26) My eyes are up here

Kiara's POV

"What the hell are you doing here?"

My head shot up and I found the devil himself standing a few feet away. His ever-prominent-scowl very prominent on his face as he took a few steps towards me. He looked... angry.

Like he always does.

Oh god. Please no. I didn't want to face him. I didn't know what to say to him.

"Wh- " He stopped, his hand clenching into fists as he breathed deeply, his chest heaving up and down.

"What are you doing here?" He repeated but his voice seemed calm. Eerily calm.

I quickly scrambled up, dusting my jeans and rubbing my hands together. "I was just leaving." I looked anywhere but him, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. My mind was a complete mess.

"How did you come here?"

My eyes flickered towards him. His jaw was set tight, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"I just...um"

Stop stammering like an idiot. You don't have a speech problem.

"I don't know. I just kept walking and reached here." I shrugged softly.

He stared at me for a few seconds and then looked away, the vein in his neck popping out. It looked as if he was trying to control his anger.

Oh no. Was he going to kill me? Was he finding a good place to hide my dead body?

The place was deserted. No one would hear my screams. He could easily bury me anywhere in this garden and no one would know.

His gaze returned to me and I snapped out of my thoughts.

Oh god. That was it. He was going to explode. He was going to turn into the hulk and then tear me apart. I needed to run from there.

"I'll be leaving." I spun around swiftly.

"You can stay."

I stopped in my tracks. With my hands outstretched on both my sides, I looked up at the sky first.

Did the gods from above announce it?

"No, they didn't." A voice that resembled very much like Arjun's, spoke as I slowly faced him.

"What?"

"I told you I don't like to repeat myself." Putting his hands in pockets, he walked forward and nodded at me. "You can stay."

"Really?" I asked, a little stunned. "Don't you want to, like, strangle my neck or something?"

I straightened up as he stared at me, deadpanned.

"Um, okay. Well, thanks." I spoke in a rather weird voice.

What was happening?

I sat in my place again as he came near and sat beside me, although a little away but almost giving me a mini heart attack.

He just sat beside me! Like a normal human being.

We were fighting half an hour ago and now we were behaving like awkward acquaintances. I glanced at him, his legs outstretched in front of him with his hands laying flat on the grass on his sides and his eyes staring into oblivion.

This was so weird. Why was he here? How did he find me? And more importantly, why was he sitting beside me as if we were on a picnic?

"What were you saying?" His voice snapped me from my conflicted thoughts as I blinked at him.

"Sorry?" I peeked at him questioningly.

"When you came to the study. What did you want to say?"

"Oh. Well...um. Yo-... Mrs. Singhania called. Your dad is hosting a party for us in his mansion this Saturday."

"I fucking hate those parties." He muttered.

"And we need to go shopping too." I added timidly, waving a hand over the grass.

"Damn it." He cursed a little too loud.

I didn't say anything after that, I know, a big surprise right? And he had already mastered the ability of being as silent as a dead body that I had to look at him occasionally to check if he hadn't passed out. So, it was safe to say that both of us were lost in our own thoughts.

A few moments passed as I rested my head against the tree, sighing softly. This felt strangely good. And calm. My eyes wavered in the sky, the stars twinkled brightly and the moonlight shone in the garden.

"I have anger issues."

Oh lord. Thanks for telling me. I wouldn't have guessed it myself.

"I can hear you, you know." My head whipped towards him.

How could he hear my thoughts?

I always knew he was an alien.

"Huh?" I gulped.

"You said it aloud." He looked at me, shaking his head in frustration and faced forward.

"That's why I have these outbursts. I-"

"You said it won't happen again." I said, looking in my lap. I could feel his eyes on me.

"What?"

"All those things you said to me on our wedding day. You said you won't repeat that." A lump formed in my throat.

"Kiara, I.."

Arjun Singhania at a loss of words? It was a first.

He raked a hand through his hair. "I know. I just...can't help myself. That doesn't justify how I talked to you. But there are few things that I don't like to talk about. And whenever someone mentions those things, it triggers my anger."

"I didn't know about your mom. Ot-"

"I don't want to discuss it."

"But-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it." He stressed on each word and I shut up. Partly, because I guessed it was a sensitive subject for him. And partly because I still doubted if anyone would find my dead body here if he decided to kill me.

"I am sorry for bringing that topic." I apologized honestly; I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. Losing a mom could be very hard and maybe I'd never be able to understand his pain, I could empathize with him.

