18 Chapter 17

Daksha's POV:

After coming out of Sarada Aunty's room, we went to the parking area. Arjun went to get the car while I stood outside waiting for him.

After he brought the car, I was going to get into the back seat of the car, but he stopped me from doing so by saying, " Sit in the passenger seat or else get out."

Gritting my teeth, I went to sit in the passenger seat as I didn't have any choice. An arrogant smirk appeared on his face by seeing me obey him.

I so wanted to slap that annoying smirk off his face. Unable to bear that smug look, I turned to face the window.

Again, I turned my face to see him when I found out that he still hadn't started driving and saw that he was looking at me while raising his eyebrows at me. I didn't understand why he was looking at me like that.

"Why are you looking at me instead of starting the car?" I asked him with a frown and he just huffed in my direction.

"Woman, where do I have to take you if you don't tell me the address? To my house? Tell me the damn address of your house so that I can drop you there," he said in an irritable tone.

I gave him the address and turned my face to the window, embarrassed. He ignited the engine and started driving towards my apartment.

The journey was filled with complete silence until it got interrupted by the ringing of my mobile phone.

I took the phone from my bag and saw that Aarna was the one who was calling me. I attended the call and was greeted by Aarna's booming voice.

I retracted the phone instantly away from my ear because of her loud voice.

"One day, this girl will make me go deaf," muttering slowly under my breath, I brought the phone to my ear again.

"Akka, why didn't you come back till now? It's very unusual."

"I got late because Sarada aunty is unwell and got admitted to our hospital. I am on my way. I will be home in 20 minutes," I replied patiently.

"Ohh! How is she now? Why didn't Indra Anna inform me about her hospitalization when he was with me till now?"

"She is fine and nothing serious had happened. How will he know when he doesn't have any relation with her?"

"God! Akka! Don't you know that Sarada Aunty's son is Indra Anna's best friend? I came to know about this when Sarada Aunty attended one of the family functions. I heard from my pedhamma that Indra Anna has three best friends, though I never got a chance to see them as they usually hang out privately."

After hearing what Aarna had said, I looked at him immediately to see whether he had heard it or not, as Aarna's voice was loud enough for him to hear even if she was talking over the phone, but I found him driving with his usual serious face on, without any change in his expressions.

I heaved a sigh of relief and asked her to talk in a low voice to which she agreed and started talking in a hushed tone.

"Pedhamma said that Sarada's Aunty's son is so handsome, and he is a well-known lawyer. Akka, can I tell you some interesting news.? I heard from pedhamma that Sarada Aunty is looking for good matches for him. She asked my pedhamma to tell her if there is any girl who is suitable for her son. You know after hearing that, pedhamma immediately made a call to your mom and told her about everything. Pedhamma suggested an alliance between you and him. I don't know why but your mom rejected the proposal saying that she couldn't agree to any proposal without your consent. She did a good thing by rejecting that proposal otherwise how will you get married to that airport guy and how will my curse become true?"

This was too much information to take in. This rude guy was Indra Anna's best friend and Sudha Aunty tried to play a matchmaker between us. Good thing, my mom rejected it, otherwise who would marry this rude guy.

"How do you know about all this and why didn't you tell me about that proposal till now?" I asked her softly so that he couldn't hear it.

"Hehehe...I was there when pedhamma was talking to your mom and Aunty already rejected the suggestion of my pedhamma, so I thought that it was not necessary to tell you. When you mentioned Sarada Aunty, I suddenly remembered about it."

"Idiot! Next time onwards, tell me immediately if they are doing these kinds of things behind my back," I told her because knowing Sudha Aunty very well, she would never stop until she achieved what she wanted.

"Sure. This time I will reject every proposal that will come for you before Aunty even gets the chance to do it because you already found your Mr. Right at the airport."

I slapped my head hearing her nonsense. These days, after she came to know about this rude guy, she never left a chance to tease me.

What would she do when she would come to know about the fact that Sarada Aunty's son and Mr. Right in her language, both are the same people.

