"I don't like business seats."

Nikhil raised his brow at her, confused, "Who doesn't like comfortable seats?"

"Me." She grumbled, taking the seat next to him. "Why wasn't I asked what seat I wanted?" The seats were too comfortable and she couldn't be blamed for falling asleep.

"Okay, well, it's a bit late to downgrade to economy. I always travel business so Julie booked yours business too." Nikhil explained.

"Boston isn't that far. Why couldn't we just drive there?"

"And then what? Leave the car there while we catch a flight to Chicago?" He questioned, allowing her to see the argument.

"Point. So she mentioned your boss might be joining us in Boston?"

"Boss?" He was confused for a second, "Oh, you mean Evan? He's not my boss, but yeah, he wants to tag along. We'll go check the property out, and then grab dinner before taking the flight to Chicago."

"Won't it be rushed if we only see one site today and two tomorrow, and take the flight back to Portland?"

"Yeah, but it's what it is. The other two sites aren't far off. Just hour and half drive from each other so if we get an early start tomorrow, we should be fine."

"Awesome." When he looked at her longer, not understanding the sarcasm, she gave him one reason of the two. "I'm not good with time difference working against us."

"Lucky for you, you've got me by your side." Her brows narrowed. He explained, "I mean with the number of trips I take, I'm used to it. You'll be fine."

"Yeah, right." She answered, not too sure yet how much to believe that. She was going to have to see proof of that.

They fell into silence as the rest of the passengers boarded, safety instructions were carried out, and then the plane slowly started rumbling on its path towards take off. It took a good hour before take-off. An hour that Esha had to stay seated and wasn't able to use the restroom.

The second the seatbelt sign was turned off, she unbuckled, stood up, walked past Nikhil who had been reading a sports magazine, and rushed to the restroom.

He held back a chuckle when she returned, but she could tell the smile he was trying to hide. She defended, "I've got a small bladder, okay? Shut up."

"Mm-hmm." He didn't give a proper answer, making her huff, cross her arms over her chest, and look out the window as they continued to gain altitude and speed.

|> >< <> >< <> >< <> >< <|

Three hours later, Nikhil and Esha exited the airport with their luggage. Esha didn't understand the reason for the crowd of journalists that were by the exit. Nikhil put on his glasses, one of his arm going around her and putting himself between her and the rest.

"What's going on?"

He instructed, "Just keep walking." He led her towards the black limo where two of the private security guards reached for their luggage. Esha was reluctant at first, but seeing Nikhil allowing them to take his, she didn't put up a fight. A man in his mid-40s, dressed in white, opened the door.

"Afternoon, Mr. Khanna." The guy greeted him.

"Joe." Nikhil acknowledged him, and then nodded for Esha to get inside. She was a bit taken aback by all of this. She had been in a limo before, courtesy to high school prom and the many events she had attended along with Arjun and her sister, as well as his family.

Nikhil followed behind, and once the door closed, Esha realized she was sitting in front of a stranger she soon concluded to be Evan Jace.

Evan offered his hand, "I presume you are Esha Shah."

Esha put hers in briefly, "You'd be right." She did little to look around the interiors of the limo, an action Evan didn't miss.

"You don't look too surprised."

"No, just wasn't expecting the crowd outside. Inside... I've seen it all before." She looked down at her purse where she felt her phone vibrate. Now that they were out of the airport and she had service again, the messages and missed calls started to pour in.

Evan commented, talking to Nikhil, "You were right about her."

Esha briefly looked up, realizing Nikhil had told Evan about her. Then, she questioned herself why he wouldn't. She was signing on as designer for a project that obviously meant something to Evan. It's normal for him to want to know about her.

She went back to retrieving her phone, putting in the number passcode to her iPhone, and checked the messages. A couple from Reba informing her she'd cleaned the whole apartment and a threat to not mess it up when she return, a few on a friend group chat thread including Anaya, Tanisha, and Jasmine just goofing about while also ranting about their lives, about five from her sister asking her if she was coming home in two weeks for Arjun's birthday, and that she had important news so Esha was to call her the second she got the messages, and seven more from Parth along with 3 missed calls from him.

