Aadarsh since the morning, which was an improvement again.

She wasn't on Social Media except some professional networking sites, which she opened once in a month. So she was sorted there.

Now, all she had to do was get back to yoga or dance or both. Perhaps she could join Dai Jaan on her morning walks. The only problem was Dai Jaan went for walks at five forty-five in the mornings, that was too damn early. But it was the only good option, given that they had home duties after that.

"Don't worry, Dr Mahale is a very senior dentist. He's going to fix your tooth problem." Aadarsh spoke when she didn't say anything. It was strange for her to be so quiet. Perhaps she was really scared of dentists.

"It's a Sunday, maybe he won't be there. Plus we don't have an appointment." Ruhaani reasoned. She hated going to dentists. She somehow always returned with more pain than before. Plus all the pain in her jaw muscles for keeping her mouth open for too long. She wasn't going to let Aadarsh know that though.

"I think he practices on Sundays too. There is always room for walk-ins." He answered. He wasn't going to tell her that he had already checked the timings and even booked an appointment under false name for a slot ten minutes from now.

They reached their first destination in the next five minutes. Ruhaani looked up at the stairs and then still up at the banner as they walked to the building. It looked like a good clinic.

"Come on, you don't have to be scared." He spoke, getting a kick out of teasing her

Ruhaani narrowed her eyes at him. "I am not scared."

"Then, come on," he said, his hand reaching out to hold her hand.

Ruhaani felt soft tingles spread on her skin at his touch. Gosh, he was just holding her hand and she felt so good. She remembered the Rebound Plan and casually pulled her hand out of his loose hold. She twisted her arm to her back to hold the other end of her dupatta and began walking up the stairs.

Aadarsh couldn't help but notice how her hand moved away. At first, he thought she was purposefully pulling away but then he saw her hold the dupatta and brushed away the thought. She probably had had manage that dupatta. He walked behind her, his gaze on her. The dress fitted her so damn perfectly, he could bet his last contract's profit that it was tailor-made specifically for her.

Upon entering the clinic's common room, he marched up the reception asking Ruhaani to have a seat. But the stubborn defiance that she had loads in her, made her do exactly the opposite. She ambled with him to the counter. There was no way he was letting her know he had planned this visit.

"Hi, uh," he smiled at the young lady who stood behind the reception. "Miss Gupta," he read her name badge.

"Good morning Sir, how may I help you?"

"Actually, my wife has been experiencing some really bothersome toothache. It's just got worse this morning. I was wondering if we can see Dr Kiran Mahale."

"Sir, Doctor has back to back appointments today. Also, Dr Kiran no more practices. It's his son Dr Parag Mahale."

"Oh, uh, um," he turned to Ruhaani who nudged his arm. She titled her head, suggesting they should leave.

"Miss Gupta, we can wait a few minutes. Perhaps if there is a no show, we can be accommodated. I am sure you can help us like that."

Ruhaani forced a smile, resisting her urge to roll her eyes. Aadarsh was totally trying to charm the receptionist. One look at the young lady behind the counter and she knew his charm was working.

"Let me see Sir," she said and looked at her computer screen.

"Let's go," Ruhaani took the opportunity and whispered close to his ear, turning her face to the back, to keep it discreet.

"Scared?" He whispered, close to her ears. Her typical fruity fragrance tantalizing his senses.

She turned her head to look at him. Her fierce brown eyes met his challenging dark brown ones. He raised his right eyebrow by fraction and tossed a smug smile at her. Ruhaani was momentarily bewitched by the blatant display of his mischievous side. They were so damn close.

"Sir, Mrs. Setpal has an appointment in five minutes but she's not here yet. So if she isn't here when her turn comes, you can meet the doctor." The receptionist drew both their gazes and attention towards herself.

"That's wonderful. Thank you so much Miss Gupta!" Aadarsh said wearing a smile. Of course, Mrs. Setpal wouldn't show up because he had booked the appointment under that name.

"No problem, Sir." The receptionist gave him a shy smile. "May I know your name."

"Aadarsh Sehgal. The patient is my wife," he spoke, when he noticed the receptionist writing his name against 'patient name'.

"Oh," she mumbled.

"Her name is Ruhaani, double A."

The receptionist added Ruhaani's name before his.

