by Mahi Jay
Nina felt like a deer caught in the headlights. She could just bluff and say the name of one of his movies, but if asked to elaborate she’d undoubtedly get caught out. She decided to stick to the truth.
‘Hmm … I haven’t seen any of his movies,’ she confessed.
Mrs Nuban looked incredulous and Nina dared not look at Aadith. ‘I’m not really a movie person. I prefer the theatre,’ she offered in excuse. She glanced at Aadith from under her lashes. She couldn’t read anything on his face but she had a gut feeling that he was hurt and angry. This evening couldn’t turn much worse, she thought in dismay.
Aadith spoke to her with nothing more than polite interest, as if she were a stranger to him. His sudden withdrawal made her feel lost. It was as if they hadn’t ever shared anything more than a meal.
The meal drew closer to an end when dessert was served. ‘Do you like dessert, Ms. Nina?’ asked Mr Nuban idly.
Aadith forestalled her from answering. ‘Ahh … I’ve been wondering about it myself. Sometimes you can’t seem to get your hands on it fast enough, at others I’ve seen you get rid of it in double time … So what is it? Do you have a sweet tooth or not?’ His eyes were pinning her down; he knew she would understand his double meaning.
He wasn’t going to wait any more for an answer. It had to be now. If she said yes, then they’d have a good time together and when the time came he would move on. If it was going to be a no, then he’d cut his losses right now and leave. But the nerves coiling in his stomach belied his seemingly casual decision. Aadith had to privately accept that it wasn’t going to be so easy to move on.
Hot colour shot up her cheeks as she caught the innuendo in his question as if it were spelled out. But luckily for her the others seemed to take the question at face value. ‘It surely depends on what the dessert is,’ she muttered hurriedly.
There it was. She couldn’t have made it more clear that she was not interested in him, thought Aadith grimly. Her rejection cut him but he was an actor if nothing else. He continued with the evening’s charade. He waited until it was time for the gifts to be presented and the inevitable photo session finished.
He cast an indifferent smile at Nina and bid her goodbye. Maybe it was the tone of his voice or his expression, but it somehow sounded final to her ears. It stung her to the core. Her heart pounded with fear as she watched his retreating back. She knew she couldn’t pretend to herself any more … It was easier taking the leap than watching him leave.
It struck her that what Aadith had said was true; she had been holding back her whole life!
Always backing down from the desires of her heart, afraid to take a chance, afraid of being rejected. Afraid to reach out for what she wanted.
Always choosing the safe way, never breaking the rules. But what had it got her? Certainly not the love and approval she craved. The thought of asking him for a chance was terrifying, but what was even more terrifying was the thought of letting him walk out of her life and wondering for ever how it would have ended.
She wanted, no, needed, to be with him. She frantically said her goodbyes around the table and ran after Aadith. She called out to him just as he was about to get into his car. He turned back with a frown to see Nina racing towards him.
She came within less than a foot from him and stared into his smoky grey eyes. He could smell the light exotic scent that was uniquely hers. She was breathing hard as she whispered, ‘I do.’
Aadith was confused; he wondered if this was another one of her blow-hot-blow-cold moments. ‘You do … what?’
Nina’s eyelids dropped to hide the wealth of emotions she was sure he would read in her eyes. ‘I do have a sweet tooth and I don’t just want you sometimes, I crave you,’ she offered shyly.
An unfamiliar feeling stole through him at her words. Not one of triumph, but something much softer, much more fierce in its intensity. He brushed his palm against her cheek and cradled her face between his hands. Nina turned her head and pressed a soft kiss into his palm. Aadith shuddered in response.
‘Be sure,’ he warned, watching her steadily, trying to get a read on her thoughts. ‘Because if it starts tonight, there’s no turning back.’
She no longer wondered if it was right or wrong. There was no other alternative. The thought of going through the rest of her life, not kissing him, never experiencing the wild, wanton feeling only he roused in her was not an option any more.
