It Started With a Coffee

Protection Detail

On Sunday When I woke up I had a terrible headache. I dropped the idea of jogging and exercise as soon as it popped into my brain. As much as I loved the silent morning walks with Shan I couldn’t lose to be a shrieking teenager in front of him. So I closed my eyes and tried to sleep again. It didn’t help so I got up and made my bed.

I took a brufen out of the medicine box and went downstairs. I ate a cookie and washed down the pill with vegetable juice I had made. I sat on the counter and waited for Hari Kaka or Roshni, anyone who could fix me a light breakfast and make me a coffee but a bearable one. I didn’t want to move or else I would have helped myself. Movement was worsening my headache. After few minutes Shan showed up in the kitchen.

“Good Morning.” His hairs were wet. He had taken a bath and he smelled wonderful. Even from where I sat I could smell him. Freshly shaved and bathed, he was every woman’s dream come true. My mouth watered.

“Good Morning.” I thanked him for the distraction or I knew I was going to attack him, here in kitchen.

“Headache?” He asked. How did he know?

“Yeah.” I went with the truth. He knew me too well so it was no point in lying.

“Coffee?” He asked but he took a cup out of one of the cabinets. How did he know which cabinet had coffee? There were so many, I wondered.

“Sure.” I told him. Please God! Let it be a good coffee. I prayed silently. I could not handle a bitter coffee right now.

Shan put some coffee and sugar into the cup along with a spoonful of water. I was watching him move. He didn’t look clumsy to me now. In fact his steps were somehow graceful. He started beating the coffee and sugar in cup with a spatula. What was he doing? The rhythm was so skillful and timely repeated; it felt like he was doing it for years.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Making a coffee.” He took two pans out from another cabinet and I wondered again how he knew so much about the kitchen. He added milk and water in one and boiled it while he made me scrambled eggs. He was observant, wasn’t he? He knew where things in kitchen were and what I ate in breakfast. I would have given him ten points for it, if I was keeping a score board. He poured the content of the pan in the cup containing the mixture of coffee and sugar and stirred it for a minute.

The smell reached my nose before the cup did. It smelled heavenly. “Here, it’s yours.” He gave me the cup and boiled water in the other pan and fixed himself a cup. He likes his coffee black and sugarless. I noted. Why? I had no idea.

I took a sip and the hot liquid warmed me from my mouth to my heart. The taste settled on my tongue then and I froze.

It tasted like my old coffee, exactly like the coffee I was used to. The perfect cup. For me.

He slipped eggs on a plate and put it beside me on the counter. He didn’t look up and continued with his coffee. A minute later he had his ready. And I was too.

“Shan?” He turned, his brows knit together. “Didn’t like the coffee.”

“No. It’s like my coffee. Exactly like my coffee.” I clenched my jaw at the last words. There better be a good explanation or I’ll kill him.

“What do you mean?” He knew exactly what I meant. His eyes said so. They were restless.

“Stop pretending Shan. Explain. Now!” I was furious. And he wasn’t making things easier.

“Ria calm down. I’ll explain alright.” He put down his cup and walked towards me. I put my palm out to stop him and shook my head.

Roshni entered the kitchen then and stopped looking at our expressions. “Roshni, Anjali Di will be here for breakfast.” I told her and she nodded. “And you? In study now.” I told calmly, pointing my fingers at him and left with my plate and coffee.

He followed me with his. I could feel him behind me. Good for him.

He sat on the same chair he had a week ago. So much had changed in a week. A week ago I didn’t want to see him and I was dreading the meeting with him and now I wanted a show down, a confrontation. Life was so complicated.

I sat on the sofa. I needed a place in case I passed out. Brufen hadn’t worked. My headache was pounding and Shan was not helping. He had hid something from me and I knew it was not going to be pleasant.

I cleaned eggs off my plate and the coffee too. I noticed that he had emptied his cup when I had.

“Start.” I told him. He shook his head at me, disappointed but I didn’t care. I needed answers and now. “You are overreacting Ria.”

“Am I now?” he chuckled and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Fine. I am in your security detail.”

What?

My security?

“And I was living in this house since you returned to India. You were my responsibility at home and Roy’s at office.” Roy? No words came out of my mouth. “He’s my partner. We own a detective agency. A few weeks back Roy decided to get married and we had to plan all this.” He was staring out the window and I was thankful because I had no idea how to react. I was not afraid or anything else for that matter. It was too much. I was being followed all these years. 6 years? And then it struck me. He followed me in school too. 13 years!