"Age?"

"Twenty nine." Aadarsh supplied.

"Thirty!" Ruhaani said at the same time.

The receptionist looked between them. "I turn thirty in a week." She said wearing a diplomatically impassive smile, glancing at Aadarsh.

"Sure Ma'am. Please be seated."

"Thanks Miss Gupta, really appreciate your efforts to help us out." He said sweetly and turned to Ruhaani with a smile. Ruhaani rolled her eyes and walked to the chair and sat on it. He had never spoken so sweetly to her, at least not after the marriage. She couldn't remember when he had said so many thank-you-s to her.

Aadarsh's gaze followed her as she sat on the waiting room chair and arranged her dupatta on her lap. It was so damn hard to look away. She looked really nice. The kind of nice that made him want to run his fingertips along the length of her arm and take his lips close to her neck, face, lips and...

He shook his said slightly, like it would help get those thoughts out of his mind. He quietly sat beside her.

"I know you're trying to find an excuse to not talk to Badi Bua. But no matter what we are going to meet her today." Ruhaani spoke up, not bothering to look at him.

She wasn't entirely wrong. A part of him did want to skip facing Badi Bua. A few minutes later an old man walked out of the doctor's room with a hand on his jaw.

"Mrs Ruhaani Sehgal, you can go in now." The receptionist announced.

Ruhaani quickly drew out air through her parted lips, telling herself in her mind, that it wasn't big deal. She got up from the chair and waited for Aadarsh to get up. When he didn't, she turned to him.

"You want me to come?" He asked genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, I don't know the doctor. You know him." She tried to reason. The fact was she needed all the moral support she could get. At the least, having a known face in the room would help.

"I knew the Senior not the Junior." Aadarsh said, getting on his feet, understanding that she was scared. Even if she wouldn't admit it. It was surprising really. Ruhaani was one of the most independent and strong women he knew. For all he knew, she could fight the world alone. Seemingly there were exceptions.

Like dentists and lizards.

"Want me to hold your hand?" He whispered, mockingly.

Ruhaani drew out a sharp breath and walked ahead not waiting for him. He had to stop doing that. That coming close to her and whispering. It did things to her, like sending a wave of anticipation down her spine, like slowing her breath, like making her want more of those whispers and touches. However she felt good that she wasn't succumbing to it. Perhaps this Rebound Plan would work out for her.

Aadarsh followed her in quick strides. They entered the doctor's cubicle, him after her.

"Please have a seat." The doctor said as the receptionist placed a sheet before him and left.

Ruhaani blinked. She had only read about drop dead gorgeous doctors in books. All her life she had never seen one until today.

"Morning, Ms. Ruhaani," the doctor said, his sparkling hazel colored eyes looking up at her. He wore the usual blue dress that healthcare workers wore with white coat over it. His hair had been set back, a light five'o clock shadow on his face.

He turned to Aadarsh.

"Aadarsh Sehgal, her husband." Aadarsh introduced himself, shaking the dentist's hand.

"So Ms Ruhaani, tell me," the doctor spoke up, turning to her with a smile.

Ruhaani wondered what color were his eyes actually. That was the lightest brown she had seen.

Aadarsh cleared his throat. "Ruhaani?" She turned to him flustered and then back at the doctor.

"Actually, I - I have been experiencing a dull ache at the back of my jaw. It comes and goes. Almost always there when I eat something hard or sharp."

"Hmm, any previous history?"

"Uh, no not as such. I suspect it's a wisdom tooth erupting. I had similar pain about two years back, at the other side, it resolved on its own over a period of time."

"Is the pain intense as the previous?"

"No, it's a bit intense this time." She answered honestly.

"Okay, let's have a look." The dentist spoke scribbling something on the sheet before him. He got off his chair and requested Ruhaani to move to the dentist chair.

Aadarsh watched on, as the man adjusted the seat's height for her.

"Comfortable?" the dentist asked.

She nodded. Aadarsh noticed her fingers hold her dupatta. Yeah, stupid dress to wear for a dentist visit.

"Please indicate the points where you have pain." The dentist spoke sitting on the stool close to her. Aadarsh eyed the distance between the stool and the dentist chair. It seemed too less.

Ruhaani tilted her head and pointed to the points under her ear and along the jawline.

