PAAKHI POV

"You seem good at this," Zoya comment,

"Oh please," I laugh focusing on the work on hand.

"Can you please bring us some napkins," I ask, holding the girl's hair back.

"Here," Zoya says giving me some napkins and taking my place in holding the puking, drunk girl.

I wipe her mouth and throw the napkins away.

"Does this happen often?" I ask helping her and the girl to stand.

"Oh yes, girl." Zoya laugh flushing the toilet.

I huff, after such a long and tiring shopping spree, I came to work early as promised to Prithvi.

Uncertain how to behave in front of him, I prayed to God the whole ride to the club that we don't see each other., Finally, my prayers were answered and he was not in the club.

Everything was going fine until a girl got too drunk that she barfed at the bar.
Taking a vomit-covered girl to the restroom and cleaning her made me realize, why Prithvi pays his staff so much. After this kinda incident happened thrice in a night, I became used to it.

But still, working alongside Zoya has made this a bearable experience.

"So are you up for a drink after work?" She asks following us outside.

"I don't drink," I answer, placing the girl in the cab. Thankfully she was conscious enough to tell us her address.

"Coffee?" She asks.

"I would love to, but I'm tired today," I say apologetically.

My legs are paining and my eyes are drooping.

"Oh..." She nods her head and walks back inside, I follow her and help her and others clean.

I was down wiping my last table when Jerry called me aside.

"Before you leave, Meet Mr.Shaw at his car outside." He informs and walks away.

I feel my heart twist, why is he calling me at this hour? Is he already tired of me? Does he think I'm a staff member that always asks for an advance?

Thoughts keep whirling in my mind, so after changing into my casuals, I walk out of the cafe and towards the parking area.

Amid all the darkness, a car with its headlight on stands out. With a heavy heart, I take each step with embarrassment and humiliation course through me.

Just as I near his car, the backdoor opens, and he exits the car.

"Hi, Pika." He greets in his common tone.

"Hello," I whisper looking down.

"What is wrong with you?" His tone changes to one of concern.

I don't reply, just continue looking down at the mud stain on the ground. Surprisingly, this stain looks comfortable than Prithvi.

"Pika?!" He asserts.

I huff and look at him with glossy eyes. No, I will not let him see me cry.

"Hey?" His tone again softens.

"Did something happened in the club? Did someone disturbed you again?" He questions.

I shake my head and with a wobbly voice say, "go on, say it and get it over with."

"Say what?" He asks confuse.

"That you are firing me? But let me tell you this before, I don't have the money right now, will return it to you soon." I say with as much confidence I could muster at this moment.

"Why would I do that?" He asks irked.

"Because on my second day I asked you for so much advance," I mumble.

"But you promised you will pay it back? So why do you think that I will fire you?" He inquires.

I look away, unable to answer his question.

"Pika? What is it? I think you should share it with me, I'm always here for you. I will never repeat what I did years ago. Now you will always have me beside you." His assuring words made me leap towards him and into his arms. Maybe all the stress or tiredness made me take this step, but Prithvi, he reminds me of Rags and I miss him. After a long time, I found this fraternal comfort from someone.

"Pika?" He whispers my name.

"Huh?" I mumble, afraid to lose his warmth I don't back away.

"Why does it seem like I'm going to get killed?" His voice stumbles.

"What?" I back away an inch to look at his face, but his gaze is fixed on something behind me.

"Prithvi?" I call his name for his attention.

"What are-" when he doesn't look at me, I follow his gaze.

My world turns upside down when I see him standing there an inch away from us.

His beautiful face, void of any emotions.

But when his gaze meets mine, a smile breaks out on his face.
In two strides, he takes me in his arms and kisses me.

For a few seconds, I'm immobile but when those sparks ignite through his kisses, my lips move on their own accord.

"Wow, you are good!" You would think either Viren or I would have said that, but no, these words tumbled out of Prithvi's mouth.

Both Viren and I look at him skeptically. These are some outrageous words to say to me.

"Man, you are one good kisser," he again repeats his words.

I laugh hysterically, seeing Viren awkwardly looking at Prithvi who directed those earlier words to him.

