Page 31 of Always? Forever.
Soon enough it was time to leave. We were at the door, as Samaira and my mom continued to talk about a work event. My dad stood beside me as we both continued to look at the two important women in my life. It was then it struck me, Samaira had become one of the important people in my life in a short period of time and I didn’t feel like it was the worst thing.
I heard my mom laugh about something Samaira said, before Samaira turned to look at me with a cheeky smile. What did that little demon say? I narrowed my eyes at her.
I stood against the wall, when my dad quietly said, “She’s sharp. Don’t dull her down.”
I looked up, surprised. “She’s got a spine,” dad added. “And wit. Good luck surviving that.”
I grinned. “You survived Mom.”
“Barely. But if you get even half the fire with half the patience… marry her before she figures out she can do better.”
Dad just shrugged. “That’s all.” Leaving me to wonder as me and Samaira walked out.
Chapter 24
Samaira
Kartik dropped me home and that’s when I realised, we had a call with my parents. Not tomorrow, it was today. I can't believe I forgot that! I was lost in my thoughts when I felt a hand on my elbow pulling me out of them.
“Hey” he looked at me concerned.
“Sorry, I was just thinking that I forgot that we also had a call with my parents” I replied a bit embarrassed.
He gave me a soft smile, “I know which is why I insisted on dropping you home and I can see you have something on your mind as well”
He didn’t make it out as a question, it was a statement. He knew I was thinking something, he had given me a good 10 minutes before bothering me. He stopped the car and put it in park, before climbing out and opening the door for me. I climbed out and we walked towards the elevator.
Once we were inside and I pressed the button to my floor, “I wasn’t sure how the meeting went, like my gut says it went smoothly but I don’t know,” I told him, biting my lower lip, the anxiety finally creeping in.
He shifted closer to me till we were a foot apart. He raised his hand and ran his thumb over my lower lip freeing it from the hold I had it in. It caused me to shudder. His touch always did that to me. I didn’t exactly get butterflies but I couldn’t explain what I felt. It was comfort I realized and anticipation of what would happen next.
“Trust your gut,” he said softly
“I have anxiety. My gut is always telling me to abort the mission.” I tried to joke which worked because he chuckled and moved another step closer till we were inches apart. I sucked in a breath. He looked a bit amused. He bent down a bit so we were eye to eye.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say, Samaira Bhatt is scared of me” He smirked
I scoffed, “You don’t scare me.”
“Then why is your heart beating so fast princess?” he answered in a deep voice.
My face went red. He started to smirk. That bitch. I wasn’t going to let him fluster me so easily.
“Cause you’re kinda cute” I replied smugly. It did exactly what I was intending to do. He started blushing and he really looked cute. He took a step back and his hand shot up to his neck as he started scratching it, which I noticed he dida lot whenever nervous. It was really cute. I couldn’t stop myself to control the little giggle that shot out of me. I put my hand on my mouth to stop it but it didn’t help. I didn’t know what else to say, so I started walking ahead. I walked a couple of steps before I turned and extended my hand to him, hoping he’d take it. And he did. I held on tight and I never wanted to give it up.
The elevator stopped with a ding at my floor. We walked towards my apartment in silence. It was 9 pm when we reached. I unlocked the door and we both walked in, me first and Kartik behind me. He closed the door and turned towards me. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when there was a call ringing on my Macbook. It was probably my parents Facetiming me.
I quickly walked towards the kitchen where my Mac was on the counter, turned it towards us so we could sit on the bar stools, and answered the call.
“Hey Dad,” I said as I saw him adjusting his camera so he could fit Mom too.
“Hey darling, we are here, one second you tell us you have a boyfriend the next we hear from Amaya that you are engaged?! Is this what we taught you?” It was my mom who launched into a thousand questions whereas my dad sat silently. That made me nervous, he looked calm.
So it was my cousin who snitched on me. Great. Just fucking great.
Knowing my dad, he probably researched about Kartik by now. Kartik wasn’t in the camera frame yet so my parentscouldn’t see him. I turned my mac a bit so he could shuffle in closer, which he did. He looked nervous, what was he nervous about? He was charming, everyone liked him, hell he made me like him, somewhat. He was intelligent too which meant my dad would tolerate him if not like him. Ugh, why was this difficult, the last guy I told Mom about was Hriday, and look how that turned out. Mom instantly went quiet as Kartik entered the screen. She let out a little gasp as if she recognized who he was. I was confused. Kartik didn’t get as much media attention as his parents did. My dad raised an eyebrow. I was so confused.
Kartik did a little wave thing and if this wasn’t a serious situation I would have laughed because he looked like a shy kid who didn’t know what to do.
