“So, what does that mean?”
“It means my...huh, periods are a lot more painful than I can deal with.” She supplied the information despite her discomfort. “And…” She stopped, swallowed, and looked away.
“Mia.” He touched her chin gently and made her turn back. “Talk to me, Sugar.” He cursed softly when he saw those blue-green eyes fill with moisture. “Shit! Are you in pain or something? There should be a doctor who can make this better, right?” He didn’t realize his voice had become pleading.
“I might never be able to have kids in my life.” She whispered the painful secret that she had buried within herself. A year back, when her period had gotten progressively heavier accompanied by debilitating cramps, she’d gone to a specialist. What had then started was a series of appointments, tests, and never-ending treatment. Exhausted and depressed, she’d sort of settled into a rhythm the last few months. Cut off from the outside world during her period; grit and bear and pain, and come out of the hell hole after. Yeah, it worked, at least, for the moment.
“Kids? Do you want kids?” He tilted his head and looked at her with a strange expression.
“Of course! Who doesn’t want kids?”
Mia’s exasperated voice ran through his scrutiny. Suddenly, he realized he was sitting on her bed, close to her, and she was hardly dressed. Clearing his throat, he spoke carefully. “I...I don’t.”
“You don’t want to have kids?” She couldn’t hide her surprise. “But you were so happy for Tanya and Neil just last week.”
He remembered her yearning from the other day. Now it made more sense. Taking both her hands in his, he spoke to her in a low tone. “That’s because I get to only spoil the kids and send them back home when they get too much.” He gave his famous, boyish grin.
Mia was stunned for a minute before she laughed out loud. “You are impossible, and you haven’t changed even a bit in certain ways.”
“Good to know.” He grinned, but his smile abruptly vanished. “Know what, Mia? Whatever be the condition or your ability to have or not to have kids, that doesn’t define who you are.” In an impulse, he kissed her knuckles. When he felt her shiver, he looked up. “Lie down now, Sugar. Did you have something to eat?”
When she shook her head, he muttered something rude and dialled a number. “Can you send something up quickly? Breakfast? Her favorites, if that’s possible. Thanks!” Armaan turned towards the soft, curvy woman, who was looking at him with astonishment and curiosity.
“Why are you being nice to me, Armaan?” Mia was scared of his proximity, his affection. With Armaan, she knew it was always the next woman soon - maybe in a week or a month. Who knew?
He was irritated at the insecurity lurking behind her eyes. “Why not? Not many years back, you took care of me. Or, have you forgotten that?”
“I cannot. Not even if I want to.” She looked away, towards the window. That had been the best period of her life. When she’d stepped out of his life, she’d not only buried her feelings, but she’d also lost her best friend.
“Then stop asking these inane questions. Yeah, we lost touch. I don’t know what happened that you got out of my life so abruptly, but I am hoping we can put all that behind us. At least for the sake of our gang.”
Nodding, she offered no comment. She closed her eyes in exhaustion.Time enough to overthink this later,she told herself.
Armaan took the cutlery from her kitchen and carefully placed some toast and omelette along with some orange juice. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do. Business, women, money - he could ace. But, this? Nevertheless, he was determined to try and do his best.
Gently placing a hand on her shoulder, he made her sit up and eat the food. When she was done, he placed the blanket over her and kissed her forehead. “Do you need any painkillers?” He noticed her skin return to normal and breathed a little easier.
“I’ve already taken one.” When he was about to turn away, she called him. “Armaan?”
“Yeah?”
“Go home, I’ve done this by myself for more than a year now. It’s okay.”
His grey eyes hardened into silver slits. “I hate that you have to go through this. I’m here, and I’m good. Just get some rest, Mia. We’ll talk later.”
Just this once, she wanted to let her guard down and soak on his affection. Loneliness was her friend anyway, never far from her. Closing her eyes, she finally let sleep take her into blissful oblivion.
Chapter 4
Armaan sat by the bed, in her comfortable armchair, stretching out his legs on the edge of the bed and logged into his work email on his iPhone to tackle some issues. Soon enough, he logged out and stared at the beautiful woman who was stretched out over the pink covers. What was it about this one woman that made him act out of character? She wasn’t the drop-dead gorgeous type who he usually went for. Pale skin, light-brown curls, huge, blue-green eyes, and a small nose. He smiled as he remembered the way she used to scrunch her cute, button-nose when things didn’t go her way.
When his gaze travelled to her lips, his entire face changed. How many days he’d struggled to not look or think about those full, naturally-pink lips? He swallowed and leaned back in the armchair, his head hitting the cushion. Closing his eyes, he couldn’t help but recollect those ten months in his life, five years back….
Armaan Malik was born thirty-two years back, in the United States, to an American model and an Indian industrialist settled in the US. Born with a silver spoon, he’d only seen excess in his life; excess money, excess greed, excess booze, and excess sex. There was no concept of denial, because there was no one around to deny him anything. His father was married to his work, while his mother to her lifestyle and her lovers. Armaan was brought up by a parade of nannies, some greedy, some plain negligent. He’d once asked his dad why the older man had married his mother. His father’s reply was succinct. For Armaan. One night of carelessness had led to an accidental pregnancy. Of course, his father being the opportunist that he was, didn’t want to deny himself the chance of a ready-made heir. Thankfully, neither of them had any romantic illusions about each other, nor did they put themselves through ugly fights, he recalled. His parents simply led their own lives. Only, neither of them thought about the repercussions on the human being they’d accidentally made. When his father had married an American, his paternal grandparents had disowned his father. They couldn’t accept an American as their daughter-in-law, not to mention a model, who had a colorful sex life before getting married.
It was during high school that he’d studied in India, only because his wealthy grandfather, who was almost dying, wanted to meet his only grandson. That’s when he’d met Neil, Arjun, and Rahul. Eventually, he’d gone back to the States after his schooling.
After his masters and two years of working in the US and Canada regions for his father, Armaan had travelled to India to set up their base for APAC. He knew he had to stay back for a couple of months until things were stable in Asia. He’d come to Mumbai to set up their telecom and e-commerce businesses, and that’s when he’d run into the intriguing Mia.
