Enjoy reading (:

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Since when?" Vaish asked her first question.

She wanted to know since when he was playing this game with her and with the way his face lost its colour she was sure that she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Listen Fireball... I..." He tried to defend himself but Vaish just shook her head.

"I want honest answers Abhay Singh. At least now be honest. After all the mess that is created... don't you think I deserve some honesty?" Vaish asked and Abhay got the first sign of her resignation. She called him by his full name.

He knew that he has to be honest with her now. She was in no mood for nuisance.

"I had the doubt when I saw you for the first time but I became sure of it when I signed the contract."

Vaish suddenly felt the ground beneath her shaking and grabbed the nearest table for support.

First meeting!

The contract!

It was signed three months ago; day after their meeting.

She didn't know what to say about it. He knew from the day one, he recognised her from the first meeting.

How was it even possible for him to recognise her? It was dark that night and she can't see his face then how did he recognise her? They were so drunk!

So she asked him, her next question; "How did you know it was me?"

Abhay looked at her pale face; he could see how this much was affecting her. He could see her shaking and his heart broke at the site, he wanted to do nothing but to run to her and grab her in his arms and pacify her but he knew that he can't do that now. This was the time to be honest.

"I have got a good glimpse of your face while coming out of the church. I was drunk but not completely wasted. I could recognise you anywhere."

Vaish closed her eyes trying to grasp reality but each word coming out of his mouth was making it difficult to even breathe.

He knew her.

He remembered her.

He recognised her.

Still he kept quiet for three months.

She asked the last question she wanted to ask, although she had a tad bit idea of what the answer will be.

"Why? Why did you stay quiet for all the three months? Why didn't you confront me till now? And why you did it today of all days, in front of so many people?" She asked and Abhay sighed knowing well that whatever explanation he gives won't be sufficient but he will still try.

"I... I was afraid of commitments. The idea of marriage freaked me out. It never came across my mind that I will marry someone and when I woke up remembering the marriage; the thought scared the shit out of me. I was not looking forward for that kind of commitment in my life. My mission was to get a professional stability and so I decided to pretend that it never happened and thought to keep it as a secret.

When I saw you for the first time, I felt as if I know you very well. Then as I signed the contract with you, your words, your mannerism, all made me sure of my doubt that you are Mrs. Stranger. But I kept quiet because I was not ready for it, and I didn't have any proof about it.

I admit that a part of me wanted to know you first and see if we could even have the possibility of being together. Then as we started working, getting to know each other; it all stopped mattering.

I started searching about it again when Arjun appeared in the club. I was scared to confront you without proof but I didn't get any proof. That day when I snapped at you it was because I was angry at myself for not being able to find the truth.

Then we started going out and I thought to confess the truth after the presentation was over. I was planning to confess it tonight but then Arjun messaged me. Somehow he knows what happened that night and he threatened me that he will claim you as his wife and I can't let that happen. So I have to speak up in front of everyone."

Abhay said and drank a glass of water, feeling thirsty after the long explanation.

Vaish's face didn't show any expression, even her eyes were blank. She looked through him as if he wasn't there in the room. For the first time since they met; Abhay wasn't able to say what was going on in her mind.

She didn't know what to say or whom to trust. She didn't know what to think. She just wanted to go away from all this drama and sit for some time and think calmly.

"Fireball... Say something...anything. Your silence is scaring me." Abhay finally said because she hasn't spoken a word about how she felt. She just asked questions but she never told a thing about the marriage.

"What should I say? That I'm glad that you kept it away from me for three months? I'm happy that the truth came out in this way in front of so many people? My family should know about it before all those company representatives! But you stole the chance away from me, Abhay Singh. Now I have to tell my parents soon because this information will travel like a fire and my parents will know about it from someone else." Vaish told him her worst fear, in a not so friendly tone and Abhay closed his eyes after hearing the accusation in her tone.

"Fireball I didn't mean to... Trust me."

