The Clingy Fiancee

Chapter Seventeen

Prakash Uncle, and the two other men with him, Ankit Sharma and Anuj Singh, were waiting for us near the private jet before we even reached them. All the three of them smiled at me, and then at Neil, and by the looks on their faces, I knew that Uncle had filled them in with the details of their updated job description now.

I let Neil climb aboard first and then followed behind him, just so that I could see his reaction to something that he had designed and built with the help of his own people. Just like I had thought, Neil froze when he took the first glimpse of his baby - the very first, fully functioning jet his company had manufactured. Standing in the middle of the aisle, were the Pilots, and two flight attendants - one male and one female.

He had only had the female one initially, but I had insisted for a male one too because I had been extremely jealous of that beautiful girl during the early phase of our relationship. Turned out that they fell in love with each other during all the times they worked together, and none of them was a threat to either of us anymore.

"Ms Bhatt, Mr Singhania," All four of them gave a little bow in greeting while keeping their faces completely devoid of any kind of surprise, "Welcome aboard." The main pilot said. "Me and my friend here are going to make sure that you are going to reach your destination safely while the other two here are going to take care of whatever you need. Do not hesitate to tell us if something feels wrong. We'll take off in about half-an-hour."

Ravi, the steward, said to Neil, "Sir, let me show you around."

Neil's eyes lit up at the offer and he eagerly followed Ravi while he showed each and everything the jet offered.

Once they were out of earshot, I turned to the three people left before me

"I'm so sorry," I apologised sincerely, "You had to do all of this at such a short notice. But things came up all of a sudden and I had little time."

"It's completely alright, Ma'am. It's our job to assist you whenever you need us and be ready for the go at all times. We are happy to see Mr Singhania back with us, Ma'am." He smiled, "Pardon my language, but his replacement is an ass and we are thankful that he does not have access to this particular jet because it is now owned by you."

I giggled at his words while everyone laughed along with me. At the same time, Ravi returned without Neil anywhere near him.

"Where's Neil?"

The steward shrugged, "He found the gaming area interesting."

I rolled my eyes playfully, "Of course, he remembers the only things that were the most important to him." I muttered, sarcastically.

And everyone burst into a fit of chuckles.

******************************

A heavy weight settled into the seat next to mine.

Without looking up from the magazine I was reading, I said, "I hope you enjoyed your time there, Sir."

"It is cool!" Just his voice was enough for me to know that he was grinning like a five-year old. "The entire jet is amazing - it has exactly everything that I would want in my jet if I owned one."

That made me look up and I paused for a moment, "We are going to take off in a few moments." I said, "Are you nervous?"

"About flying? No. I feel like I have done it a thousand times before."

"I'm talking about going back home. Are you nervous about that?" I asked, eyeing how he was buckling himself up.

"I don't remember my home, Myra." His voice grew huskier at the end and he leaned in, "Right now, I know only one home, and that is you." My breath hitched, "Home is wherever you are, Myra."

I stopped breathing. He really needed to understand the concept of private space. And he also needed to know that saying such cheesy lines was not going to get him anywhere; but it would surely destroy me once all of this ends.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a click.

He had buckled up my seatbelt.

"Safety first, Myra."

"Yeah." I bit my lip.

Now who's going to save me from you, Neil?

*******************************************

Half an hour into the flight, and Neil had returned to the love of his life - the gaming area. I was left alone at the seat, still buckled up and disoriented, because just him sitting next to me for half an hour had left my nerves frazzled.

I appreciated the quality time with myself - because I had made a lot of arrangements and had the NDAs signed, but now that I had nothing to do except for reading the magazine, which had a good number of articles on my not-so-recent break-up. I could've had flung it in the dustbin, had it had been somewhere near me.

"Where is he?"

Prakash uncle came out of nowhere and sat down next to me.

"Video games," I sighed and leaned back, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"You look tired, Myra." He said, his voice heavy with concern.

"I am tired, Uncle." I rubbed my eyes and yawned noisily, "I feel beyond exhausted."

"He has become a handful," Uncle chuckled, "I have been observing your interactions and anyone can see how easily he gets on your nerves now."

"He does not realize that his actions are affecting the people around him, especially me. He just keeps doing whatever he wants to do without thinking about its repercussions." I sighed loudly.

"That must be tiring. I'll be glad to help you in whichever way I can." He offered.

"Would you judge me if I say that I already want to hand over this responsibility to his parents? I think they would do a wonderful and much better job than me. All I'll be is an emotional mess while they'll at least be able to get somewhere with him."

He shook his head, "I won't judge you, Myra, but that would not be the right thing to do. First of all, his parents would not be able to keep him secure and private as much as you are capable to do now,"

"I'll help them." I said, but then Uncle gave me a look that shut me up.

"It doesn't work that way. Also, during the accident, he was thinking only about you. The thoughts that were foremost in his mind revolved around you and not his parents, so I don't understand how you can't be helpful. He's ready to travel countries just because he trusts you - isn't that enough of an evidence?" He said.

"I don't know what gibberish you're talking about." I said dismissively and turned my head the other way. So much for wanting to talk to someone.

"Myra..." He spoke softly, "Wherever he is, I follow behind, you know that right?"

I nodded.

"Then believe me when I say that I have seen it with my eyes. He had been on an excursion with his friends, yet all he could do was think about you. He kept checking his phone, called you a number of times, left you tons of messages, emails, which you never checked up even once; he tried calling your parents and asking them but even they had no clue as to how to reach you." He sighed, "Neil had become quite desperate by the end. He had nightmares, kept murmuring your name like a prayer at most nights, got drunk almost every night and did things I'd never thought I'd watch him doing."

Since when did Prakash Uncle become a sappy man?

"Why are you telling me all of this? It means nothing anymore. The engagement was broken. No matter how much he loves me, he cannot commit to me without feeling suffocated, and I respect his choices."

"The Bungee Jumping was supposed to be a distraction. We never knew that he was in no state to do such a risky thing. I felt very guilty that day; I knew where you were all along yet I never told him." He rubbed his forehead.

"Why didn't you tell him - not thank I'm not thankful that you kept me hidden?" I asked.

"I thought you needed the distance. I thought that like always, you would return when you cooled down. And I didn't exactly keep you hidden. Even he knew where you were - there is only one place you go to whenever you are upset with him."

"Let's not talk about this. I'm having a headache."

"No, you're not." He caught my fib, "What did he say to you that day?"

"He said that I was clingy. He said that he needed space. He said that he couldn't marry me." All summed up.

"That's all? Who started the conversation?" He probed.

"I did. He had been cold all week after the proposal. I tried everything the whole week, but at the end I decided to confront him. I left the penthouse the same night." I told him.

He was in deep thought for a few moments.

"Don't you think you ran away too quickly? You should've stayed the night, let the talk cool down. He could've had changed his mind in the morning. You didn't fight for him?"