Her Second-Hand Husband!

Chapter 28: 27. Calculations Went Wrong!

Arjun's PoV

I went to my office late in the morning. I really am getting a migraine because of that intermittent sleep I had last night, thanks to that super annoying girl. I didn't bother to see all the other envelopes dad gave me as I was sure that I would only see her in every damn picture. I just shook my head for all the good mornings I heard on my way to my room. Just when I settled, my phone rang. I picked it up to see Harish calling me. Oh yes, I told him to call me in the morning. What is he going to talk about?

"Hello, Yes Harish." I picked it up.

"Hi Arjun. How is your day?"

"Not so great as of now." I told him honestly.

"Haha, then is it a good time to talk?"

"It is. Tell me, Harish!"

"It is about Preethi. She told me what you are trying to establish between us." he said. ooohhh! Awkward!

"I just wanted to ask you straight and she was the one that stopped me stating something like a spark which is non-existent. So I thought to make it happen without you two realizing it. Thanks to her brilliance she caught me and reported it to you." I told him.

"Hahaha, I know it is kinda awkward. But trust me, Arjun. I truly appreciate your initiative to mend your friend's life. But I have to be honest with you, there is a girl in my relation who is longing to marry me. Though I like her, I dodged her every time she approached me fearing the rejection from her parents. Now, she has convinced her parents and they are ready to marry her to me. I have never thought about Preethi in that way." he said.

"Ok, That's a shock! I am sorry I made plans that involve you without even asking your side." I told him.

"Please don't be sorry, Arjun. Preethi is lucky to have you as her friend. She would be even lucky if you happen to be her life partner. I could see that she fantasizes about you. I can literally see her joy when she talks about you. You could be her soul mate. Sometimes we won't see things that are near to us until someone points that out to us." he said.

"Haha, you are getting it all wrong. We are friends from our 2nd or 3rd grade. She is the most important person in my life but she is not my soul mate. I will even kill for her but I can never see her the other way. Anyways thank you for being so honest with me, Harish. I appreciate it. Anyways she will be coming to work with you. Keep an eye on her for me." I told him.

"Will sure do. I am sorry to have popped your idea."

"Oh don't be. I am not going to stop until I make her happy again. She deserves that." I told him.

"Of Course she does. And so are you. Preethi is worried for you too. We spoke about our pasts and relished some memories in our personal lives. I don't regret my past but she does and when ever she regrets, she also worries for you. I don't know anything about your past life, but whatever it is, I hope you come out of it soon." he said.

"Thank you, Harish." I said. I truly don't know how to react to this talk.

We hung up after a little chit chat. Talking to him made me think about my past life. Anamika! She made a scar in my heart and a dent on my name forever. No one or nothing can make it vanish.

I still remember the time I went to see her with my parents. She was a timid and shy girl and when we were left alone to talk, she never once raised her eyes to see me.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked her. She just nodded to my question and I am not a talkative person and I don't know how to initiate a conversation.

"Are you happy with this proposal? Do you wish to marry me?" I asked her what I wanted to know.

"I do!" she said, still looking at the ground. But I saw her smile and that made me think that she is really ok and maybe she is shy as it is our first encounter.

"Ok, do you have any questions for me?" I asked her for which she nodded her head in a NO.

I got my answer and as she didn't have anything to ask of me I went in and gave my consent for the wedding to happen and everything happened at a fast pace. My 'Tinite' was ready to be released in the market and it took up almost all my time. I could not talk to her in the 2 months we had for marriage. When mom said she had her birthday just before the wedding, I sent her a flower bouquet along with a gold chain with a diamond pendant. She called me that night to thank me.

"Hello, who is this?" I asked, picking up the phone.

"um... This is Anamika here." I heard her voice for the first time and it was like a song to my ears.

"Oh, hi Anamika. Happy Birthday!" I told her, saving her number in my phone.

"Thank you, nga. The pendant and the flowers were beautiful. It was a pleasant surprise." she said, happiness evident in her voice.