"Any discomfort on the ear?" the man asked her.

"Not really,"

"Okay," he said, wearing a glove. "May I?" He asked taking his fingers closer to her jawline.

"Yeah," Ruhaani answered softly and the dentist pressed two fingers along her jaw probably checking for a swelling or sore point.

Aadarsh's eyes drifted to her hand that curled into a fist at the man's touch. He looked away momentarily. He didn't know why but the whole spectacle annoyed him.

The inspection went on for a while. The dentist was cracking lame jokes as he asked her to open her mouth. He was talking about her oral hygiene practices but was smiling like he was freaking flirting with her. What was more irking that she was smiling, while pink glazed her cheeks!

Yes, the dude was handsome, but she was behaving like a freaking teenager. It wasn't hard to tell that she was totally charmed by his looks. She literally was tongue tied, staring at the man when he had been asking her about her symptoms. She didn't even get so flustered around him, and she claimed to have feelings for him.

Aadarsh restlessly tapped his foot as he saw the dentist probe her mouth with some instruments. The man was doing everything so slowly. Asking too many questions, making too much conversation.

She let out a moan and winced.

"Hmm, seems like an impacted wisdom tooth." He murmured. "Just a few seconds more," he reassured her.

She flinched again, clutching onto her dupatta. Aadarsh straightened up on his chair, peering at them.

"You'll be fine," The dentist spoke removing the instruments from her mouth.

"Can you open your mouth wide and look slightly up. No just tilt it back,"

Aadarsh fisted his hand and pressed the fist against his mouth. He had fucking not seen Ruhaani's mouth with so much interest as the dentist was doing at the moment. His gaze went back to her. She laughed as the man said something while asking her to take a break and close her mouth. Did she even have a clue how her body shook as she laughed? Did she not realize a man was freaking towering over her? Was she so dumb?

"What's the diagnosis?" He ended up asking, walking to stand behind the doctor. He couldn't just sit on the side and watch.

"It's seems like an impacted wisdom tooth. Happens when the tooth doesn't get the right amount of space to grow, or is not angled properly. You can get an X-ray done in the next room. Once I have a look at that, I can confirm the diagnosis and recommend the course of action. But Ms. Ruhaani I strongly recommend you take care of your oral hygiene." He spoke standing up. He stepped away from the stool to throw his gloves in the bin.

Aadarsh quickly stepped in and offered Ruhaani to get up. The doctor who had turned to help her out, smiled and returned to his seat.

As Ruhaani stepped ahead of Aadarsh, he noticed the pink strap of her bra peeping out from underneath the material of her dress. Ruhaani sat in the chair. He slowly moved to the one he had been sitting on. His fingers touched her shoulder and then they quickly slipped under the strap and pushed it under her dress.

Ruhaani immediately turned to look up at him, realizing what he had done. Her face heated up in embarrassment. Her left hand immediately flew to her right shoulder to make sure the strap was not displaced and visible.

She gazed at him. He turned to her and nodded to give her a silent reassurance.

She looked away from him, at the doctor who was writing something on the diagnosis sheet. Her cheeks were hot and her heartbeat abruptly louder.

Suddenly the man on the other side of the desk was no longer having her attention. She may be looking at the dentist but her attention was on the man her heart had been pinning after for days.

About two hours later, they were on the way to Badi Bua's home. The doctor had confirmed that it was a wisdom tooth after analyzing and recommended a tooth extraction for it, because it was impacting the tooth next to it, causing the pain. They had scheduled a follow up three weeks later. The doctor had given a prescription of some mouth wash and gel to soothe her gums in the meanwhile.

Out of the blue, the tension between them had made a reappearance in full form. Neither of them spoke. It was just the music, which neither even paid attention to.

Aadarsh didn't know why he felt what he had felt. It had been tormenting to watch the dentist talk to her nicely and more so to see her smile, blush and respond to him.

The dentist was doing his job. Yes, he was being charming while at it. What pissed him was how she reacted with a chuckle to his not so funny comments and smiled at everything the man said. She was clearly enjoying the man's attention. It pissed him off.

He hated that. Even he didn't get all that from her despite being the man she claimed to have feelings for, despite being her husband.