She took the one step that separated them. The scent of her enveloped him, his control was about to shatter. When she pressed another kiss to the pulse throbbing at the base of his throat, it finally did.
His lips fastened on hers hungrily, devouring her in his urgency.
Her eyes fluttered to a helpless close as his hands splayed possessively against her bare back. Her body was burning in the places where his hands touched her bare skin. The sensation of it was so powerful that had it not been for Aadith supporting her, she would have buckled under.
He turned her slightly and she found herself wedged tightly between the car and his hard body. One of his hands was entangled in the silky mass of her hair, the other on her bottom grinding her to him. When Nina nipped his lips he made a deep guttural sound and fisted the hand in her hair.
‘Let’s get out of here now,’ he said gruffly in a voice laced thick with desire. Nina didn’t want to go back to his house where a hundred other women might have passed through before. ‘My place is closer,’ breathed Nina. They got into his car and drove off into the night with more haste than caution.
What they failed to notice was another car following them to her house.
The night had been a sizzler. Her imagination hadn’t come anywhere close to the real deal. They’d barely got past the door before they’d ripped each other’s clothes off. The way to the bedroom was strewn with their clothes. Their desire had been insatiable. They’d made love passionately, tenderly, quickly, lingeringly, in every way possible until they’d fallen asleep exhausted.
Morning brought in its wake renewed desire as she saw Aadith lying on his stomach, with the sheets half-on half-off him. A night’s growth of whisker darkened his face lending him an air of roguishness. If he’d looked handsome with his clothes on, he looked incredible without them. His body a perfect symmetry of limbs. Nina could not help but lean forward and brush her lips against his smooth back.
Aadith felt himself stirring again at the merest brush of her lips against his back. Last night had been like a combustion that had consumed them both voraciously. Sometimes fierce, sometimes tender, it had been a night like no other and he was in no mood to end it.
The shrill of his mobile broke the quiet of the morning. He was sorely tempted to ignore it but only a handful of people had this number and if someone was calling so early it must be important. Nina grabbed the phone on the nightstand and passed it to him.
It was Vinay Parek, his director. ‘You just couldn’t wait, could you?’ he said shortly.
Aadith didn’t care for Vinay’s tone. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ he demanded.
‘You just had to stay out of trouble until the movie releases, but you didn’t, did you? You had to bang her to prove that you’re irresistible.’
Aadith’s blood ran cold. ‘Do you mean Nina?’ he asked tersely.
‘Of course Nina! Why—are there going to be more pictures of you splashed across papers with different women? This one is hot enough—you’ll probably have to work hard to top it,’ ground out Vinay.
‘What picture?’ he bit out.
‘The one of you and Nina in the harbour last night, clinched in a scorching embrace,’ elaborated Vinay.
Aadith mouthed to Nina for the morning’s paper, which she brought in hurriedly. He heard her gasp at the picture. The headline read, ‘Prince or Playboy Again?’
‘Listen, I’ll be in shortly with Nina. We can talk about it then,’ said Aadith, hanging up.
‘Are you regretting last night?’ asked Aadith his mouth in a grim li
ne. As amazing as last night had been, they’d barely scratched the surface of the passion they held for each other. He didn’t want to end things so quickly.
Nina paused for a minute before answering and it seemed to be the longest minute of his life. ‘I’ve left regrets behind. No more regrets,’ she stated with a gentle smile in his direction.
Aadith wanted to let his breath out in a whoosh of relief. He felt lighter knowing she didn’t regret what had happened between them last night.
‘Maybe not last night, but today is going to get a lot worse, especially for you,’ he predicted.
Being in the movie industry and in the public eye for so long had helped him develop a thick skin. He didn’t care what people said or wrote about him unless it affected his career. Not so with Nina. She had always toed the line as far as he knew, and to go from a goody two shoes to constantly making headlines with him was going to test her sorely. The media could be very unkind, as he knew to his personal cost.