He just nodded slightly, without even glancing at me, a muscle in his jaw ticking.

My eyes narrowed into slits. "You know, when someone says sorry, you're supposed to say 'it's okay'." I spoke, crossing arms over my chest.

"And what if I don't want to?" Sarcasm evident in his tone.

"I don't wanna talk to you." I huffed, facing away from him.

"As if I'm dying to hear your sweet, melodious voice." His voice was not cold and harsh as I had heard before, it had an underline of something akin to amusement.

My jaw slackened. "Fine then." I stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"It's getting late. We have to get back." I said, not looking at him.

Not saying anything, he stood up and joined me as we silently walked towards the entry gate. What was going on in his mind? I couldn't tell. He was so difficult to read, always wearing a mask of indifference on his face.

All this time, one question had been bugging me. "Why is no one allowed in this garden?" I asked him.

No reply.

"Arjun?" I tried again.

"Arjun?"

He kept walking, completely ignoring me.

Oh god. This guy was so damn annoying. I wanted to push him in front of a moving bus.

"You know what? Go to hell." I marched out of the garden and turned left.

"Princess."

My feet came to a halt. Hearing his voice arose a fuzzy feeling inside me. Something about his voice, his tone, forced me to turn around as I looked at him and a muscle pulled in my chest. He was already gazing at me, an unreadable emotion brewing in his eyes.

Maybe he was going to answer me. Maybe he was going to apologize for ignoring me.

"The penthouse is this way." He pointed in the direction opposite to where I was going. And with that, all the feelings went down the drain as my face dropped and his lips lifted into a smirk.

"Y-yeah. I knew that." I coughed, walking past him, not missing the ghost of smile playing on his lips.

On our way back, I spotted something that made me squeal loudly.

"What happened?" Arjun glanced around alarmingly, searching for any danger.

"Ice cream." I yelled happily, pointing towards the ice-cream parlour on the left side of the road. Arjun looked up at the sky, as if asking for the gods to help him.

I'm not that handful, am I?

"I want a chocolate ice cream." My mouth watered just thinking about the delicacy.

"If I remember carefully, you have overloaded my fridge with chocolates and ice-cream. Wait till we get back." His head suddenly snapped towards me as his eyes roamed on my face. "Or did you eat them all?" His eyes widened slightly as he stared at me in shock. Oh, so he could show emotions other than anger and cockiness.

"No." I laughed. "But I'm really craving a chocolate right now. I won't be able to wait till we reach home." I pouted.

Shaking his head as if he didn't have any other choice, he sighed. "Fine, let's go."

"Wait. You're coming with me?"

"What does it look like, princess?" He rolled his eyes.

One day when his eyes will roll out of his sockets, I'll store them in a jar as a memory.

As we walked side by side, I couldn't help but steal a glance at Arjun. He was facing the ground with a frown. I bent forward an inch, trying to gauge his expressions. I couldn't observe him properly, so I bent a bit more which resulted in me losing my balance on a perfectly straight road. Again.

"Aaagh." My hands shot forward, trying to prevent the fall but before I could kiss the ground, a hand latched around my elbow and pulled me back. I placed a hand over my racing heart as I controlled my breathing. My eyes wandered to Arjun, his forehead crinkled and mouth slightly parted.

"Wha-" He stopped and just shook his head, giving me a look, a look that questioned my sanity. I shrugged non-chalantly, ignoring his queer stare and trying to cool down my heated cheeks.

This was probably the fourth or fifth time I had almost fallen in front of him.

"Let's go." Chirping enthusiastically, I speed walked toward the parlor. As I reached there, my hand was about to grab the handle of the glass door but Arjun beat me to it. He opened the door and waited on the side and I gasped loudly, pressing my hands on my cheeks. I looked around dramatically, my gaze returning back to him. "Has the Earth stopped spinning? Has Maahi stopped loving Harry? Has Anushka stopped stalking hot guys? The mighty Arjun Singhania opened the door for me? Me? Is this the end of the world?"

Giving me his most unimpressed, blank stare, he kept standing there.

"I can die peacefully now. Mr. I-don't-give-a-damn-about-anyone actually opened the door for poor, little me?"

Still no reaction.

"You're no fun." I half-whined, half-snorted and walked inside with a big, dreamy smile on my face.

"Hello, sweetie. What would you like to have?" A sweet, old lady in her mid-50s stood behind the counter. Above her, hung a board which displayed all the different flavors available.

"You're drooling all over the counter."