She didn't even open her work to email to check that.

She busied herself in sending them all a reply, reminding Reba she wasn't coming back until Wednesday night so she didn't have to worry about Esha making it a mess for atleast another day, telling her friends to suck it up because atleast they weren't working odd hours like she was, and ignoring Parth's messages when she deemed them unimportant as he was ranting about a TV show. With the audience she had right now, she decided she would call her sister when she had privacy.

She looked up to Nikhil and Evan staring at her. She narrowed her eyes at them, "What?"

Evan commented, "You seem to have gotten more messages than Nick here, and that's saying something." He was hinting of Nick's busy work life that always kept his phone going off. Naturally, he should have more missed calls and messages after the flight.

"I suppose I am lucky I have more friends."

Nikhil raised a brow at her, amused she managed to find a way to taunt him on this as well, "Are you saying I do not have friends?"

Esha bit back a smile as she answered, "Nope, I'm saying I put my friends over work commitments."

Evan laughed, "Burn. I like you."

Nikhil elbowed him, scowling at his friend for not taking his side.

Evan defended himself, "What? I've never succeeded in dragging you anywhere because you always point out you have some work or other to do."

"Unlike you, some people have to work for a living."

Evan feigned hurt, placing his hand over his heart, "That hurt. Right here. I'll have you know I have been busy myself, working."

Nikhil rolled his eyes, "Only because Jace the second finally put his foot down when it comes to you and gave you an ultimatum: show interest in the family business or he cuts off your..."

Evan grumbled, "Yeah, okay. No need to remind me of the threats daddy dearest gave in front of a lovely guest." He turned his attention to Esha, "So, babe, tell me. Nick told me it's your first project since starting to work for Louis. How do you like it so far?"

Esha leaned in, an inviting smile on her face, leading Evan to misjudgment. "If you call me babe, or any other relevant word in the dictionary, I'll allow Nick here to familiarize you with the threats I have made in the past."

The more Esha went on to finish her statement, the quicker the smile on Evan's face faded, while Nikhil's grew. As soon as he had heard his friend say the word 'babe', he had anticipated what was going to happen next. She really did not like people using any sort of endearments to call her. One day, he was going to find out why.

Evan turned his head towards his best friend and asked warily, "Is she serious?"

Nikhil left no exaggeration, "Like a heart attack."

Evan gulped, started to fear for himself, "Okay then." No girl before had ever quite threatened him merely for calling them 'babe'. In fact, they used to welcome it.

Esha grinned, getting back to her jolly self, "So, how far is this first location?"

|> >< <> >< <> >< <> >< <|

A person can be closed off and guarded, while also being sociable. It can sound to be a contradiction, but it was true in Esha's case, if she were in the right mood to socialize – which was 90% of the time, unless someone had committed the grave crime of pissing her off.

Once again, it was true when it came to Evan. She didn't treat him as her superior and thus, wasn't formal when speaking to him, but she could tell that the man deserved respect. Looking at his playful ways, one would have doubted, but his thoughts commanded respect, that much, Esha would admit. In reality, she had looked forward to meeting Evan since Nikhil had expressed in the first meeting what Evan wanted the designs for B&B to reflect.

The three of them made their way to having dinner at Olive Garden at the end of the day. Since viewing the site, Esha had gotten more ideas on how she envisioned the place to look like as the end product. She'd felt a surge of inspiration.

"Why Olive Garden, of all places?" Evan complained.

"I like Olive Garden." Esha answered. When Evan had brought up dinner, Nikhil had told him it was best to let Esha pick the place, given he had experience with what happens when Esha is picky.

Evan shook his head, sliding into the booth towards the corner while Nikhil sat at the exit and Esha sat across from both of them. "There are so many better restaurants out there."

"Shut it." Esha commented, not willing to listen against the place.

