The wait was so long that when Vineet finally finalized the date for their meeting, Pallavi was still skeptical. She was hoping for something to come up so that he would reject her once again. She was that pessimistic. It was only after they started searching for hotels that she realized it was happening. Her dry spell was potentially coming to an end.

However Vineet didn't make this easy for her. He would often come up with ludicrous demands that would throw her off. What demands, you ask? This author was too shy to tell. Although one of his decent demands was to meet her without wearing her underwear. Of course she denied because- one, it was her first time with him. Second, she couldn't possibly be comfortable travelling all the way to Delhi without her underwear. In addition, he made a bet for them to strip within ten minutes after entering the room. All of this was making her rethink her choices in men.

Eventually, it was the night before their meet. Naturally, Pallavi was hyperventilating. So much so that she was thinking of ditching the plan altogether but then she requested Vineet to call her.

Perhaps he sensed the nervousness in her voice or he read people minds. He sighed before speaking. "Now I know I make all these wild demands to you but don't take them seriously. I mostly do that to pull your leg, that's all."

"Seriously?" Pallavi asked to confirm.

"Yeah, I mean it. Just do what is comfortable for you only. If at any point you feel you don't want to do it, don't hesitate to tell me. Even if you tell me to stop right when I'm going inside you, I'll stop. We won't have sex then."

"Um, that is highly unlikely to happen."

"I know, I'm just saying in case. See, our motto is to have fun in our own ways tomorrow. So you don't need to do anything because you feel pressured to. Do it only because you want to. Sab chill hai."

Needless to say, Pallavi was at a loss of words after his surprised statement. It was like a huge chip off her shoulders. She suddenly felt liberated. Like she could finally be at an equal footing from him. "Thank you. Now I'm more confident about tomorrow. It will be a fun day."

"That's the intention." He then added teasingly. "Regardless, I'll definitely make you strip within ten minutes."

"Aree!"

"With your consent, cutie. You'll see."

They talked for some more time before calling it a night. Pallavi was glad she called him. She was much more at ease now. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

The next day.

After remaining indecisive about the hotels, they finalised on the one Vineet stayed at one time. The only problem was it's location in Greater Noida and cost. Who the hell charged three thousand for a day?

Pallavi took a cab towards the destination and was the first one to reach the hotel, despite being far away from her place. She took a look around. Dark wooden furniture, expensive paintings, intricate designed interior, exotic aroma- the place screamed luxurious. No wonder the price was hefty. Adhvik would have a heart attack if she ever brought him here. Vineet on the other hand, didn't mind such hotels. Was he actually loaded?

Vineet turned up twenty minutes later. As promised, he came with his black Honda bike. Just seeing him in his black jacket undoing his helmet made her giddy knowing she would be riding that bike later on. Yes, it was one of the requests she had put on him. He even ended up paying up for the room since Pallavi was short of money. She promised to pay him later on.

"That receptionist behaved as if he knew you," Pallavi voiced out what she noticed while they took the lift to the seventh floor.

"Because he does."

She scoffed. "He must be thinking what a player since you came with a different woman last time."

"Such things hardly matter to them. What matters is the money." He grinned then moved closer to her. "I'll let you in on a secret. He actually gave me a discount."

She blinked. "Discount? You mean 2600 rupees is not the actual price?"

"Nah, that's the discount, dear. The real price is three thousand four hundred for one day." He displayed the price with his fingers.

"Damn, do they have golden beds or what in here?" She stated, perplexed. They reached the floor and swiped the card to the room they were given. Although it didn't look like it, by this time her heart was in her mouth by now. They were really doing this after months of meeting and getting to know each other.

The room was more spacious and stylised than the one she went with Umang. The washroom had a bathtub while the room had a dish TV. When she looked at the opposite side of the bathroom below the mirror, she spotted a mini fridge that contained different kinds of canned drinks including beer. Of course the main attraction was the king size bed along with a green leathered sofa set. Vineet slid the curtains to reveal a wall-sized window overlooking the cityscape. He let the sunlight in, thus brightening the room. Atleast the room looked worth its price.

