50) Who broke the lamp?

Kiara's POV

"Attention! Attention!" The guard announces loudly, ringing the large bell. "We are gathered here today so that her highness, Princess Kiara from the land of chocolates and cakes, can choose a suitable groom for herself who will be crowned as the king of our kingdom."

I sit on the throne proudly and flip my hair, looking down at the audience.

"I shall call the respective contenders in the hall and whoever impresses Princess Kiara the most, wins."

The crowd cheers and the guard faces me, reading from a card. "Your majesty, may I introduce you to Lord Hemsworth, from the kingdom of dimples and blue eyes."

Chris Hemsworth walks inside the throne room with a peacock on his side. He comes to a stop in front of me and gestures towards the peacock, giving me a charming smile. "A beautiful gift for the beautiful princess."

I blush and smile back at him as the peacock perches on his shoulder.

"Next up we have..." The guard stops, baffled as he narrows his gaze at the card and then clears his throat. "Next up we have, Donald Duck!"

Donald Duck enters the room doing his famous dance with a stick in his hand. He even performs tricks for us and does a handstand, introducing himself in his evergreen, squeaky voice. He, then, comes to stand beside Chris and the peacock makes a face at Donald, who puffs his chest in pride.

Donald Duck and Chris have a staring session which breaks when the guard announces another contender.

"Please welcome, Prince Charming!"

Instead of a man as everyone expects, a frog hops in, surprising all of us.

"What's wrong with him?" I scowl and the guard insists that the frog will become Prince Charming only after I kiss him.

Bitch, you kiss him if you're so eager.

The guard speaks again. "Next comes the inevitable Thanos!"

What the hell?

I make a gagging face as the ugly chihuahua makes an entrance with that ugly face of his looking like his cat just died.

I'm not marrying that purple grape.

Donald Duck gulps when Thanos stands beside him but Chris looks unfazed, petting his peacock while the frog jumps on different people's heads.

The guard rings the bell again to gain everyone's attention. "Now it's upto the Princess whom she selects as her gr-"

"Did you forget about me?" A new voice asks and every head turns towards the entrance of the big hall.

Arjun comes in riding on a unicorn and the crowd gasps collectively.

"It's him! King Arjun from the land of smirks and glares." Someone mutters in the crowd and everyone starts whispering among themselves.

The unicorn just stops at the entrance, far away from me and I stand up in excitement on looking at the animal but the guard stops me. "Princess Kiara, he is our enemy. You can't marry him."

I frown and narrow my eyes at him.

How dare this measly guard tell me what to do?

My eyes shift to Arjun who has an arrogant smirk plastered on his ridiculously hot face. I glance at the guard and then back at Arjun, repeating the action a few more times and finally make my decision.

Just because that guard told me not to, I'm gonna marry Arjun only.

I pick up the front of my gown and run towards Arjun dramatically as the long train of my gown trails behind me, my hair flying around my face.

The guards lose their shit and chase after me, the head guard yelling, "Princess Kiara! He's from our enemy kingdom."

Arjun lets out a triumphant laugh and pats his unicorn who starts running in my direction.

The guards near me and I pace my steps, extending my hand towards Arjun who leans sideways, forwarding his own hand. When I'm close enough, he holds my hand and picks me up in a swift motion, making me sit in front of him on the unicorn.

The unicorn turns around and runs out of the hall, the guards still chasing us. They start attacking us with arrows but Arjun snaps his fingers and the unicorn starts flying, turning into a dragon mid-air. The dragon flies up and up and up and breaks out of the castle, destroying the ceiling.

I look at Arjun as he leans towards me, only to whisper in my ear. "Who let the dogs out?"

I shrug, not sure who act-

Wait what!?

.

.

.

.

A smile adored my lips as I let out a soft hum, my eyes still closed. Stifling a groan, I turned around yawning and was pulled closer to a warm body.

I frowned slightly, rubbing my closed eyelids. My eyes opened slowly and the only thing in my vision was a very defined, muscular, naked chest.

Mmm. Nice.

Me likeyy.

Snuggling my face in the same shoulder the chest belonged to, I got ready to sleep some more when sirens started blaring in my head.

Wait.

Am I forgetting something?