"Why do I let her order me around like she is my boss?" Evan directed the question towards Nikhil who laughed. Truthfully, he had enjoyed watching the two of them throughout the day and their bickering, only relieved he wasn't at the receiving end.

"Because, admit it, everyone likes me." Esha spoke, reading the menu, butting into their conversation.

"You know, you should negotiate with my parents." Evan pointed out, knowing very well how hard core they were. He had no doubt that Esha would have them fumbling for a response.

"Dealing with my own is enough, no thanks."

Nikhil got his phone out of his pocket when it vibrated just them, "Speaking of..." He murmured, though Esha didn't hear it. He pressed the button and answered the call. "Hey sweetheart, how are you?"

His mom answered, "Don't you sweetheart me. Do you not miss your old mother? Do I have to be the one to call all the time? You know, it's rude."

"Jaan, don't be like that. You know I've been busy." He tried to reason with her, "You know I miss you all the time."

Esha mouthed to Evan, questioning, "Girlfriend?"

"Mom." He mouthed back. She almost laughed, but her heart twisted, hearing the one-sided conversation and already getting a hint of how lovely their relationship must be if he used such words for his mom.

Nikhil continued, "I keep telling you to come visit, but you don't."

Rasika answered, "As if your old man has enough time to take his wife to meet their only son."

Nikhil chuckled, hearing his dad in the background yelling at his wife to stop lying. "Mom, we both know he's been pressuring you for years now. That old man is a softie who can't live without his son but is a stubborn ass and won't admit it."

"I heard you!" His dad, Kirtan, yelled from the distance, but he could hear it over the phone as both he and Rasika laughed.

Rasika asked, "So anyway, where are you? I hope you're not still in the office."

"No. No, I'm not in the office." He answered, looking up to meet Esha's eyes. She held his gaze for a second and then looked down at the menu. It left him confused. He had seen something transpire in her eyes in that one second that he didn't understand.

"Good, you're home early for once. Did you have dinner?"

"We're actually out for dinner. Olive Garden."

"We?"

"Yeah, Evan and..." Nikhil didn't get to finish since Evan snatched the phone the second his name was said.

"Aunty, how are you?!" He greeted her, "You know, you need to scold this son of yours. He isn't getting any old. Why don't you marry him off? Atleast then he won't bother me."

"You love me, Jacey." Nikhil teased, knowing his friend wasn't actually tired of having him around all the time.

"Yeah, you're quite the cock-block." Evan answered.

Nikhil slapped the back of his head and scolded, "Mom, dude."

He bit his tongue, "Ops, sorry Aunty. You see the influence your son has on me?"

Nikhil stuck his tongue out at Evan, who scowled. Evan knew no matter how much he tried, Rasika never said a word to Nikhil the way he wanted. Evan would try to drive a wedge between the two so Rasika would love him more, but no such luck yet.

Rasika answered, "Evan, really, why don't you find a nice girl for yourself and settle down?"

Evan fled that conversation faster than anyone could blink, "Okay aunty, our food is here. Talk to you later. Bye!"

Nikhil tried to get the phone before he ended it, but too late. Nikhil frowned, "You didn't even let me say bye."

Evan rolled his eyes, "Mumma's boy, she knows you love her. No need to say it. Now how about we order some food? I'm hungry."

Esha commented, "I've been waiting on you two to stop fooling around."

Nikhil stuffed his phone away just as their server for the night came, introduced himself, and got their orders.

|> >< <> >< <> >< <> >< <|

Nikhil admired Esha's sleeping face. She didn't have her head on his shoulder this time, given she had leaned the seat back and cuddled up. He had draped the blanket over her body when he had noticed her shiver. He'd even turned off the overhead AC of her side.

He remembered his conversation with Evan when Esha had went to use the restroom at the end of dinner.

"She's amazing." Evan said.

Nikhil smiled, "I know."

"When do you plan on telling her?" Nikhil didn't hide things from his best friend, and Evan knew what had ended up happening that night in Vegas.