'Not like you did anything to deserve it,' a voice in his head, gave him a reality check.

Only he knew how badly he wanted to taunt her for it. But he also was smart enough to know that, like every other time, it would blow up on his face.

He pressed on the honk a bit aggressively, as the signal turned green but the man before him didn't move his vehicle. "Bloody idiot!" He muttered.

Ruhaani turned to glance at him and then looked back at the road. Every time she decided to stay away from him, a force pulled her strongly towards him. He could show all the indifference he wanted, mock her, ignore her but at the end of the day he cared for her.

He didn't have to correct her dress. But he did. He didn't have to drive her to a dentist, but he did. He didn't have to check on her after he knew she had a bad day, but he did.

He confused her. At one end, he made her believe that there was something, something special between them. Then on the other end, he went back to acting like a jerk, running away from her, hiding from her feelings

"I told you, I am not scared." She finally found the courage to speak and put to an end the awful silence between them.

"Yeah, I saw that. I am sure you're looking forward to your next appointment." He muttered.

Ruhaani turned to him a bit taken aback by his words. "What do you mean?"

You fucking enjoyed the man flirting with you while he was checking your mouth. He took a deep breath. He couldn't say that. He shouldn't say that. It would piss her off and was rude and would mean nasty damage. She didn't deserve that.

"I mean that... you were not scared. Now, I know." He muttered, covering up.

"Are you okay?"

Aadarsh's eyes moved to her. Was his annoyance so evident?

"Yeah," he answered.

"No, you're not." She said looking at him carefully. "Aha, You're worried about facing Bua."

He didn't refuse or accept her discounting. He was worried, but because of the way he felt. He shouldn't be feeling the way he was feeling in that moment.

He shouldn't be thinking so much about her. She shouldn't be occupying about ninety percent of his headspace. Nothing was okay.

About twenty minutes after, they were entering the lift that rode up to the floor Badi Bua stayed on. Ruhaani entered first and stood against the back of the lift. Aadarsh stood against the side. The doors were about to close when two men entered the lift. The first stood against the other side engrossed in his phone while the other entered slowly his gaze lingering on Ruhaani.

Aadarsh shifted and stood in front of Ruhaani such that he covered her completely, obstructing the man's gaze. Ruhaani blinked, tucking her hair behind her ear. This was why she hated wearing fitting dresses. She got a lot of perverted looks. The man's gaze was lewd, anyone could tell.

Her gaze fixed on Aadarsh's back, and then lowered to his hand as he fisted it. The shameless man shifted on the side, moving to the corner of the lift.

Ruhaani gulped, her hand about to reach her dupatta to put it on the other shoulder. But she didn't have to. Aadarsh shifted too, stepping back, so that he stood next to her, covering her again from the man's view.

Ruhaani looked up at Aadarsh, his jaw muscles were tensed. He was clearly angry. He threw the man a threatening glare. She gently held his arm afraid he would drive his fist into the man's face. He turned to look at her, at the same time the door opened on the floor they were to get out at.

They walked out, not before Aadarsh turned to give the man a threatening glare, again.

"Thanks," Ruhaani whispered, letting go off his arm.

"You don't have to say that," Aadarsh mumbled as he rang the doorbell. A storm was brewing inside him. He was feeling things he shouldn't be feeling. His instinctive behavior was freaking him out.

***

Ruhaani had always read about how beautiful the towns nestled in the Himalayas were. She had seen a lot of pictures of Manali online. But nothing compared to what she saw with her own eyes.

On the travel agent's recommendation, they had started from Delhi on Thursday night instead of the Friday morning. Initially, Aadarsh was going to book them on the aircraft that flew from Delhi to Kullu which saved them seven hours on traveling. However, everyone else wanted a road trip. So a comfortable tempo traveler had been booked for the eight of them.

The journey was supposed to be ten hours long, however had been an hour more than that. But the exhaustion form the traveling was gone when she witnessed the beautiful scenery of the gushing River flowing between the valleys.

Ruhaani hugged herself as she stood in the balcony, watching the river.

Manali was quaint yet bustling town in the stated of Himachal. It's steep slopes were blessed with lush greenery in the form cedar and deodar trees. There were also the occasional apple orchards. The mountains had just bid farewell to the snowy winters, however the traces of the goodbye still lingered as snow caps on the various mountains around.

