Go With The Flow!!
Rika's POV
Before I can come out of my stance and question him regarding what he just said, we heard the adjoining restroom's door open. So, he took back his hands and returned to his normal posture. But I was not able to come out of my shock so soon as he did!
Then, when Vita returned, he left the room stating some lame reason. All the while when she was talking about her show, I can't help the thoughts that invaded my mind.
What is he playing at?? What are his intentions?? Just this morning, we were arguing and I even insulted his intentions... He was even angry when we were in car... But now he is acting all lovey dovey... He is uttering those words!!!! Seriously, I need help... No, he needs help... God!!! I'm damn confused, perplexed, befuddled, mazed... Is he acting this way just because I denied him what he wants?? It must be that!
After a while, the Rishs and I sat in their back patio and started chatting.
"Aunty, mom told me that uncle and you were childhood sweethearts. But you guys realized it after a very long time... And also that the initial stage of your love story is action packed.. Is it true?!", I asked with curiosity.
Whenever mom and dad converse about the Rishs, they never failed to mention about their love story. But whenever I asked for the full story, she always told me to ask Sanvi aunty about it as that will be effective. That's why I'm excited to know about it.
"Yeah dear! We were each others first crush and love... And it was a little action packed in the beginning...", Aunty replied.
"Wow! Can you please tell me that?? 'He' and Vita might have already heard it a billion times... But I do really want to hear it...", I pleaded aunty with puppy eyes and intentionally said 'he' instead of Adhvik. I mentally applauded myself for not saying his name even once in front of him. I know that it is childish. But, this is my way of self assurance that I'm keeping this relationship as purely professional and will not go in the other path and get myself hurt.
Breaking me from my thoughts, aunty responded with a 'okay' and started telling their love story.
After completing, I summarized it with a smile.
"So, you both loved each other but didn't even get a chance to express it. To top it, you guys were played and was made to hate each other. Even then, your love survived through the hate for all those years... Wow! Awesome! ", I said looking at the Rish couple with astonishment and admiration.
"Yeah! Don't forget that your uncle turned into a certified Playboy.." , aunty said playfully, teasing uncle.
The word 'Playboy' struck something in me and I can't help myself from telling "Like father, like son".
What I intended to utter in my mind to myself, came out loud and thus, everyone heard it. Before I can realize my mistake, all their gazes fell on me. It held astonishment. I can't help by shy away in awkwardness and didn't even dare to look into anyone's eyes after that. My god! Damn me and my big mouth... Vita was the first to break the awkward silence.
"Adhvik and Playboy can't even go in one sentence without contradicting!", she said laughing and mocking her brother.
"Yeah... Don't compare my charm with my son's... He didn't even have a girlfriend till now..", Rahul uncle said teasing Dhvi playfully.
When his words began to sink into my head, I literally shouted 'what' within my mind. I'd be lying if I tell you that a little spark of hope didn't show up within me. This is my problem. My heart wants one thing and my logical side of the brain wants another.
Anyways, with the new found curiosity, I decided to dig into the subject.
"How do you know that uncle??! Your son might be a certified Playboy under the cover of a respected man...", I questioned, trying not to be seemed desperate, also trying to sound like teasing and most importantly, avoiding Adhvik's gaze.
"I can assure you 'cause the girls who liked him use to come directly to mom and me to help them", Vita said, laughing hard.
"Yeah! They use to be like 'your son rejected me and every other girl... Please tell him to go on one date with me... Please!'. Let literally used to beg me....", aunty laughed saying this.
When their words sunk into my head, my head turned to Adhvik instantaneously. Though his ears were pink from embarrassment, his face held amusement. Their words played in my mind again.
Never had a girlfriend till now?! He used to reject every girl??! Most importantly, he is not a Playboy??? But Haritha said otherwise... Is she playing me?! It can be possible, right! What if the Adhvik really changed?! Or what if he didn't?! But one thing I learned from aunty and uncle's love story is that a simple misunderstanding can make you lose all your valuable years of possible happiness! But what if I misunderstood everything this whole time??! It's possible, isn't it?! God, I have to make up my mind... My mood swings are worse than a pregnant woman's now a days... I seriously hafta make up my mind!
Bringing myself back to earth, I decided to pry on the ongoing topic. Okay! Blame my crazy Fangirl side!
"Oh! Why didn't you date anyone ?! Any specific reason?!", I asked him, acting nonchalant though.