Her phone flashed up the number of her boss. She dared not take the call. She closed her eyes in dismay. The one time she’d stepped outside the lines and the whole world was aware of it. Her bravado was running out. She really wasn’t the sort of girl to treat an affair lightly, and this one promised to blow up in her face publicly.
Aadith watched her body tense and cursed himself for putting her through this. He should have known a celebrity like him didn’t have the privilege of privacy. He should have been more careful.
The silence between them was thick with guilt on his part and fear on hers. They hurriedly got ready and took the lift down together.
It seemed as if a million flashes went off the instant they stepped out of the foyer of the building. Aadith took her hand in his and was not surprised to find it trembling. He clasped it tightly, for which Nina was grateful.
‘Hey, Aadith, tell us about her.’ ‘She works for you, doesn’t she?’ ‘Is she your latest girlfriend?’ ‘How long have you guys been dating?’ ‘All of Mumbai is talking about her—tell us more.’ A barrage of questions was thrown at them from all directions.
Aadith handled it all with admirable aplomb. ‘I’ll give you one statement if you promise to let us leave immediately,’ he stated.
A chorus of agreements followed.
‘Nina and I have known each other since childhood. Yes, she works with me, and no she is not my latest girlfriend, she is my fiancée.’
There was a moment’s silence as soon as Aadith dropped that bombshell, after which there was an uproar even greater than before.
Aadith refused to answer any more questions as he guided Nina to the car. It took Nina a minute to gather her wits about her. ‘What were you thinking? Your fiancée?’ she sputtered.
Aadith turned slightly and met her eyes. ‘You had a better idea? Because I certainly didn’t!’
‘You must be crazy to have made such a statement,’ muttered Nina as if he hadn’t spoken. She groaned aloud at the thought of what damage a denial would cause at this stage.
‘We could say it was a joke,’ she said with a note of hope.
‘A joke? About this? You must be kidding,’ said Aadith, his voice tight with anger.
Any other woman would have jumped with joy had he even hinted at a possible engagement, yet here she was horrified at the thought. It worked well for him just then. After the way Monica had thrown him over for a ritzy lifestyle he couldn’t bring himself to believe in love. It was just a convenient word bandied about to make lust respectable. He should have learnt from his father’s mistake. But he hadn’t. The disastrous end of his relationship with Monica had taken the blinkers from his eyes. No woman would ever have that kind of hold over him again. No woman was worth that much pain.
‘If it makes you feel any better, all I’m suggesting is a fake engagement,’ he explained. It would be the closest thing to commitment he would ever offer a woman.
‘A fake engagement?’
‘Will you stop parroting my words back with horror? If you think about it, it makes perfect sense,’ he declared.
When she could barely get around the words fake engagement, how could she understand what sense it made? thought Nina in dismay.
‘Really? Does it make sense to get engaged because we set the sheets on fire for one night?’ she asked caustically.
Aadith bit back a smile at her words. Not that he needed assurance that he was good in bed, but to hear that last night had been just as amazing for her as it had been for him was a balm to his ego.
‘The media is not going to let this go so quickly. Your name will be bandied about every time mine is, and not always in savoury terms. Do you think you can handle that? You need to face your parents, your friends and colleagues after this and I’m not sure you can publicly brazen out an affair with me. But an engagement would totally make this respectable. Besides which, after you’ve worked so hard, negative press can ruin your career.’
Nina could very well believe the last statement. Her boss wouldn’t hesitate to fire her over this screw-up, and all this just as she had been promised the post of vice president. She couldn’t imagine losing her job after the years of hard work she had put in. This engagement was starting to sound better by the minute.
‘Why would you complicate your life for me?’ asked Nina in surprise. ‘Because, fake or real, an engagement does carry its own set of troubles.’
‘Well, for one thing, an engagement comes with a tag of respectability. In one sweep my slate is clean, and I’m back to being prince charming again,’ he said with a hint of his old humour. ‘For another, I feel guilty. I got you embroiled into this. I should have known better,’ finished Aadith. ‘I should have been more discreet.’
