When Heartless Falls

Goosebumps

Anaira~

Sweating.

Profusely.

Literally.

Oh God, I was nervous just thinking about meeting that man. Wearing a dark blue denim shirt with a grey top, I was kept scrolling randomly through i********: posts while sitting in the coffee shop waiting for, veer.

The leather jacket, which though it will look cool, was making me sweat like there’s no tomorrow. And this Veer Kohli person has not come yet. It was a different argument that I was half an hour early to the coffee shop as almost no traffic had betrayed me.

I had never met a guy for marriage before; this was going to be so awkward. Suddenly an idea popped in my mind to Google him and kill some time.

Tapping on the internet browser of my iPhone, I typed away his name and was about to click on the magnifying glass when I heard some throat clearing.

I tilted my head up to see and my world stopped. It literally stopped for a few seconds.

Shit! It was the guy from the club who gave me a sleepless night. He was looking so formal, this time wearing a black dress pant with a crisp white shirt.

He was standing at my table looking intently at me and then shaking his head at my lack of response, he took a seat in front of me.

Panic started to creep in, he must be following me.

And most importantly, he can’t sit here. “Um, can you sit somewhere else? " I am waiting for someone? ” I told him, trying to keep my voice stern, but it came out quite polite. Damn it.

Then he smirked at me.

What the . . .

An astonishment washed over his face. “Really! And who would that be?” he asked in a mocking me.

“That’s none of your business,” I blurted and, surprisingly, I sounded mean. Good.

“By any chance that someone’s name is Mr. Veer Kohli?” he asked. I blinked.

Shit! How does he know?

“What would you like ma’am, sir?” the waiter asked.

“A black coffee,” he told the waiter, and turned his face at me, “What about you, Ms. Mehra?”

He knows my name, stalker.

“Caffe latte,” I stated, and sneakily clicked on the search button on my iPhone to check out Veer Kohli.

As soon as I clicked, a few pictures appeared and that belonged to the man sitting opposite to me. My head snapped towards him. I was speechless. He glanced at my phone screen. “Yup. That’s me.”

My eyes widened, and my heart started to beat faster.

Fate!

The guy who saved me from falling on my butt is sitting across me and happens to be my potential future husband.

Just then I realized, I hadn’t said anything for a while rather than gawking at him.

“Hi! I am Anaira, Anaira Mehra.” I blurted in a breath.

His left brow rose, and I was even more embarrassed. He already knows that.

“Yes, I know that” crap I said out loud.

Keep your thoughts to yourself, Anna.

“So, how are you?” he asked, folding his arms and resting them on the table. Guarded, he was being guarded.

I gulped, “I am f-fine.”

Actually freaking nervous.

“I see, you know right why are we sitting here?” he asked.

Giving him a small nod, I decided to ask him, to get to know him better. “Where are you from?”

“London.”

Fate. Suddenly, the idea of marrying him didn’t seem so bad. He is not the worst, anyway. Just a little less talkative, with a hint of big arrogance and a dash of show off.

“Nice,” I finally responded, coming out of my never-ending thoughts.

“You were searching me on the internet, so you should know I am from London. ”

He said and rolled up his sleeves up to his elbow. I gasped when my eyes darted on his tattoos on his left arm. Those started right from his knuckles training upwards. Those tattoos gave him a dark mysterious feel to his demeanor.

“Are you a mafia man?” I asked, looking at the art.

“No. I am a businessman.” he answered curtly.

I nodded and couldn’t help but check him out. He looked quite hot, with that white shirt, black trousers, black silk tie around his neck and that blazer which he took off a while ago.

“Did those hurt?” those words came out of his mouth, gazing at his tattoos once again.

“I am used to pain,” he answered, but I felt that he was not talking just about the tattoos, but there was something more to it.

“Why would you say that?” I asked out of curiosity when the waiter placed our coffees on the table.

“Never mind.” I stayed silent, not pushing the topic further.

“You were the one in the pub who saved me from falling right?” He nodded at my question, touching the rim of his mug.

“Thank you for that.” I added.

“That’s not a problem.”

“Did you know that it was me as in-“ Did he know that he was watching his potential future wife when he saved me from falling on my butt? I needed to ask him, as curiosity was killing me.

“Yes, I was there with my cousin at your table.”

I wanted to scream, awwww. So sweet.

I smiled inwardly. And couldn’t help but think that I was falling for this man.

There were so many thoughts going through my mind, it was like a whirlwind. Too much thinking gave me a headache.

I picked up my coffee mug and when freshly brewed coffee, filled up my senses as I brought it close to my lips. This will definitely take away the uneasiness.

“So, what kind of business are you in?”

“I own V.K. Enterprises in London, which is an international shipping company. ” He spoke with a proud smirk on his face.

“Good for you. “

He quickly asked, “I see you work in a publishing company as a what, an author?”

“Editor. I work there as an editor,” I replied immediately.

“My apologies.” My heart took a leap. He apologizes too.

“That’s alright,” I said and smiled at him. But again he just nodded in response.

Why doesn’t he just smile?

Why is it always so serious?

