Arohi's pov

By the end of the race, the father daughter duo were laughing together.

In the light of her victory, Mia seems to have forgotten her dislike for her father.

And as ridiculous as it seems, Kashinath lost to his five year old daughter.

It is no rocket science to figure out that he lost purposely to let his daughter win.

And to see them laughing together, did some weird things to me.

Kashinath pulled Mia out of water and placed her little wet body on the ground and he himself hauled out of the pool.

That sight was so hot that I kept staring at him.

The water droplets sticking to his body made me want to place my mouth over them and suck them in.

Dear God!

"Take a picture, Arohi. It will last longer," he leaned forward and whispered huskily in my ears making me go all red.

"I wasn't looking at you,"I said hotly.

"I didn't say you were. Is that guilty conscience speaking?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and I cursed myself for finding even that sexy.

Mia was looking back and forth between us with a confused frown.

"Come on Mia darling. Let's go and get ready. Your daddy is taking us to buy the chef hat. And then we will have lunch too from outside. Since you are the winner, we will make your favourite cookies in the evening." I said.

"Yay!" Mia squealed in excitement as she started jumping up and down.

"Last one to reach the house is a little monkey," I declared loudly and Mia started running on her little feet, with me close behind on her heels.

I quickly helped Mia out of her swimsuit, and prepared a hot water bath for her. I stood there, keeping an eye on her when she washed off the pool water from her body.

"Can I have fries when we go out?" Mia asked, as I helped her into a pair of shorts and a crop top. She looked so darn cute in it.

"Let's ask daddy if he could get you fries, sweetie." I said happily and Mia nodded her head neutrally.

Hmmm! Seems like the victory induced truce is slowly fading from Mia's mind already.

"Why don't you go out and wait with daddy, while I get changed?" I asked softly and she looked hesitant for a moment. When I thought she was going to refuse, she agreed after thinking for over five minutes.

"Okay," she nodded head and walked out of her room, and I left to get ready.

Kashinath had asked me to be Mia's companion in the beginning. But that deal was never signed. Instead he had dropped the new marriage bomb on me.

But somehow, I ended up taking the companion role for real.

I don't know anything about Mia's maternal family, but somehow I just knew she didn't know or felt the mother's love just like me.

What made me think so? Was it just my imagination, because I want to shower all my love upon the little girl. Did Mia's mother care for her?

Otherwise wouldn't she have asked for her mother at least once?

All she ever talked about was her maternal grandparents.

Seems like the grandparents were the ones who raised little Mia.

Okay Ally. Stop psychoanalysing things that aren't any of your business and focus on what you are supposed to do, I chide myself and go about my business of getting ready.

For some reason, I carefully applied the eyeliner and mascara and dabbed my lips with some gloss.

Usually I never care. I would have simply walked out after just combing my hair. What am I doing now?

No! I am not dressing up for Kashinath Arrogant Agnivanshi, I told myself firmly.

"Don't go there, Roohi." I told myself, looking into the mirror and keeping the blusher I had taken from my bag, which was a gift from Bani for my last birthday, back there.

Well, I don't really know when my real birthday is. In my certificates, the orphanage warden had filled the date they found me on their doorstep as my date of birth.

And over the years, I had never had anyone to celebrate my birthdays either.

The first time I had my birthday celebrated was after I met Bhumi and Bani.

"Enough self pity for the day, Roohi. Today's quota is over." I told myself, wore my sling bag over my shoulder and walked out of the bedroom.

When I went out, the father daughter duo were sitting at the two corners of the couch, as though they were complete strangers.

So much for the progress they were making! Now they are back to square one!

"Shall we?" I asked and they both looked up at me simultaneously.

"Yeah," Kashinath said and he walked out of the house, with both of us following him.

Once we reached his car, he opened the backdoor for Mia and helped her settle in her car seat, buckled securely.

Before I could get in to sit next to Mia, he shut the door and opened the passenger side door for me, surprising me.

Kashinath Agnivanshi being chivalrous?

What a bloody surprise!

My surprise must have shown on my face because a smirk appeared on Kashinath's face.

"All part of the act, amore. Even for Bhuvan uncle and Shyamala ji, we should appear legit," he said with that annoying smirk of his.

What the hell is amore?

I secretly took my phone and googled the word amore and found its meaning.

It's an Italian word. The literal translation of amore is 'love'. It is also used as an equivalent of the endearment in Italian'.

Did he just call me his love? Oh goodness!

Okay Arohi! Don't get it over your head. As he said, it is all part of an act.

He drove through the beautiful outskirts of Kasauli .

Kasauli is a small hill town in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

He drove us towards the small town a few kilometres from the cottage.

It was not the main part of Kasauli . Kasauli stretches over a total of seven hundred acres of land. And this town was a small part of it.

But it was very lively.

