BLINDED- The mad love series (BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 7

I felt like Alice in wonderland when I stepped into my mother's grand walk-in closet. Damn, I could get lost in here. I ran my fingers over the endless rows of expensive silks and velvets and every other expensive fabric I ever heard of. There were four whole racks of all types of footwear and three whole racks for handbags of every damn brand I could only dream of.

I picked up a pair of killer red heels from the rack and tried it on. The corner of my mouth curled into a happy smile as the heels fit perfectly. Guess now I have a whole new collection of footwear too.

My mother had a huge collection of lightweight sarees with sleeveless blouses. I guess now I know what she loved to wear. But she did have quite a collection of other ethnic wears too. But what surprised me was the enormous collection of western clothing half of which still had their price tags on.

I took the liberty of trying on one of her ivory coloured sheath dresses and like expected it was a perfect fit. I studied my reflection in the full-length mirror and grinned at myself. I looked like one of those rich girls who live in this building.

Nobody would ever try to mistreat me because of all the rags I wore as clothes. I went through her drawers and there was plenty of fashion jewellery, belts and more accessories. This was all like some kind of dream come true. I have everything I can ever ask for and this was all mine now.

I tried on a few more dresses and then changed into my clothes. I noticed a large safe locker at the far end of the walk-in closet well covered by a heap of fabric. I thought for a moment and then guessed the code (my date of birth) which surprisingly was the right combination. I was told that all my mother's precious jewellery was in a safe bank locker, then what the hell was this?

I opened the safe locker hoping to find heaps of wealth as you see in movies. But I was surprised to find a whole collection of red leather-bound journals arranged in a chronological order starting from 2003. That was the year my mother had left us. I picked up the 2003 journal and sat down on the floor.

I flipped through the pages trying to get a glimpse of what to expect inside the diary. This was the journal my mother had written or the very first journal she had written after she had left us. I debated with myself whether or not to intrude into her bubble but then talked myself into having the right to know what kind of a life she had lived.

I had hardly started reading the first sentence of the journal when the doorbell rang. Guess the pizza was finally here; isn't it way past thirty minutes? Shaking my head I closed the safe and locked it. I walked out of the closet and hurried towards the door. The doorbell rang one more time, jeez patience buddy. I placed the journal on the coffee table and practically ran towards the door.

I unlocked the door and my heart dropped to my stomach. Standing before me was the Lord of hell himself in all his glory. I need to learn to control my emotions every time I see him. Wait a minute, what is he doing here? I dared to open my eyes. I had no idea I had shut close and found him staring down at me with an amused look on his face.

He was still wearing the suit pants and white shirt from earlier, but there was no tie and certainly no blazer. His sleeves were rolled up revealing his sleeve tattoos contradicting his elite man in suit persona; the tattoo gave him a dark and dangerous aura. God, I want to grab him by his collar and pull him inside the apartment so that I can have him for dessert.

Get a grip on yourself girl, get a grip.

He cleared his throat, dragging me out of my thoughts. I squared my back trying my best to pretend that I was not affected by his physique. I know it's a little too late for that now but I'm going to play at it anyway.

"Can I help you?" I asked him in the most professional tone I could pull off; I worked for a call centre for crying out loud. He took his time to answer like he was choosing his words carefully and when he finally did I died and came back to life.

"Hello Miss Patel," he said, his voice as rich as velvet. I swallowed hard, get a grip Roohi, don't make a fool of yourself in front of him. "Roohi," I corrected him. His lips curled into a smirk and a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.

"Roohi," he tested my name, and I swear to God if he takes my name like that one more time I will melt like wax. "How may I help you Mr..." I trailed off not knowing what to address him. "Aditya Talvar," he introduced himself as he offered me his hand.

I took his offered hand with my heart still throbbing in my chest and the moment our skin touched sparks erupted through my body. I noticed him take a sharp intake and I know that whatever I have been feeling it's not one-sided. The thought made me relax a bit, after all, if he was here that means he wants more too.

"What brings you to my door Mr Talvar?" I asked him, playing my cards very carefully. If I want this man to come back to me I need to show him that I'm worth his time. He took a deep breath like this was not an easy conversation for him. "I'm sorry for my rude behaviour this morning. I was having a really bad hangover."

I studied his face for a moment confirming my doubt that he was lying. But why? I didn't go to ponder over it. When someone gives you an apology you take it. "It's alright, I'm used to it," I told him in a blank tone. We stood there awkwardly staring at each other doing absolutely nothing.

"It was nice meeting you Roohi," he told me as he leaned forward to tuck a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. "Likewise," I replied and he grinned at me. "See you around, Roohi," he told me with a glint of promise in his eyes and then turned around and walked away without giving me a second glance.