"Viren, this is Prithvi." I introduce them to each other. "Prithvi, this is Viren."

"Your boyfriend?" He asks or rather his tone sounded as if he is stating.

I nod my head gently,

"Listen to me carefully, if you dare to harm her in any way, either emotional or physical, you will regret ever taking birth. Love her the way she deserves, give her the world she deserves and be the man she deserves." These words from Prithvi made me glad, somewhere inside me I always thought how Rags would have reacted if he met my boyfriend. And seeing Prithvi warning Viren, I feel Rags is with me.

"I don't know who you are, what is your relation to her, but still I will make a promise to you. I will always try to give her what she deserves, I'm not saying definitely because this is life and nothing in life can be monotonous, life is a roller coaster and if she agrees, we will ride that roller coaster together." These words from Viren shocked me. He's not an expressive kind of person. But his words meant the world to me.

"You made a good choice Pika," Prithvi announces with a soft smile. I smile at him and grab Viren's arm.

"Now, I will take my leave, see you tomorrow." He exclaims and gets back into his car and drives away.

I turn towards Viren and see him already gazing at me.

"I missed you." He says and again lean-to places a kiss on my lips. Every time his lips touch mine, I feel contentment.

"I missed you too," I mumble with tears in my eyes.

"Hey, now why are you crying?" He asks taking me into his arms.

"I thought you will leave me when you saw me hugging Prithvi," I confess.

"Of course not, I know he's your childhood friend, and you work in his club." He acknowledges.

"How do you know this?" I ask skeptically.

His eyes go wide for a second, and he looks away.

"Viren?!" I assert backing away from him.

His hand dangle on his side when I back away.

"Tell me?" I inquire.

He inhales exaggeratedly, "I have someone following you around." His tone doesn't sound apologetic.

"Why? Don't you trust me?" I ask furiously. Feeling my heartburn.

"No-"

"There is no point of a relationship when you can't trust your partner." I acknowledge cutting him off.

"Paakhi, no you listen to me first." He steps forward and places a finger on my lips to shut me up.

"I have someone who followed you not because I didn't trust you, but because I want to know you are safe when I'm not around. " he concedes.

"Safe from what?" I ask adamantly.

"There are no definite them, but, you have to understand Paakhi, that I'm a well-known businessman, I have more enemies than friends in this industry. I don't know who will be idiot enough to harm my family but I can't be careless." He tells.

I'm angry, but his words are reasonable.

"Okay, I thought-"

"That I don't trust you?" He indicts.

I nod slightly.

"I love you Paakhi, more than myself. And that's a very big thing." He jests. I smile softly.

"Love," he calls gently grabbing my hands.

"Seeing you in that man's arm, I was jealous, but not angry. I know you are a dignified woman. I will never question your dignity in our relationship. I will be jealous, I will be arrogant, or sometimes, I might brood. But I know you will still accept me. So why would I question you? " his words are deep, I feel tears stream down my eyes.

"Now, shall we get inside the car? Because I feel very awkward, standing in the parking area of a club and talking this deep shit." He scrunched up his nose looking around. I laugh at his expression and walk with him towards his car.

"By the way? Why are you working in a club?" A few months back, if he would have asked me this, I would have detected detest in his tone, but right now it is pure curiosity I listen to.

"We need money, and this was the only job I could get with good earning," I tell him the truth.

"Isn't your event business going well?"  He asks concern. I look outside the passing buildings and explain, "event business flourishes during a particular season, right now, there are not many events in the market."

"Ok..." He replies. I don't say much, I'm not ready to talk on this subject much.

"How come you returned early?" I try filling the awkward silence.

"I missed you, so I completed my work and took a flight back." He answers.

"You must be tired," I acknowledge, he almost traveled 30 hours in two days.

"I'm, but more than that I want to get things off my heart. I want us to start our relationship with truth and honesty." He replies.

"What is it that is suffocating you so much?" I ask in wonder.

"My past, things that made me so against love or you could say trusting people..." He mumbles.

I place a reassuring hand on his and caress it.

We don't say anything, I just sit back and think.