My breath faltered and I stilled in my place as the sirens went totally crazy, red light flashing behind my closed eyelids. Slower than a snail, I peeked one eye open and then the other, only for my pupils to dilate to the size of saucers as realization dawned upon me.

Oh.

Oh.

OH.

OHHH.

An involuntary gasp left my lips as my gaze roamed on a very-contently-sleeping-Arjun lying beside me. It took my broken brain a couple of moments to repair itself and send signals to my frozen body to unfreeze and act.

I jerked away from Arjun hastily as the events of last night played in my head like a Thor movie on loop.

Oh. My. God.

My breath stuck in my throat and my gaze snapped to the ceiling, my round, huge-as-tennis-balls eyes glued to the fan as I tried to come in terms with the facts.

Oh boy.

As a bonus, my over smart conscience chose that exact moment to project some very, very inappropriate images in my head in a slideshow that set my cheeks on fire.

So...

That happened.

And then, that happened.

All breath left my body in a whoosh.

So much happened.

My neck craned towards Arjun and I observed him like a creep as he slept with no care in the world.

I debated whether to pour ice cold water on him because how dare he sleep so peacefully while I was on the verge of having an aneurysm or just let him be because oh my poor heart, he looked so handsome.

Clutching the blanket covering my body, I peeked under it, only to find out I was wearing his shirt.

Okay. Good.

My head fell on the pillow again and I heaved a sigh of relief but it was short-lived as the slideshow continued, even more inappropriate images popping up in my head.

Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out. With my eyes screwed shut, I chanted in my head like a mantra but it was of no use as I was already freaking out.

Holding the blanket up to my chest, my eyes snapped to the ceiling once more and my brain was a second away from short-circuiting.

"Hi."

With a startled scream, I nearly jumped in air and my head whipped to Arjun who had magically woken up in the short amount of time I was nearing towards insanity.

He leaned on an elbow, holding the same expression he had been carrying around since we got married- a controversial mix between 'Ah! Entertainment' and 'How the fuck did I get stuck here'.

His lips twitched upwards on catching me off-guard and the amused smirk tugging on his lips turned into a full-blown smile when he gazed at my horrified expression.

For a second, I was rendered speechless at the goofy grin that took over his face. But that mesmerized look soon morphed into horror as he opened his mouth to say something. Before he could make any remark, I panicked and acted on instinct.

Me being the genius I am, in a moment of chaos and uncertainty, hid my face in the blanket, covering myself till the head.

Baffled, shocked silence followed my move and the only thing I could hear were my own frantic heartbeats and panicked breathing.

"You know that we are sharing the same blanket right now?"

I flinched as his bewildered, amused voice reached my ears.

Uh-oh.

Does anyone know teleportation?

Painfully slowly, I lowered the blanket, my heart lurching in my mouth. I peeked at Arjun anxiously and a nervous chuckle made its way through my trembling lips.

Amusement twinkling in his dark orbs, he ruffled his hair in that sexy way that made me want to spend an eternity running my hand through his silky, soft hair.

Focus, dammit!

"Good morning." I squeaked as heat crawled upto my neck.

"Morning."

Oh Lord! Damn that sexy, deep voice.

I was already a goner.

What do I say now? I screamed in my mind.

'Wassup buddy? How's the weather?'

Or

'It was nice meeting you. Hope we never meet again.'

But the only thing my extraordinary mind could conjure up was another high-pitched sound that sounded like a 'hi'.

Arjun chuckled, the deep sound hitting me straight in the core and let's just say I melted faster than ice cream on a hot summer day.

No man should be allowed to have such husky voice just after waking up. Especially Arjun.

This man was going to kill me someday with his overloaded hotness.

Cause of death- Heard way too many husky chuckles that sent her heart into over-exertion.

Not a bad way to die but I don't think it will look good on my death certificate.

"C'mere." Curling an arm around my waist, Arjun pulled me in his chest without any warning that made my heart flutter faster than a butterfly's wings and I buried my heated face in his chest.

He rubbed my back soothingly, pressing his lips on my forehead and it instantly calmed me down.

"You okay, princess?" His fingers danced on my back, sending jittery tingles down my spine while his other hand brushed away some stray strands of hair from my face.

I nodded in his chest.