"I don't know." Nikhil answered, heaving a sigh. He truly was conflicted over that. "From what I have learned... I don't want her running away before she even has a chance to know me, you know?"

Evan nodded, sympathizing with his friend, "Yeah, but don't take too long. It might not go in your favor."

Nikhil had understood what Evan had tried to say. The more you delay, the worse it could get. If Esha found out some other way, or remembered herself, she may feel betrayed. She'll be more hurt then, and that was the last thing Nikhil wanted. He didn't believe in love at first sight, but the more he talked to her and had gotten to know her in the past few times he had been around her... He found that notion challenged.

Since they were about to land soon, he sat up in his seat. He was going to call her to wake her up, but with a faint smile, lifted his hand to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear while tracing his finger down her forehead.

She shivered at the unanticipated warm touch, and woke up. He didn't pull his hand back, waiting to see what she'd do. She blinked a few times after her eyes opened to see him slightly leaning over.

"We'll be landing soon." He informed, making no attempt of moving away. She sat up, letting the blanket drop from around her shoulders to pool around her waist.

"Don't do that." She warned him, remembering how she had woken up at the movies was similar - only, back then, her head had been resting on his shoulder.

"Do what?" He questioned, sitting back and pressing the button on the seat for it to be upright.

She rubbed her palms together to warm up, wanting for distract herself. "You know what."

"Since when do you not have answers to questions?"

Her eyes turned to snap up to his, almost accusing him of something he couldn't comprehend. "Since you started asking so many useless questions."

"How is it useless?"

"Don't start this now, Nikhil. If you wanted to wake me up, you just had to say my name. You didn't need to touch me." She said it in a tone that was a bit harsh, because he had her off her balance. Every time he was near her, it brought up an alien feeling that she didn't want to welcome, but a part of her yearned for it.

Nikhil understood now wasn't the time to push her. "Okay. Sorry." He apologized, putting an end to it for the time being.

She nodded, accepting that and not dragging the topic. She wasn't comfortable discussing it anyway.

|> >< <> >< <> >< <> >< <|

The front desk employee explained once a booked cab took them to the hotel they were staying at for the night, "Someone will bring up your luggage to your room." She gave a key to Esha, and then another to Nikhil. "Your room is next door to her, sir. Your assistant requested for two rooms, but we only had a connecting suite available due to the holidays. I hope that'll be alright."

"That's fine." Nikhil answered and thanked her before starting to walk towards the elevators.

Esha, confused, followed him and questioned, "Wait, what? A suite?"

"Yeah, connecting, meaning two rooms with a mutual bathroom."

"But..." Esha started to think, even though she did understand that there will be two separate rooms, meaning two beds.

"You heard her, Esha. They didn't have anything else available. It's the holiday season, after all." Nikhil pointed out, all of which Esha had to admit as well. Christmas was four days away. Ofcourse it was peak holiday time for hotels.

After that, Esha didn't further complain. There wasn't anything to complain about. She went to her room to find that her luggage was already brought up. The bellboy was leaving just as they had turned the corner towards where their suite was. He greeted them, before continuing on.

"Be ready at 7 in the morning tomorrow. We have to be there by 9, and with morning traffic, it'll take us that long to get there." Nikhil pointed out, to which she just nodded and disappeared in her room, hearing the door click behind her.

She looked around the room, and sighed. It was a decent size: a double size bed in the center against one of the walls, a TV on a desk across from it, a mini fridge under it and a coffee station next to it with two couch chairs facing each other for a seating area and a glass table between them. A closet drawer opened where she could put her bag in, along with a few empty hangers, and a door that she assumed opened to the bathroom. There were a few hanging picture frames around the four walls, a curtain behind the bed, hinting to a window behind.

