MOH MOH KE DHAAGE : a royal saga

TWELVE: AESTHETICALLY PLEASANT MAN

TWELVE: AESTHETICALLY PLEASANT MAN

Anna had left but her words had given rise to a storm between Ishanvi's heart and mind.

Anna's words were echoing constantly in her ears, and her thoughts had erupted into a turmoil. She was pondering over what Anna had just said to her.

She realized that Anna did have a point! Being an introvert, Ishanvi never really opened up readily to strangers but that wasn't the case with Neer. Although she had met Neer once at the party, they had barely talked which made Neer practically a stranger to her.

Yet, when he met her and began the conversation about Harry Potter and her favorite books, Ishanvi had found herself getting comfortable around him. Just a few minutes into the conversation, all her awkwardness had flown out of the window; she found herself relaxed around him contrary to her usual behavior.

She didn't hesitate before voicing her opinion on matters they discussed, and expressed her views quite fiercely.

What's more, she was amazed by Neer's humble bearing, and how he patiently heard her, and was polite when they disagreed on something and didn't take it on his male ego. He not even once judged her for being opinionated about everything, nor did he look down upon her when she said that she didn't know about something and instead, explained that topic to her with ease. His awareness about things was another quality that Ishanvi really liked about him.

And his royal etiquettes made her admire him all the more. He was courteous to the servers and everyone around them, not once appearing to be snobbish or arrogant. He was so down-to-earth and gentle that his modest demeanor challenged the preconceived notions Ishanvi had about Royals at every step.

Not only was there a stark difference between their social statuses, there was also a huge gap between them that Ishanvi found hard to cover. While he was a Royal Prince, Ishanvi was just an ordinary citizen. Moreover, she didn't have any extraordinary quality that qualifies her to be a part of a Royal family. She knew a plain Jane had no chance of marrying a Royal Prince like her. That's why she didn't want to get her hopes too high because she knew the day Neer realizes her ordinariness, he would refuse to marry her, and that would definitely break her heart (because hey, every rejection hurts okay!). And to avoid that situation, Ishanvi didn't want to arrive at any conclusions just yet.

Moreover, she herself wasn't sure if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Neer. Although she liked him as a human being, she needed to get to know more about him to see if he's the one for her. She couldn't accept him as her life partner just because he was a Prince, she needed to make sure they were compatible together.

Ishanvi was still thinking about her meeting with Neer when her intercom rang. Ishanvi jumped from her seat due to its loud ringing, and coming out of her reverie, she answered the call.

"Ishi, come to the conference room please," one of her colleagues spoke from the other side.

"Okay," she replied before hanging up.

Logging out of her laptop, she got up, and went to the conference room.

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Two days later, Onir returned to work from his little vacation.

Greeting everyone, he was moving towards his cabin when his eyes fell on Anna and Ishanvi who were busy discussing a manuscript.

"Ishi, meet me in my cabin once you're free," Onir told her before walking into his cabin.

Ishanvi nodded her head, and went back to the discussion.

Once it was over, Anna asked Ishanvi to go to Onir first. Nodding, she left to meet Onir in his cabin.

After knocking on the door a couple of times, she entered his cabin, and found Onir leaning against his desk. His hands were in his pockets, and his tie was slightly loosened around the neck.

Ishanvi walked up to his desk, and stood across from him.

"What did you call me here for?" she asked him when he didn't speak up for a while.

He turned towards her wearing a serious expression.

"Miss Ishi, I heard you went on a date last weekend! And you didn't even bother to tell me about it," Onir said in a complaining tone.

"First of all, it wasn't a date, okay! And secondly, I had already informed you about it when I asked you for the half-day leave."

"Okay okay, forget about it. Tell me how it was?" Onir asked excitedly.

"How was what?" Ishanvi played dumb.

"You know, the date!" Onir rolled his eyes.

Ishanvi glared at him.

"Jeez! Okay fine! How was the meeting with your prospective husband?"

"He isn't my prospective husband," Ishanvi said, irritated.

"Girl, just answer the damn question," Onir said exasperatedly.