It was the most beautiful landscape Ruhaani had ever seen. She wasn't a fan of the cold air but the mountains seemed to be changing her mind.

There was a light drizzle early in the morning when they had reached. The kids had slept through most of the journey. In fact almost everybody had slept. Aadarsh and her had taken turned to be awake through the journey, although the driver was very professional and had driven safely.

A hollow had been forming between Aadarsh and her. He didn't ignore her, or behave coldly, yet he seemed distant, since the day they had gone to see Badi Bua. Or it could just be in her head. Due to the coming vacation, her work at office in the past few days had been hectic and then there was going shopping in the evenings with Ashvi and Shelly Bua. She had to buy some good winter clothing for the kids and mountain shoes for herself. They hadn't really gotten time with each other.

That had changed on the way to Manali. In the first two hours of the journey there was singing, there was chatter and they played a lot of games. Nirvan had sat next to her. But two hours later, Nirvan and Aadarsh had exchanged seats when Abhi had called Nirvan to the front.

For sometime they had both sat next to each other sharing an ear phone listening to old songs while Pari slept in his lap. The man refused to let her sit on the seat by herself. She had then dozed off against his shoulder, which she had realized only when she had woken up when the driver had stopped at a dhaba to have a tea and use the washroom.

In the second half of the journey, she had convinced Aadarsh to catch up on his sleep reassuring him that she was awake. She had taken Pari from him onto her lap and he had finally dozed off for a bit.

The day had actually seemed so long. Everyone was excited. They had covered local sightseeing through the day. They had started the site seeing by visiting the famous Hadimba Temple where Abhi couldn't stop talking about this Bollywood movie whose major chunk was shot there.

"Bhabhs, we are seeing the pictures we clicked today, come on in!" Abhi spoke opening the net door of the balcony and peeping out.

"I can go back home and see the pictures, but this view..." she took a deep breath. "This air, I won't have this in Delhi."

Abhi smiled and stepped out and stood beside her. "You know this town used to be so much beautiful before now, it is pretty commercialized!"

"Yes, this is the third time since the morning you are telling me this." Ruhaani smiled.

Abhi smiled sheepishly, "When I first came here, it was my first trip from college. It was late October. We experienced the first snows. That feeling, that beauty, that experience was one of a kind."

Ruhaani smiled. "This is one of a kind feeling for me. The beautiful mountains, the gushing River, the cold air and hot chai." She raised the cup in her hand. "I have always wanted to be here and now I am. It..." she let out a deep breath unable to find the right words.

Abhi beamed at her. "It was your choice, wasn't it?"

Ruhaani grinned and winked. "You will never know."

"Oh, that was all the hint I needed. Okay, so I will leave you to your..." he turned to the view of the far away lofty peaks of mountains and the river flowing just beyond the road down, "view gazing."

"Thank you. And Abhi, please make Pari drink some water. She never asks for it until she's parched."

"Yes, Bhabhs. Chaachu on duty!"

Ruhaani smiled and turned her gaze back to the flowing river. Life had never felt so peaceful before.

***

Aadarsh watched Ruhaani as she begged Abhi to come for a night stroll with her. Abhi was already in bed, wrapped in the blanket, playing cards with Ashvi, Shelly Bua and DJ. The kids were watching some Disney movie on the tv in the adjacent room.

Aadarsh had booked two luxury suites, that was four rooms in total. But due to some over booking they were given one river facing suite, one luxury room with twin beds and another a standard room. The good part was they were all on the same floor, even if two rooms apart and the manager of the hotel had promised to shift them into another suite the following day.

Shelly Bua wanted the suite. Dai jaan was sharing room with her. While the kids were placed in the connecting room. He and Ruhaani had hence taken the standard room for the night.

"People please, we haven't come to Manali to stay in the room." Ruhaani said with a sigh. They had just come back after having dinner at a famous restaurant.

"It's dark outside, Bhabhs. Not like you can see the view." Abhi argued.

"Yeah, plus we have been walking so much today!" Ashvi added.

"I agree. You should take some rest." Dai Jaan spoke up.

"Or not. It's their honeymoon, remember." Shelly Bua remarked with a chuckle. The others all laughed.

