Esha pulled her hand back, knowing she was going to hate herself for the first time because of the words she was going to say next. "I'm sorry, Nikhil, really, for what happened to your family. But I can't do this. I won't subject myself to things I don't believe in."

He questioned, "Why don't you?" starting to gather himself from the aftermath of relieving those emotional days of his childhood after telling her a part of him he held dear and close to his soul.

"What?"

"Why don't you believe in marriages? I think I deserve that answer, atleast, if you are going to say no."

She looked at the picture frame in her hand one last time before placing it in his and distancing herself. "You're just going to have to accept that I don't."

"Fine then, I don't accept it." He snapped, getting up and walking two steps away, having his back face her. Turning back to face her after running his hand through his hair, he tried to not go off on her, but he couldn't keep his emotions in check. "I told you, Esha. I told you something about my life I don't really tell just anyone. Can't you please be sensitive and atleast give me a proper response? You can't be this closed off all the freaking time!"

"I can be, because this is who I am!" She exclaimed, getting up as well, "If you can't accept that, then perhaps it is another reason for you as to why you should let this go. You don't have to hold any guilt or anything, because hey, you gave it your best shot, right? Besides, this wedding wasn't proper in any terms to begin with, so there you go. The end."

She stomped up to the kitchen counter where her hand bag was on the floor, along with her clutch on the counter. She looked at him one last time. "And perhaps, Camille should lead the project now. It's better we don't see each other again, least we start hating each other... that is, if you don't already hate me for not letting things go your way."

She reached for the door knob to open it, but gasped slightly when from behind, he slammed it shut. Using his other hand, he turned her around. With the way he was dangerously close to her, she felt the need to press herself against the door, as far away from him as possible.

"So now you are going to run not only from your personal life but from work as well?"

"Nikhil, get your hand off me." She ordered, for she was not going to let anyone man-handle her. His actions may have surprised her, but she quickly recovered. This was something she was completely against.

Seeing the cold stare of her eyes straight into his, he reluctantly released his hold on her, but kept the hand on the door that was keeping it shut, blocking her only exit.

"You can call it running if you want," She answered his question, "But I'd rather pull myself out of the way before I grow to resent you because let's face it. I doubt you will stop trying to convince me if we continue to work together, and let me tell you, I will definitely grow to resent you then. Now, back off and let me go."

She tried to turn, hoping it would make it clear to him that she intended on leaving this time.

"No."

Her eyes blinked up to his, "Excuse me?"

"You are not going to hand over the team leadership to Camille. You signed a contract, not Camille, and as much as I would want to understand your reasons you are giving and appreciate the fact that you don't want to resent me in the future, you can't back off. You've read the contract before you signed it. You're well aware of the repercussions both you and your boss will face."

She scoffed, starting to get a glimpse of the fact Camille had once told her about with Nick Khanna being the ruthless businessman was. "I can't believe you."

"Well, believe it. I am bound by that contract just like you are. I don't own the damn business that I can just tear up a legal contract for your sake. Unless you know someone rich enough who can convince my boss to see things your way, good luck trying to hand this off to Camille."

Esha caught on the hint he was giving her. Her brother-in-law. Arjun Mehta. But there was no way she was going to involve him. He'd want to know why she needed him to do such a big thing, even though he would do it. He wouldn't say no to her, but she wasn't going to let this thing get out to her family.

"Don't you dare tell any of this to your family."

"Too late."

Her heart skipped a beat and starting thudding at the confession.

"I'm not the son that hides things from his parents, no matter how big or reckless they are."

Esha honestly did not know what to make of that. How could he tell his parents? Just like that? And yet... he had chosen to not tell her. She believed more than his parents, being directly involved, she had more of a right to know.

"It's late. You can stay the night here."

"I'm not goi..."

"In the guest bedroom." He continued, having already assumed what she would say.

She considered it, but only for a single second. Then, she announced, "I'd like to go home."

When he made no attempts at moving, and she kept feeling his gaze on her while hers remained at the floor, she took in a small breath after understanding she'd have to move him herself. With her hands on his chest, she went to slightly push him back. Given he hadn't thought she'd do that, he stumbled a few steps. Instinctly thinking he might fall, she reached out to try and hold his arm. Without meaning to, her foot kicked the urn in the process.

It took a few seconds for him reel steady on his feet, and for her to travel her eyes from him to the spilled rice on the tiles of his entrance. She silently cursed her fate.

He cleared his throat and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to stay the night?"

She gulped and nodded, briefly answering while not looking at him, "I'm sure."

"Okay," he spoke, "I'll drive you."

She vaguely remembered the car at the airport, "Your car is at the airport."

He went over to the kitchen island to pick up his car key, "No, that was the company car Julie must have arranged to pick us up so we wouldn't have to take a cab this late in the night."

He nodded towards the door, coming to stand in front of her. She understood, and opened the door, stepping out with her stuff. He pressed the buttons on the security system to arm the alarm, and then pulled the door shut behind them, locking it with a key.