A few minutes later, he parks his car in some building's parking lot.

I look at him questioningly, "Come on please," he says.

I nod and follow him out of the car.

He takes my hand and tugs me towards the elevator. I look around to assume I have visited this place.

Seconds later when the elevator doors open, I instantly recognize the beautiful apartment I have visited before.

"Make yourself comfortable, I will be back in 10 minutes," he says and walks away.

Feeling a bit tired, I decided to make both of us a steaming cup of coffee.

Finding a kitchen in this enormous space was a task in itself, but after wandering for almost 5 minutes I stumble upon a beautiful kitchen. I will be honored to cook in.

Touching the sparkling granite countertops and admiring the all-black cabinets, I accidentally shove the flower vase sitting at the edge.

As the thumping sound of the vase is heard, I squeal.

"Paakhi?!" I hear Viren shouting my name. I look in the direction from where his voice was heard to see him appearing in my sight, in his loose pajama bottoms and a t-shirt slinging over his shoulder.

Just as he sees me, he rushes forward and pulls me towards himself.

"What happened?" He asks looking around. I can't listen to him because I'm lost in the warmth I'm feeling from his chest. His beautiful chiseled chest, similar to those I have seen only in movies.

"Are you okay?" He asks inching me back. I look into his eyes and nod.

"What are you doing here?" He asks skeptically.

"I was craving for some coffee..." I answer embarrassingly.

"You could have told me," he chuckles backing away from me and wearing his t-shirt. I admire his flexing muscles as he moves flawlessly around.

"Black coff- " he laughs at my scrunch-up face and then says, "How much sugar?"

I point two fingers to which he raises his one brow, oh sweet lord, he can pull that too?! Why can't I raise my one brow?

"This much sugar is unhealthy." He comments giving me my cup.

I frown at him and take a swig of my hot coffee.

Just as one sip touches my tongue, my taste buds rejuvenate and I feel fresh.

"You are one strange woman," he chuckles staring at me.

"Hey! It's not my fault you are drinking this bland coffee." I chide.

"It's not bland," he replies defensively.

"Really? Taste this!" I assert nudging my cup towards him.

He shakes his head, but I persist.

"You want me to drink this?" He asks frowning at my coffee.

I nod, taking a swig from mine and smiling when the flavor flares in my mouth.

"Are you sure?" He asks warily.

I nod cheerfully and smile seeing him taking the cup from my hand.

I expected him to take a swig from the cup but instead, he tugs me forward and kisses me. His tongue explores every inch of my mouth.

"Umm, it tastes good but I still like mine," he says smacking his lips together and smirking at me.

I stand still, not ready for what just occurred.

"You!!" I shriek and lunge forward to hit him. Maybe he knew what will be my next move so he scrambled off.

I rush after him, he flees towards the living room, we run around The Couch, The Dining Table, And Whatnot.

"Viren!" I shriek his name but he just laughs. My annoyance has long ago dissipated, I'm just running after him because I'm loving the beautiful sound of his laughter.

I love how carefree he is with me, I get to see the Viren that is just mine.

"Yes, love?" He yells back with a smile.

There it is, his endearments are going to kill me. They come out of his mouth so fluently that sometimes it is so natural.

"Stop running," I huff, I'm too tired now.

He nods and comes towards me, I take his support and take deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" He asks placing a small kiss on my temple. I nod slowly and lean into his arms.

Within a few seconds, he hauls me into his arms.

"Viren?" I inquire of his actions.

"We need to talk." He comments and starts walking.

I try remembering the way, but it's no use. His strides are quick.

When he stood in front of a black wooden door, my heart best increase. Just as he unlocked the door, a raven-themed room comes into view.

The mysteriously beautiful room allures me.

He gently puts me down and walks over to the center of the room.

"Come in, and take a seat." He says.

I nod and walk over to the nicely made bed. With as much preciseness I could I try to sit, afraid I might make a mess.

"Will you stop behaving like you might break things if you touch them?" His voice comes out irked. I nod and look at him.

He settles beside me and take a hold of my hand.

"What I'm going to tell you might make you leave me, but before that, let me tell you something..." He admits.