‘Please don’t feel guilty. I entered into this with my eyes open. I’m not some naive village belle who had no idea something like this could happen. I’m in publicity, for God’s sake. There was always the possibility of this happening, only I didn’t expect it to happen after a mere one night,’ admitted Nina.
‘One fabulous night though,’ added Aadith, looking at her hungrily. His gaze on her felt hot, his eyes doing an erotic tussle with hers, as if he were already making love to her in his mind. Her body shivered involuntarily. Her heart gave a stumble as he picked up her hand and pressed a kiss into it.
‘What do we tell our families?’ asked Nina, for want of something to cool the sizzle between them.
‘Let’s not complicate things for anyone else. We will have to keep the pretence of this engagement just between the two of us.’ He felt a moment of disquiet at the deception he was suggesting. His Daadhi would be excited to hear about this engagement. She’d long since despaired of him ever settling down and she loved Nina. But when the inevitable end came, it was going to be tricky breaking it to her.
Nina thought over it. It did make sense. Her parents would be happy to avoid the scandal, she’d get to keep her job and she’d have time to spend with Aadith.
‘How would we explain a broken engagement? Wouldn’t it cause you bad press later?’ worried Nina.
Aadith knew he had to tread carefully to ensure that he didn’t give her the slightest hope that this engagement could ever be anything more than a diversionary tactic for the press. Nina was sharp so he didn’t need to rudely spell it out. A subtle reminder would suffice he decided. So he slid a sort of time frame into the picture.
‘If it were a divorce the standard statement is “irreconcilable differences”, so for an engagement I think the standard statement is “we wanted different things”,’ said Aadith airily. ‘In about six months the novelty of our news will have worn off and we’ll be history, so a break around that time should be all right I guess.’
Nina didn’t know if she should laugh or cry at his cynical statement. If she’d been an onlooker she’d have applauded the way he’d ingeniously slipped an end date into the conversation. He’d managed to make it clear that there wouldn’t ever be a happily ever after with him. An affair with a fake engag
ement thrown in was as good as it was ever going to get between them and she needed to remember that at all times.
‘So are you fine with this?’ asked Aadith as they drew near his office. He felt himself tense as he waited for her agreement.
Was she fine with it? Not really.
Love had been the one thing she’d craved since childhood, but it always seemed to elude her. The most gorgeous man she’d ever met was asking her to marry him, but it was just a mirage. There one minute, gone the next. Just as he would disappear eventually. Could she handle it? She didn’t know. All she knew was she had no choice but to say yes.
She smiled at him wanly and said yes.
Aadith was glad she was handling this in a businesslike manner. An affair was all he could ever offer and he thought Nina understood that clearly. With her there wouldn’t ever be the clingy, needy behaviour that usually sent him running for cover. When their engagement ran its course there wouldn’t be the added complication of emotions clouding it, he thought with satisfaction.
His impromptu statement in front of her apartment had gained instant coverage. Congratulatory calls started pouring in before he could even get to his office. Vinay was waiting for him with a sheepish expression.
‘You could have told me you were serious about her,’ he complained.
‘We wanted to keep it to ourselves for a while,’ replied Aadith, looking at her adoringly.
She almost giggled at his expression. It had been a tad overplayed, she thought. Aadith squeezed her hand in warning. He looked at her in amazement. Just this morning alone she’d been scared, brave, mature, resigned and now cheeky. He could clearly read it all in her face. With her there was no subterfuge. What you saw was what you got. Aadith was sure if it had been anyone but her, he wouldn’t have taken this drastic step. He wouldn’t have dared to.
Nina made a quick call to her parents, who had seen only the picture in the morning papers. She informed them of her engagement with Aadith. They weren’t excited in the least. They hated her working in the entertainment industry. They thought it frivolous and a waste of her time. Now her decision to marry someone from the industry was like adding insult to injury.