"This is my first time in Greater Noida," Pallavi said as she gazed at the cityscape through the window.

"You can gaze at the city all you want later but first you gotta pay attention to more pressing things... like me," He said, gradually taking her hand and pulling her to his arms.

"Hey!... Of course I didn't forget about you," A surprise giggled escaped her lips when his hands grabbed her ass and sides. She retreated his hand away, smiling. "Already! Thoda tham jao, thodi saans lelo."

"That I was already doing without you... Oh, wait, I almost forgot." Vineet brow raised as if he remembered something. He parted away from her and began fumbling with his bag.

Pallavi nearly froze on the spot when he took the thing out. It was something she fantasized a guy giving it to her ever since she saw someone else's boyfriend do it from the first chapter of this book. Her heart leaped out of her chest as he handed it to her.

A single red rose. 🌹

"I remember how you wanted me to bring a rose. Luckily, I came across a flower shop today and bought one. So, here, for you-"

Something came over Pallavi as she held his face between her hands and stole his lips with hers. The kiss was brief yet passionate as it spoke volumes of her own feelings towards his gesture. If she remembered correctly, she had expressed her desire to grant a rose right before their first date which was four months ago. She never expected him to bring a rose after he forgot so it completely slipped off her mind since then. To think that he remembered despite not being her committed boyfriend was touching.

"Um, sorry, I just kissed like that..." She mumbled sheepishly, looking elsewhere. For a split second, he seemed surprised but then he broke into a small smile saying he didn't mind at all. She gladly took the rose and brought it close to her nose to inhale it. "Thank you. Thank you so much for this."

"My pleasure."

A minute later, he embraced her with the intention to feel her while she hugged him back. He brought his lips near her ear as his fingers grazed her back. "How are you feeling? Comfortable?"

"Hmm, I feel good," She answered, closing her eyes in his arms, never minding the erratic beating of her heart. A few seconds later, he undid her jacket and a few more seconds later, he cornered her against the adjacent wall, facing the window. Soon enough, he took her by her lips.

She closed her eyes, placing her hands behind his neck and kissed him back.

It was a gradual transition after that. The removal of clothes, the little conversations in between, the touches, the chuckles, the playfulness- it was all there. Perhaps the sex chats they had helped. Or the fact that Pallavi had done this with a non- lover before. Or perhaps it was the ease that Vineet possessed.

What was odd yet comforting was she didn't need to hesitate much while showing off her body. Perhaps she was more experienced now but also the fact that Vineet had already complimented her enough whenever she showed her photos. Pallavi did question him about her overweight body once to which he replied not at all. Instead he threw the question back, asking whether she minded his slightly skinny shape. No, I don't mind, she had replied thinking how Adhvik had a body type similar to him, too.

Somewhere in the midst of their make-out, Pallavi expected him to request her to suck his dick like the men did before. But that request never came. Not even once. When she asked about it, he simply said 'You can do it if you feel like. Not necessary'. She was shocked. Not only that but when she tried to flip sides by coming on top of him, he denied.

"Do you feel pressured to satisfy me?"

"N- not really... I, ah... " She tried to utter a reply which was becoming difficult with his fingers skillfully filling between her legs while his mouth was occupied on her chest.

He sucked her bottom lip of her face rendering her senseless. Then withdrew her hand from his erection and raised hands above her head. A smirk played his lips when she averted her eyes away from the state she was in. "Just hold back and enjoy it for now."

Did he like to dominate or what? She thought but her thoughts were soon dissolved by the things he did to her. This was soon followed by missionary. As usual, it pained Pallavi since she was experiencing sex after five months. She hated how she always had to experience it after a long gap and not regularly. Vineet stopped midway without separating himself.

"Eh, what happened?" She asked, her forehead slightly creased with pain.

His gaze hovered over her body before he spoke, "Loosen yourself, Pallavi. You're being too rigid."

"H- how? It hurts!"

