Mr. Perfect (COMPLETE)

Chapter Thirty Two

A hot and steamy session at the office just wasn't enough, so the session was later resumed when we arrived home late that night, and all I can say is, I have no regrets. We had holed ourselves up for so long at the office, that everyone at home had already eaten and had gone to bed. It should be mentioned that by everyone, I meant Nani, Di, and Jeejaji. Akash, Mama, and Mami had gone to Singapore for business and fun. NK had gone back to Australia to his mother to finalize the sale of their house. I had met and spoken to NK's mom, who the kids referred to as Mai, through Skype, and she was a very sweet woman. She treated everyone as if they were her own flesh and blood, and I knew it would be great once she and NK came back home.

In fact, everyone soon would be home. It turns out that every year, the family would host a gala in the hopes of raising donations to a charity that would help to provide for orphaned children. It was clear to me as to why Arnav had chosen this certain charity, and while it did make my heart pang, I was also proud of my husband for helping those children create new beginnings.

The gala would be hosted this weekend, giving enough time for everyone to come back and settle in. Given that this was a big deal for Arnav and an occasion for the family to be together, Arnav had invited my family to come along as well. He even invited Payal's family. At first I was confused why, not to be mean or anything, but remembering the way my devar had eyeballed my cousin, I totally understood my husband's intentions. And to be honest, I wasn't mad about it at all!

On Wednesday morning, Akash, Mama, and Mamiji had returned, Mamiji having splurged on a whole bunch of gifts for all of us. She had also bought quite a lot of exquisite jewelry, to which Nani teased her, telling her to save them for her future daughter in law. In that moment, on the low, I had let Akash know that Payal would be coming to the gala, and my devar lit up like it was Christmas morning!

How cute!

The following morning, NK and Mai had arrived, and the moment Nani saw her daughter in her widow's wear, she broke into tears. When NK's father had passed away, Nani was sick and wasn't able to fly out to her son in law's funeral, although she had really wanted to. But due to health precautions, she had to stay behind and only Arnav, Akash, Mama, and Mamiji had gone to the funeral, Di and Jeejaji staying behind to take care of her. So Nani had never really seen Mai in such clothes, and it truly broke my heart as I watched the two cry in each other's arms. In fact, everyone had gotten a little emotional at that moment, even Arnav, who was clenching his fist.

The feeling of losing someone dear to you was a feeling Arnav knew all to well. It broke my heart to see him in such pain, so I held his hand in mine. Arnav's eyes met mine and I gave him a humble smile. All that mattered now was that we were together - the whole family was together, all under one roof, and we would always be there for each other.

*~*

Saturday evening arrived, and the whole family was ready. As we all prepared to leave, I called Amma to see how far they were, and it turned out that they were already at the venue, along with Payal and them. When I let Arnav know that they were all already there, poor Akash had overheard and he seemed to had become a little too eager to get there as quickly as possible.

Honestly I have no idea as to how serious his feelings are for my cousin, but if he causes trouble, you can bet I'll be gripping him by the ear.

Once the family was all ready and gathered, we all headed out to the venue. Once again, the paparazzi went into a frenzy, yelling out to us as to which way we should look so they could get their perfect shot. As soon as we were done with the photos and walked the carpet, we entered the venue, and it was absolutely grand! The large glass dome ceiling was stunning, revealing the beautiful night sky and the full moon's light! But my attention was immediately taken away from it, as Payal and the rest of my family came towards us.