"I am glad you liked it. How was your day?" I asked her as her happiness spread to me too. I am actually happy that she liked my gift to her.

"It was good. We went to the temple in the morning, had a nice lunch outside, went for a movie and just came home." she said.

"Good. I am surprised to hear you talk this long." I told her.

"um... I was a bit scared to see you on that day. I could not talk." she said in a small voice.

"Haha, so you are going to talk to me on the phone even after we get married?" I am amused by her answer. She was scared? No wonder, everyone is scared of me.

"No, I mean, I just need time. You are tall and well built and I am so small compared to you. That frightened me." she said. I didn't expect this answer. She talks like she is a school kid. Of course she just finished college.

"Don't be afraid. Take your own time to get comfortable with me." I assured her. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

"Thank you!" she said and we hung up. I made up my mind to give her some space to settle herself after our wedding. We never talked after that and I saw her only on the wedding eve at our reception.

She was beautiful in her silver and beige lehenga at our reception. I introduced my friends and relatives to her on stage when they came on stage to greet us. She did the same. I felt her inhibitions loosen with the talks we had. The next day, our wedding was early in the morning and we didn't talk much. After all the rituals we went to our home and did some rituals there. We started from Chennai to Tirupur to go to her home for the continuation of the rituals. All this time, we had people around us and we didn't talk much. She was crying all the time as she was parting with her parents. I consoled her with a light dab on her hands and gave her space to recover.

In our first night, I waited for her and she came in like an angel. She gave me milk and took my blessings.

"God, Anamika, please get up. Enough of the formalities." I helped her get up.

"My mom asked me to do all this." she said.

"It's ok. You don't have to do all this." I said, smiling at her. I could see fear evident in her face.

"Sit down. Don't be afraid. We will take it slow. Now tell me about yourself. I don't know anything about you." I started the talk to make her feel comfortable.

"um, I am a B.Tech, IT graduate. I know how to cook. um... I am good at painting. I like the color red." she said and looked up at me.

"Good, I like the color red too. But my favorite color is black. I am an MBA in administration. I run our family business. Do you want anything specific to know about me?" I asked her. This talk is not my forte! It is so hard to talk.

"um... I... I know what will happen now. But I am scared." she said.

"Don't be! I wont hurt you." I said while holding her hand. Her tender hands shivered under my touch and was waking up a sleeping desire in me. When I advanced on her, she laid on the bed like a wooden log. There was no response from her and that killed my mood.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

"I am sorry, I am scared." she said.

"Huh, alright take your time. Now you look tired, get some rest." I left her to rest and slept on the other end of the bed. The feeling of disappointment was more but the feeling to take care of her was greater than that. She is a small girl and from a very conservative family. I thought of taking it slow.

Our sleeping arrangement never changed from that, all the time she was with me. Mornings were usual and I refrained from talking about the night to her. Slowly she started talking normally to me and took care of me like her life depended on it. I saw her love for me in that or that is what I thought. All my

family were very fond of her and at that time, that was more than enough for me. I decided to wait for her to break her shell but that never happened.

I don't like remembering the past life for I feel betrayed whenever I think of it. There was no sign that she disliked me or anything for that matter. Now, back to our current problem, I felt so stupid when Harish said he have a sweet heart. Preethi should have a sweetheart too. Maybe not him, but there must be someone. No matter what it takes, I will find her soulmate. I will make her life happy again. Why the hell do I keep thinking of Anika whenever I think of the word soul mate or sweet heart?

With the little talk we had, I knew that he likes his relative girl. He said, when she went to an extent that is far beyond her, to make her parents agree, he understood her love for him. Only then he agreed to marry her. I am happy for him that he found his love for the second time. He is a blessed man. Here I am very unlucky to have one love. I know I have feelings for Anika from the moment I saw her. But I am not sure what kind of feeling is that?! That instant calmness I got when I saw her smile, that has never happened to me before. I really don't want to think about her but my mind keeps flashing her face in my heart at every chance it gets.