"Trust you? Trust the man who kept such a big thing a secret from me from past three months? Who claimed to like me but was betraying me all the time? The funny part is you didn't speak the truth when you got so many chances in past three months but one message from your brother and you come around running and 'claiming' me! As if I'm some object to be claimed!

I don't know what to trust anymore. I feel like you and your brother were playing some kind of sick joke on me from three months; laughing and having fun on my behalf."

"Vaishali! How can you even think that?" Abhay asked in a pained voice but Vaish's anger has gone beyond her limits to see that.

"I can think whatever I feel like, Abhay. And you know what I'm feeling right now... a closed volcano who is holding so much inside and struggling to come out." Standing upright she looked in his eyes before continuing, "I don't even see the point of having this conversation anymore as I can't bring myself to trust you. I'm done with you Abhay and I need to leave now." She said and moved towards the door.

That was the breaking point for Abhay's patience. "You know what Vaishali. I'm also done with being the bad guy in the room. I will tell it only once now, I don't have any idea how Arjun knew all this. Hell I didn't even know that he is my brother!

And if we are talking about betrayals then let's talk about your betrayal too. You didn't know that I'm Mr. Stranger. You liked me too. You were going out with me from past one month. And yet you never felt the need to inform me about your Vegas marriage! I was dating you knowing that you are my wife but you were dating a complete stranger. What does that make you?" Abhay said in anger and immediately realised the gravity of words he has said as a tear came out of her eyes.

He managed to make the strongest woman he has ever met cry.

I was dating you knowing that you are my wife but you were dating a complete stranger. What does that make you?

He questioned her morals and character. He called out her upbringing. He was right. She was dating a guy knowing that she was married to another. What kind of woman she was? Where were her morals? This was not how her parents raised her. They would be so disappointed in her right now. She was already worried about letting them down but his accusation made her terrified.

With each thought a fresh tear came out of her eyes.

"Shit...I'm so sorry, fireball. I didn't mean it. It came out in anger. It meant nothing."

Abhay cursed himself and rushed towards her but she stopped him by taking one step away from him. She wiped her tears before looking at him.

"You are right Abhay. You are clearly not the person I thought you were and I'm not the type of girl you would see as your wife. We both don't trust each other. So it's better that we part our ways. We are not supposed to be together." She said in a broken voice.

"No Vaishali. Look I know I did the damage here and I know I'm at fault. What I meant to say earlier that I'm not the only one who was keeping secret. I know that you agreed to go out with me only because a little part of your subconscious trusted me to be with you. You also got that vibe which I was getting from you. It's always been this way with us Vaishali. We always find our way to each other; knowingly or unknowingly." Abhay said in a calm yet nervous voice and Vaish somewhat agreed with his statement but still she can't forget his accusation.

"I need some time alone to think. I don't want to talk about anything right now." She said in a tired tone, the day was taking a toll on her.

Abhay knew that he did the damage but he also knew that if he didn't talk to her now then things will become worse.

So he held her hand and said, "Give me one last chance to prove it; to prove myself, to redeem myself and to correct my mistake. I will wait for you at my favourite place tonight. I just want one chance to speak to you before you arrive at any decision."

"I don't know if I can do that. Right now I don't think I'm in state to trust you." Vaish replied with her eyes closed and opened the door.

"You promised to trust me when the time comes."

She heard a soft whisper which although didn't stop her but definitely forced her to think about his proposal.

***

Vaish was hastily collecting her stuff when she heard a knock and her secretary entered the cabin.

"Ma'am congratulations for the deal. I heard that you did the presentation really well. I know you were working hard for this from months and now you finally achieved it. So the entire staff wanted to say to congratulations to you. We all are honoured to work with you."

Vaish looked up and she gasped.

"Vaish, you were crying earlier?" She asked dropping all the formalities. They were friends outside work. She was Vaish's junior in college and they bonded well. So she knew Vaishali personally but still addressed her formally out of respect.