"It was okay I guess," Ishanvi shrugged.

Onir rolled his eyes at her response. "I want more than 'it was okay'."

"What exactly do you want to know, Onir?" Ishanvi inquired.

"Umm… for starters, I'd like to know… yeah, did you find him handsome?"

Now that Ishanvi thought about it, she realized she really hadn't paid much attention to his face or features when they met. When she had first seen him waiting for her on the rooftop, she was flabbergasted with the revelation that he was the guy her family had chosen for her, that's why she didn't look at him properly. And after they struck up the conversation, she got so involved in it that she forgot to examine his handsomeness.

But now that Onir had mentioned it, she found herself going back in the past. There was Neer, standing near the glass banister, waiting for her. Clad in a denim button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up till elbows and a pair of black trousers, he was looking pretty handsome. His thin lips were ever so slightly parted and his silky hair were slightly ruffled from constantly moving hands through them. His hands were wrapped in the front and he was leaning against the banister.

Onir clapped his hands, and Ishanvi returned to the present.

"I didn't know it was such a hard question that you're taking this much time to answer. It's okay if you didn't find him as handsome as me. Not everyone can be me, right?" Onir said cockily.

"Will you ever stop being a narcissistic jerk? And who said that he isn't handsome? In fact, I think he's much more handsome than you or anyone else," Ishanvi said in a solemn voice.

Onir's eyebrows shot up and he smirked. "Uh-huh, I see."

Ishanvi realized what she had done. Now Onir won't let it pass, ever.

"That's not what I meant. I was saying that he wasn't too bad to look at," Ishanvi tried to control the damage but it was of no use as the damage had already been done.

"Is that so?" Onir raised his eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, of course," Ishanvi tried to sound nonchalant.

"Okay then I'll tell Neer that you didn't find him pleasing enough," he said, picking up his phone from the table.

Ishanvi's eyes widened as he began to unlock his phone. She hurriedly snatched the phone from his hand, and kept it out of his reach.

"When did I say that?"

"Didn't you just say he wasn't too bad to look at?"

"That means he was nice-looking."

"So, you think he's good-looking then?"

"Urgh, you're impossible!" Ishanvi grunted. "Okay fine! Yes he's pretty handsome, very aesthetically pleasant to look at. Happy now?"

"Why would I be happy? You're praising another man's beauty in front of me, how can I be happy with that?" Onir said, sullenly.

Before Ishanvi could retort back, an incoming message popped on her screen diverting her attention.

She opened the message which was from an unknown number.

I didn't know you found me the most handsome. But you could've told me this in person when we had met, you know. It would have made me happier having heard it myself.

Oh, and we can always go on a date whenever you want. Just let me know in advance, so I can make the arrangements ;)

—your aesthetically pleasant man

Neer

As she went through the contents of the message hurriedly, Ishanvi could feel Neer’s smile through the words lighting up on her mobile screen.

She felt mortified after reading the message. She realized that Onir had tricked her, he already had Neer on the call from the moment she walked into his cabin, and that Neer had heard everything. Every. Single. Thing!

Now, all she wanted to do was to dig a hole for herself, and crawl into it and remain there forever. She felt pure embarrassment at that moment.

Onir, who had read the message as well by peeking into her phone from the side, burst out laughing.

"I'll kill you," Ishanvi yelled at him in frustration before storming out of his cabin.

"Ishi wait—" Onir tried to stop her but she was already gone.

Grabbing her things from her desk, she threw them haphazardly in her bag, and dashed out of the office.

Anna just kept looking at her in confusion as Ishanvi ran away from there. She had no idea about what exactly had happened in Onir's cabin that made Ishanvi so infuriated and… embarrassed?

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A/n

Guys, I keep forgetting to inform y'all about the MOH MOH KE DHAAGE PICTURE BOOK that I've started on w***********d where I'll be posting all the reference images for MMKD. I've already posted Ishanvi's party gown, and will upload other pictures soon as well. So, do check it out if you want to, and let me know if you liked the dress.

Also, share your thoughts in the comments if you're enjoying the story.

Thanks,

Shambhaviee_13