The Marriage Contract

8 - Daddy Issues and Skinny Muses

"You're supposed to be dating me, not him!" Abhimanyu snapped at her once the server had departed their table.

Akshara glanced at Abhimanyu, confused at his sudden change in attitude. "What do you even mean by that?! Of course I know I'm 'supposed' to be dating you!"

"Oh really?! Then why won't you smile at me like you smiled at him?"  He complained, looking around to see if anyone was watching.

Akshara was caught off guard by Abhimanyu's words. She leaned in closer to him, smiling through the facade, "What do you mean? I am smiling at you. Like I was told I had to. So much so my jaw hurts." She replied, emphasizing her fake, half hearted smile.

"Never mind. Forget I even said anything." Frustrated, Abhimanyu waved off the little tinge of disappointment he was feeling.

As the server came back with their drinks, Abhimanyu and Akshara went back to making small talk —their new normal.

"Do you remember the first time we met?" Akshara asked sweetly, suggestively, gently stroking Abhimanyu's palm.

"Ah yes, of course I do. You crashed your car into mine. Completely and utterly destroying it. And that's when I realized you were a terrible driver." Abhimanyu mocked, grasping her hands in his, putting on the fakest smile he could muster up and in return earning a glare from Akshara.

Krish set the drinks onto table and stood back, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

Akshara opened her mouth to reply, but felt Abhimanyu tighten his hold on her hands. "Let me finish. And that is also the day when I realized I'd be willing to be your chauffeur and drive you everywhere and anywhere for our entire lives."

Yuck! He felt like gagging at his own words. He can't believe those words had just come out of his mouth just now. Did girls really fall for cheesy and cringy dialogues like these? No wonder movies and novels gave them such fairytale expectations.

"Aww, you're the sweetest for being willing to be my driver for life. If I knew I'd be getting a driver like you, I'd happily crash my car hundred times over." Akshara pulled her hand away from Abhimanyu's grasp and held it against her chest in feigned admiration.

Abhimanyu's jaw ticked upon hearing the emphasis on the word driver. Fine, Ak-sha-ra, fine. If that's how you'd like to play it.

"Sir, would you like to order or do you need a few more moments?" Krish interrupted them before they ended up ripping each other's hair out.

"Yes, I think we're ready to order, are we not, sweetheart?" Abhimanyu asked, glancing at Akshara before flipping open his menu.

"Yes, of course, Jaan." She replied, her irritation invisible to the naked eye as she flipped open her menu too.

"I'll just have the Chef's special for the night, and my date here would like to have...the Chicken Garden salad, I presume?" He looked over at Akshara with a smug seeking validation.

He had wined and dined many women like her —petite ones —in the past to know they always opted for the lighter menu options. Something to do with making a good impression on dates, or so he had been informed after he'd spent the night fucking then into oblivion.

"The Cajun chicken handheld special burger, hold the pickles and fries on the side please." Akshara snapped shut her menu and debunking Abhimanyu's presumption and wiping the cocky smile off his face all in one go.