"Will you stop your nonsense? I am hanging up. If you want to say anything, tell me when I am home," saying this, I was about to hang up the call, but she again called out for me.

"Akka, don't hang up. Rishu wants to eat ice cream, that's why I called you to ask for it. Will you buy some ice cream on your way back? Pretty please?"

"Girl, stop pushing everything over to that poor girl. If you want to eat it, ask for it directly without using her name every time and I can't bring it now."

"Akka, please. I want to eat ice cream. Please bring it. I thought there was ice cream in the freezer but Rishu told me that Yuktha Akka ate it the day when I went to my grandparent's home. I didn't know about it, otherwise, I would have asked Indra Anna to buy it for me earlier. Please..." she whined.

"Okay. Stop whining now. I will try to bring it."

"Love you, darling. You are so sweet, Akka. I forgot to ask you. Why did you attend my call when you are driving? Did you park the car at the side before attending it or Yuktha Akka is also coming along with you and driving the car?"

" You talk too much. No ice-cream. I am hanging up," Instead of answering her questions, I hung up the call.

If she would come to know that Sarada Aunty's son was dropping me, she would get hyperactive and wait for me at the apartment gate itself.

"Can you please stop the car here for a minute? I will return quickly after buying the things which I want to buy," I asked him after seeing an ice cream parlor at the left side of the road to which he nodded.

He parked the car at the side. After that, I removed my seat belt and went out of the car.

We were on the right side of the road. So, to get to the ice-cream parlor, which was on the left side, I needed to cross the road.

As it was rush hour, everyone was returning home from their workplaces. There were so many vehicles on the road which made it difficult for me to cross it.

I just stood there waiting for a chance to cross the road.

Suddenly a hand enclosed my wrist making me flinch. I turned to see that Arjun was holding my right hand with his left one, gently.

I didn't notice when he came out of the car to help me. When he held my warm hand with his cold one, a shiver ran down my spine erupting pleasant tingles in my body.

He might have noticed my movement but to my relief, he ignored it. He waved his right hand towards the vehicles, signaling to the people who were driving to slow down so that we could cross the road.

"What a gentleman! So, the rude man has this side too," I thought in my mind seeing this gentle side. A smile formed on my face looking at our perfectly fitted hands.

I didn't know anything about these feelings but one thing I knew was that I was not uncomfortable with his touch. His touch gave me a protective feeling.

"Was it a good thing that I felt comfortable with the opposite gender? I needed to ask Yuktha about these new feelings. Only she would give me the right answer," I was so involved in my thoughts that I didn't know when he helped me to cross the road.

"Come back quickly," he told me, and I just nodded, not trusting my voice. I went to buy the ice-creams for everyone in their favorite flavors.

After buying them, I went towards Arjun who was standing there keeping his hands in the pockets of his jeans while watching the moving vehicles.

Upon noticing my presence, he turned to me by removing his hands from his pocket. After that, he again held my hand with his to help me cross the road.

"What's your favorite flavored ice-cream?" After we got settled in the car, he shocked me with his question when I was putting on my seatbelt.

I turned my head to face him and saw that he was looking at the ice cream in my hand with a scrutinizing gaze.

"These are for my friends. I am not much into ice-creams, but I like normal flavors like vanilla and butterscotch, and I like chocolates a lot. I prefer coffee to tea. I always feel empty without caffeine in my body, "

I stopped upon realizing that I was blabbering the things which were unnecessary to him and looked at him from the corner of my eyes, expecting his usual smirk to greet me but he again shocked me.

There was no trace of a teasing look on his face instead he was listening to everything that I was saying, earnestly by keeping a serious expression on his face like he was memorizing everything that I had said.

When he realized that I had stopped talking, he cleared his throat and immediately started driving the car without probing me any further.

"Am I imagining things? Must be it, otherwise why will I think that he is memorizing what I have said. I need a good rest as my eyes are playing games with me," I thought in my mind and remained silent throughout the entire journey, looking outside the window.