Normally, she made it a point to get up early and join him for breakfast, but all she managed this morning was to open her eyes and lazily follow him with her gaze as he got dressed.
She smiled to herself, it was just incredible how well he cleaned up. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of a distressed man under that dangerously manly attire. He chose to wear a gray suit vest overa midnight blue silk dress shirt. She loved it when he worse vests, as they were elegant but still showed off his lean, well-toned torso. All his clothes were tailored to fit him perfectly, like a second skin.
‘See something you like?’ he smirked while securing his wristwatch
She was sure he hadn’t looked her way to know that she was watching,but somehow he just knew ‘Maybe’ she smiled
He walked over to her and bent one knee on the bed, pushing himself over to kiss her ‘I don’t suppose you’ll be getting up, though’
‘No way in hell’ she giggled ‘I’m spent’
He pulled away, smirking some more ‘Well, at least one appetite has been taken care of. Go back to sleep, I’ll call you later’
And with that, she dozed off right back to sleep.She disliked having breakfast by her own, just for the plain reason that she was used to share it with Don. He had called, as promised, and she’d let him know she was going out for brunch by herself.
Swara wasused to being by herself, she didn’t feel the need for company. What she did miss though was her job. She mused over that, as she started her engine. Her job. Somehow she still associated that word to law enforcement, rather than martial arts.
She almost laughed out loud at that thought. She could never be an officer again, obviously, but she did miss it to the core. It was quite schizophrenic, to be so attached to justice and share the bed with a most-wanted criminal.
But life was crazy like that.She sat at the cozy table near the window and ordered her brunch. She loved that place, it was intimate yet allowed her to feel human interaction all around her.
She looked out the window, it was a rainy day, as most days were in London, but she didn’t even notice it anymore. She looked at the pedestrians passing by and got lost into her own thoughts as she waited for her food, sipping on the coffee that had already been served.
Something caught her eye, a silhouette that had stopped right in her line of vision and was now crooking its head to get a better view of her.
She stiffened in her seat, recognizing him. Before she could think of what to do, he’d already gotten inside and made his way to her table
‘Swara? I can’t believe it’s you’ the man laughed ‘Isn’t this just crazy?’
‘Hi, Arjun’ she smiled.
But in her head she was slightly panicking. She didn’t know how to handle the situation
He smiled back at her, actually grinned enthusiastically and eventually said
‘Well, aren’t you going to ask me to join you?’
‘By all means’ she gestured towards the vacant seat in front of her.
‘I don’t imagine your husband is here, else I’d already be manhandled out of here’ he laughed
She half smiled. It was interesting how he could joke about it, after the “manhandling” Don had served him with.
‘It’s really great to see you again. You look amazing’he said sincerely.
And somehow it had made her blush. She fought it off, but she wasn’t used to people flattering her other than Don
‘I wanted to call you, after… you know. But figured if you didn’t answer it’d have meant you were having s*x with him, so I guess I rathered not put myself through that’ he laughed
She couldn’t help but laugh herself, remembering how Don had finished off fighting with Arjun yelling at him that she hadn’t picked up her phone because she’d been busy having s*x with him
‘Yeah, sorry about that… he is quite possessive of me’
‘As he should be. I don’t blame him. Believe it or not, I don’t hold it against him, he did the right thing putting me in my place. I admit I was a bit out of line, but in my defense… I didn’t really know you were married, now,did I?’ he grinned raising an eyebrow
She shrugged ‘I don’t see why I should’ve told you’
He contemplated her answer ‘True, it’s not like I’d asked you out romantically. I genuinely wanted to show you around Delhi. Well,at least it was part of my intention’ he smiled cheekily ‘Guess that was all for nothing, wasn’t it?’
‘How do you mean?’ she asked amusedly, almost kicking herself for spurring his flirtation on
‘Well, I mean. You went missing for a while, so I guess bumping into you here is a clear indicator that you’ve moved to London’
‘I guess so. The question is, what are you doing here?’
He sighed, looking out the window ‘It’s complicated’
‘Wow. That’s weird’
‘What is?’
‘You looking so contemplative and intense. Don’t freak me out, I haven’t even eaten yet’
He chuckled ‘It’s complicated because I don’t know yet what I’m doing here. I mean, Rebecca goes to school here’ he paused ‘Her mother lives here’ he clarified
‘Oh, I see. How’s school going? No more bullying I hope’
‘None at all’ he smiled ‘Those self defense classes really paid off, Miss D’Souza. I mean, Missus’ he cleared his throat playfully ‘But I’m quite sure it’s not only that. She’s just celebrated her15th birthday, and it’s like… it’s like she’s blossomed overnight into this really …teenage girl, you know? Guys at school are definitely noticing it. Let’s just say they’ve chosen new ways to get her attention. And I hate it. I might need some self-restraint classes. Would you happen to know where I could enroll for one of those?’
Swara laughed. She had to hand it to him, he was his usual funny self and it was refreshing ‘I don’t think that I do, sorry’
He shrugged ‘Well,it’s too late, anyway. I’ve already decided to move here to keep a close eye on her’he beamed
Swara didn’t know how to react to that ‘You did, huh?’
‘Yeah, I mean, I got some work here as well and figured it couldn’t hurt to be closer to her. I only get her during spring and summer break, and of course I’m allowed to see her whenever. Summer break was always fun, having her in Delhi for 3 whole months. But I get the distinct feeling that she won’t be wanting to leave her friends for so long anymore. It’s doing nasty things to my ego. She’s choosing her friends over her dad. She’ll be choosing boys over me, pretty soon. Arre, I can’t even get my head around that’
The food was served and Arjun ordered just a coffee for himself.‘Lekin, enough about me. How come you’re here, anyway?’
Swara didn’t know how to reply to that ‘My husband has work here. It’s only natural that I moved here’
‘Achcha… But that doesn’t explain why you had moved to Delhi all by yourself sometime back’
She paused, chewing her brunch ‘Yeah, well… we were kind of separated for a while’
Arjun blinked at her ‘You mean to say you were separated when I met you? Swara, don’t do this to my poor heart, ok? Please. I just finished telling you about my hurt ego, don’t twist the knife into the wound’
She giggled ‘Don’t worry. We were just going through a rough phase, we were never divorced or anything… just, confused’ she trailed off, becoming more serious ‘I’m not really comfortable talking about it. It’s behind us, now’
‘He would’ve been a fool to let you go’ he said, sincerely, looking her straight in the eye.
She lowered her eyes and continued eating
‘Are you happy?’The question caught her off-guard
‘Of course’ it was the truth. She was happy with him. Happy, in general?She wasn’t quite there yet, but was well on her way.
‘I don’t suppose you’d tell me if you weren’t’
‘Maybe. But I genuinely am. I love my husband, Arjun’
He exhaled audibly, making a show of it. She smiled, he was trying to lighten up the mood ‘Fair enough. But I’m new to the city. Naya shehar, naye log… And it’s only fair that you showed me around. Tit for that, and all that stuff’
to be continuex