"I forgot there is any good left in this world. I was just existing for the sake of my family. But then you came into my life, or should I say, barged into my life," we both chuckled at that.

"I learned to live, I understood that Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. For me, work became my life but after meeting you, I started feeling things that I was earlier foreign to. Laughing, cracking jokes with my brother, spending time with my family, being considerate of others' feelings became my life. And I thank you for that." He says placing a kiss on my hands.

I pass him a teary smile, unknown to words I should utter right now.

"Now coming to what made me bring you here, So this all started when I was 21, in my college. My parents were keen on not letting their children study abroad because then they don't return, my mom's theory though." He says glancing into my eyes.

Then he looks away, "I had many friends but I knew all were jealous of my looks. I won't say I was not a snob and didn't snatch their girls from them. But that was me being silly. One day, we went to this club, an adult club. There I met a beautiful girl or woman, she was a few years older than me but she was perfect. She understood me, she used to spend her time with me. But others didn't like her,  because she uses to take up all my time. When Arhaan and my family objected to our relationship, I left home to live with her. A few months went by good, we use to shop, party, and do all the entertaining stuff. But soon my bank account was empty, my cards were seized. So I had to stop spending money on her, and one day she fought with me and called me useless. I was very upset that day, I loved her, wanted to marry her, so I searched for some jobs. I washed dishes in a restaurant, washed cars and whatnot. But still, I couldn't muster up money for our expenses. So one day, I returned home early from work to change before I had to meet Sana, she was the only one who I used to talk to in that period. But at that time mine and Sana's relationship was on the loose thread because of Saurav. I was not inclined towards their relationship.

So before meeting Sana, I decided to change so I went home early, what I saw there was not what I had hoped for. Shreya was in bed with a man. You know I was so blinded by her that when she said, it was a mistake I believed her and forgive her. Days went on and our fights became fewer. I was so happy that I decided to propose to her and make her mine.

I bought a ring and asked her for a dinner, what money I had earned that month, I used all that to book a small restaurant and decorate it. I waited for her all night, but she never came. I went home to check on her to see her belongings gone from that house. It was as if she never lived there.

I was broken, I tried calling Sana but she too didn't pick up. I started having a panic attack and tried to exit my apartment, and lost consciousness in the corridor. Someone might have taken me to the hospital because the next day I woke up to mom sitting beside me.

She didn't ask me anything, no one did. I just went home with them. Days passed on and I became a shell of a person. One day, I got the news that she married a 59 gear old businessman and is happy with him. So I decided to leave India, I took a flight to New York and started working there. I worked day and night to make Singh enterprises a leading enterprise in America.

A year after I came to India for the birth of my niece, Pari. I had already forgotten about her and started living my life.

But things don't end this way, do they? I got a call from a number saying that it is about Shreya, I don't know why? But I went to that place. There she was waiting for me. She was a crying mess, her husband after dying gave all his property to charity. She had nothing then and wanted me back.

The Viren, a year back would have accepted her but not this Viren. I said no to her. She started crying and said she will kill herself and that will be because of me. I thought she was just bluffing but never in million years I had imagined, she would jump in front of a car. That day, I completely lost myself. There was nothing in me left. I was just surviving.

Her brother filed a case against me, and I was locked up in jail for a day, but after proceedings, it was found that I had nothing to do with her death. But her brother was keen on destroying me, he gave me many death threats but my father asked for a restraining order against him.

But he still didn't stop, so from that day, I have an army of bodyguards following me. I returned to New York thinking to never return to this country where I have just got heartbreak and nothing else. I became the fuckboy people know me as. I used women as objects thinking it may decrease my anger. But in the end, I was insulting my mother's values If I get a chance I want to apologize to every one of them." He heaves a sigh, sigh of relief.

"So ya, I'm a murderer, I disrespected many women and hurt my mother." He mumbles taking his hands away from me.

I feel a void as his warmth leaves me.

"Viren..." I say holding his face and turning it towards me.

I stare into his eyes and feel my heartbreak. Seeing tears in his eyes is hurting me.