"Look at me."

I contemplated on my options. I could either listen to him and do what he said or run away to London, change my name and open a bookstore.

After much thought, I chose the former option and tilted my head towards him.

Taking me by surprise, Arjun kissed me softly and my heart was at ease again. Pulling back, his lips curved in the special smile that he has reserved only for me and all the awkwardness vanished into thin air.

Cheesy as it may sound, I wanted to stay like this forever but my stomach had other plans as it growled loudly, screeching for food.

"I'm hungry." I mumbled.

Arjun chuckled. "Let's get you something to eat."

One more chuckle and I'm on my way to heaven.

.

.

Or hell, considering the thoughts running in my mind.

We sat up and my eyes nearly bulged out of my sockets when I glanced around.

Oh.

It looked like someone had raided the room while we were sleeping. Our clothes were carelessly lying around as if someone was in a hurry to find something and couldn't find it so they just threw everything they could get their hands on.

The q- wait....Why were there pillows on the floor?

"Yeah, so.." Arjun stood up and scanned the room, scratching the back of his head as his eyes roamed around the mess. "We'll clean this after."

Thankfully, he was wearing a pajama that not-so-thankfully hung low on his waist and it became a hard task for me to keep my eyes fixed on his face.

In a very poor attempt to act as if I hadn't been ogling at my personal masterpiece, my gaze caught the bedside lamp hanging upside down from the night stand on my side and I frowned.

"Who broke the lamp?"

"Who do you think, princess?" He cocked a brow.

"We?" My face scrunched up.

"Who else? Of course, we did." Arjun answered non-chalantly as if it was an extremely normal thing to do on a daily basis. "You don't see any ghosts floating around, do you?"

The sarcasm dripping from his tone hit me straight in the face but I ignored it as always.

"But...how?" I threw a baffled glance at the lamp and stared back at Arjun, waiting for his explanation but all I got in return was a smug, 'are-you-sure-you-wanna-know' face.

Maybe I don't wanna know.

Completely disregarding my question, he began searching for something, looking around. Recognition lit his face as he bent over to pick up his phone lying near the recliner.

What was his phone doing there?

He stood upright and held it in air for me to notice the cracked screen. "And apparently you broke my phone too."

"What? How?" Scowling, I crawled towards the edge of the bed.

Arjun looked up from his broken phone, awarding me with his blank, are-you-kidding-me glare. "You threw it across the wall in anger when it rang while we were-"

I cut him off with a loud squeak, jumping up from the bed. "I'll go and brush my teeth." With flaming cheeks, I made a run for the bathroom faster than the Flash. Closing the door behind me, I slumped against it and exhaled heavily.

I don't need him to recite the details.

After a whole minute of patting my cheeks to calm myself down, I gazed in the mirror. The past two days had been a rollercoaster of emotions for me and yet I wore a happy smile, my cheeks full and flushed as I stared at my glowing self in the mirror.

My smile got wider as I thought about Arjun's confession last night and everything that followed after. By the time I snapped back to present, I looked creepier than the Grinch.

Trying to will my creepy-pedophilic-psychopath grin in a decent smile, I washed my face and brushed my teeth as fast as I could.

I decided to wear some shorts under Arjun's shirt because there was no way in hell I was changing. His shirt smelled of chocolate and I was so happy that he actually used the deo I gifted him.

I was ready to go out when I felt sudden nervousness seeping into me. Rubbing my hands together, I took a deep breath as various questions swirled in my mind. I didn't regret anything, obviously not but all this was so.. new for me.

But I trusted Arjun more than anything and I knew he loved me. So instead of worrying constantly and complicating things, I decided to go with the flow, just like how things have always been between us. Spontaneous and unexpected. And a little bit crazy.

Pushing my over-thinking aside, I looked in the mirror one last time and tied my hair in a bun. With a new-found confidence, I walked out of the room and a tasty aroma filled my nostrils. I followed the smell to the kitchen, only to find Ritu preparing food for us while Arjun sat on the counter, his focus solely on his empty plate.

He was now wearing a grey tee and his just-out-of-bed hair had my conscience fanning herself aggressively. I sat beside him and greeted Ritu with a smile.

Smiling sweetly, she served us breakfast but Arjun and I messed everything up.

