Chapter 4 #2
He arched one brow, a smirk playing on his lips. ‘For the Ferris wheel… or the kiss?’
That pulled a laugh out of her. ‘I thought you’re smart enough to read between the lines,’ she said, teasing him at the sight of the light flush still tinting his neck.
‘I am, but I will never turn down the chance to hear you talk about our kiss. Anyway, you did well for your first ride,’ he said, his voice still hoarse from screaming.
Siya snorted, tucking the wild strands of her curls behind her ear. ‘Not really. I’m just good at pretending,’ she said with a shrug.
He angled his body toward hers as he said, ‘It must get exhausting.’
She tilted her head at him, surprised by his observation. ‘I didn’t say that.’
He held her gaze. ‘You didn’t have to.’
She broke their connection, looking away toward the line of trees swaying in a dark silhouette behind which the hotel stood, waiting for her to come back.
The silence stretched for a beat too long, so she offered him a soft, practiced smile and asked, ‘What are your plans after this? Is someone waiting for you?’
Too late, she realised that she’d voiced the concern nagging at her. Worried she’d crossed a boundary, she was about to apologise when he began walking backward with a playful scoff.
‘My parents are out of town, and both of my friends are on a romantic getaway, so all that is waiting for me is an empty apartment. What about you? Should I be worried about getting hit with a whiskey bottle once we go back?’
Siya laughed, finding it absurd. ‘No bottles. No jealous boyfriends. You’re safe.’
‘Really? That’s hard to believe,’ he said.
She shrugged, burying her hands into the pockets of the hoodie. ‘I don’t know what to tell you. Dating is not exactly a thriving part of my portfolio. Besides, if there had been anyone, none of this would’ve happened,’ she said, pointing a finger between them.
‘How come?’
She hesitated, biting the inside of her cheek before she answered, ‘Because those relationships were over before I had a chance to figure out what it could be.’
‘Why’s that?’ he asked and waited for a response until after they navigated around a group of teenagers making a vlog.
‘Most men in my world are reckless and rich enough to live spontaneously. Seasonal trips, weekend getaways, last-minute plans—all things I couldn’t do because Kashvi needed me. I’d try to explain how my sister is my first priority, but they seemed to take it as a figure of speech.’
Siya tugged at the cuffs of the hoodie as she added, ‘Eventually, it always came down to the same thing. They blamed me for my “misplaced priorities” and for unfairly choosing my teenage sister over them.’
He said nothing for a moment, and Siya mistook his silence for judgement.
‘And I’m not sorry about that. If someone wants me, they will have to accept that my sister is and will always be my responsibility, and all that comes with it.
And I haven’t met a man who could handle that,’ she blurted out, a thread of worry slithering in her.
He annihilated her concerns with just one word. ‘Yet.’
The word hit her with a startling force because of how gentle, hopeful, and utterly sincere it was.
She raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Why? Are you applying for the position?’ she asked, letting the question tilt into a smile.
The line of his jaw twitched faintly as he said, ‘I’ve been waiting in line for a long time.’
He caught the confusion flicker across her face, and his gaze darted down to his watch. ‘A couple of hours, to be precise.’
Heat flushed through her, making her dizzy in a new way, and her voice dropped when she whispered, ‘You think that’s a long time?’
He lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug, but his smile didn’t meet his eyes. ‘It felt like a long time to me,’ he said, his words achingly soft.
Siya didn’t know what to say to that. There was something in the way he looked at her, something unreadable but honest, something that made her wonder what else he wasn’t saying. ‘What’s your story?’ she asked, curious for a glimpse.
He simply said, ‘I’ve dated,’ and stopped at that.
‘And?’ she prompted.
He looked lost in thoughts, like he was deciding how much to say. ‘I didn’t find who I was looking for,’ he answered, locking her gaze with his.
A sliver of heat shifted underneath her skin, curling around her spine, before settling low in her belly.
Her breath caught in her throat, and before she could ask him who he was looking for, he tugged at her hand and nudged them toward a jewellery cart.
‘You know what? I think your first Ferris wheel ride calls for a celebration of its own.’
She blinked, startled. ‘A celebration?’
He nodded at the cart lit up by a string of fairy lights and the soft glow of hanging lanterns. ‘We have got to get you a souvenir to commemorate the first ride and… much more.’
She was scared of how fast her heart was beating. She still hadn’t fully recovered from the way he’d looked at her right before kissing her.
‘C’mon, see if you like something,’ he said, gesturing at the collection.
The wooden trays were filled to the brim with pendants and rings, glittering under the overhead light in streams of gold and silver. In the corner, a spinning case displayed all the earrings in every size imaginable.
Her attention caught almost immediately on a simple silver nose ring, studded with a single diamond stone. She picked it up, and said, ‘Kashvi would love this. She’s been obsessed with these lately.’
He watched her with a lopsided smile as she reached out to pick up an anti-tarnish bracelet. ‘This is perfect for Mihu.’
She quickly paid for it and turned to face him. A brow creased between his eyes as he asked, ‘That’s it?’
‘Yeah, I’m good.’
He gave a slow shake of his head and said, ‘I should have known you wouldn’t pick anything for yourself.’
He leaned forward and gently rifled through the trays near the back until he picked up a square velvet box the size of his palm. He turned it around to show it to her.
Nestled against the black cushion was an anklet. Silver-toned and dainty, with tiny blue seashells placed between tiny silver bells. ‘Oh, that is…’ she trailed off.
‘Very you,’ he finished it.
He plucked it out of the box and crouched down in front of her, lowering himself onto one knee.
‘Wait! What are you—’ she said, startled, looking around at the milling crowd.
‘Relax,’ he said, lifting her sandy foot onto the firm line of his thigh. ‘You’re still wearing my hoodie. No one is going to recognise you. Don’t rob me of this joy, jaan.’
The word hit somewhere low in her core, and her balance faltered when she felt his thumb brush along the delicate curve of her foot as he clasped the anklet around it. The bells jingled as they settled against her skin.
‘You can consider this my official submission for the position, by the way,’ he smirked.
‘What position?’
‘You asked earlier if I was applying for the position to be your man. This is it.’
She told herself to brush it off as casual flirting, but his words took root deep inside her. By the time he stood, dusting off his jeans, she felt slightly breathless and disoriented.
‘Thank you,’ he said, catching her off guard.
‘I should be thanking you.’
He shook his head. ‘You’re the one who made my dream come true.’
She furrowed her brows trying to decipher what he meant. ‘What dream?’
A brief flash of panic flickered in his eyes, but then he hid it behind a smile. ‘You know… I’ve seen too many Bollywood movies, I guess. I always thought gifting anklets to someone is kind of epic,’ he said, laughing awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.
It was a good enough cover, and he was clearly hoping she’d buy it, but seeing how he nervously avoided her gaze sparked suspicion in her. She wondered again, was there something he wasn’t telling her?
The alarm went off with a gentle chime, muffled inside the depths of her clutch. Her heart sank before she even looked at the screen.
Five minutes to midnight.
Siya glanced at him, already feeling the ache of leaving from here. The shadows softened the sharp edges of his face, but he stayed silent, as if even he was not sure what to say with so little time left.
‘It’s time, huh?’
She reluctantly nodded.
He got down on one knee and slipped on her heel as he looked up with a sad smile. ‘Let’s get the princess back to her castle.’