The Marriage Contract

29 - Gallivanting Around Town

It was the day. The day of the Charity Gala Night at Birla Hospital. The day when Dr. Abhimanyu Birla would introduce his 'wife' to the world. The day when he would have to admit and accept to all the ladies —single and spoken for that he was "officially" off the market —at least for the next year or so.

He fixed his black tie and smoothened out the wrinkles from his white shirt as he looked into the mirror, exercising his jaw, trying to smile. CPR. He had to remember to do CPR today. He had to be Charming, Pleasant and Respectful.

Abhimanyu grabbed his steam pressed blazer hanging of the clothing stand and snagged his arms through, making sure it rested properly on his shoulders.

He flicked a lose strand back and ran his fingers through his hair, making sure his hair was perfectly in place.

Today was an important day and he couldn't afford to fuck up. For a guy who never second guessed himself and was confident in his abilities, for some reason, he was having performance anxiety today.

He smiled at the mirror and held out his hand introducing himself, "Hi, I'm Dr. Abhimanyu Birla."

"Hi, I'm Nervous Birla." A low, hollow voice behind him responded, making Abhimanyu frown.

He turned around in a huff, unhappy that Akshara broke his stride. "Akshara!"

Akshara leaned against the bathroom door, folding her arms around her chest. Hot. Abhimanyu was looking deliriously hot. That man had a fine ass —which looked even finer in those black slacks. The more time she hung out with Abhimanyu, the more she was beginning to understand why women threw themselves at him.

"Sorry, this is the first time I've seen you be nervous and anxious about something. It's honestly kind of amusing, not going to lie." Akshara responded, snapping out of her Abhimanyu trance.

"Today is a very important day for me." Abhimanyu confessed, taking a deep breath.

"I can see that." Akshara pointedly looked down towards Abhimanyu's loafers.

Abhimanyu followed Akshara's line of vision and looked down at his feet to see he was wearing mismatched black loafers. Abhinanyu hurriedly walked over to the closet and switched his loafers so they matched. "Thank you! But why aren't you ready yet?" Abhimanyu asked.

"I would have if someone hadn't been hogging the bathroom for the last two hours."

Abhimanyu closed his eyes in embarrassment. "Yeah, whatever. Just don't be late!"

"Late? Aren't we going together?"

"No. I'll send the car to pick you up but I have to get there first before Parth does." Abhimanyu furrowed his brows at the mere thought of his cousin earning brownie points with the board over him.

"Parth? You've mentioned his name quite a few times. Who is Parth?" Akshara questioned curiously, just as Abhinanyu was about to exit the bedroom.

Abhimanyu turned around, pressing his lips together. "He's...he's no one you need to worry about. And please hurry up and get ready. The car will be here you pick you up in 2 hours."

"By the way, I know it's a black tie event but does that mean it's mandatory for everyone to wear a black tie?" Akshara asked with a straight face.

"Huh?" Abhimanyu asked, confused.

"Sorry, bad joke." Akshara responded, checking to see just how distracted Abhimanyu was.