We were too busy ogling at each other that we were completely oblivious to the world outside our little bubble. Unfocused and disoriented, we made a complete fool of ourselves in front of Ritu.

I spilled some water on the floor.

He added salt instead of sugar in his coffee.

I poured too much sauce on my plate while drooling over him.

He burnt his tongue while drinking coffee because he was busy gazing at me.

In other words, we were a complete mess.

Get a room!

You know you're screwed when even your always-thirsty conscience finds it too much.

Ritu was fed up of our antics by the end and we fueled her annoyance even more as our foreheads bumped when we tried to reach for the same piece of toast.

"Okay, what's going on?" She finally asked, propping her hands on her waist. "Why are you acting like this?"

We both looked up at her like innocent children being accused of stealing their siblings' candies.

"Like...what?" I asked slowly.

"Like this." She gestured towards us. "Immature, lovesick teenagers."

Arjun choked on his coffee and I immediately patted his back as he started coughing vigorously.

"Uh... nothing." I took a hesitant bite of my toast, avoiding her gaze while Arjun had focused all his concentration on trying to breathe without choking up again.

Ritu took her time observing us and I felt like I was in some sort of interrogation.

"Is everything okay?" She asked after a long pause and I nodded way too quick for my liking.

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. Everything is perfectly fine. Better than ever!" I said it with so much enthusiasm that it only made her even more suspicious of my weird behaviour and I mentally face-palmed at my zero deceiving skills.

Surprisingly, she didn't question us further and I relaxed in my seat when she began cleaning the kitchen.

"The maid will be late today." Ritu wiped her hands from a dish towel. "I'll clean your room on her behalf before I leave."

I was busy pointing out a smudge of sauce on Arjun's cheek and he was busy wiping it that we didn't notice her leaving the kitchen.

It took me another six seconds to go over with her words.

I was going to take a sip of my coffee when her words finally settled in my brain and I froze, the cup nearly falling from my hold.

Wait.

What did she say?

My head snapped up and my wide eyes clashed with Arjun's, whose own face morphed into horror as realization dawned upon him.

"Shit." He cursed and scrambled away after Ritu, almost crashing into a wall in hurry.

With the motive to follow him, I stood up hastily, only to hit my knee against the counter. Wincing, I rubbed my knee and ran after Arjun, stumbling and toppling over things that magically appeared in my way with the sole purpose of delaying me.

Catching up with him, I saw Ritu making her way towards our room. Her hand was already on the doorknob and she was going to turn it around when both Arjun and I screamed at the same time.

"NO."

Ritu stopped abruptly and whirled around, startled with our sudden intrusion.

"Oh God. You guys scared me." She placed a hand on her heart, her shoulders sagging in relief. Taking a moment to collect herself, she narrowed her eyes at us. "What is it?"

"You can't go in there." Arjun yelled as he rushed towards her and blocked her way, standing between her and our room.

I strode towards them in hurried steps, stumbling into Arjun when I came to a halt. He steadied me and I spun around to face Ritu. "He's right! You can't."

Her eyes darted between the two of us questioningly. "Why not?"

Arjun and I exchanged flabbergasted glances.

How do we tell her we don't want her finding out what we were upto last night?

What would she think of us if she saw the condition of the room? I had no intention of finding out.

"Because..." I started and then blanched as I couldn't come up with any appropriate reason as to why she shouldn't enter the room right now.

"Because," I tried again. "I...uh..." My eyes flitted to Arjun and I swiftly pointed at him, throwing him under the bus. "Arjun will tell you why."

"WHAT?" He nearly shouted and I winced at his loud voice. He stared at me like I had asked him to buy me a Chris Hemsworth for my birthday.

I made a sorry face, pleading him with my eyes to act along and he glared at me, pursing his lips in a straight line. He had a hard time neutralizing his expressions back to normal and after a lot of effort, he faced Ritu who looked extremely puzzled, waiting for us to answer.

Uh...

"We murdered someone!"

"We stole a dog!"

We blurted out at the same time and my head whipped to Arjun so fast I was afraid I had snapped my neck.

I gawked at him.

Seriously?

We stole a dog?

That's what he came up with? What kind of an excuse was that?