“In school too?” I whispered.

“Yes. My father used to work for your father. And when he died your father took me under him. That’s when I came to know that your father had some prior connections with underworld. Your parents loved each other but they lived apart because your father was threatened when you were twelve and at that time it seemed like a good plan.” I had no idea. I thought they had their differences and had stayed married for my sake. “When your mother died and you returned to him, he gave me work. He paid me for keeping you safe in school. I followed you in between classes and after school. It was my routine. Didn’t you ever wonder why some kids or people fell down when I walked?” He was looking at me, expectantly and I gulped the lump in my throat. His eyes had a tender look, so tender that my anger faded. My head continued to hurt though.

“I thought you were clumsy.” His lips twitched. “Well it can be interpreted this way but usually I kept you away from pushy teenagers and harmful strangers.” I laughed. And I had thought he was clumsy.

“And then you kissed me.” He laughed too, a rich and heartfelt laughter.

“Hey you kissed me back too.” I grinned, not a bit offended, though in any other circumstances I had been but not now.

“And your father told me to leave. That moron, NK took his revenge on me. He told your father that I had kissed you.” He shook his head at the memory as if shaking it out of his mind. My head felt light. The headache had disappeared suddenly.

“I did my PG and started my business with Roy. Your father hired us when you went to London. Roy befriended you there as much as I know. When you returned to India your father allowed me in this house. He was getting calls then and he was worried that you might get hurt. But he had one condition.” My eyelids began to droop. I tried keeping my head straight and eyes open but it was too much of an effort. “That I would never get too close to you. I was willing to take it. . The thought of watching you every day was enough for me. So I stayed…..” I couldn’t hear more. My vision blurred and lids dropped.

When I woke up I was on my bed in my room and Di was sitting beside me watching me. “Hey sleepyhead, wake up. It’s 8.” I felt like dead. I shifted a little and my body screamed in protest. I was stiff. How many hours had I slept for? 3? 4?

“Hi Di. When did you arrive?” My throat was dry. I cleared it and Di gave me a glass of water.

“Dinner’s ready. Come down.” She kissed my forehead and left.

Dinner? I slept for what? 12 hours? 13?

And then the morning flooded into my mind. What must he be thinking? And apart from it what my father was thinking? He loved me and he had done so much to keep me protected. He had sent Shan away just to keep her daughter away from falling for him. He had wanted me to study. He had pronounced it so many times. And I had.

I slipped out of my bed. My body felt heavy but the headache was gone. I washed my face with cold water and then changed.

When I went downstairs Shan wasn’t at the table. Disappointment flooded inside me and I almost changed my mind to go back to my room. He must think of me as an i***t. I had slept in the middle of his side of the story. My brain didn’t want to go there. The explanation seemed too much for my sanity. It would take days for my brain to come around.

I sat beside Di and waited. Maybe he will come. I hoped.

“So you guys kissed or what?” Di asked and my hand stilled on the way to get a glass of water.

“Anjali.” Aunty cautioned. I turned my head towards Di and she was looking at me. “Yeah I know.” She smiled mischievously. “It took two years to convince him that you still loved him and that no father wanted his daughter to fall in love at the age of sixteen or with a man of his reputation.” She said.

“You knew? How? Since when?”

“When you came back to India, Mamaji(paternal uncle) thought it was better if mom and I lived with you. So he brought us here and maybe hired Shan and Roy then. It was hard to not notice that Shan shadowed you here and Roy at office.” Di pushed a slice of cucumber inside her mouth and bit into it, chewing slowly. So I waited. “So Mom and I pulled Mamaji in study one day and yanked it out of him.”

“You don’t know how hard it was for me to convince him to come back as Shan and not remain as house help after Mamaji’s death. The last stone was Roy’s marriage. He had to come out then.” I didn’t know what to say at that. I was running in circles. These things were too much for me.

“He loves you Ria. Can’t you see? He protected you even when he wasn’t getting paid for it.” Di put her hand on my shoulder. She knew what I was feeling, how confused I was. I nodded. I didn’t want her to worry. My brain was working in safety mode. “I love him too Di.” I whispered. After that Di didn’t say anything.

Shan came half an hour later when we were finished with our food. I sat in silence when he ate. Di was narrating the story of her Delh show but I wasn’t interested. Now and then he would look up at me, his eyes had questions of their own and I didn’t know how to answer them. Di and Aunty left for their room but I couldn’t. I didn’t feel like leaving him alone. Because I didn’t want to be alone. And my heart didn’t want Di or Aunty either. I wanted him. Only him.