"A honeymoon we hijacked and made a family vacation of." Ashvi jested.

"And I thought this could only happen in movies like Hum Saath Saath Hain!" Abhi chuckled.

Ruhaani sighed and turned around dejected. Her gaze met Aadarsh's eyes.

He sighed and got up. "I am going go find some nice hot dessert, anyone up for it?"

"Bhabhs!" Abhi nominated Ruhaani.

Aadarsh turned to Ruhaani with a questioning look.

"Provided we are going walking," she put forth her condition, folding her arms.

"It's going to be a short walk." He bargained.

"Done." She said, rushing to the adjacent room to grab her pullover.

"Take your room key, Bhai!" Abhi reminded him with a wink.

Aadarsh gave him a pointed look, muttering, "Shut up!" He didn't have to tell him that it was already in his pocket. Like he didn't feel the need to let him know that they were actually going for a walk, not what he was thinking.

Abhi raised his phone gesturing Aadarsh to see his.

Aadarsh pulled out his phone from the pocket of his trousers. Abhi's text message popped up on his screen. "Be back before clock strikes twelve, Cinderella. We have a cake to cut here."

Aadarsh looked up at his brother and rolled his eyes.

"Abhi, your turn!" Shelly Bua called for his attention.

"Let's go, before one of them realizes we are going out and decides to tag along." Ruhaani said in a hushed voice, referring to the kids, as she emerged from the other room through the connecting door. She now wore her black warming pullover, the hoodie covering her head and ears.

Aadarsh grabbed his coat and walked out of the suite.

"You know, you could have just asked me to come along instead of begging that lazy ass." Aadarsh spoke, wearing the black coat.

"Yeah, and give them another chance to tease me." Ruhaani mumbled. This was the third time they had been joking about their apparent honeymoon. Earlier in the late afternoon when Aadarsh had said he wanted to nap for a while, they all had urged Ruhaani to go too. She had escaped into the balcony to find some peace. "And hot dessert? Who even says that?"

"No person in the right mind would have a cold dessert in this weather." He justified as they made their way into the small lift.

"Wouldn't put it past you!" Ruhaani remarked. "Don't you need anything to cover your ears, head?"

"It's just fifteen degrees out there. Not a negative digit." He deadpanned.

"Yeah, but still. It's chilly." She shrugged.

"...and you still want to go out for a walk." He stated with a touch of amusement.

"That's what tourists do!" She reasoned stepping out of the elevator.

"Mall road? We could take the hotel cab to start of the mall road and walk to the other end of it." He suggested.

"No, we'll just walk out and explore, we can walk along the river." Ruhaani said as they stepped out of the hotel.

"We don't even know what's there." He argued, eyeing the narrow road that ran up the hill.

"That's what exploring means, right? Come on," Ruhaani said walking uphill.

Aadarsh looked at her for a few seconds and started following her trail. Ruhaani's enthusiasm was surprisingly refreshing. It was like she wanted to see every bit of the town in their short trip. She was totally smitten by the riverside.

While the others had been busy taking pictures and videos with them in the frame, Ruhaani was only focused capturing the landscape. He would have never guessed that Ruhaani was so passionate about traveling.

"Ruhaani, walk on the other side," he instructed as he saw her go towards the edge of the road to see down at the riverside.

"I know, but I can hear the river better from here. "

A bike ran up the road.

"Get to the other side Ruhaani," Aadarsh ordered.

She sighed and walked across the road to the safe side. "You are no fun. That's why I didn't ask you to come with me."

"Be glad I came."

"Oh, thank you Mister Aadarsh Sehgal for taking the pain to move your feet for my sake. I shall forever remain indebted to you for this kindness." She bowed slightly after her exaggerated reply and then turned around walking up.

"What's happened to you? Ate something fishy?" Aadarsh asked grinning at his clever pun, cause they had eaten fish sticks for lunch.

Ruhaani smiled. "You're getting better at conversational skills. Keep it up!" She said loudly and trekked up the curving slope, ahead of him, with a smile blooming on her face.

His lips slowly curled up into a bright smile and he shook her head. She was absolutely crazy.

• — • — •

Looking forward to read your thoughts on it.

Next : Sunday

Don't forget to vote ☆ on the chapters.

—Anami!♡