Vaish didn't answer her just took her stuff and walked near her.

"I want you to cover all my meeting for next two days. After that there is weekend. I'll give you instructions regarding other things afterwards but right now I really need to leave. So cover up for me if possible and if not then just cancel the appointment." Vaish said in strictly professional tone and she just nodded.

"Is everything okay, Vaish?" She tried once again.

Vaish gave a tight smiled to the blue haired secretary of hers.

She was the best student of her batch and she chose to train under Vaish because she considered Vaish as her ideal. She was confident in her professional life but an introvert in personal life.

"It will be okay soon, Sheena. Thanks for asking." Vaish replied and Sheena nodded giving her best awkward smile.

Vaish asked her driver to take her off to her apartment. She needed time to think about the situation, about their actions and the consequences of those actions.

***

Abhay was looking at the watch for the hundredth time.

It was one hour later than the time he asked her to come. She replied that she will not come and he just sent her a message that he will wait for her to come around.

He was losing hope that she will come. But a small part of him knew that she will come.

She can take as much time as she wants but she will come. And so his wait began. Another hour passed and there was no sign of her. He stood up from the chair and leaned on the balcony, closing his eyes and thinking of all the events from the beginning.

Had it all have gone differently if he told her the truth earlier? Would they be together now? Was there any way his confession didn't turn their life upside down?

Thinking back he can't help but feel that even if it all came out wrong in the end it was not always bad. They were doing well.

They started liking each other for what they were; not because they were tied in any bond. There was no pressure, no obligation on them to make it work. It was like two individuals meeting each other, getting to know each other and then started going out. Slowly they started liking each other and fell in love. Then they will talk about marriage and kids.

Only in their case the last step became the first step. This was their story and it had to be dramatic but despite of that they managed the rest. They managed to go through all the steps like two people who met for the first time.

And even if the whole world will blame him for doing it for his selfish reason, they all will have to agree that it was all going so well.

They fell in love; at least he did. He wasn't sure if she loves him or not. After this whole fiasco he won't even blame her if she doesn't love him.

He was sure that if the truth came out in a private manner may be she wouldn't be that angry that she is right now. He would have confessed his love before saying anything and he was sure that it would make a difference.

Now he doesn't know if he will ever get the chance of confessing anything to her. Will she even talk to him? He didn't know.

"Standing so quiet for so long, doesn't suit you." He heard a voice and immediately sent a prayer thanking his parents.

His lips curved in a smile as he turned to see her, looking at him with a genuine smile.

"You came." He said.

"In all honesty I thought you would not wait for so long." She replied and walked where he was standing.

She stood near him and looked ahead.

"I told you that I'll wait till you come around." He simply shrugged.

"And what if I didn't come the whole night?" She asked curiously.

"But you came." He said.

"I came." She replied and then there was a pause.

"Past three months taught me lot of things." She started speaking. "Both in personal and professional life and trust and patience are one of them. That is the reason I'm here. I know some people will think of me as mad for coming here and talk to you. But I don't care.

I was sitting in my room and thinking of all the ways to this could have ended. Every time I thought why I'm so mad? And the answer was same, I'm angry because you didn't tell me the truth earlier. You should have told me the moment you realised." Vaish said and took a breath.

"I..." Abhay wanted to say something but Vaish silenced him.

"I'm not completed yet. I'm mad that you didn't speak the truth earlier but I'm not mad about the truth itself. I didn't get a chance to say this earlier or maybe I was too lost in wrapping my head around things that I didn't realise that despite of all the things that happened and how they happened, I'm glad that it's you. It's you who is Mr. Stranger. It's you whom I married.

You don't know how relieved I am; because marriage is not a small thing. Knowingly or unknowingly my life was and still is connected to Mr. Stranger. And while I'm angry at you for hiding the truth for so long I cannot deny the fact I'm glad that you are Mr. Stranger."

