Husband For Hire

27. Keep It Confidential

27. Keep It Confidential
The essence of having his presence near me made my heart pick up rhythm.

* * *

For two whole weeks I had only stepped outside the house to meet Jhanvi. My friends called and texted, but my responses were always I didn't want to see them. To be honest, I spent all of my time at home with grandma and Ashar and his sisters. It was better time spent than with those jerks who hired a horrible director and let him mistreat me.

I decided to write my own script for my own movie. My mom had enough money to produce it. That got me busy. In the meantime, Ashar was busy developing his own programming skills. Rosie sketched all day while Aara didn't stop talking about her upcoming ball.

"The ball's on Christmas Eve."

Those were the words she drilled into everyone's heads every evening during dinner. At one point, I thought my grandmother was going to start talking only to tell Aara to shut up. I couldn't blame her for the excitement either as I was the one who had ordered a limited edition ball gown for her.

It was made by an exquisite brand only the wealthy had access to. The floor length beige gown had embroidered lace, and tiny beads finished the look with sheer long sleeves. The neckline had enough beads to not need a necklace. I helped Aara pair classy pearl studs to go along with the dress before doing her hair hair and makeup myself. We ran out of time to go visit a salon.

"You're stunning," I told her once she was ready.

"Credit goes to you," she squealed.

Aara looked teary eyed as she stared back at her reflection. She turned to me and started blinking her eyes rapidly.

"If you cry and ruin that makeup, I'm not fixing it," I warned. "We spent an hour on this. Don't you dare, Aara."

She scoffed. "I'm not going to cry. I don't know how to thank you. You're the best!"

She tried to hug me but I gave her a air hug instead to not ruin anything. She looked like a complete doll. The beige complimented her skin tone and made her appear radiant.

I ushered her to take photos in the garden, then the front porch, then the back porch, and essentially, all parts of the house.

"We have to take selfies!" she insisted.

"What? No way."

"C'mon! I won't wear this dress again for a while," she insisted. The girl gave me no choice but to take a few photos with her.

"Don't you just love dances?" Aara said flushed.

"No, the last one I attended in high school was horrible," I mentioned. "People brought alcohol and drugs and got away with it. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will, don't worry," she assured.

We were taking a few shots in front of the fireplace in my study when Ashar entered. We were waiting for him to return from work, so he could see her before the ball.

"How do I look?" Aara asked before twirling in her dress.

"Not bad," Ashar said impressed. "I almost didn't recognize you."

"Annie helped me," she grinned. "She did my hair and makeup like a professional! She gave me the matching heels. And this gown fits perfectly—"

"Okay, okay," I stopped her. "Aren't you getting late for your dance? Your friends are picking you up or do you want to get dropped off?"

"My friends are picking me up," she said with a sly smirk. She gave me a look with her eyes that told me she was lying. Her date must be picking her up. "My friends will also be dropping me off."