Damn, his constant stare was making me uncomfortable, he is so intimidating.

“So what would I call you?” he asked.

What kind of question is that? My name, obviously.

"Anaira or Ana, my friends call me Ana. “

“Anaira, it is,” he said, nodding. I wished he would call me Ana.

My name sounded different from his mouth. Kind of nice. It rolled off his tongue smoothly.

“And what should I call you?” I asked back.

“I’d prefer Mr. Kohli for now,” he said curtly while drinking his black coffee.

I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Fine,” I replied curtly.

“Do you know about the arrangement between our families?” I shook my head in negative response as I looked at him confusingly. What kind of arrangement?

Then he sighed.

“I’ll be taking over father’s company and marrying you.” That statement caught me off guard. But I kind of saw that coming when father wanted to get out of the CEO position. Here, I wanted something completely different to my life. And Adil wasn’t very interested in taking over.

I shifted in my seat. “I don’t know, but it makes sense as I am not interested in dad’s business and my cousins have already built their own, so it’s fine with me.”

“Good,” he said, then he let out a breath. And I observed him keeping his expressions changed to something quite serious before he blurted out his next words.

“Let’s cut to the chase here. I want you to marry me! And you will do it. “

I swear to God, my body shivered and covered in goosebumps at the intensity in Veer’s deep voice. It seemed like he meant those words. He actually wanted to marry me. Those blue eyes bored, threatening me to lower mine. It was scary, but at the same time his gaze was covering.

For God's sakes, I just met the guy. This was the time I met a guy just because my parents wanted me to get married. This would be an arranged marriage if I said yes. Not to mention I have already had a tiny winy crush on him since I saw him upfront.

“Don’t you want to pursue your dreams, Ms. Mehra?” My eyes snapped at him rather than continue to stare at my latte; he broke the train of thoughts running my mind. When the meaning of his words sunk in, they shook me a little.

This wasn’t our first meeting; we sort of bumped into each other last night at the pub downtown. His blue eyes captured mine once again, and I was lost. It was a while since I saw someone with such striking orbs. And right now, rather than getting lost at this moment, I was getting intimidated by his dominant aura.

“So you heard.” I mumbled slowly as I took a sip from my coffee cup; tentatively my tongue touched the roof of my mouth when the beverage was too hot for my liking.

When I glanced at him, I saw him nod under my lashes as he reached for his coffee mug, taking a sip. “Yes, I did.”

Unknowingly, he showed concern about my dream, my career and that made me like him. It was a start. Maybe that was the moment where I began swooning for the man in front of me.

“One more thing,” Veer trailed off, hanging his words in suspense for a moment, pulling me out of my happy thoughts, “After the marriage you can live your life the way you want, and I am mine.” I blinked at his deep voice curt, as if it was something he really wanted and that concerned me a little bit.

So easily, he uttered, that we can live our lives separately, the way we want.

But not me. I never encouraged such thoughts. For me, marriage was a pure thing: You commit and live together, love each other. It is supposed to be a forever thing. I have always dreamt the same for myself.

Was he the one? The guy who was asking me about marriage was he the one with whom I shall live my entire life? Will that be worth my heart? Will he love me? Or he will also break me the way —

“Do you get space out often, Ms. Mehra?” His words brought me out of my reverie. My thoughts went to that restricted zone. I had blocked those thoughts long ago, leaving them behind. Moving on, never allowing my mind to enter those dark painful memories again. But now, they suddenly came back bringing that crawl on my skin.

I quickly shook my head and adjusted myself on the seat in nervousness. “Um. . . No. . . Nothing. “ I bit my lower lip in embarrassment.

Just then, I heard him chuckle.

My heart jumped in my rib cage as I looked in his face. The corner of his eyes twitched and shone in small happiness. Last night he was so close to me when I danced on that illuminated floor. His warm body was close to mine, he himself seemed closed off; he didn't utter a single word. But right now, it gives me weird happiness listening to his small laugh.

Me zoning out felt worth it after listening to that sound.

A small smile started to creep into my lips until he spoke those heart-stopping words. “So, you ready for this marriage?” Veer asked afterward in a careful tone.

And just like that, there was a big swirl in my tummy and I resisted my urge not to grin. I took a deep breath ready to answer his not so cheesy but still proposal. I parted my lips, suddenly feeling out of air. For a moment there, I wasn’t even sure about what to answer. My legs trembled as he kept staring at me. But when I saw a small hint of disappointment in his eyes, I blurted, “Yes.”

I was surprised at myself. When he sighed loudly, at the sound involuntarily my thighs pressed together, there was a weird ache there. I inwardly frown at it. When I lifted my face, Veer’s face showed relief and I calmed down looking at his state.

Did I just say yes, because I couldn’t see the sadness in his eyes?

The thought scared me a little knowing I was falling for this man.

For all it takes, it will be worth it. I was sure.

I got ready for this marriage, not knowing what was coming my way. But I was hopeful. Hope for what I wanted the most. I hope he will give it to me.

My love story.

Although I never knew, this love isn’t as easy as it seems. It never was. And it will never be.