10 Chapter 10
Satisfied that Ava was finally asleep, Janani wriggled gently away from her and slid off the bed.
Armaan moved as silent as a cat as he strolled across the rug towards her.
"A water pistol?" Armaan asked mockingly
Janani gasped in fright and covered her mouth with her hands.
When did he come back?
How did he come in without making any noise?
"Goodness! You scared the hell out of me" she said, placing a hand on her racing heart.
She peered over her shoulder to see if Ava's sleep was disturbed due to her loud gasp, and sighed in relief when she saw the child sleeping peacefully.
"Don't wake her up. It's taken me ages to settle her" Janani said softly
"I saw that" Armaan said dryly.
Heavens! She looks like a teenager, in that ridiculous nightwear, her face bare of any make up.
Gritting his teeth Armaan reminded himself what she was.
A woman who stole a baby for money.
Young, she might be!!
But innocent, she was not!
He has a dossier on her, which proves how much of an experienced woman she is.
"She had a bad dream again!!" Armaan said not knowing why he was explaining it to her
"Again?? You mean it has happened before?" She frowned at him
Armaan stared down at his little daughter
"It happens all the time," Armaan said, a lump forming in his throat.
Feeling helpless that he couldn't do anything for his daughter.
"Well you should start by firing the nanny. She's awful" Janani didn't hold back her opinion.
"It's already done"
"I don't understand why it took you so long to do that" Janani wondered
"He didn't know about the nightmares until yesterday" Aadesh quipped from where he was standing.
Janani whirled around and looked at him in surprise.
"You are still here??"
"Well!! I haven't heard of such a wonderful story before. Princess with a water pistol. I couldn't resist" Aadesh said grinning cheekily.
Janani felt her face warming
It's one thing to tell such ridiculous stories to a child.
It's entirely different to have two adults, that too, two formidable ones like these, to hear it.
"Aadesh, would you please ask Mrs Seth to come here and keep company for Ava" Armaan instructed his brother who immediately left
"Who is Mrs Seth??" Janani asked
"The nanny I hired for Advaith" he said
"What? Then what am I here for??" Janani asked in shock.
"You are the transit, Janani. To make it easy for my son to adapt." Armaan reminded her
"Right!! I hope this new nanny isn't going to tell stories about chimpanzees who eats babies" Janani said flippantly
"I mean how ridiculous can you get" Janani asked wondering what possessed him to hire the awful nanny
"Ava was only comfortable with her. I didn't know she was manipulating my child" Armaan said defensively, not liking that she thinks he failed at protecting his own child.
"Well, you should have made sure before hiring her" Janani pointed out
"I didn't hire her. Ava's mother did" Armaan said gritting his teeth.
"Don't tell me you left the child's mother behind and brought the nanny instead. I mean I would totally believe it if you did" Janani said, knowing she was simply being mean.
But she is hurt.
He keeps reminding her that he is going to take Advi away from her.
"Ava's mother is dead" Armaan snarled at her.
"Oh!! I am sorry. I didn’t knew" Janani said, regretting her mean words
"Ava is very insecure" Janani said changing the topic of Ava's mother
"And you worked that out in one short evening " Armaan said mockingly
"Yes!! I worked it out in one short evening, Mr Verma. I am used to children of her age. It's my job and I am a well qualified nursery teached. And I love working with them" She said without thinking
"You mean you did. Until you found it boring and went after the party lifestyle you started enjoying for the past two years??" Armaan retorted
Janani sighed
She is never going to forget she is pretending to be Saanvi.
How could she? When he keeps reminding her of the fact with every breath he took.
"I better get back to Advi. He fell asleep without having his regular night bottle. He might wake up hungry" Janani said and walked out of the room
This time she did somehow find the bedroom.
Armaan stood there watching her disappear into the dark.
He turned around and looked at his daughter sleeping peacefully with a little smile on her face
Has he ever seen her smile??
No!!
Maybe in some photos he found in the apartment where Ava and her mother lived.
And she is smiling now
In her sleep!
Maybe dreaming about the princess with a water pistol.
He bent down and dropped a kiss on her head.
Aadesh walked in with Mrs Seth, a fifty year old lady who came with high recommendations from the agency.
His innate distrust doesn't want him to leave his daughter in care of a stranger.
But he had no other choice.
He will keep an eye on the lady to make sure his daughter is fine till she gets comfortable with him
"Mr Verma, I was told my charge would be a ten months old baby" she asked confused
"There are two children to care for. The pay will be ofcourse doubled" Armaan said
"Oh I didn't mean it like that. I was just making sure"
"Alright. She is a little wary of strangers. I will be there right down the corridor. Just call me if necessary " he said and walked out with Aadesh following him
"So this is why you brought Janani. To take care of Ava?" Aadesh asked
"What??" Armaan asked frowning "Why would I bring her to look after Ava"
"Oh I just thought. Ah leave it." Aadesh said making Armaan frown
After a little silence Armaan spoke again
"She looks different. Not like what I expected" Aadesh told casually
"Don't fool yourself with her show of innocence Aadesh" Armaan warned not liking the fact that Aadesh is already taken in by her acting
"I am not. I was just making a conversation " Aadesh said
"Well, it's not time for making silly conversations. If you haven't noticed yet ,its past midnight" Armaan pointed out and Aadesh sighed
"Yeah. Good night" Aadesh said and walked towards his room
Armaan laid on his bed and closed his eyes to get some very necessary sleep.
But sleep was far away from him.
All he could see was the beautiful hazel brown eyes and the smooth porcelain skin of his son's mother
All the emotional turmoil of missing his son and finding his daughter is finally catching upon him.
Why else would he be fantasizing about a woman like Janani Trivedi?
Tomorrow he will get back to his normal social life.
Maybe he should call back the lady whom he had met at a charity gala two weeks ago.
She had been ringing him many times.
What was her name again??
