Chapter 28

Aman jolted away from Tamana, while she hastily threw the drape of her sari back over her torso.  Aman tried to rebutton his shirt and make himself look more presentable.  His heartbeat quickened as thoughts of finding Priya on the other side of the door flooded his mind.  The door flung open.  Standing there was a hotel employee with a coat in his hand, looking wide-eyed at the scene before him.  A sly grin spread across his face.

“Today’s generation is something else.” He commented before handing Aman the coat he was holding and walking away, his grin still firmly in place.

Aman let out a sigh of relief.  He was about to leave, when he saw Hiten.  Immediately, Aman turned to go back into the closet, hoping that Hiten wouldn’t see him but it was too late.

“Aman!” Hiten called as he hurried over to the closet. “What are you…” Hiten paused as his eyes landed on a thoroughly disheveled Tamana inside the closet.  A disgusted expression flashed across his face.  Hiten turned and started to talk away.  Aman followed him, trying to keep up with his quickened pace.

“Hiten! Stop! Would you wait a second?” Aman called after Hiten.

Hiten stopped abruptly but didn’t turn to face Aman.

“It’s not what it looks like.” Aman said.

“Bhabhi sent me to find you,” Hiten said, ignoring Aman’s comment.  “She’s freaking out about something. Aditi is with her.”  Hiten finally turned around to face Aman.  “She needs you and you’re here in the coat closet with another woman.” The disgust was apparent in his voice.

Aman entered the parlor area, where everyone was still gathered.  He saw Priya and Aditi sitting in a corner together.  Aditi was saying something to Priya, who looked very distraught.

“Priya, are you okay?” Aman asked.

Priya looked up at him, still looking worried.

“You left.” she said.

Aman remembered that he had promised to stay with her at all times tonight so Rakesh wouldn’t have another chance to harm her.

“I’m sorry. I just needed some air. I won’t leave you again.” Aman apologized.  He relieved Aditi of her duties and told her she could go and join Hiten.  He took the seat beside Priya and took her hand in his.

“It’s okay, Priya. I’m here now.” Aman tried to calm Priya down.

Aman saw Tamana stealthily enter the room again.  She quickly took her place beside her husband, who hadn’t seem to have noticed his wife was even missing.  She looked at Aman and tried to hold his gaze, but he quickly looked away trying to focus his attention on Priya.

The dinner was about to commence.  Aman took a seat between Hiten and Priya, silently hoping that Tamana and her husband wouldn’t be seated at the same table as them.  Rakesh sauntered over to their table.  He took one look at Aman and Priya and turned around and walked away.  Rakesh didn’t feel like dealing with Aman right at this moment. He looked around for someone he could switch seats with that would also make Aman uncomfortable, and he knew just the person, or people rather.

The dinner portion of the evening finally came.  Most of the people were famished and were looking forward to to the five course meal that awaited them.  Aman couldn’t think about food right now.  All he could think about was how in the world Tamana and her husband ended up at his table.  To make matters worse, Tamana was seated right across from him.  Hiten handled most of the conversation because Aman couldn’t focus. He hoped that Priya and Tamana would refrain from talking to each other.

“Aman,” Hiten whispered to Aman as the second course was being served.

Aman looked over at Hiten, who seemed to have forgotten about the whole coat closet incident.  Hiten nodded his head slightly over at Tamana.

“Isn’t that…?” Hiten asked.

Aman nodded sadly.  Hiten sighed and looked at Priya and back to Tamana.  He was about to dig into the second course.

“Orecchiette with veal,” the waiter said.

Hiten’s hand whacked the bowl of pasta that went flying across the table.  It was his first instinct.  He was about to eat a baby cow!  The Orecchiette landed on the other side of the table, some of it spilling on Tamana’s husband, who didn’t react so well to having pasta spilled on his trousers.  Everyone stared in amazement wondering what had gotten into Hiten.  Aman stifled a laugh. Hiten was always on to reach over the top to any situation.  Aditi couldn’t hold herself back and started to giggle.  Priya, confused at what just happened, could only focus on the food in front of her. She was starving.  She was about to eat some of the Orecchiette when Aman’s hand suddenly enveloped hers, causing her to drop her fork on the table.

