He stood still, his eyes searching something in hers. In that moment, with her hand on his shoulder, his body so close to hers, she thought he was the handsomest man she had ever seen.
Trust her to think about his dashing good looks when they were in the middle of an important discussion.
Clearing her head as much as possible, Siya held his gaze and her breath as she waited for Abhi to respond.
Please say yes...Please say yes. She chanted in her head.
He seemed to have found whatever he was looking for, because he replied, "Okay"
"Um...when you say okay, do you mean..."
"Let's talk...let's start from the beginning. Let me tell you how and when I started getting feelings for you. How I dealt with it all growing up. Then I want you to do the same. Then we will see where it goes from there. Sounds good?"
"Oh Abhi that sounds perfect!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and hugging him close on a sudden impulse. She held on to him for a beat or two, basking in the hope of everything falling into place again, need the proximity to him.
When she realized he wasn't going to return her embrace, she slowly withdrew herself from him and looked deep into his eyes.
His skin seemed slightly flushed and his chest seemed to rise and fall heavily.
Good...atleast he was still affected by her.
"Sorry, I got carried away." She mumbled feeling a mixture of embarrassment and arousal.
"Could you maybe excuse me for a while?" He asked, looking a little more flush.
"Uh, what?" She asked, confused by his question. Was he rethinking talking things out?
"Siya I just woke up, could you maybe give me some time to...you know...freshen up?"
"Er...right...I'll leave you to it then. Will order some breakfast." God she had forgotten they were standing in the bathroom and...oh god...it seemed like he had a huge bulge in front of his pants. She needed to leave pronto.
"I'll have eggs-" He called after her, as she rushed outside.
"Sunny side up with a side of hash brown and freshly squeezed orange juice. Got it", she said turning her head to face him. The expression on his face conveyed exactly how she felt at the moment. Intense longing. Longing for him and his friendship. For his love and all the mundane familiarities and habits they had created around each other. She broke their eye contact and shut the bathroom door behind her.
*
To say Abhi was nervous was an understatement. He had no idea what to expect out of this conversation. He felt like he had agreed to dig out an old wound, which was healed from the surface but had festered underneath for years, without his knowledge. The whole thing still seemed to raw for him. He remembered the whole incident like it was yesterday. He remembered the moments they had before the day he had overheard her profess her love to that asinine Rohit.
Flashback***10th Grade
"Dad, I'm home! Dad!", Abhi called. He needed his father to sign one of the forms for his football league game. Today's practice was especially taxing, their coach literally treated them like army robots rather than teenagers.
YOU ARE READING
The Arranged One | ✔️
Romance"You're right", she said, sounding contemplative, "Maybe I should grow up and be more practical." "Well...you know 'Princes on white horses' are 'fairy'-tales right?" Abhi said, air-quoting again. He was feeling relieved now that she was seeing some...