"I know a couple of shops where you can find chef hats," Kashinath said as he unbuckled his daughter and helped her out of the car.

As soon as she got out, Mia slipped her hands into mine as though it was a natural thing to do.. Her trust in me made me feel warm.

I never had someone depend on me for anything. Neither had I had anyone to depend on.

And it feels different to have Mia depend on me for such small things.

I feel wanted! For the first time in my life.

When Bhumi left three years ago, without a single word, it had broken something in me.

The familiar feeling of unwanted and replaceable had woken up again.

I have to think from Bhumi's perspective too. She was helpless. But it didn't lessen my hurt in any way.

And Bani is a bit silent and reserved.

And with Gaurav, it was my own insecurities coming out. How much ever he made me feel special, I had this terrible feeling inside me that whether he will ever feel that I am friendly with him because he is so bloody damn rich!

"If you are done with your daydreaming, shall we move ahead?" Kashinath asked dryly, snapping me out of my depressing thoughts.

I pasted a wide smile on my face and nodded my head.

Kashinath's pov!

I didn't like that shadow that had fallen on Arohi's always cheerful face.

I had gotten used to seeing her smiling face. And for some reason, she appeared depressed for a moment.

That familiar protective streak that had started acting out when Arohi was around, peeked its head again and I had to forcibly push it back to the back of my head, to stop myself from cocooning her in my embrace.

What the bloody hell is wrong with me?

Arohi Sharma! She is a mere nobody. Someone who is going to play the role of my fiance for a limited period of my life.

Maybe it is the perfectionist in me coming out.

What do they say, you have to believe the lie yourself for it to appear legit to others.

Maybe my perfectionist mind is already gearing up for the act, I thought to myself.

We walked into the small shops. The first shop was owned by an old lady.

"Come come. What do you want?" The old lady asked in her broken English.

"Chef hat. Do you have chef hats, Ma'am?" Arohi asked.

The old lady frowned in confusion.

I showed the lady the pictures and the old lady shook her head.

"No here. Look shop at the end," she again addressed Arohi in her broken English.

Some people here don't speak Hindi. Instead they speak in the Indo-Aryan language Pahari.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Arohi nodded with a beaming smile.

When we were about to move out, the old lady handed a toy to Mia.

"For chheli," she said with a smile.

I took out my wallet to pay, but the lady refused. And then she informed me that those were complimentary hand made toys made by some people in their village. It is kept there as a part of a small charity program. Toys for homeless and penniless kids.

I wanted to tell the old lady that my daughter is neither homeless or penniless, but the beaming proud look on her face stopped me from doing that.

"What did she say?" Arohi asked as we walked through the market.

"Some charity organisations pay the villagers to make hand made toys, and they are given to the poor kids who come into the market. That is why the old lady refused to take money for that." I said what I understood from the very little pahari language I understand.

"Oh! That was so nice of her. Maybe once what we came for is done, we could get some things from her shop too." Arohi said.

"Hmmm. We could do that." I said.

Maybe I could look into these charity organisations too.

Why are they giving away toys instead of food for the homeless? Maybe I could do something regarding that too.

I am a part of many charity organisations. Every year, a huge fund is kept aside for charity alone. But I never involve myself directly. It's all done through the charity wing of Agnivanshi Inc.

As we got into the shop at the corner, which the other lady pointed out, Arohi found what they were looking for.

She placed a chef hat over my daughter's head and she looked absolutely adorable.

"Awww. Aren't you the cutest little thing?" Arohi gushed looking at my daughter, and then she took out her mobile phone and clicked a couple of pictures of Mia.

"This one for you?" Mia asked, pointing at a similar looking hat, just bigger in size.

Arohi grinned seeing that.

"We can twin." Arohi declared and kept the hat on her head.

She squatted down and wrapped an arm around Mia.

"Say cheese," Arohi said, smiling widely as she took a selfie photograph of them.

On an impulse, I took out my mobile phone and captured the moment.

I didn't stop to analyse the situation. I just did what my mind told me. But I was discreet enough not to let Arohi know that I captured a photograph of her.

Technically speaking, I was taking a picture of my daughter. Arohi just happened to be in the same frame, I told myself.

I could practically see my conscience rolling on the floor laughing.

"We will take this," Arohi told the shopkeeper and extended a couple of bills towards the older man at the counter.

"I will pay," I said as I forwarded the money myself.

"No. This is a gift for Mia from me," she said adamantly and paid the bills.

"Ladies are always the boss," the older man told me in Pahari, with a toothy grin.

My phone rang at that time. I picked it up seeing it was a call from Alok.

"Yes, Alok." I spoke.

"The Maitras want to arrange a meeting with you."

"What?" I asked in absolute shock.

What the hell?

I had expected them to go the legal way. Try to get custody of Mia. But I didn't expect them to want to have a meeting with me?

Me? The son of their borne enemy?

A/n

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Love,

SF❤️