Page 20 of Always? Forever.
Chapter 14
Kartik
But one man’s loss is one man’s gain right? If this was real I would be one hell of a lucky man. I mean I am still her fake fianceé or not, for a while,she is mine.
“It’s not that deep though apart from the fact that my parents are super hyper and want me to get married asap. Honestly I don’t mind. As a kid I dreamed of getting married early around 23-24 and having kids by 27. But things change. And that’s okay with me. Not my parents though. To top it off they have been hyper about this thing…my marriage ever since I broke up with my first boyfriend. Well, my only boyfriend.” She takes a deep breath. I am still confused as to why her ex boyfriend and her broke up but I don’t push her. Pushing her when she is barely opening up doesn’t seem like a good idea.
“Anything specific I should know about your family as we are meeting them first?” She asked nervously after amoment of silence. I gave it a thought and I had to warn her about Nani.
“Just my Nani, she is sly as a fox and sharp as a knife. She will catch us in a second if we aren’t convincing.”
Samaira nodded very seriously.
“Anything I need to know about your family?” I asked
“Well, I am an only child so my parents are super protective. One wrong thing and you’ll be out. My dad will not hesitate to kick your ass, CEO or not, if he thinks you are incapable of taking care of me, which he definitely will, you’ll just have to prove him wrong, but he will kill you with words and not kindness and you will thank him for it.” She said very casually as if she didn’t just serve me a threat. I have never met any of my girlfriend’s parents. Guess there’s a first time for everything.
Samaira
Tonight we were going to tell Aria and Aarush about our “fake marriage idea”. Considering how encouraging Aria was, I hope she doesn’t go off on me. We were going to meet at Kartik’s place. Aria was going to come directly as I was already with Kartik. We packed up at the coffee shop, he had brought his car. Who drives in New York?! Rich brats apparently. Although he didn’t seem like a rich brat anymore. He just seemed rich, which he was. Yeah I was nervous. That was an understatement. I hear someone call my name as I snap out of my thoughts. “You good?” he asks. He looks concerned? I nod my head in a yes as I go to openthe car door. He comes up beside me, and quickly puts his hand over mine, taking over and opening the door. I watch him stunned. He looks puzzled. This man is chivalrous too? What is happening? He closes the door once I am inside and walks over to the other side to drive. Once he settles in, we are on our way to his apartment. The radio plays a soft song, with a silence that is comfortable but tense. I think he picks up on it as he keeps looking my way. “Are you having second thoughts?” He asks. I think it over.
“Look if this is something you don’t want to do I understand, we can call it off.” He says gently. I look at him, his hands clenched against the steering wheel, leg nervously bouncing as he tries to calm himself down.
At that moment I realised he is as nervous as me. He is probably in a worse position as I may have to find a fake boyfriend but he needs to find a wife who isn’t a gold digger. He is taking as much a chance on me, maybe more than I am on him.
He certainly isn’t a bad guy, he’s…decent. He is kind, supremely annoying and arrogant, but kind. And most importantly he is nothing like any guy I have encountered. Any second thoughts vanish as I look at him and I realize it’s been a minute since he asked me and I have been staring at him. My face heats up. He looks uncomfortable.
I clear my throat. “Nope, no second thoughts.” He gives out a hesitant nod. Neither of us says nothing after it, until he pulls in his driveway.
Chapter 15
Samaira
“THIS IS WHERE YOU LIVE?” I scream. He sighs. No he can’t just sigh, like I am very well aware he is rich but this rich to live here! It’s a super wealthy apartment complex in Manhattan. A very well known NBA player of the New York Stormrunners lives here, Chace Wilde. And how do I know it, I love the Stormrunners. If it were up to me, I would be marrying him. That man has the body I’m sure God took sweet time carving and that’s how I know God is a woman. How did I get into watching the NBA? Well I am obsessed with sports romance novels, so a few years back I had thought of checking out something, and since I was moving to NYC, Stormrunnes was my first option and well I thought about cute boys in shorts, so why not? And here we are. I’m gonna freak out if I see him.