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Esha read the time on the car's dashboard once he had turned it on and blasted it to heat to clear the front and back view, and also to warm up the inside of the car from the freezing cold outside. It had started to snow outside.

1:38

She had been inside his apartment for almost an hour.

She ruefully and silently laughed, thinking of the amusement of the Cabbie if he came to know, forget 5 or 10 minutes. Imagine an hour, and he still hadn't given to her willingly. He had just been stunned enough that it had given her the time to retrieve it.

It would be close to 2 by the time she got to her place, and some after before she'd be able to sleep. Esha wondered how it was going to be possible for her to wake up in four hours to once again get dressed and report to work when she had barely gotten sleep the night before.

It had been too long a day. She closed her eyes, promising to rest them just for a few seconds.

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When the car stopped, she stirred awake. It had always been easy for her to fall asleep in moving cars, and as soon as they'd stop, she'd wake up as if she hadn't been asleep at all.

She unbuckled. "Thank you."

He stiffly nodded. She walked out of the car and walked a few steps, before stopping. She felt light-headed and despite the fact it was dark outside, everything felt blurry to her. She tried to take another step, but wobbled. Her arm reached out to grab something to steady herself as a reflex, but given she was in the middle of the parking lot, there was nothing to hold on to other than empty air.

She closed her eyes, hoping it would help and the light head would go away.

Perhaps she should have been careful and had a decent lunch instead of being an emotional mess.

She felt a warm around slip around her, steadying her. "Hey. Are you okay?" She heard him asking softly, his lips very close to her ear.

The dizziness faded a few seconds after and she nodded, reopening her eyes and furiously blinking to settle back in reality. "Yeah, I'm just going to..." She stared to say and stand up on her own two feet again when her head started throbbing again. She clutched it, silently wincing at the internal pain.

"Come here." He said, gently leading her back to him, and then his arm went under her thighs to lift her up.

She couldn't even begin to object because a small part of her that was reasonable amidst it all knew she wouldn't make it one step on her own before falling and possibly losing consciousness.

"What floor?"

"Penthouse." She hissed out, squeezing her eyes shut as she draped her arms around his neck. She heard the elevator, marking its arrival, and then a few seconds later, it came again, letting her know they were on the very top floor.

He set her down momentarily, having her hold the knob and lean against it while he reached in her clutch for the keys. He then pulled her towards him before putting the keys in the slot and pushing the door open.

She said thinking she could make it to her bed. "I can walk..."

He wasn't about to allow her to experiment. He picked her up again. "Which room?" He questioned, seeing two.

She nodded towards the one of the left, and pushing it open with his foot, he walked in and rested her on the bed. She slid back to sit up against the frame of the bed and closed her eyes. She heard steps getting faint, and assumed he was going to leave. But, a few seconds later, he came back with a glass of water. "Hey, here..."

She tried to give a smile of gratitude, but it didn't work. It only made her wince. She took the glass and had a few sips of water while he spoke, "I tried to find something in the fridge for you to eat, but it was empty..." He took a seat at the edge of the bed, and she moved slightly so he had some space.

After having, she felt a bit better, "Yeah, Reba, my roommate, is the one who cooks and she's gone home for the holidays."

"You're here by yourself?"

She gave him a look, "I can look after myself, Nikhil." She wasn't a kid, she wanted to add, but decided better against it. She was trying to be civil after he had helped her up to her room.

"Okay, well... what happened? Do you need anything?"

She let her head rest back for a second and shook her head, "No, just exhausted after everything. I'll be fine after I sleep."

He sat there a few more minutes, to make sure she really would be fine. When she opened her eyes and started to take off her boots with her own energy, he convinced himself she would be. She didn't bother to change, just removed the accessories.

He got up, reaching for the boots, when she stopped him, "It's okay. Leave them there. I'll have to clean the room tomorrow anyways." It was then that he took a second to look around, and understood why she would have to clean it.

He smiled a bit seeing the condition of the room.

A hot mess. Just like her.

Even though Reba had cleaned everything else in the apartment, she hadn't touched anything in Esha's room. She knew better than that.

"Can you please lock the door on your way out?" She asked, referring to the main door of the apartment.

He nodded, though he had no intention of leaving. He walked towards the light switch, and stopped before turning it off with a thought he felt he needed to express. He moved his head in her direction. "Hey, Esha?"

She stopped from pulling the blanket, and looked up at her name. "Yeah?"

"For the record, I don't hate you." He looked at the light switch to turn it off, not wanting to see her face when he said the following words. Her breath hitched and her heart skipped a bit hearing the end of it. "Far from it."

He could have hoped she hadn't heard it. She could have done with not hearing it. But, with the pin drop silence in the room, and pretty much the entire surroundings at an hour like this one, the fact was... she did hear it.

And they weren't words easily forgotten.

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Author Note

Short chapter, and also next few chapters may be going at a slow pace. On the other hand, it's my summer breaks so I'll be doing my best to update 2-3 times a week! Get ready :D