"That's because you're tightening your muscles. Take a deep breath, exhale and relax..."

Somehow Vineet was able to ease her out with physical touch and words from which she was able to loosen herself. To her mighty surprise, her pain lessened which enabled his dick to enter her more.

"My God, you're a genius!" She complimented. "Nobody pointed out something like this to me before. They never observed it in the first place to draw that conclusion. I guess this speaks volumes about your experience and observation. Thanks."

"You're welcome, cutie," He smiled. And with that, they proceeded to derive pleasure from each other. It was a long slow session where they would act upon something and take a short break after a while only to end up doing something again.

"Enough, my turn now," Pallavi spoke sensuously, softly biting onto his earlobe. He let go for a split second and she took that chance to flip him under her. Perhaps it was psychological but him not asking her to go down on him only made her want to do it more. She wanted to pleasure him.

He smirked in content after she was done. "The way you did it... I can confirm that your ex definitely misses you in bed."

"Really? I'll take that as a compliment," She smiled as she plopped down next to him. She let out a sigh. "Let's take a break. Aren't you tired?"

"Only a little. You?"

"A little, yeah," With that, they settled down under the covers facing each other. A mischievous smile built up her lips. "You remember how you said about having pillow talks after sex?"

"Yeah, I did and?"

"Then tell me-" Pallavi paused, leaning her head against her hand to look him in the eye. Oh, she had been immensely curious about this ever since she encountered him online. "Why won't you marry?"

"Why?"

She tched. "Chill, I'm not trying to change your decision or anything. It's just that I've never met a person who intentionally chose not to marry when everyone else is doing it. I just wanna know your 'why' behind it. Your opinion."

"Because it's bakwaas. It's just a poor excuse to bind someone to have sex with them for a lifetime. And make babies along the way."

"You think people are that shallow?" She retorted. "That they don't desire love, companionship, or emotional bond with someone? Marriage is not about sex. It's much more than that."

"Because their love is shallow. What people do is they draw certain parameters about how their partners should be. They expect their partner to be a certain way, to behave a certain way. Everyone has their set of expectations. Love is not about expectations. But from where I'm looking, its like a transaction to me. A checklist that needs to be ticked off by the partner. You give me what I want, I'll give you what you want. And if one of us fails then 'it's not working anymore, let's break up, bye'." He let out a snort. "And they name this overrated transaction as 'love.' Bullshit!"

Pallavi was at a complete loss of words. Not that she didn't have anything to say but she was having a hard time putting it in proper words. And as much as he butchered love, he did make sense on some things. Regardless, Vineet continued, his tone serious, "If there's anything that comes close to that unconditional love, it's your family. No one can love you as much as your parents. No one. The whole world can abandon you midway, but your parents won't. They will love you and support you for as long as you live."

"I cannot deny you there. Parents do love us like no other. But if you speak from your analogy of expectations, then even parents fail in that regard. Many parents expect their children to get good grades, high paying jobs, perhaps pass a government exam or marry a partner of their choice. The caste system in marriage exists because of them. How is that unconditional?
At some point, they expect us to repay them. And yet, despite all of this, you say its love and not a mere transaction."

She continued still, "If what we share between our parents is love then why is romantic love a transaction? Yes, love is conditional. Yes, relationships are filled with expectations but that's because we are humans. We are flawed, selfish beings. I don't think we are capable of unconditional love with no expectations. That only a few people can do. But it's still love because we are capable of emotions and have a higher IQ than most animals."

Vineet let out an exhale, "Hmm, you do make a valid point. Parents' love is kinda conditional, too. I don't mind that... Still, I don't want to pursue romantic love. I like where I am. I like what I do."

"Where do you imagine yourself in twenty years?"

"Doing the same thing as I'm doing right now." And he acted upon it by pinching her boob, earning a groan from her. She threw his hand away from her skin but he touched her again. She let him. "Now I'll throw the question at you, Pallavi. Tell me, why do you want to get married? Are you marrying because your parents told you so? Because society dictates you so."