Ritu took a cautious step back, mortification painted all over her face. "Wha-what?"

"We murdered someone and stole their dog." I spoke quickly to minimize the damage. "And now we are hiding the dead body and the dog in our room."

My conscience face-palmed, on the verge of ripping out her hair at the excellent excuse I made.

If possible, Ritu turned even more horrified and one step away from calling the cops on us.

Arjun forced out a chuckle, placing an arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer. I glanced at him hopelessly and he whispered in my ear with gritted teeth. "Stop. Talking."

He flashed another fake smile to Ritu and glared at me from the corner of his eyes, as if saying 'Stop! For fuck's sake, stop!'.

"I love your sense of humor." Although Arjun was laughing, I could see the way he was throwing daggers my way. "Isn't she funny?" He asked Ritu who looked as if she had just woken up from a 5-year long coma and had no idea what the heck was going on.

I let out a weird laugh that sounded more like brakes being applied in a car.

"Actually, we were playing a game."

"A game?" Her face was perplexed as if we were talking in a foreign language she didn't understand.

"Yes." I nodded vehemently. "We played a game. Arjun lost. And now he has to clean the whole house as a punishment."

I tried my best to make Ritu believe this story and what did my dear husband do?

"Why me?" His face scrunched up in defiance and I resisted the urge to push him from the balcony.

I stomped on his foot and it finally occurred to him that I was trying to take control of the situation. Patting his chest, I faked another laugh which came out like a quack of a duck this time. "Because you lost the game, Arjun."

"Right." He gave a solemn nod, pretending to be in a serious mental discussion with himself. "I lost the game. And I have to complete my punishment now." He smiled nervously.

"Wha-" Ritu clutched her temple, blinking furiously and shook her head, mumbling to herself.

She's going to quit the job, I can feel it.

With a sympathetic face, she glanced at Arjun and then me.

"Kia, honey, I love you but," Her gaze shifted back to Arjun, "You need to stay away from her. I don't think the world can handle two Kiaras." She looked positively terrified as she said that and I gaped at her.

"Since you're cleaning the apartment on your own now, I'll be heading back home." Her face turned amused as she added. "You guys keep playing."

"Bye." I waved at her and Arjun joined me but Ritu didn't look back, increasing her speed and running away from us, probably trying to avoid the insane virus that I was slowly spreading among everyone.

Yeah, she's definitely gonna quit her job.

When she was finally out of my sight, I slumped against Arjun who, in turn, slumped against the door.

"We murdered someone?" Arjun roared out of nowhere and I jumped at his sudden outburst. "Seriously? That's your best excuse?"

"I panicked, okay!" I exclaimed, whirling around and poked his chest. "And you don't get to blame me when you made an equally ridiculous excuse."

"It was still better than yours!"

"It wasn't!"

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!'

"Was not!"

"Was t-"

I kissed him.

That shut him up very well.

"My excuse was better than yours." I whispered after the kiss and he blinked twice, nodding in a daze.

My teeth dug in my lower lip to stifle the laugh that was ready to burst out of my chest at the dumbstruck look on his face.

My my. The eighth wonder of the world. I rendered Arjun Singhania speechless.

It took him a couple of seconds to snap back to reality and only then did he realize that he had been tricked. "Hey! You c-"

I shushed him. "End of discussion. And the moral of the story is-"

"We need to learn to lie better."

"No. We need to stop procrastinating and clean the room right now."

"Right. Then let's go."

"But I don't want to." I leaned my weight against him, peering at him through my eyelashes.

"I'll get you a chocolate sha-"

"I'M ON IT."

*

Skimming through the pages of my book and sipping the chocolate shake that Arjun promised, I glanced at him inconspicuously. We were in his study and while he worked on his laptop, I kept stealing glances at him like the creep I was.

I had no classes today and Arjun decided to work from home (once-in-a-lifetime moment). I got really excited, thinking I might get a chance to spend some 'us' time with him but of course Mr. Work-is-my-life was too busy with his first love and my worst enemy - his laptop.

One day I'm going to set his laptop on fire.

One day.

"You're staring." Arjun spoke in a monotone voice, not even bothering to spare me a glance and I was left astonished at his magical abilities.

How does he always know I'm watching him?