Looking to my right, I found my dearest husband standing beside me, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared ahead. I ignored him and focused on the board.

Gosh, there were so many choices.

"Um. I would like a chocolate cone please. With choco chips on it." I am sure my eyes were twinkling like Christmas lights.

"And what would you like dear?" The woman gazed at Arjun.

"Oh, he would like a strawberry ice-cream, please." I answered on behalf of him. Wounding an arm around his elbow and placing another on his bicep, I spoke in an extra sweet tone. "He's such a softie. And loves strawberry. He can't even sleep unless he drinks his strawberry milkshake daily." I gushed dramatically.

The woman smiled fondly at us like she was looking at her own grandchildren.

It's good to have fun sometimes.

Let's see how fun it would be when he leaves you stranded in a street full with stray dogs.

I could feel Arjun glaring daggers at me. His cold stare was enough to knock me down, so I stepped away carefully, trying not to get frozen under his arctic, piercing stare.

"I don't want anything, thank you." He said and I giggled, his eyes shifting to me.

If looks could kill...

"Okay." The woman nodded and a minute later, handed me a chocolate cone and I took it happily.

Arjun took out his wallet from his back pocket and paid the lady.

"Hey, I can pay myself. You don't need to do that." I protested.

"Already done." He turned around and strode out of the shop.

"I'll pay you back." I rushed after him being extra careful. I couldn't afford to drop my ice cream.

"Yeah, of course."

Why couldn't he speak normally for once, without being sarcastic?

Soon enough, we reached the penthouse without getting involved in any other argument. I think it was mainly because I was quiet the whole time since I had to focus on three main things. Walking. Eating ice-cream. And trying to walk without tripping while eating ice-cream. You know how hard it is?

In no time, I had already reached my room and was about to enter when I spun around to face Arjun.

"Goodnight. I hope you have some lovely nightmares." I yelled loudly and closed the door shut before he could reply.

I didn't know irritating someone could be so satisfying.

*

As I was combing my hair, standing in front of the mirror, the door of my room opened with a loud thud and I almost smashed my face in the mirror from the shock.

"Hey bestie!" Sid exclaimed happily as a smile made its way to my face and I greeted him with a hug.

"Hi."

"You ready?" He asked.

"You're coming with us?" I placed the comb back in its place. Today was Thursday and we had to go dress shopping.

"Of course. I was told that you lack basic fashion sense and won't be able to select your outfit even in a million years so being the amazing best friend that I am, I decided to accompany you."

I rolled my eyes at his response. It must had been Maahi or Anushka. "Oh, I'm honored. And does Arjun know that you're coming too?"

"Who cares?" He shrugged. "He'll have to put up with me anyway. So, it doesn't matter."

"And where's that angry hulk, by the way? I didn't see him in the hall."

"I don't know. Maybe brooding around in his study." I replied.

"Honey-poo." Sid shrieked in a feminine voice, striding out of the room and I followed him, chuckling at the ridiculous nickname Sid used. He loved provoking Arjun.

"Where are you, honey-poo?"

A few seconds later, Arjun sauntered in the living room, holding his phone to his ear and glaring at Sid. "I have an important call to make. Don't disturb."

"Well, I'm coming with you, too." Sid said and Arjun looked at me with a menacing glare.

"He's my best friend. Of course, he'll come with us." I defended, pressing my lips together.

Sid loved teasing Arjun. So, who was I to deny some entertainment? Plus, it would be fun if I joined Sid to irritate the devil.

Arjun opened his mouth to say something but stopped as he looked at his phone and started conversing with God knows who. "Yes, Mr. Gupta. About that deal we discussed..."

As he talked, he motioned with his hands for us to go downstairs and that he'd join us in a few minutes.

So, we took the lift.

"Will you be there on Saturday?" I asked as we approached his car.

"Yes. In fact, I'm the co-host of the party." He replied, walking to the other side of the car.

"Oh."

As soon as I opened the car door of my side, I wailed loudly. "NO."

What were they doing here?

"Hi." Maahi and Anushka, both waved at me, sitting comfortably in the car.

"No, no, no."

I didn't even invite them.

"Okay, let's get going." Sid got inside and buckled his seat belt.

"No." I closed the car door and slumped against it, almost sliding down.

Someone please kill me.

At the same instant, Arjun walked out of the building, tying a watch to his wrist, his concentration solely on the watch. He stopped a few steps away and looked up.

His eyes were trained on me as his brows furrowed slightly. Shifting his gaze to the car, he stared back at me. "What happened?"