Tamana’s husband started making a scene, chastising Hiten for ruining his expensive suit.  Tamana hadn’t even noticed the bit of food that had gotten on her sari.  Her eyes were locked on Aman and Priya’s intertwined hands.  Her gaze intensely focused on Aman.

“Veal is cow, Priya.” Aman whispered to his wife.

Priya looked down at the Orecchiette uneasily.  Aman instructed the waiter to take his, Priya’s, and Aditi’s plates away.  Tamana looked on in jealousy.  Her traditional husband was adverse to eating beef as well, for cows are sacred to Hindus.  However, he had told her to suck it up and just eat it so they wouldn’t create a scene, yet here he was creating a huge scene himself. It irked her how much Aman seemed to care for the wife he claims he doesn’t love.

Tamana’s husband stomped off to the bathroom to try to salvage was he could of his suit.  Hiten sat back down, exhausted by the constant apologising he was just subjected to.

“Damn! He was a hard ass. I even offered to buy the guy another suit, and he still got angry.” Hiten said.

“Well, you did throw pasta at him.” Aman pointed out.

“Veal, Aman. Who the hell eats veal?” Hiten answered.  He then inquired about the rest of the menu.  There would be a choice of steak or fish for the main course, but Hiten would obviously choose the fish so there were no further problems.  Aditi couldn’t stop from laughing. Hiten was so entertaining!

“Okay, well the veal is gone, Hiten. Don’t worry.” Aman laughed.  He looked over at Priya, who seemed amused by Hiten’s actions.  Aman’s eyes wandered over to Tamana.  She was still staring at him.  Aman became uncomfortable under her gaze.  The next course was served, and she kept glancing up at him.  It was too much to take.  Priya didn’t seem to notice Tamana’s behavior, and Aman was a little more relieved. Hiten noticed  but couldn’t point it out because Priya would hear.

Finally, the dinner came to an end.  The main course was served.  Hiten double checked to make sure fish was in front of him, and not steak.  After dessert, the men and the women began to separate.  The men were off to smoke some cigars, while the women were planning to engage in some riveting gossip.

“Let’s leave. I don’t really feel like mingling some more.” Aman suggested.

“Yeah let’s go.” Hiten quickly agreed, understanding why Aman was in a hurry to leave.

The girls agreed and they left.  Hiten and Aditi hailed a cab, while Aman and Priya took Aman’s limo.   Priya was exhausted even though all she had done was stand beside Aman for a couple hours and ate dinner.  Aman was being normal around her again, but she noticed he wasn’t being as sweet as he was when Payal was around.  She thought back to the date he’d taken her on and wished she could go back to that moment.

They arrived at Aman’s mansion, and Priya went upstairs right away.  She wanted to take a long, hot shower and go straight to bed.   She stepped into her bedroom and turned on the lights.  An involuntary gasp escaped her mouth as she laid eyes on the the candles and flowers that adorned her room.  She noticed a fancy box of chocolate sitting on her bed.  It was a wonderful surprise! Just when she thought Aman was becoming distant, he gives her a sweet surprise.

“Aman,” she said when she saw him in hallway on his way to his bedroom.  He walked to her.

“Thank  you for this.” She said pointing into her room.

Aman looked inside and was surprised himself.  He had forgotten he’d made all of these arrangements soon after he’d cheated on Priya.  Hiten told him he needed to treat Priya in the best way possible.  Aman intended to treat Priya like a queen.

“You deserve it.” Aman said.  He walked in to inspect the work his staff had done, quite impressed.

Priya’s face beamed with a smile.  She silently wished that Aman would spend the night in this beautifully decorated room with her, but she knew that it would lead to a frustrating situation for both of them.