"I want a tattoo."

His fingers froze over the keyboard and he stiffened, his neck craning towards me in slow motion. "What?"

I perked up and closed my book, giving him my full attention. "A tattoo."

"Why?"

"Just because." I shrugged.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He shook his head.

I stood up, hands on my waist as I stared down at him in an attempt to look intimidating. "Why not?"

All I received in response was a deadpanned stare, his tone almost bordering on insulting as he spoke. "You cried for half an hour when you stubbed your toe last week. And you want to get your skin inked permanently?"

"I broke my toenail! That hurts." I protested defensively and crossed arms over my chest. "It's not my fault you're immune to pain and built like a freaking bulldozer, you heavy rock!"

He mimicked my stance and leaned back in his chair with a blank face.

Okay, I knew I was being a bit dramatic. But I really wanted a tattoo.

I also knew calling him a bulldozer and rock wouldn't work in my favour so I tried another tactic to convince him.

I dropped on the couch and glanced at the ceiling, crying out loudly. "You don't love me anymore."

"Wha- I just confessed yesterday!" He exclaimed loudly, his face incredulous.

I glared at him accusingly and let out an angry huff. When his are-you-for-real expressions didn't change, I laid on the couch Disney-Princess style. Like a damsel in distress, I put a hand on my head and sighed dramatically. "No one cares for me. I'm all alone in this big, cruel world."

Feeling a shadow looming above me, I lowered my hand and found Arjun standing there with an ever-prominent scowl, his face clearly screaming he was done with me. "Try working in movies. You will give all the actors a run for their money with your acting skills."

My face split in a nervous grin. "Please?"

He kept standing there like a discharged robot.

"Pretty please." I made a puppy face, widening my eyes and jutting my lips in a sad pout.

"Stop!" Running a frustrated hand over his face, he sighed like it was paining him to even breathe. "Fine. We'll go. Just stop making that ridiculous face."

I bounced on my feet and threw my arms around him, squealing in joy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"I hate you." He grumbled but his actions said otherwise as his arms snaked around me.

With my arms still around his neck, I pulled back and smiled cheekily. "No. You love me."

I got a perfect eye-roll in answer. "Already regretting my decision."

"Too late for that." I said in a sing-song voice.

"You are not going to let it go, are you?" He narrowed his gaze at me and I grinned up at him.

"Not that easy. The great Arjun Singhania is in love with me. ME! Sweet, little me."

His face told me that he had given up on me already.

So, I annoyed him a bit more.

I think he's one incident away from divorcing me.

"And now you're stuck with me." I poked his cheek.

His lips twitched in a ghost of a smile as he shook his head. Staring deep in my eyes, he held my chin and planted a soft kiss on my lips.

"Forever." He murmured against my lips.

Stunned with his action, I blinked in a daze, my heart galloping in my chest.

As if to give my heart a cardiac arrest on purpose, he proceeded to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, gazing at me as if I was the most precious thing in the world. "And I wouldn't exchange you for anyone in the world."

My heart thundered loudly.

Oh god.

I broke my husband.

Gasping aloud, I squinted my eyes at him suspiciously. "Who are you and what have you done to my devil?"

"Oh, the devil is definitely here." He spoke seriously. "He's just different with his princess."

Colour bloomed on my cheeks and I glanced down shyly, unable to take it all in.

Someone ask him to stop or I won't be able to make it out alive.

"Are you gonna keep standing here and blushing?"

My head snapped up on hearing his dry voice. I looked at him shocked while he stood there with a blank face. "We don't have all day. Come on."

Wha-

Can you believe this guy?

Just a moment ago he was being so sweet and cheesy and now he was looking at me like I was a mere employee wasting his time.

This man changes his moods faster than Nandini changes her nail colour.

Never mind. God forbid if I ever understand this man.

Ignoring his bipolar behaviour, I rushed to get ready and half an hour later, we were standing in front of Alaiya's tattoo parlor.

She looked surprised when we entered, her face beaming as she welcomed us inside.

"Did you like the tattoo?" She asked me with a sly grin and I bobbed my head up and down excitedly.

"I loved it." I giggled. "You did an amazing job."

"Thanks. So, what brings you here?"

"I want a tattoo."