I slid to a little left and pointed towards my over enthusiastic-on-sugar-high friends that were planning several ways to torture me.

"What about them?"

"They are coming too." I sobbed, feeling all energy leaving my body.

"So?"

"So? So?? You don't know them. They are crazy about shopping." I emphasized with my hands. "And I hate it. The last time we went shopping together I ended up trying like a million dresses."

Okay, I was a little over-exaggerating but you know my friends.

"So, you don't want to go with them?"

"No." I pouted sadly.

"Fine then." Arjun adjusted his tie and my eyes snapped to him in surprise. He nodded seriously, staring ahead.

Was he going to cancel this shopping trip for me? My heart fluttered at I thought about the possibility.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get inside the car." He ordered and I gaped at him.

Before stepping inside the car, he looked back. "We can't miss this shopping trip now, can we, princess? After all, we don't have much time left for the party." He smirked. "Now, be a good girl and get inside. We're going to get late."

"You...You." I yelled helplessly.

Someone hand me a knife, please.

Sulking, I got inside and closed the door while Sid started the car.

"Do you know where are we going?" I asked Sid.

"Yes, Laura is a friend." Sid replied, his focus on the road ahead. "Kind of. We have met her in a few parties. And she has styled our outfits before too."

I nodded my head and leaned back. This was going to be very difficult. My eyes shifted to my right and I found Maahi and Anushka giggling and talking animatedly. Every now and then, they would give me sly looks. They seemed to be enjoying this a lot. Of course, they were having the time of their lives.

Let's just hope I find the dress as fast as I could.

"Don't worry, Kia. We'll make sure you find the perfect dress." Maahi patted my shoulder and Anushka burst out laughing.

Sometimes, I wonder that Satan himself created these two.

"Kia, you look a little upset. Is everything okay?" Sid asked, as he stopped at a traffic light, gazing at me through the rear-view mirror.

"Oh, she's more than okay. She's just way too happy that she's going shopping." Arjun interrupted, giving me a mocking look since he was sitting diagonally to me.

What is more painful? Slashing someone's neck or stabbing them in the stomach?

Relax, Kia. He's not worth it.

"Why did you bring them?" I grumbled, referring to the sadists sitting beside me.

"Well, they told me that you were going to shop for the party and expressed their concerns over your fashion sense."

Concern my foot.

"Moreover, who am I to deny the lovely ladies?" Sid replied charmingly and I noticed a blush making its way on Anushka's cheeks.

Wait, what?

My eyes caught Arjun and I looked at him pleadingly, asking him to do something.

"Oh no. He's your best friend, right? Of course, he'll come with us." Throwing my own words at me, that handsome goblin had the nerve to wink at me.

Karma's a bitch. And I realized it a little too late.

Maahi and Anushka snickered. I swear if they laugh once more, I'll throw them out of the car.

20 minutes later, I found myself standing in an expensive store, shaking hands with Laura, Mrs. Singhania's stylist. She was a pleasant woman in her mid-30s, lean and tall, her shoulder-length, black hair surrounding her heart shaped face. Clad in a black coat and a pencil skirt, there was no doubt that she was a fashion stylist, and that too a successful one.

"Hi, I'm Laura. Nice to meet you." Her kind smile eased my nerves a bit.

"Hi, I'm Kiara."

"You look lovely, dear." Blushing at her compliment, I moved aside as she shook hands with Maahi and Anushka and hugged Sid. Arjun only nodded at her with a solemn look on his face.

Of-freaking-course! God forbid if he ever cracked a smile.

"Roshni told me that you guys would be coming today so I have everything ready. Arjun, your suit is in the next room. Just go and check the fitting. My assistant will help you."

"Oh, sure." Sid smiled and placing an arm around Arjun's shoulders, walked away while Arjun glanced at him suspiciously.

"And as for you Kiara, there are 4 evening gowns that I've recently prepared. Come, have a look at them." She gestured me to follow her.

"Kia, why don't you go and try on the dresses while we just stay here?" Maahi casually mentioned.

"Wait, you don't want to join me?" I narrowed my eyes at them.

Okay, something was wrong. Either they were sick or they had suddenly lost their minds. I mean, Maahi and Anushka refusing to accompany me while shopping? Something was really wrong.

But I didn't have much time to ponder upon it as I agreed and followed Laura to an adjacent room.

The room was spacious, surrounded by large wall-sized mirrors and various mannequins standing around in beautiful dresses.

