The Arranged One | ✔️

Chapter 1 - Know You Inside-Out!

***

Dear Diary,

Finally a big day ends. Well there wasn't anything new about today than it was about yesterday: went to office, attended three important meetings, finalized two project sketches, shouted hoarse at Tracy, spent the rest of the time with Abhi (that makes breakfast, lunch, supper and dinner). So in short I am as dead tired as I am by the end of each day-

***

"Hey!"

She started and turned around, closing her laptop as she did so, only to see him leaning casually on her bedroom door. His tall muscular frame filling her entire doorframe. His white kurta, and his damp hair telling her he'd just done taking a bath.

"H-Hi Abhi!", she stuttered.

"Hmm...What are you hiding?" He walked into her room. Looked at her Laptop and back at her, eyebrows raised. Her dark black hair tied in a neat plait; she wore a light cream kurta over some white harroms. She gazed at him innocently, but he could detect the panic in her blank eyes. He had walked over her doing something on her laptop for the nth time. He wondered why he had let her get away with it, for all these years.

He stared intensely at her, determined to wriggle it out of her, whatever it was. It must've worked; she looked uncomfortable and looked away from his penetrating gaze.

That frustrated him. He disliked secrets and this girl was full of them.

"Have you called on me, at this hour of the day to spy on me?", she asked now turning on her glaring gaze at him.

He hated it when she did that-distracted him from important things to interesting ones. He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she got angry or irritated. Admittedly, people got scared of her famous glare, but he was impervious of it. It somehow excited him when she got mad. But not today, he was frustrated that she didn't tell him what he needed to know.

"Nope. As a matter of fact I came to say 'Goodnight'" , he said quoting in air, "And 'sweet dreams'"

He smiled at her, out of habit, and found her smiling back. Ah, that smile always made him forget his frustrations with her.

"Goodnight to you too! Now if you would excuse me, I would sure get some rest." Saying so, she stared at him plainly.

"Are you asking me to leave?" , he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Did I say so?" She countered playfully raising her eyebrow as well.

"You meant to. Well, I will leave, but not until you let me have a look at your notebook. Give me that..."

He lunged for the Laptop, but she pulled it off the desk and tucked it under her arm.

"Go away! It's personal stuff. Why can't you stop being nosy?"

His hands froze in their stretched position.

"I see...", he whispered. It hurt when she said that, more than it should have. After all she was an individual and had every right to secure her personal matters, but from him?

"I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight", he said as he left her room without another glance at her.

As he walked the length of passage to his room, he couldn't help feel glum about her not sharing her personal life with him. He always told her every major and minor detail of his life. So it was only natural he wanted her to reciprocate the same. It was just so unfair!

***

-Life is so unfair! Can't I keep a little part of myself secret? Haven't I got the right to keep certain things to myself? Abhi can be such a stubborn child sometimes! (Okay, a cute stubborn child :P) I have known him for the past twenty-five years. Of course I love him dearly but that doesn't mean I have to pour out everything to him! Haven't I always helped him with anything and everything? Haven't I respected him as he is and accepted him as an individual? Then why does he have to hate my secretive nature?

Uff! Well, we had a trivial argument about me not showing you to him...It's his fault really...okay maybe not so much! I know he all but bares his soul to me and I'm sure he expects the same from me. But you know me right? I'm just not that person... But that small face he made before leaving the room! I swear he looked like a little baby refused to go to Disneyland! God I wish I could take him in my arms and ruffle his hair.

Seriously, I know it must've hurt him! I'm going to ask him to understand me. And I will make it upto him tomorrow. I promise I will.

Goodnight, sweet dreams,

Yours,

Siya.

***

"Goodmorning Siya!" Abhi heard his dad say, as he swiftly walked to his breakfast table sided window, to watch Siya descend the stairs.

"Goodmorning Uncle." She was looking around as she walked down the staircase. She was still in her night clothes, her long hair tied up in a bun.

He, Abhi, was watching her from his bedroom window, and knowing she would be looking up any moment went inside his room. He wasn't exactly cross with her, but all the same felt a very strong desire to irritate her.

It was not until she asked, "Where is Abhi?" , that he decided to go downstairs.

"Here he is! And why are you fully dressed so early?" His dad looked up at him. Divakar Acharya was a powerful looking old man, with all white hair still plush on his head, with a tall stature, just like his son, who was currently looking preoccupied.

"Goodmorning Dad! I'm going to the office, meeting with an important client. I'll be late. Bye!", he said in a rush of words, grabbing a buttered toast as he left the table, without showing Siya any signs of acknowledgement. Ha! He was sooo loving it.

He walked so fast across the hall that had he walked faster he'd be practically running. He was halfway through when she called, "Abhi..." she had covered half the distance he had.

"What?" He turned, putting up his best bored plus impatient look, "I'm getting late for the meeting. And I'd advise you to be early to office too."

"I-"

"If you are going to apologize save your breath, I'm in hurry." He cut in, so her hand was raised in a beckon while her mouth was open with the word that was stuck, which by the looks of it was "was". She closed her mouth abruptly as he finished his sentence, then folded her hands across her chest, narrowing her eyes.

"No I'm certainly not doing that", she said in a tone so severe he dared not to cut her midsentence, "Tracy had called. The client has got some urgent work and has postponed the meeting for day-after-tomorrow. So wait for five minutes so we can leave for office together, and I want no argument about that."

She turned and walked away leaving him rooted to the spot, utterly irritated.

She returned twenty minutes later, in her usual formal shirt-coat-skirt attire. Hair tied up in a neat bun.

"Now that your "five" minutes are over shall we leave?" He said, stressing on the word five.

"Now stop being rude to me and do something useful. What happened to the Storney project?" She walked briskly, so he followed her out to the parking place.

"How do you manage this? Always distract me!" They had crossed the garden, walking on the marble path.

"Well, I know you inside out!" she said, now leaning across the white Mercedes.

"Wish I could say that about you!" he replied, opening the door for her. But she held his hand on the door and placed her other hand on his cheek.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. But you know how I am. How I've always been. You know me inside out, too!"

He smiled at her, she smiled at him too. And she slid into the backseat.