“Goodnight, Priya.” Aman said.  He walked toward the door but stopped before leaving.  He turned back around and placed a gentle kiss on Priya’s cheek.  Priya held his hand and tugged him toward her.  She hesitated before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him into a brief hug.  Aman was surprised by her sudden affection.  He hugged her back warmly, fighting the urge to kiss her.  He placed another kiss on her forehead and walked out of her room.

The next day, Aman woke up early and instructed the chef to prepare Indian food for breakfast.  As much as he hated it, he knew Priya loved Indian food for breakfast.  Priya, dressed in a purple, long sleeved sari came downstairs a few minutes after the food was ready.

“Surprise!” Aman exclaimed upon spotting her.

“Indian food...for breakfast? But you don’t like…” Priya said.

“I know, but you do.” Aman said, taking her hand and leading her to the dining table.  Maids began to serve them.  Priya was elated.  The chef had made all of Priya’s favorites.  She couldn’t believe how extremely sweet Aman had been ever since their argument.

“Thank you.” Priya said after they were finished.

“You have to stop thanking me for every little thing.” Aman replied.

“But this was really sweet of you. I know you don’t like Indian food for breakfast, but you still had it just for me.” Priya said.

“It was nothing, Priya. There’s a whole hell of a lot more I’d do for you.” Aman smiled.  “Anyways, I need to get going.  I’ll see you tonight.” Aman said.  He thought about giving Priya a goodbye kiss, but decided against it upon seeing all the maids and chefs lurking around.  He quickly pecked her the cheek and left.

Priya felt elated by Aman’s attention.  He was being too nice, and she rather enjoyed it.  She’d received a call from Neha informing her that she was in the area and wanted to stop by.  Priya was more than happy to have her.

“Hey, Priya! How are you?” Neha asked as she entered the mansion.  She plopped down on the large sofa in the living room.

“I’m fine, and you?” Priya replied.

“I’m doing great! I rocked Nikhil’s world a few nights ago, and the presents have been non stop.” Neha laughed.

“Aman has been really nice too. Maybe there’s something in the air that’s making husbands want to spoil their wives.” Priya replied.

“Priya, let’s be real. We all know that we keep them happy, they’ll keep us happy.” Neha said.

Priya blushed, knowing that she and Aman don’t have that kind of relationship.

“Well,...I don’t think that’s why Aman is being so sweet.  We’ve never actually…” Priya trailed off.

Neha’s eyes widened in shock.

“Priya! You’re married and you haven’t satisfied your man yet?” Neha asked incredulously. “And he’s being really nice...something is fishy.” Neha said.

“What do you mean?” Priya asked.

“He’s done something wrong.  That’s why he’s being so nice.” Neha explained.  “Men aren’t nice for no reason.  Either they’re trying to get some or they’re making up for a mistake.”

“We had an argument. Maybe that’s why.” Priya reasoned.

“Maybe.  What you need to do is keep him on his toes otherwise he’ll start looking elsewhere.” Neha said.

Priya looked at her with uncertainty.

“Obviously you two had an arranged marriage. And you aren’t ready to take it further. That’s okay.  A little foreplay and some lingerie won’t hurt, you know.” Neha said bluntly.

Priya looked at Neha, surprised by her bluntness.  She looked down unsurely, not wishing to continue with this kind of conversation.

“Let’s see your lingerie stash, and we can plan a romantic night for Aman as a payment for acting so nice.” Neha suggested.

“I don’t have any…” Priya replied.

Again, Neha looked at her wide eyed and in shock.

“And Aman is okay with that?” Neha asked.  “So not the Aman I know.  Every married woman needs some sexy lingerie, Priya. It’s like a crime not to have any! We’re going shopping right now!” Neha decided.

Aman feels so guilty. He was being SO sweet.  Look at that Tamana, getting jealous over Aman and Priya’s relationship. They’re married, honey. Get over it!  Hiten threw pasta at her husband though :P

OMG! Priya is going to go lingerie shopping! Will she end up wearing something sexy for Aman? We’ll have to seeee!

Sorry for the late update. School is ridiculous!

Comment and Vote! Do you think it’s time for Priya to be sexy for Aman?