PAAKHI POV

Just as I was about to turn I saw him turning in my direction.

And seeing his face everything just stilled.

It's him.....

The man from Riya's engagement Party but he was with someone else there. I can't forget because I intentionally walked in on them before he could hit her.

And now he's making out with a girl in front of everyone.

I was still dwelling in my thoughts when my phone pinged.
I reached in my pocket to retrieve it and noticed a message from Mr.Khadoos.

Did you just ditch me? And left me here.

-Mr.Khadoos

I chuckled reading his message and noticed that it has been literally 10 mins Since I left to go to the washroom.
I decided to rile him up and replied back.

Maybe!

-Paakhi

I glimpsed towards the happy couple to return the girl her bag but when I glanced up there was no one around. So I just left the bag with security and returned back to Mr.Khadoos before he gets indignant.

I walked back to our table to see he had asked the candles and Roses to be removed.

"Huh finally, Did you slept in there or something? " he asked in his annoyed tone.

"Mr.Singh don't you know it's kinda rude to ask a girl these types of questions?" I said smiling cheekily.

"Ms. Kapoor Don't you know it's Kinda rude to leave somebody waiting." He fired back with a raised brow.

Damn it! He can also lift his one brow. Maybe I'm the only unfortunate one.

"Ms.Kapoor? How do you know my name? And most importantly, How did you get my number? Are you stalking me? " I asked one question after the other with the curiosity building inside me.

He shrugged and said "Don't forget who I'm, I can know everything about you within a snap of my finger. And most importantly don't flatter yourself because I don't date girls like you." He said in his narcissistic tone.

"Girls like me? What type of girl do you think I'm?" I asked defensively. I hate it when people judge me without even knowing me.

All the memories from the past came rushing back. I was on the verge of tears but I held them back.

But what he said next made a single tear rolled down my face.

"The one who acts differently with me so that I notice you and fell in love with you. Because you wanna tame a playboy or demand money from me." He said disdainfully.

"How dare you?" I cried out.

"What?" He asked perplexed.

"How dare you judge me without even knowing me? Do you know who I'm? What do I do? Where do I belong?
No right?! Then how can you?

You don't even know how much struggle I have done to survive.
I was abandoned as a child by my parents. Then at an orphanage, children would laugh at me or won't talk to me.

Then whenever I get ill there was no one around to make me soup or even take me in their arms so that I can sleep soundly.
There was no one to protect me from the monsters under my bed.
I survived alone in that hell for 16 years.
And then one day an incident left me with nothing...No food, No shelter, No education.

I roamed around the streets for shelter. Do you know how scary it was for a girl to roam around the streets at night?
N

o, you don't because you were soundly sleeping in your bed, playing with your siblings, and having full-filled meals every day.

So Mr.Singh you don't have any right to judge anyone." I said determined but everything that was flashing in my mind is making my head hurt. So I just picked my bag flew out of there.

I don't know what hurts more, That I'm alone or that anyone I try to find solace in just judges me for being an uneducated-orphan girl.

People don't often know that their playful- indifferent judgment can sometimes impact a person very deeply.

I rushed outside and took a right turn towards the taxi stand I saw earlier.

I was running in that direction when my hand was yanked back and I came crashing into a muscular warm chest.

As I was about to step away, an arm snaked around my waist and held me there.
The familiar feeling of belonging made me realize who it is.

This is what I needed right now a warm hug which means you have someone who cares for you.

But why do I sense this in his arms?

This man holding me right now is known as the most ruthless and arrogant businessman. But still, nobody knows him as a person. He had many interviews in the business columns of many newspapers and magazines but none of them said anything about him as a person.

"I..." He inhaled a deep breath before continuing "I'm sorry, It was really inconsiderate of me to judge you without even knowing you." He said apologetically.
"After becoming a well-known man in the business world I have girls around throwing themselves at me. It doesn't matter the age difference or anything.
I have met girls that try to defy me every time and change me because they want to tame a playboy. I have met girls who just want to be seen with me just once.
So I have just built this wall around me and now whenever a girl approaches me, I just use them to satisfy my needs." He said trying to explain his side.

After hearing him I know what he said is true and I realized that I wasn't angry at him. It was just the anger inside me for all those people in my past that judged me at every aspect of my life.

We were still in that warm embrace when a car pulled over and the headlights were shown over us creating an outline.
When I peeked at our silhouette I saw two people hugging so close that they seem to be in love.

But I know this is just a mirage.

I pulled back from the hug and smiled when I saw him holding his ears "I'm sorry." I couldn't control myself and laugh out loud. "Aww did the great Mr.Viren Singh said sorry to me in this cute gesture," I said refraining my hands from pulling his cheeks because he looks so cute.

It was as if a light bulb went off in his head because he instantly retracted back and scratched his head. Seeming to be embarrassed.

"Now let's go back." He said taking my hand in his. This was so foreign but still so familiar.

"No!" I said pulling him back. He looked at me and I continued "I...I um somewhat embarrassed us there." I said remembering how I acted there.

"You didn't. If I would have been in your place I would have thrown a drink at my face," he said shrugging his shoulders.

"Mr.Singh? What happened to my Mr.Khadoos? Who are you and where is he?" I asked pretending to be peeking around him.

"Haha...very funny," he said humourlessly and started walking towards his car.

I just chuckled and started following him.
"This feels different!" I said out of the blue.

He again turned towards me and said "What?"

"This," I said implying between us. "A few minutes back we were at each other's throat and now everything changed just like this." I said snapping my fingers " Some people would think we are insane."

"I don't care what they think." He said nonchalantly.