Great. She grumbled. A bed by the window in December cold. That was nice. Not. She wondered if the hotel was planning on freezing their guests. She looked around for the air temperature control, walked over to it, and turned it up. It was at 60. She tried to turn it up but 60 seemed to be the highest possible temperature. She groaned in irritation knowing it was going to be a long night trying to sleep in a cold room.

She walked to the bathroom door and locked it so if the knob turned, she'd hear it. Then she opened her bag to grab a tee and PJs to change into. After getting in bed, she called Sanam. It ended up being a quick conversation given she had an early shift at the hospital.

She thought talking to Sanam would allow her peace with her mind to sleep. It didn't. It kept her up most of the night. On top of not being able to get comfortable in the cold room, she kept thinking of everything that had been happening in her life. It might not seem like a lot, but the biggest thing eating her up was that she had gotten married. To whom? She couldn't even remember. The guy had taken her virginity, and she didn't know who he was. To add it all, she had kept it to herself. She hadn't even said it out loud to herself, forget confiding in the few people she trusted the most in her life.

What could have prompted her to do that? Who, of the two, had been the one to propose such a stupendous proposition?

Her cheek rested in her palm as she turned to sleep on her side and tried and tried to remember even a figment of that night. She was sure she couldn't have had more than three drinks... that she remembered. One couldn't get totally drunk with that amount that they do not remember, unless the drink was tampered with.

She knew she was outspoken. She knew her parents were always fed up of her because she never listened to them. She was never the timid, obedient, respectful, well-mannered Indian girl her parents expected her to be. She was always the rebel between herself and her sister, but even her sister had silently joined her a few years ago when she had broken the news to her parents that she wanted to marry Arjun.

And what I have done?

Esha questioned herself. She had taken it a step up. Atleast her sister had said it to her parents, and waited for them to approve as best they would before she married Arjun. And Esha? She had gotten married and had no recollection of it, just the fact that she had woken up naked in his room, sore and with a huge rock on her finger as proof.

She woke up two hours later with her multiple alarms going off, and her eyes puffy from lack of proper sleep.

It was still dark outside. She turned on a lamp, and pushed the blankets aside, getting out of bed. She went to her bag to get the clothes she was going to wear today. Given it was Chicago, and cold with snowing, she picked thermals to wear under her business pants and a button up top with a jacket over it. She had packed a winter dress as well, in case, but in this weather, she wasn't going to wear it and freeze her legs.

She carefully twisted the knob of the bathroom and peeped her head inside. Looking under the other door, she observed his lights were off. Still asleep. She went up to lock both doors, and turned on the bathroom light.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she cringed slightly. This woman, she didn't recognize.

Heaving a sigh and shagging her shoulders, she ran her fingers through her naturally wavy hair and tied it up in a bun before going on with her morning ritual – taking a shower even though the water was freezing cold, shivering as she dried herself and wrapped the white hotel towel around her body, brushing her teeth and getting dressed.

Just as she went to unknot the bun her hair was in, she heard an alarm going off in the distance. She momentarily stopped, understanding he'd wake up soon. Since she was mostly done, she figured she'd do her makeup to hide her puffy eyes in her room. She reached the knob to unlock the door. Just then, it was pushed open. If she hadn't been quick to step back, it would have ended up hitting her face.

He gasped realizing what could have happened, "I'm so sorry; I didn't know you were in here!"

She waved it off, turning away and not really looking up at him, least he see her face. "It's fine." She mumbled and with her stuff tucked under her arm, she walked out of the door that led to her room and pulled it shut behind her.

She had faintly caught a look of his naked torso and gosh. The second she closed her door and leaned back against it, she closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. The attraction she felt with him was messing with her brain.

|> >< <> >< <> >< <> >< <|

Esha knocked on the door to his room when it had been 6:55 in the morning. She was going to go down and wait, then wondered that'd be rude. So, she decided to knock and see if he was ready. Then, they could leave together and she wouldn't have to wait downstairs in the hotel lobby by herself.

A few seconds later, he opened the door. He had his pants on, but his shirt was unbuttoned. She teased, trying to get back to her normal self, "Weren't you the one who said to be ready at 7?"