"Great! Do you have a design in mind?"

"How about Chris Hemsworth's face?" Arjun offered with a sarcastic smile.

"Ha ha." I mocked him with a sweeter-than-honey smile and rolled my eyes.

"Actually, I do have something in mind." I fished out my phone and showed Alaiya a picture while Arjun glanced around, completely disinterested in our conversation.

She looked at it and nodded in approval. "Cool! And where do you want it?"

"On my left wrist."

"Perfect. Take a seat. I'll be back in a minute."

She vanished in an adjoining room while I sat down on a huge armchair, suddenly feeling nervous. When I had made the decision to get a tattoo, I was really looking forward to it but I didn't feel as confident now.

I waited, fidgeting restlessly until Alaiya came back and my eyes widened at the sight of the huge tattoo machine that she brought with her.

What was she going to do with it? Drill holes in my arm?

My terrified gaze flickered to Arjun and he stared back at me, his lips thinned in an unimpressed line.

"What is this!?" I yelped, pointing towards the monstrous machine.

His shoulder raised in a casual shrug as he leaned against a wall, folding arms over his chest. "You wanted a tattoo."

I stared at him in dread.

Have you ever forced your parents to buy you a new toy and cried till eternity until they bought you that toy? And when you finally got it, you realized that it's completely useless and you don't want it anymore?

Yeah, I'm still that kid.

Did I really want that tattoo or was it only peer pressure that my own conscience was imposing on me?

Arjun must have noticed the rising panic on my face as he stepped towards me. "Calm down. It won't hurt much. It's just like... a bee sting."

"No, not bees." I interjected worriedly. "I hate bees."

He sighed, rubbing his forehead and took a moment to reply back. "Fine. It's more like an ant sting."

"But I hate them too."

His scowl dropped in a blank stare. "You hate every animal."

"Bees and ants are insects, not animals." I added timidly and his lips parted in disbelief.

"Wha- I-.. Are you- ...You know what? Keep this information to yourself."

"It's true though." I pouted but his glare intensified and I immediately shut up.

While we were busy bantering with each other, Alaiya had set up all the equipments that were needed and sat on a stool in front of me. She showed me the rough sketch that she had drawn and I nodded in approval. Keeping the sketch aside, she asked for my hand and I gulped harshly, hesitating.

"We're leaving then." Arjun said abruptly, taking a step towards the door and I yelled out a big NO.

"Okay, okay, wait!" I blew a heavy breath and extended my hand towards Alaiya who was patiently waiting for my drama to get over.

Taking hold of my wrist, she turned on the machine that made a drilling sound and I shrieked loudly. Alaiya leaned back frightened at my hysterical scream and Arjun face-palmed.

Blinking at me with wide, bewildered eyes, she exclaimed loudly. "I didn't even do anything yet."

"I'm scared."

This was scarier than getting an injection.

Alaiya's gaze flew to Arjun and they had a telepathic conversation through their eyes.

You married this? She seemed to ask.

Don't even get me started. He answered with a half-tortured, half-exhausted look on his face, his eyes brimming with the torture I had put him through.

Closing his eyes, he ran a frustrated hand over his face and muttered something inaudible, either a curse or a prayer to God to put up with me.

A couple of seconds later, his determined gaze snapped to me and I shivered at the cold glance he casted me.

"Stand up." Arjun ordered in a no-nonsense voice.

"But I-" He didn't let me complete as his fingers enclosed around my elbow and pulled me up.

I was expecting him to drag me out of the parlor and take me home. Instead, he sat down on the armchair and pulled me between his legs.

Confusion marred my face and I tried to look at him but he put his hands on my waist, not giving me a chance to react.

"Wh-wha.." My voice died in my throat as he made me sit in front of him, my back touching his chest and I was left marveling at the way I perfectly fit between his legs. I turned my head towards him, puzzled with his actions but he held my left hand and extended it towards Alaiya, nodding at her to get started.

I struggled to breathe as he leaned forward to watch what Alaiya was doing, his face adjacent to mine.

Noticing my gobsmacked stare, he turned to me. "What?"

I collected my dropped jaw from the floor and shook my head, biting my lip to stop the wide smile threatening to split my face into two.

I love this man so, so much.

