Chapter 57: chapter 57

The next day, Imara once again yanked her hand away from Adhiraj with gusto. She had cunningly cocooned herself in the blanket the night before, blocking any attempt by Adhiraj to hold her hand while she slept. But lo-and-behold, the next morning brought the same old scene. And she was not amused.Muttering some incomprehensible nonsense, she stomped off to the bathroom, slamming the door so loudly it could wake the dead. Adhiraj jolted awake, blinked in surprise as he stared at the empty space on the bed. With a shake of his head, he facepalmed and chuckled to himself, knowing full well that only his wife could pull off such a dramatic wake-up call.And as the doting husband he was, he knew she would stubbornly ignore his advice to hold off on starting work at the factory. And so, he found himself in a predicament, with no other option but to honour her whims and wishes.Around two hours passed, and Imara and Adhiraj were both ready to start their day. Without exchanging any words, Imara left the room to make her way down the stairs.Adhiraj didn’t say a word, but he did grab Imara’s hand and pull her back towards him. Without waiting for her response, he quickly popped earmuffs over her ears and shoved gloves into her hands, insisting, “You’re not going out without these. It’s cold out there!”Imara was taken aback, but before she could protest, Adhiraj had already taken charge, guiding her down the stairs with a firm grip on her waist. “If I see you are not well, I won’t hesitate to carry you back upstairs,” he muttered.“Leave me,” Imara muttered back, her words carrying a hint of annoyance as she squirmed and turned away from his cheesy smile.“Dream on!” He mouthed, his eyes sparkling mischievously as he shook his head at her request.Before Imara could come up with a comeback, they had already reached the dining table, turning heads and raising eyebrows as they made quite the entrance.“Off to the office, Imara?” Vandana was the one to ask the second burning question on everyone’s mind. The first being, of course, how come this couple seemed so intimate?“Yes,” Adhiraj confirmed. “And I am going along with her.”All eyes swivelled to him, even Imara’s, who couldn’t hide her shock. “What?!”Adhiraj casually grabbed a paratha before replying, “Why the surprise? I suggested you rest, but you insisted on tackling those pending batches. So I am coming along with you to make sure you are alright.”As his siblings and the twins stared baffled, Virender and Vandana fought to stifle their grin while Jaidev simply shook his head with a smile. Imara, completely disregarding everyone else’s presence, defiantly declared, “I am perfectly capable of looking after myself.”“I have seen that,” Adhiraj quipped, eliciting a glare from Imara.Imara really, really wanted to plant her heel on his butt. Instead, she turned her head towards Vandana, who quickly interjected with, “I can’t stop him from looking out for you.”Imara prepared to speak up, but Jaidev interjected, “He’s just worried about you, Imara!”Imara begrudgingly nodded, biting her lip and shooting a sharp glance at Adhiraj, who was trying and failing to hide his amusement.Determined to get even with him, Imara quickly finished her breakfast and said her goodbyes, prompting Adhiraj to also stand up. With a mischievous grin barely concealed, he rolled his paratha and bid farewell to everyone before trailing after his wife.“We’ll be taking another car,” Adhiraj announced as he saw her heading towards Babli.She paused, turned around with a sweet smile, and quipped, “You were just dying to follow me, weren’t you?”She hopped into the driver’s seat as Adhiraj rolled his eyes and signalled for his driver to follow. Just as she was about to zoom off, he hopped into the passenger side. His towering presence made the car suddenly feel even smaller than it already was.Looking at his enraged wife, he put on a sugary smile and quipped, “Shall we, Mrs. Shekhawat?”Imara, annoyed at the way he was tagging along, snapped, “Stop calling me that. Your mere presence is enough to remind me of that horrible day.”“One day, you will be thankful for that ‘horrible day’,” he murmured, bringing out a scoff from Imara as she stepped on the clutch and sped towards her factory.She drove like a bat out of hell, and they reached her factory in a record fifty minutes. Adhiraj didn’t seem bothered by the speed, but he did say, “If you drive like this all the time, I’ll take the wheel from now on.”Before Imara could fire back, he had already exited the car and stood waiting as they walked into the factory.“No one drives Babli but me,” Imara hissed.Adhiraj chuckled. “Looks like we’ll have to change the car then...”“You…”“Lovely factory you’ve got here,” Adhiraj interrupted, admiring the pristine walls of the first floor of the three-story factory. It was his first time in this area, and he was impressed by the cleanliness maintained.Imara didn’t bother responding and strutted into her office, while Adhiraj scanned the place for any potential security risks. In no time, he sent a message to Sanchit detailing his findings and suggestions for improving security at the factory.Following Imara, Adhiraj squeezed into her cramped office, making the space feel even tinier than it already was.“Imara, the fresh batch is…” Isha trailed off as she saw Adhiraj.“Good morning, Isha!” Adhiraj greeted with a crisp nod.Isha, looking utterly puzzled, turned to Imara for an explanation about Adhiraj’s presence, but Imara simply took her seat and announced, “I’ll make the new design myself.”Adhiraj plopped down in a chair opposite her, ready to tackle his mountain of work on his laptop. But, the sight of Imara hard at work was just too captivating for him to focus. Time and time again, his wandering eyes landed on her furrowed brow, and he found it hard to resist the urge to lean over and smooth out that crease with a steamy kiss—if only! With just that thought, his eyes smouldered with a darkening desire.Meanwhile, poor Imara was doing her best to focus on her toy designs, but with Adhiraj giving her the curious stare down from across the table, concentration was a lost cause. Can you blame her? His presence was like a magnet she couldn’t escape.Sometime later, Adhiraj coughed discreetly in an attempt to grab her attention. Imara glanced up, a puzzled expression on her face, only to see him engrossed in his laptop. She sighed, looked back down, and then heard him clear his throat once more. This time, when she looked up, he was still glued to his screen. Frowning, she closed her laptop with a bang and stormed out of her office, paying no mind to Adhiraj’s obnoxious laughter.But in a surprising turn of events, he closed his laptop and hurried after her, exclaiming, “Fancy showing me around, Mrs. Shekhawat?”Before Imara could launch into a scathing comment, Isha swooped in with her announcement: “Imara, the moulds are ready!”Imara begrudgingly marched up the stairs, trailed closely by Adhiraj. When they reached the production floor, Isha couldn’t contain her amusement at the sight of a grinning Adhiraj and a vexed Imara. It was almost as entertaining as a rom-com; she thought. Although a pang of sadness flickered in her heart as she thought of Neel, she pushed it aside and took charge of placing the moulds in the machine for their latest toy order.