He huffed, walking in the room, leaving it open for her to decide to come in or not. She decided that taking an innocent step inside wouldn't hurt as long as the door remained open. "I would be ready if this button hadn't decided to come lose on me right now."

She noticed where his attention on the shirt was, with a sole button in one hand. "And you don't have another shirt?"

"No," He answered. "It was one over-night. I only packed one pair."

"Big mistake right there." She commented. She'd learned the lesson during her teenage days to always pack a spare, when time of the month was still new and an irregular concept for her. "Is it noticeable? Can't you hide it with a tie?"

He looked up at her, "It's in the middle, Mishti. Ofcourse it's noticeable."

"I've told you not to..." She started to reprimand him when he interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, you can give me that lecture later. Do you have any bright ideas right now?"

She went to the closet drawer, knowing she had found a small sewing kit in there in her room, and she figured there'd be one in here as well. Sure enough, there was. "Here." She said handing it to him.

He took it, but looked at it as if it were alien, and then at her.

She gave him an exasperated look, "Are you serious? It's a button!"

"And?" He spoke, finding her accusation ridiculous, "I went to business school, not learn sewing and cooking."

She crossed her arms over her chest giving him a steely glare for his stereotyping, "As a female, I take offense to that, because with that logic, I went to Arts College where I learnt interior designing, not sewing and cooking either."

"Can you please just help me?"

She let out a dramatic sigh, "I can try." She'd never sewed before, but she figured it couldn't be that hard to put a button back on. "Give me your shirt."

He did as told, and gave her both the shirt and kit. She went to sit at the unmade bed, pushing aside the blankets to make even space for herself. She found a thread that wouldn't clash with the color of his shirt, put the thread through the needle's eye, and tied a knot, something she had seen her sister do multiple times whenever she practiced sutures at home. From her peripheral vision, she could tell he was standing a few feet away with his hands on his hips.

She really didn't need to look up and find meet his half naked body again.

"And turn around." She ordered as she placed the button in its place and started to figure out how to do it.

He commented when she stopped, finding something wrong. "I think you need to put it from the inside and then add the button." As it was said, she could tell that made more sense.

She challenged nonetheless, "You want to do it?"

He backed off at once, "No, thanks."

She snapped, resulting in him letting out a chuckle. "Good, then turn around and let me do this in peace."

He turned around, but still asked. "Why do I need to turn around?"

"I swear, if you don't stop talking, I am going to use this needle to prick you in a way that will hurt." She worked on sewing it up, working from one hole to the other multiple times to make sure it wouldn't fall off.

"Has anyone ever told you how verbally violent you are?"

"I can be physically violent too if you like."

He asked unable to understand why she was particularly feisty this morning when he was sure he hadn't done anything to rile her up, "Why are you...?"

He didn't get to finish as it pricked it finger and she let out, "Oww!" He started to turn hearing that help, but she warned, "Don't you dare turn around, else this is going to prick you next."

He let out a sigh, for she was being difficult. "Atleast let me know if you're hurt?"

She didn't answer for a second, working in peace while also trying to not let his concern get to her before she answered in a quiet voice. "No, a little needle isn't going to hurt me."

She went on to knot it, and then used the small scissors to cut off the excess thread. There were far bigger things in life that had hurt her. Returning the needle in the kit, she stood up holding the shirt up. "Here."

She looked up at his bare back without meaning to, and froze.

He turned around, and took the shirt from her hand, "Thank you." He gave a narrowed look at her unblinking eyes as he started to slip his arms through the sleeves, "What?"

She gulped and shook her head, "Nothing. I'll wait outside."

She walked out of the room, and a couple steps more, making sure he couldn't see her. She rested her hand on the wall to gain support for her shaking legs. She couldn't bring herself to believe it.

Was that...?

She couldn't wrap her mind around the tattoo she witnessed on his back.

Peacock feather.

|> >< <> >< <> >< <> >< <|