"Stay still now." He told me and even though I wanted to tackle him in a hug and shower him with kisses, I obeyed his orders.

I faced forward and Alaiya was grinning from ear to ear, her face excited as if someone had turned on her favourite TV drama.

She started working on the tattoo and Arjun held my other hand too when I started fidgeting. I would shrink against him with my eyes shut tight when it would hurt and he would squeeze my hand, murmuring a soft 'it's okay' in my ear.

"So how did you two meet?" Alaiya asked, probably to distract me from the pain.

Wow. What an excellent question.

I was definitely distracted now.

I jerked my chin towards the human-sized dark chocolate behind me. "He splashed muddy water on me. We fought. I threw coffee on him. We fought some more. And his dad decided we would make a perfect couple."

Alaiya burst in a loud laugh, throwing her head back as if I was the funniest person she had ever met in her life.

How do I tell her that I'm very much serious?

"Actually, my dad wanted me to come and live with him." Arjun intervened. "So I guess he was hoping we would burn down the penthouse in a fight after marriage and finally shift to his mansion."

"Didn't work though." He added after a moment.

"We survived without burning anything." I nodded gravely.

"If you don't count the endless times you tried to cook." He quipped and I gave him a major side-eye.

Alaiya couldn't stop laughing, having the time of her life. "You guys are so funny."

I grinned and we made small talk, Arjun staying quiet for most of the time.

She was telling me about her dog that David had gifted her on her previous birthday when a familiar voice interrupted us.

"Babe, I brought you some flowe-"

The door creaked open and all three of us looked up simultaneously. David stepped inside with a bouquet of flowers in his hands and a smile so huge, it almost seemed unreal on his stonier-than-stone face. But the smile vanished as soon as he glanced in our direction.

His feet came to an abrupt halt and he blinked, unsure of what he was seeing.

I tried to think of how we looked from his point of view and a weird image popped in my head. His girlfriend sitting with his hulk boss and boss's wife, who also happened to be cuddling (sort of?).

David took a step back, half-in, half-out of the parlor and glanced up at the board to make sure he had entered the correct place.

His gaze trailed back to us as we looked at him expectantly.

"Sir. Ma'am." He nodded awkwardly.

Arjun responded with a curt nod, as uncomfortable as David while I waved at him frantically as if I was seeing him after years. "Hello!"

"I-uh..I w-will be back later." He tried to leave but Alaiya stopped him.

"David wait!" She called out and sprinted to him, taking the flowers from him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. They are lovely."

David smiled softly as he gazed at her while she admired the flowers, his cheeks tinting red and I resisted the urge to ask him to propose her right here.

I swear if they ever break up, I'm gonna beat them to death and then get them married on gunpoint if I have to.

"I'll pick you up at 5, then?" He asked and she nodded.

"Bye." He kissed her forehead and I was one step away from crying at how cute they are.

David left and Alaiya kept the flowers on the desk with a happy smile, hopping back to us and continuing with her work.

When the tattoo was finally complete, Arjun turned towards me with an amused smirk at the choice of my design. It was a small heart with little devil horns and a devil tail.

"Reminds me of a special someone." I winked at him.

A hearty laugh escaped him and I found myself smiling like a fool for making him laugh.

"Right. Of course."

"Is it how you wanted it to be?" Alaiya asked after putting away the monstrous death machine to a side.

"It's better than expected." I gazed at my wrist.

We thanked her and I invited her to dinner with David whenever she had time.

"I feel so weak." I mumbled as soon as we stepped out.

Arjun's eyes narrowed into slits. "Stop acting like you just donated a liter of blood."

"But I'm weak." I kept my head on his shoulder, peering at him with the puppy eyes that he so despised.

He gave me his why-am-I-with-you glare.

I gave him my best you-are-stuck-with-me Cheshire Cat grin.

Sighing for the unteempth time today, he rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll get you your damned ice-cream."

"Thank you!" I squealed, wrapping my arms around him as my cheek squished against his bicep.

Wounding my arm around his elbow in a death grip, I dragged him with me to the nearest grocery store.

"Aren't you a sweetheart?" I smirked.

He glanced down at me. "Only for you."

And just like that, my heart went on another marathon.

Damn right.

Only for me.