"Yeah! There is a reason! I didn't date anyone 'cause there is a certain someone whom I like and none of these girls can match her", he said with something close to love beaming in his eyes.
His words and expression made me feel as though someone poured freezing cold water on me. I felt my insides burn out of jealousy and my heart felt heavy with sadness and pain. This is what I was talking about when I mentioned hormonal! See it for yourself... In one moment, I'm like 'I don't want him'... In next moment, I'm feeling jealous over some unknown girl... Arrrggg!!
I guess, my face portrayed my inner feelings. In a second, aunty asked me what is wrong. Unable to come up with a proper excuse in that instant, I said 'acidity' as the reason. Really Rika!? Acidity??! , my inner self mocked at me.
The look on other's face revealed that they didn't believe me even a bit. But they didn't push the matter, except for the devil himself.
"Oh! Come with me... I'll give you the meds...", said Adhvik, with a teasing smile and stood up.
To avoid arguments and doubts, I decided to follow him. He strode the hallway with all his manliness and went directly to his room in the first floor. I simply followed him like a lost puppy, mesmerized by the way his muscles flex when he walks, forgetting our surroundings.
As soon as we entered the room, he closed the door and started laughing, holding his tummy. I can't fathom the reason. So, I stood there, crossing my arms, watching him laugh, as like when we were kids.
Dhvi was always a happy kid, a joy to be with. That's what made me close to him in childhood. Just being with him made me happy. But, I didn't see 'The Billionaire Adhvik' laugh happily as like he is doing now. This reminds me of how much he is still the same deep inside.
My thoughts were interrupted by his laughs and I returned to the present from my dream land. That's when I realized that I still dunno the reason behind his laughter.
"Really?! Acidity?!", he said , laughing more. OMG! This is the reason?!! . My face flushed in embarrassment as soon as I realized. I'm so stupid! Why can't I think of any other god damn reason than this! Shit!! He is not going to let it go!
Though, I stood still in my defense and told him , "Yes! Acidity! Can you please give me meds Mr.Rish?!", with a serious attitude. When I addressed him as Mr.Rish, his laughter died instantly and his posture straightened. His face went stoic before returning to a teasing expression.
"Of course Ms.Shrinikith! ", he said with a smirk and went closer to the table near his bed.
That is when I realized that I'm standing in his childhood room. The same room where we both used to play. The same room that held thousands of our memories. The flashback started playing itself in my mind~~ Our childhood.
Vita, Rakshath, Sanjay, Adhvik and I were in same school. Sanjay Rish is Adhvik's paternal cousin and is also a brother I never had. He and Raksh were the eldest in the group as they were of same age. They were a year older than Dhvi and Vita. But it was like, everyone of us will be found together all the time. Though , I stick with Adhvik most of the time~~ Okay, almost all the time. Young love it was! So you can't really blame me! XD
My thoughts were interrupted again by one and only devil himself. "Penny for your thoughts", he said.
"Nothing! Just thinking about our childhood! The fun we had in this room!", I said without thinking.
After the words 'our' and 'we' came out of my mouth, I realized the weirdness and oddness of the situation. My heart ached for there is no 'we' and 'our' anymore.
"We, our! Nice words...", Adhvik said, reflecting my thoughts, in a low tone.
"Yeah! Though not anymore!", I countered looking into his eyes.
"Oh! Trust me! I'll make it happen!", saying this, he looked into my eyes with challenging gaze.
I felt like screaming 'don't give me false hopes and then break my heart... You did it once and I'm still healing from it... Please, I can't bare one more heartbreak!'. But all I can do is just to give a small, sad smile.
In that instant, I realized that I was not really angry on him and that I did not hate him. I can't really hate him even though he hurt me a lot. I was simply fooling my heart and mind to protect myself from breaking down. But that didn't work out even a bit. My love for him always prevailed over the hurt and anger. When I was away from him, fooling myself that he didn't exist in the same world as me and that I moved on, my feelings were safely locked inside me. But , the moment I heard him speak , the moment I looked into his blue eyes, all my feelings rushed back to me as the water that rushes when the dam is opened. So, all I have to do to be happy again is to forgive and forget about whatever had happened. I need to do these things to be happy once again. I need to let go of my sorrow and self pity. I need to go with the flow and see where it takes me, rather than over thinking and over analyzing things.
This thinking this made me feel better. If I was in a movie , the special effects team must have put light from the sky on me. I felt as though I have a hallow over my head. I felt happy.