"Well there's parental pressure, I won't deny that. Marriage scares the shit out of me, I won't deny that either. If it were upto me, I wouldn't worry about age and simply take my time, finding the right partner first. But I still want to get married because I desire a stable, romantic partner by my side. Sex is another reason, yes. I'll finally have regular sex but that's not the sole reason."

"And why do you desire a 'stable romantic partner by your side'?" He asked while pulling her cheeks with both hands.

"Jus becos I du. What'cha doin'?" Her forehead creased in amusement at his action until he stopped pulling her slightly rosy cheeks. She rubbed her skin before speaking. "I feel like it's necessary to have a partner and family in this life otherwise it will get lonely and empty pretty fast, especially when you grow old and have no one by your side. No, not even your parents will be there by that time. I know, sounds cliche. Also because I desire romance and having a life partner grow old with you is the ultimate love... Seriously, don't you get tensed thinking about growing old all alone? No partner, no kids or grandkids."

"See, that's where your problem is. You people are wired to think you cannot function alone," He pointed out literally by tapping her forehead. She playfully swatted his hand away and instead brushed his beard. "Because the concept of marriage and having a partner has been drilled into our minds since childhood. Most people do as we feel obligated to follow the crowd. The 'herd mentality' as you call it- a natural human instinct. So basically, you're projecting your loneliness onto someone else with a legal contract that binds you and your partner for life. Neither can they lose interest in you, neither can they see anyone else..."

"Um, but..." Pallavi tried to formulate the exact words. Just then something about his words clicked. "Do you perhaps desire an open relationship or marriage? Because that's possible too. You just have to find-"

"Nah, not really. That's still binding me to someone. Also, I can be with one person for a long time," He cut her off then faced the ceiling in thought. "I believe that humans can live alone as a single entity without feeling lost or lonely. There's so much to learn, explore and discover all by yourself. Because you are powerful enough to do so but sadly people underestimate themselves. Gautam Budh discovered enlightenment and meaning of life all by himself. If he hadn't left for his journey, Buddhism wouldn't have been discovered."

"Well, I appreciate him but I still don't like that he left his wife and kid forever. He shouldn't have married in the first place... Oh, I get it! You want to go on a spiritual solo journey like that, too." She clicked her fingers in the end.

"No, no... See, I like how I'm living my life and feel no need to change. It's as simple as that. I like meeting different people through this arrangement. I get to know them, get a bit insight to their lives and of course, the sex. Don't you like this? Having sex with different people yet having a slightly different experience because it's a different person."

"Uh, yes and no," She replied, her nose crinking a bit. She pulled his cheeks when he regarded her with doubt. "Fine, I admit, this isn't so bad but I didn't ask for this. I'd rather have sex with one committed partner who wouldn't leave me than have it with a temporary one. I personally don't like the idea of having many sexual partners. Thankfully you're just the third one and I hope to God that my next and final sexual partner will be my husband."

"Oh, haan! I read a survey saying women especially become immune to love if they have experienced more than five sexual partners. You better keep tabs on that since you want to experience 'romantic love'."

She glared at him, "Geez, you spell love as if it's a poison... You said your first relationship was serious. How many years was it? Why did you break up?"

"You sure ask many questions. Yeah, a three year relationship," he spoke, making the most nonchalant face ever. "She began to like someone else that's why."

"Oo' betrayal." She commented, pulling a pained expression. "So you lost faith in relationships and decided never to pursue again? Because you actually desire... perfection. Omg, I'm such a genius."

His brows formed a small knot as he glanced at her, "My decision is based on all the things I've observed about relationships. It's not just because of one girlfriend I had. And I seriously think love is overrated, bullshit and exaggerated beyond proportion. So I don't think someone as cynical as me should go for it and trouble the lady."

Pallavi was getting the cue that it was time to end this conversation. "Agreed. She wouldn't be happy with you."

* * * * * *

To be continued on part 2. Hope you enjoyed this chapter since I enjoyed writing about it.

Do comment your thoughts. Whose thoughts do you resonate more with?