He parks his car while I still try to process the fact that I am on the same premises as Chace Wilde. I don’t realise that Kartik is at my side with my door open for me. I step outin a daze and he just looks annoyed. And in that moment I realise I haven’t seen him be annoyed. Why was he annoyed? Was it because I zoned out or because he thought I was judging him? He probably thought I was judging him. I do realise how my screaming made it seem but I was busy fangirling that I was about to be engaged to the guy who lived in the same building as my favourite NBA player. Asshole.
I walk ahead of him as he trails behind, now actually judging him for judging me. I walk towards an elevator and turn behind to watch him lean against the wall that separates the one elevator where I am standing with another elevator. He is smiling smugly, hands folded across his chest as he watches me. I narrow my eyes at him.
Granted I do not know around his building, but it is a very basic thing to know that an elevator will lead to an apartment. I open my mouth to speak but I stop when I hear a chime coming from the elevator in front of me. The doors open to reveal HIM. SHUT UP. Someone better not wake me up from this nightmare turned dream. It's Chace Wilde. He is on his phone not paying attention in front of him which is actually great as I’m pretty sure I look like a stalker who has her mouth open and is about to faint. And boy, do I. I actually lose my balance and I think a small voice comes out of me at that point which makes THE Chace Wilde look up and act on to catch me.
Kartik
She almost faints, I stand up straight and jog towards her. She is literally four feet away, but before I have a chance to catch her, Chace Wilde swoops in and saves the day. While parking the car, I saw her face, it wasn’t judgement, it was what I had seen on Aarush’s face when he found out I moved into this complex. I loved his reaction because well yes, he is The Great Chace Wilde. But I couldn’t understand why her reaction bothered me. I had sensed no judgement but only wonder and excitement of a possibility of running into him when she exclaimed that this is where I lived. I had to give it to her luck that we actually ran into him. Well her, she literally was in his arms as she stared at him with stars in her eyes and looked at him as if he hung the starsforher. And that did not sit well with me for some reason. Him on the other hand looked mesmerized. It only made me more pissed as I cleared my throat hoping they’d snap out of whatever trance they were in, which did the trick.
He helped her straighten up but didn’t stop touching her. My fists clenched and I was very close to punching him and landing myself a lawsuit. He passed her his charming smile and I think I actually saw her melt. Okay that’s it. I rushed to her side, physically pulling her away from him. I kept my hand at her waist. She looked in my direction with wide eyes, “Am I hallucinating?” she whispered. I looked at her amused and shook my head in a no. Then I heard a chuckle. It washim, who also looked amused at Samaira.
“Hi there” he said with a charming smile
Her eyes widened more than they possibly could and she let out a sound I am sure even a kid couldn’t understand.
Concerned, he asked,"Is she okay?”
I opened my mouth to answer but in all honesty I didn’t know her that much to have a reply for it. I pulled her close and I tightened my hand around her waist, “Jaan” I said. I think that brought her out of her trance. Her eyes snapped towards mine, just like they had when I called her sweetheart in front of her ex boyfriend. She blinked a couple of times before reality set in and she pried herself out of my arms and she turned facing him. I did not like that one bit. I instantly missed the contact.
“I am so so so sorry, I was startled seeing you. I mean not in a bad way, in a really really good way. I love you…I mean I love watching you play…that sounds just as creepy…what I mean is I’m a huge fan.” she rambled as we both looked at her amused. By the time she finished rambling, she was breathless. Chace chuckled, which resulted in the most beautiful smile I have witnessed. It felt like the kind of smile that lit up all of her.
Chace smiled at her kindly. Well at least he wasn’t an asshole. I don’t know what I would have done if he had behaved in a different manner. “It’s no worries. Trust me I behave the same way with my favourite actor. Unfortunately for him, his wife is my best friend so he has to put up with me.” He says with a wink. Did she swoon? Did this 24 year old woman actually swoon at that? I roll my eyes.