Though, the thoughts about Adhvik's mystery girl flooded my mind. Deciding on my new motto of 'going with the flow', I asked him about her.
"So, who is this unlucky girl you were talking about?!", I asked him with a calm expression, hoping that it did not reveal my jealousy. I already embraced myself to hear his answer. But what he did next was not what I expected.
He smirked on hearing my question. Instead of answering, he came closer to me with a sensual look on his face. His orbs looked deeper into mine. His steps did not stop even when he came to me. When he came more closer, I took a step back. But that only made me smirk more. With each step he took towards me, I took a step backward. He did not stop till I was cornered between him and the wall. He placed his hands on both sides of me on the wall, preventing my escape. I tried to plaster myself to the wall in order to leave some space between us. But to my vain, it was not possible. The close proximity made my breath falter. I started panting. Looking into his eyes made it even worse. I can't deny the attraction between us. My mind started clouding. He brought his face closer to mine. No, he did not brush our lips! His lips neared my ears, his breath tickling my earlobes and neck, leaving a shiver down my spine. Then he whispered "That unlucky girl is the one who pants and shivers when I go closer to her!".
With that , he backed off smirking. I stood still in my place, still in daze, unable to comprehend anything.
"I kept the Med for acidity here... I'm leaving the room so that you don't have to pretend taking it in front of me... ", saying this, he left the room with a teasing smile.
Only after that, I came back to my steady state. When his words registered in my mind, I can't help but think 'he meant me?!'.
No, I'm not a dumb head!! He is very vague in his answer. Every girl will pant and shiver when he goes closer to them. After all, he is a freaking Greek-God and definitely, I don't entertain the thought of any other girl closer to him.
Anyways, leaving my thoughts for later, I left the room to join the others in the living room. After more talking , Adhvik and I decided to head to our respective penthouses.
After bidding bye to the Rishs, we got into Adhvik's car and started our journey. The atmosphere in the car was intense. So, I decided to turn on the radio. 'History' by one direction was playing. When the refrain came, Adhvik started singing along with a mysterious smile on his face.
You and me got a whole lot of history
We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen
You and me got a whole lot of history
So don't let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever!
Let me tell you this! This man can actually sing so well!! His voice was angelic and manly at the same time. All through his singing, he kept looking into my eyes and I know that he meant the words to me somehow. Since, it is night time and we were in the outskirts of the city, there are no vehicles in the road except ours.
When 'hands to myself' of Selena Gomez started to play, I decided to change the channel. Obviously the car can't bare anymore tension, let alone sexual tension. When I changed the channel, I noticed that his lips twitched in the sides and I can't help the smile in my face.
When we finally reached our buildings, he parked the car in his parking lot. I quickly turned to his side to thank him and get out of this closed area. But, when I looked into his face, ooff, my mind became blank. Only his blue eyes that has green specks in it mattered. Only Adhvik mattered. Not even my motto of not getting hurt or go with the flow came to my mind. It's only Adhvik and me.
Without realizing, we both inched closer. Too close that I felt his breath on my face. I can't help but lower my eyes to look at his lips. Only a hairline gap between us. But, before we can brush our lips, Adhvik's phone brought us back from our daze!
We both withdrew instantly. Adhvik's face held irritation while I flushed deep crimson in embarrassment. He picked the call , and muttered a 'hello!' filled with a lot of anger in his commanding tone. Here comes the ruthless mogul! Not daring to face him due to embarrassment, I muttered a quick 'bye' and marched towards my apartment.
As usual, that night was my night of thinking about life issues. I was actually grateful for his phone. If its not for the phone, I would have stupidly kissed him. Even though I decided to go with the flow and forget about what had happened, it will surely take time. Besides, how I simply ignore whatever Haritha said just this morning?!
But , again, whatever aunty , uncle and Vita said about Dhvi, contradicts Haritha's statement. Does this mean that Haritha is the Bad guy here?! But that doesn't mean that I'll dive into Adhvik instantly. I'll try to move on snd turn down his advances. If he likes me enough, he will have to regain my trust, break my walls and make me fall for him too deeply that I'll blindly go with him as I did years ago. If he thinks that I'm not worth all his time and efforts, let him move on with his life and I'll move on with mine.
So its decided! I , Rika Shrinikith, will try to forget about my past even though that's next to impossible and I'll move on with the flow of life.
With the hope of a new happy beginning for tomorrow, I drifted off to a peaceful slumber, filled with the dreams of that amazing blue eyed man!