Laura excused herself to take an important call when Anushka came rushing to me.

"Kia. Come with me." She pulled my arm.

"What? Where?" I looked at her in confusion.

"I just spotted this cute mini skirt that would look really good on you. And I want you to try it." Her voice held a sense of urgency.

"But I..."

"Please try this skirt first. Please."

"But why- "

"Just look at it once." Anushka protested, dragging me away with her, her face eager and excited.

I sighed. There was no point in arguing with her. She would make me try that skirt by hook or by crook. I gave in and decided to silently follow her.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked her as she took a left instead of going back to the main hall.

"Trial room."

Maahi was already standing there when we reached the trial room and on seeing us approaching, her face lit up.

"There you are." Forcing a black pleated skirt in my hands, Maahi pushed me towards one of the rooms.

"But-"

"Try it first." Maahi said.

"Anushka!" I exclaimed loudly as she pushed me inside and closed the door with a bang while I almost lost my footing. Gaining my balance, I straightened up.

What was wrong with her? Why was she behaving like that? Had she hit her head while coming here?

"Kiara?" A startled, raspy voice asked from behind and I gasped audibly, flinching in surprise.

A voice that I cannot mistake even in my dreams.

I shut my eyes tightly and mentally kicked myself.

How the hell do I end up in situations like these?

Did Anushka push me here intentionally? Oh, lord. These idiotic morons were trying to play all cupid with me and Arjun.

Wait till I come out.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

What was I doing here? What was he doing here? Why the hell didn't he lock the door?

I was still facing away from him.

Okay, Kia! Take deep breaths and turn. You can do it.

I turned around and...

Ooohlala...

My throat suddenly became dry and it felt as if air was knocked out from my lungs.

There stood Arjun Singhania in all his glory, might I add, shirtless.

My breath hitched in my throat as my eyes trailed shamelessly over his body.

His broad and muscular chest proudly on display, a distinct valley running through each of his abs. His taut muscles and broad shoulders, his veins throbbing all over his arms till his wrist adding to his appearance. He could easily pass off as a Greek God sculpture.

Let's just say - good girl having not so good thoughts right now!

Now someone switch on the damn AC because it was getting freaking hot here!

I wanted to look away but those traitorous, greedy eyes kept looking back at his body.

"My eyes are up here." Hearing his smug voice, my head whipped to Arjun's face.

His lips curved in an amused smirk as he arched his eyebrow.

My eyes widened and heat rushed to my cheeks on being caught.

Oh god! I just checked out my husband!

And exactly 2.5 seconds later, I came to the realization that he was half naked. I let out a small squeal as I clamped a hand over my eyes and turned around hurriedly, now realizing that I had CHECKED HIM OUT WHILE HE WAS HALF NAKED!

My poor virgin eyes!

Uh-huh? Where were these virgin eyes when you were ogling picture after picture of Chris Hemsworth's abs?

I heard a distant chuckle beside me along with some footsteps approaching.

"Aren't your reflexes a little late, princess?" I could feel him close to me.

Oh lord, save me.

"I'm sorry." I squeaked out. I was feeling hot and embarrassed.

I quickly touched the corner of my mouth to check if I was drooling.

No drool. Okay, good.

"You can turn around now." I heard his voice and slowly removed the hand from my eyes, craning my neck towards him. He was fully dressed.

"So?" He asked, his lips stretched in a lopsided smirk as I faced him.

"I... umm... Anushka... d-door... pushed... " I mentally cursed myself for stammering.

Clearing my throat, I whispered pathetically, looking anywhere but him. "Anushka pushed me inside. I really didn't know you were already here."

It was true but judging by the looks of him, I knew he wouldn't believe me.

Now he would think I'm some sort of a pervert.

Well, are you not?

"Uh-huh?" He smirked wider, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I'll just leave." I turned around in haste, bumping into the door. "Oof."

My knees almost gave up when his deep chuckle resounded in the room.

Rubbing my nose, I held the doorknob and tried to twist it but it didn't budge. My eyebrows drew together as I tried again.

"It won't open." I muttered to no one in particular, shaking the knob.

"What?" Arjun came beside me and believe me when I say that I tried very, very hard to focus on the door.

He tried to twist the knob but nothing happened. He shook it vigorously. "Someone locked it from outside. But who?" He looked down at me.

I gasped.

"I am going to kill Anushka!"

And here you go with the next chapter. Uff, I love the next part. Can't wait for you guys to read it.