"You may think I'm bipolar or something but my life had taught me to never trust someone. It took me a while to even start trusting my family again." He said as if lost in his thoughts.

I don't know why but I felt something unusual at this moment as if something shifted between us.

This man who seems to be perfect to all is actually a survivor. Survivor of the haunting memories of his past.

I always believe to never judge someone because every person has a reason behind being the way they are. And perfection is delusional.

"Why are you being nice to me? Do you want me to pay the bill for the order we placed and didn't get the opportunity to eat." I said playfully to divert our minds from our past.

"Of course. You ruined my plan, now you take me to dinner." He replied with a smile as if getting why I changed the topic.

His smile! It lits up his whole face. The smile I was adored with only once in his company's Parking lot.

"Okay then, Mr.Singh get ready for dinner in Paakhi's style." I said smiling enthusiastically.

"Now I'm scared," he said chuckling.

I just smiled at him and entered his sleek glossy black car.
We buckled up and he asked, "Where to Crazy girl?"

"Hey! I ain't crazy. You are Khadoos." To which he just laughed.

Oh God, what is happening today? First I came to this so-called meeting, then I saw the guy from Riya's party, then I shouted at Mr.khadoos and told him about my past, then when I ran from there he stopped me and hugged me, then he too told me things from his perspective and now we are talking and laughing as if we are friends.

"Crazy girl where to?" He asked out loud when he saw me lost in my thoughts.

"Okay take a right turn,"  I said feeling excited.

"I don't like surprises." He grumbled.

"Uff! Stop being a grumpy kid just drive and You only said that dinner is on me." I said with a smile on my face.

"And now I regret it." He mumbled.

"Too bad." I laughed and gave him instructions to the destination I have in my mind.

"Stop, Stop!" I shouted gleefully when I saw that it was open.

"Where are we and where do I park my car? " he asked confused.

"Park it here only and come out of the car," I said exiting the car.

I waited for him to exit the car and laughed at his expression when he saw where I planned to have our dinner.

"This better not be a joke because Crazy girl I'm damn hungry right now," he said baffled when he saw the food stall in front of us.

"This isn't a joke. They serve the best kinds of rice. Girls and I eat here often." I said to him distractedly because I was waving at the boy in his teens who always takes our order.

"And where do we plan to eat? " he asked sarcastically.

"Here," I said pointing towards the hood of his car.

"What have I gotten myself into? " he asked frustrated.

I ignored his comment when the boy, Shyam came running towards us.
"Didi, it's so nice to see you. Where are Adi didi and Maanu didi?" He asked happily.

"Hello, Shyam. Today I have come with my friend. " I said indicating towards Mr.Khadoos.

Shyam greeted him with his goofy smile.

"Okay so bring me two plates of our regular," I told him and after that, he left.

"Excuse me! You didn't ask me what I wanted to order." Mr.Khadoos said with a frown.

"Because I want you to taste their specialty." I said in a duh tone.

"Aren't you being over-friendly right now?" He asked rudely.

"Hey, this is the only way I behave with my friends." I replied back.

"And you think we are friends?" He asked amazed.

"Umm...Yaa!"  I said self-consciously, afraid that I might have over-read his behavior as a friendly one earlier.

He laughed at my expression and said "You crazy girl is something else."

"What do you mean?" I said leaning on his car. He copied my action and said "You don't realize how kind and caring you are. " he said thoughtfully.

I don't know why but I blushed at his statement.

Before anything else could be said Shyam arrived with two steaming plates of Mexican rice.

Seeing this aromatic dish my tummy instantly growled.

Before I could get embarrassed I heard another stomach growling beside me.
All the embarrassment I was feeling was forgotten and I chuckled.

I grabbed our plates from Shyam's hands and passed one to Viren.

I waited for him to try a bite and examined his expression.

I smiled in triumph when I heard a small moan of appreciation from him.

"So how is it?" I asked cheekily.

"It's good." He said taking another bite.

I too enjoyed my food and in no time both of our plates were empty.

I walked towards the stall to pay for our food when Viren out of nowhere came and stood beside me.

"What are you doing? I'm paying for this." I said when I saw him retrieving money from his pocket.

"Why would I let you pay for this?" He asked as if I'm mad.

"Mr.Singh, did you forget it was my treat."

"Ya, but it was just a joke. I asked you to meet me, So I should pay." He said stubbornly.

"No if- no but, I'm paying and that's final," I said determinedly.

"But-" before he could say anything else I retrieved money from my bag and paid for it.

After paying I turned and walked towards his car all the while ignoring him.

He too followed me back into the car and irritably asked  "Why did you do that?"

"Why is it such a big deal? " I asked angrily.

"Because...Because this is unfamiliar to me. I'm always the one to pay for dinners." He said as if he doesn't comprehend what transpired.

"You know it's normal, friends usually do this. Next time you pay for us okay?" I said trying to make him understand.

"So there is going to be the next time?" He asked grinning.

"Who knows?" I said with a shrug.

The ride to my apartment was silent but not an uncomfortable one.

It was as if both of us were thinking about the turn of events that occurred today.

Thereupon Reaching my apartment building I turned towards him and said "Ty for today."

He too turned towards me and said "I don't know what happened today, but one thing I know is I made a new friend."

I smiled at him and said "This day should be written in history. Because We " I said pointing between us "became friends." To which he laughed.

I exited the car and walked inside the building after waving him goodbye.

__________________________________

What just happened? Did Paakhi and Viren become friends?

But I was loving their banter😢...why did they have to become friends?

Your thoughts on this chapter?

Thank you for reading!!!

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