She completed her speech and Abhay just looked at her, surprised after listening to her words. It didn't strike him till now that she never questioned him about their marriage. She accepted the truth without asking any proof. She wasn't angry that they got married in Vegas. She was angry because he knew the truth and hided it from her.

"I too hide the truth from you that I'm married. At first I kept quiet because I didn't want you to judge me because of it. Later I kept quiet because I was busy with work and when we started going out I wanted to tell you the truth but I kept quiet because we were doing so well and I was afraid that truth would change it. But I made a promise to myself that I will tell you the truth after the presentation was over." She told him her reasons.

"As for how I didn't know it was you... well it was because I didn't see your face clearly that night and secondly because I never tried to find Mr. Stranger. I was hiding from him. This makeover, lenses everything was for hiding. Funny because even after all that you recognised me after our first meeting. Though your actions sometimes invoked many unanswered questions in me. The time you asked me to trust you, the way you asked me to enjoy the night with you or when you called me spitfire. But I ignored them because the odds of it coming true were very rare."

"But we always win against all the odds." He said.

"Do we?" She asked in a sceptical tone.

"We do." He replied with conviction.

"I know my reasons for hiding the truth can never be justified nor will my apologies suffice. I just want to tell you that I did what I thought was right. I wanted us to like each other for what we are not because we were tied in a bond or it was an obligation." He explained his point and Vaish can't help but agree with him.

"You are right about it. Even though we were married we took single step at a time, the journey was beautiful. From friends to lovers it was all amazing." Vaish said in spur of moment but stilled after realising what she said.

"Lovers?" Abhay asked in an unbelievable tone. This can't be happening. His mind was playing tricks on him. She can't say what he thinks she said.

He can't be this lucky!

When he saw her getting stilled he realised that she indeed said what she said and even though it was unintentional, his heart was beating mad with the possibility.

He looked at her who has closed her eyes as if wishing the ground to open and swallow her.

He knew she was feeling embarrassed but he will never let his fireball feel that.

This was the time to come true about every feeling. They were coming out honestly and he didn't want to keep anymore secret in his heart.

So he went down on his knee and held her hand and slightly rubbed it. She opened her eyes and gasped to see the site in front of her.

Her eyes filled with tears knowing what was coming ahead and how long they have waited for this moment and all the emotional turmoil they have gone through just for this moment.

"Vaishali Khanna Singh, my wife, the reason I call you fireball is because of that fire in your eyes, the passion you have within you to achieve something. Once determined to do something you put all your hard efforts in it and that is the best quality in the businesswoman inside you.

But when you beat me in my own dramas with those witty replies coming out of your sassy mouth, I accepted my defeat. You are my drama queen, the one who replies my sass with class.

You are my beauty with brain package and I'm honoured as hell to have the pleasure of calling you my wife. But I want more of you, all of you. I want to be with you to raise our munchkins, to spoil our grandkids and to tell them this dramatic story of ours.

I want to wake up with you every morning, and rest every night with you in my arms. I want you with me to keep this dramatic spirit in me alive. I want you with me to motivate me when I feel down.

I want to be the only one to whom you can rely on, the one image comes in your mind every time you think of love.

I want you to love me, the same way I love you." He finally said.

***

Finally ! I updated.

I know the updates are not scheduled and I'm sorry for that but I was busy travelling and other things.

By the way thoughts about the chapter? I'm really nervous about your reaction. Because some of you will think that Vaish did a mistake coming there and that she is being too easy on Abhay and that it should have been more dramatic but I have my reasons.

First of all, a drunk marriage is not a joke. It can't be taken as a drama but that doesn't mean that dramas ended here. There is more to come.

Secondly, Vaish loves Abhay and as much angry she is or should be, we can't ignore the relief that we had when we realised that indeed Abhay is Mr. Stranger. So think about that too.

So I decided to spare the couple of the heartbreak. I hope you guys agree with me.

Families are coming in the arena and a big revealation on its way, so stay tuned because there is story behind every story, a picture that no one has seen (;