“How are you feeling?” he asked when we were alone.

“Good.” I answered sincerely. I had nothing else in my mind. “I have decided that I’ll tell you the truth from now on.” He apologized then and I asked him the reason for the sudden apology.

“For drugging you.” I opened my mouth to say something but then I thought better and closed it. “You weren’t sleeping properly and your body needed rest.”

“I was.” I contradicted.

“3 hours is not counted as sleeping.” He was good at these discussions. He should get into my business.

“You got me there.” I told him and he winced. I had deliberately kept my voice cold. I know. But he had no right to d**g me. Not yet. Something yelled inside me.

“Where were you?” I asked. He had stopped eating.

“Roy needed help with a client.” He said and cleared his plate of last of his food.

“I know I don’t deserve you Ria but…..” I cut him midsentence. “Yeah you don’t.” he cringed and his face fell. I kicked myself for the hurt I was causing him but it was necessary. Some things were needed to be straightened out first. It took two years to Di to convince him to come back to me huh.

“It took you a week to tell me that. And you weren’t planning on it either. How dare you think that I’ll fall at your feet and beg for your love! Two years! You took two years and then you come here and d**g me! You have some nerves Kapoor.” I was mad with fury. And the man sitting in front of me was smiling. I took a deep calming breath. I was known for being calm. It was a requirement in my business. But with Shan everything was upside down.

“So you are mad because I took two years, hid things from you and drugged you. And not because I had called that kiss a mistake?” He was laughing at me! How dare he?

“Of course not.” He stood from his chair and walked around the table to sit beside me.  And I did a mistake; I turned in my chair to face him.

He leaned in and kissed me full on my mouth. And I forgot everything else, the two years of convincing, drugging me, lying to me. Everything. His lips, hard and warm, moved with mine. He tasted like carrots and mints and a unique taste of Shan. And definitely not a mistake.

“I am sorry Ria.” He breathed into my mouth. “This doesn’t change…..” He captured my lips again and I lost my train of thoughts. The last thought I had had that he was a good kisser.

We parted for an acute need of oxygen and he touched his forehead to mine. “You kissed me to shut me up. What a grown up thing to do.” I teased him when my mind cleared; my resistance had melted away with that soul shattering kiss.

“I had wanted to say it then. Let me make it perfect Ria.” He leaned back and I noticed that I had my arms around his neck. When had they got there? I slipped them to their original position, beside me. He took my hands then, his eyes turned liquid fire and I blinked.

“Be my girl Ria. Let me get to know your heart. I like you Ria more than you know. I don’t want to burden you with more intense words. I am saving them for later. But I promise you, you won’t regret it.” He finished and I realized that I was crying. He had blurred from my vision but this time I was drugged with him, with his words, his warmth. How could I not love him back? He was everything a girl wanted. Warm, considerate and a good heart.

He wiped my cheeks and gathered me in his arms. “On one condition.” I whispered against his shirt.

“And what is it?” he waited and I took my own sweet time to tell him. He deserved it. I had waited for his words too.

I felt him take a deep breath and his hold tightened around me. “I am known to be a patient man Ria.” He knew what I was doing and I laughed, freely. For the first time in my life I felt unburden. Di would get married happily. Shan would be there to support me. Aunty would stay here for forever, with us. I loved this man and I didn’t want him to wait any longer.

“You have to make morning coffee for me every day.” I told him.

“Deal.” He promised. “And we are safe Ria. You are safe. No one can harm you, I had made sure of it. I am here.”

“So are you going to date the coffee machine?” It was Di who had shouted these words from the top of the stairs. She had heard every word. I groaned.

“I am never going to get away with that, aren’t I?” I shouted back.

And then Shan laughed. He must have understood. He was quick that way.

“Anjali?” It was Shan who had shouted this time.

“Yes?”

“You should have told me about the coffee thing. Ria had figured it out on her own.”

“I know.” So it was Di’s plan. She knew Shan was never going to tell me the truth. And she had made her own plans.

“Thanks Di.”

“Any time Chutki.” And I laughed.

“So Shan?” Di shouted. “Are you going to be my jijaji?”

“No, Ria’s coffee machine.” Shan grinned and I laughed again.

Life was so much easier with Shan in it. Some things were still unresolved but I knew we would resolve them as they would arrive.