The Perfect One

Chapter 2 - Finer Details : Part 2

His eyes widened as he saw her cry. This was the first time he was seeing her like this. She looked so broken that he felt the guilt he had been trying to keep at bay rushing back full-force thorough him.

Without realizing what he was doing he got up and walked over to sit on the seat beside her.  Taking both her hands in his, he looked deep into her tearful beautiful eyes before he spoke earnestly.

"I am sorry. I am sorry to be doing this to you. But you have to trust me. You remember all the meetings we've had? How many times have we agreed upon something? Hardly ever right? And how many times have I ever used some sort of power play to force my decisions? Haven't we always discussed things and negotiated and come to an agreement?"

She was looking at him intently, her brows furrowing in worry, pain and contemplation. She finally looked away, a flush spreading on her face.

Aisha had always been fairly easy to read. She had always been open, engaging, upfront, friendly and beautiful. Inside-out.

When Aaditya was faced with the tough decision to make, it hadn't taken him a single thought to chose her. He knew it would be her in an instant. There could be noone else. She was the only one he could trust, the only who would fit all his requirements.

The only problem was she was too good for her own good. And way too good for him. She didn't deserve this, she deserved much more than what he was offering. In truth, he was robbing her of the glorious life she should've had. She was probably destined to a great love story, her ability to love shining in her eyes, and he was twisting fate to fit himself in her future. If she had someone who would care for her even half as much as he knew he would, he would've never put her through this.

What surprised him was how stupid the men of the world had to be to miss their chance to be with this magnificent women. She was so intelligent, so grounded, so focused, so caring, so strong and so damn beautiful. Her caramel skin and big beautiful brown eyes framed by a heart-shaped face and a set of full lips were enough to take any man's breath away. Why then was she still single? It made no sense, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in its mouth. He considered himself lucky to have her exactly as she was. Utterly single and amazing.

He had seen the panic in her eyes and it set off the panic in his. For some reason, now that she had agreed, he had become terribly scared that she might change her mind. He had snapped and behaved like a cad, threatening her. Breaking her. He had to set it right. Let her know it wasn't going to be that way. He wasn't going to be that way.

Giving her hands a slight squeeze he said in a gentle voice.

"Look at me Aisha. This wedding is an aberration. I am not this person and you know that. Granted we haven't been the best of friends, but you've known me for the past five years. There won't be a power dynamic between us. We are going to be equals in this marriage. You are still going to be you and I am still going to be me. I am not expecting things to change after marriage. You are not to change anything in your day-to-day life. You will still work as a CTO. You will still hang out with your friends. You will still have my father as your mentor. We are still going to banter. I know this sounds false in the wake of what I am doing to you, but I am a feminist. I also don't believe in controlling people's lives. I am just...I am truly desperate. There is no other option for me in this particular regard. Trust me this is not going to be as bad as you are making it out to be in your head."

He breathed a sigh of relief as panic slowly seemed to leave her body. He could see body stop shaking, her breath slowing back to normal and the tears stop. She didn't break the eye contact and his heart rate sped.

He quickly handed her the tissue box and waited as she cleaned up her face. His lips forming an involuntary smile when she blew her nose delicately on the tissue. His heart warmed as he saw her smile softly.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked her, his brow furrowing in concern. She gave him an odd look and shook her head.

"I'm fine. Just got a little overwhelmed."

"I know it is overwhelming. Even though I am the one forcing your hand, it is overwhelming for me as well. I never dreamt I would be doing this."

"Will you ever tell me the reason behind this?"

When he didn't respond her features morphed from concern back to indifference and defiance.

"You were saying we should spend the day coming up with a plan? Shall we begin?"

He searched her face for a beat, before his own features rearranged to their normal non-expressive state. It would do him well to remember why he was getting married and not let his emotions get better of him.

"We can't discuss all this here. Let's go to my house. I have asked Jenna to keep things ready."

"Jenna knows?" She asked him, her face looking stricken.

"Jenna doesn't know all the details. She was given explicit instructions and she knows not to ask unnecessary questions. That's why I pay her a bomb to be my personal assistant." He explained, trying to ease her with his words. But they seemed to have the opposite effect on her. If anything she now looked offended.

"I know that. Jen and I are good friends. There is no need to be so rude about her."

He sighed. There was no winning with this woman.
"I wasn't trying to be rude. I was just..."

"Forget it. Why do we need to go to yours anyway?"

"Think of it as a day-long onsite training. There are things that are always better learned onsite, hands-on. Besides it will be too risky to discuss anything in the office."

He watched her eyes widen slightly as she became nervous. He sighed again. How in the world was he supposed to prepare a thirty year old woman who had never been in a relationship, who he was sure disliked him to the point of hatred to pretend to be in love with him? And why the hell was he not worried about be able to pretend that he was in love with her as well?

A/N.

Happy Sunday folks! Enjoy the read.

What do you think about Aaditya?

Love,
AnjaaniWriter