"You are one strong man. Not because you have these muscles, " I try teasing him by caressing his biceps.

"But because you have a strong heart," I admit.

"Life threw you towards so many curves but still you did not stop caring for those whom you love. You might have hurt them initially but that was how you understood life lessons." I say.

"But someone died because of me?" He murmurs.

"No, not because of you! " I assert. He's blaming himself for something that he never did.

"People pay for what they do, and still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it simply by the lives they lead. She betrayed you, hurt you, and in the end, the guilt took her." I try explaining.

"But she died!" He shrieks standing up and moving away from me.

I see him withering in anger and guilt.

"You are upset because you think that if you would have accepted her that day, She would have been here with you." I acknowledge what he is feeling.

He doesn't say anything, just keeps looking outside the windows.

"Tell me?" I say from where I'm sitting.

"What if you would have accepted her that day, would you have forgiven her?" I ask.

He doesn't say anything but I can see his fingers curling in. Meaning he is thinking about that.

"There is no use of thinking about 'what if' because you chose what you wanted and she chose the most cowardly way out.

Now either you can keep thinking and feeling guilty about what would have happened, or you can remember her with fondness. I don't know what you are feeling, nor can I understand. But what I know is, that you are a kind, smart and hardworking man. My respect for you just increased. And my love? My heart is flaring with fondness for you." I say walking towards him.

"I love you, Viren Singh, I love the old and the new, both versions of you. Not the disrespecting women part but I hope you won't repeat that part. Moreover, thank you for letting me know, what kind of person you are. I feel lucky because my heart chose you. Thank you!" I confess honestly.

We stare into each other eyes. Either of us doesn't moves.

"You okay with my past?" He implores curiously.

I nod," it was your past,"

"You will never leave me for that in the future?" He begs emotionally.

Is he afraid, I might leave him in the future because of this?

"Your past doesn't bother me, because it happened before we met. But I want to be in your present and future." I proclaim with a smile.

He chuckles at that and takes me into his arms.
Nuzzling his nose with mine, he says, "you will always be my present and my future."

I smile and place a kiss on his lips.

He smiles down at me and we both look outside the window, my head on his chest and his arms around me.

Never in my life, I would have thought that this rude, arrogant man can be so selfless when it comes to love. His first experience was very bad but that was necessary for him because everything that happens in life has a reason. Sometimes, we humans understand it, and sometimes we don't.

If he would have married that cunning woman, he would have wasted his knowledge of the business working daily jobs. Now, look at him, India's most successful and youngest businessman. His family is proud of him. I'm proud of him.

"You seem tired," my thoughts halt when I hear Viren mumble that.

I look at him confuse, how does he know? But before that, a yawn passes through my mouth answering my unasked question.

I nod and walk towards the door, but stop at the bed to collect my phone.

"Where are you going?" His voice booms in the silent room.

I turn around and stare at him.

"Home!" I say in a duh tone.

"This late?" He asks raising his one brow.

Oh, sweet lord, he looks so devilishly handsome doing that.

"Of course, do you expect me to stay here?" I laugh at my question.

But when Viren doesn't join in, I stifle my laughter and glance at him.

"You are serious?" I ask exaggerated.

"Why yes! Are you scared?" He asks walking towards me.

"Scared? Why will I be?" I ask adamantly.

"I don't know, but you seem to be." He says inching closer and closer.

"This is tiredness," I say pointing at my face.

"No, I don't believe you," he utters closing in.

Before I could form a coherent reply, he hauls me up and carries me to the bed.
I wiggle in his grasp but he's too strong.

When he lays me on the bed, I decide to sit up when an arm drape over my waist. And a second later, I feel his chest pressed to my back.

"Good night, my crazy girl," he mumbles laying a kiss on my temple.

I wait for his breathing to shallow down.
But when it does, my body resists moving, it feels relaxed in his arms.

So for the first time, I ignore my practical senses and listen to my heart. Soon my eyelids droop and I fall into slumber, a quiet and relaxed slumber.

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Hey lovelies,

Here's an update. I hope you liked it.

Do let me know your views on it.

Take care and have a great day Ahead❤