Ajeeb Daastan Hai Ye

Chapter : 15

"If that man looks at you one more time," Ritwik grumbled, glaring at the waiter's back as he walked away from our table, "I'm going to have a nice long chat with the owner of this place."

I rolled my eyes at his possessive nature. "Ritwik, all he did was smile because I said thank you," I pointed out with a flat expression. His eyes slowly made their way back to my face before he scowled at me.

"Haven't I already told you not to talk to any men?"

I gave him an exasperated look before replying. "Yeah, a month ago! Jesus, calm down a little, he's 16 years old!" I exclaimed, looking back at the poor waiter who was most likely to lose his job thanks to Ritwik's jealously issues.

"Whatever," he grumbled, ending the topic abruptly.

I sighed before trying to think of a new topic to bring up, not wanting to eat in an awkward silence.

"So... Why are you and your mom so snippy towards each other?" I asked as I shoved a spoonful of pasta into my mouth, chewing on it as calmly as possible.

Ritwik shrugged before also filling his mouth with pasta, and I glared at his lack of response. He sighed before answering. "My mother believes I should get married to a girl she knows . You know, good family, important in the business industry, blah, blah, blah. I'm not particularly fond of her method, and neither is my father which is why he took a liking to you when you two met."

I almost choked on the pasta I was swallowing when he mentioned being married to someone else, but covered up my reaction by sipping the cup of water I had in front of me.

"Is that why she hates me so much?" I couldn't help but ask, stirring my olives around the plate.

Ritwik shook his head and swallowed before answering. "She doesn't hate you. She just sees you as a threat to her whole plan you're the only woman I've ever even glanced at more than once. I guess she believes that you're going to be the wedge that finally stops her master plan once and for all." He ended the explanation with a sip of his wine.

I looked down at my white dress and let my hair fall over my face to cover my blush. "Oh, I understand," I mumbled, trying to calm my racing heart.

"What do you want to do when we get home?" Ritwik asked, completely oblivious to my internal organs beating against my chest.

I looked up to meet his questioning gaze, and bit my lip in thought. "Let's play a game!" I suggested excitedly, before blushing again at the loud volume of my voice.

Ritwik chuckled at my embarrassed state, before nodding in agreement. "What kind of game? I vote Truth or Dare." In a loud voice that made people from other tables look over in our direction with puzzled expressions, he announced: "I dare you to give me a strip tease."

"Ritwik!" I hissed, looking over at his amused expression in mortification. He laughed softly before drinking the rest of his wine.

"Are you finished eating?" he asked, looking down at my plate. When I nodded, he threw some cash onto the table and stood up, making me follow.

We left the small restaurant, which was not very far from the beach house, and arrived back home in under 10 minutes.

***

I don't think Ritwik took the fact that I was a very competitive player into account until I kept demanding that we'd replay games. The score was a tie by midnight, and as he packed the deck away while I lay in bed, I came to the realisation that maybe he let me win the last game, just so we could stop playing.

"You let me win, didn't you?" I asked Ritwik with a slight glare once he re-entered the room and shut the door behind him.

"What? No! You won - fair and square, Shortcake." He climbed into the bed.