9. Ghosts

Her heart fluttered when he said 'we' instead of him alone. She felt respected by his words. It was as if she had started making space for herself in his life and she was glad about it.

Maitri's gaze was fixated on the city shining bright in the night darkness while his gaze was on hers.

"You must have been a low maintenance girlfriend" His words interrupted her chain of thoughts.

"Sorry" She looked at him confused.

"I said that you must have been a low maintenance girlfriend" He repeated for her. He placed on knee on the seat and turned around properly that he was opposite her. He leaned onto the seat, placing one hand on the head support, supporting his head.

"Why do you think so?" She imitated his position and asked curiously as to what gave her away.

"Just observations" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Such as?" Due to her small size, she could easily place her head on the seat.

"Food. It excites you. The lit lights right now make your eyes shine brightly. You are more of someone who likes small gestures than expensive gifts. Your silence when I said 'we would solve crisis together' is a clear explanation that you don't want stars or moon but someone to sit beside you and listen to you. I know am not wrong." His words made her gape at him like a fish. She couldn't believe that he read her like her favourite novel. He read straight through her in just one night spent together. She kept blinking until a smirk formed on his face and he clicked his two fingers infront of her face. An annoyed expression passed her face. She eagerly wanted to rip apart the sexy smirk from his lips.

"You open to only to those you trust. You believe in my dad alot that you didn't question him or his choice when he asked you to me with you. You love your siblings the most but Aarchi gets an extra point. Your home screen is a picture of you and her. From what you said earlier on the flight you keep this cold man facade so no one can see the cracks behind the mask. You behave like you hate having to share your space but in reality you crave for company. Proof is that you've talked to me on the flight more than you talked when we were in India" She wiped his smirk with her observation she made about him. It was no his turn to be surprised. She looked at him proudly and with a yawn she flipped her hair showing that if he could read her than she could do the same.

"Am tempted to throw you out of the car" He said feeling exposed. His threat was empty and she knew it too.

"Its okay to be exposed sometimes. It gives you a reality check, stopping you from becoming someone who you are not" She placed her hand on top of his with an encouraging smile.

"I like the sarcastic and non-sensical side of you. This deep shit doesn't suit you" He smiled at her words and tried joking.

"You still have a chance to say no to the marriage because I have no plans on changing myself" She said mocking him.

"You're mad"

"I know. My friends tell me that everyday, I've become used to it. You need to improve your vocabulary" She winked at him and closed her eyes unable to keep the open.

"I'll answer that tomorrow. Sleep for now" He pushed the baby hair out of her face, tucking them behind her ear and scooting closer to her. He carefully held her face and placed it on his shoulder, letting her sleep peacefully. Within a few minutes he too was fast asleep, with his head leaning on hers.

They were woken up by the driver who had removed their luggage out and the caretakers were taking them inside.

Maitri woke up due to the calls and looked at Aryaman who slept without the care of the world. If his woken form looked hot and sexy then his sleeping form was much cuter and sweeter. A strand of hair had fallen out of its place and laid on top of his eyebrow. She carefully pushed it back in place and shook him slightly.

"Maan" She called him out softly, shaking his arm. Aryaman woke up and looked at his surroundings holding her close to himself. Noticing they had reached the penthouse he let her go and stepped out of the car.

Both walked to the lift and waited for it to come. Once it came, they stepped in and leaned on to its wall feeling sleepy. The lift opened on his floor. With lazy steps they stepped inside the penthouse which drove away every last bit of sleepiness from Maitri's eyes.

"This is so beautiful and enormous" She looked at the place without blinking.

The caretaker came with two glasses of water and handed it to them. Aryaman asked her to join him in the living room. She placed the glass on the coffee table and sat on the rich sofas that were soft as cotton and yet fluffy but rigid.

"Let me show you your room so you can sleep. Am sure you must be tired from the journey. Incase you are hungry, I've left a few dishes in the fridge, I'll reheat them" The old caretaker lady said seeing both of them lost in observing the penthouse.

"No its okay. Its quite late, you should go home, we will figure out things. Thanks for staying around till late" Aryaman stood up and thanked the lady. She smiled and left the penthouse. He followed her to close the door, when he returned, he found Maitri at the window staring at the lit city with a smile. She had her hands wrapped around her arms as she stared outside. He walked to her and looked at her, placing his head onto the window.

"You slept outside with me in the flight, why?" He asked turning around so his back was onto the window and he was staring at the penthouse.

"I can't sleep alone in new places. All negative thoughts start coming in and then ghosts and everything" She said waving her hand in air.

"Why did I already feel that you'd be someone who's afraid of ghosts?" He snickered earning a glare from her.

"Everyone fears something. I fear ghosts. If you read our scriptures it is said that if there's good then there's bad and by that if there's god then there's devil and who is devil? Devil is chudail, dayan, bhoot, pretaatma, aapne fear files ya Aahat nahi dekhi? (Devil is ghosts, haven't you seen Fear Files or Aahat?)" She asked offended that he was making joke of her and was determined to prove to him that there's nothing wrong to be afraid of ghosts.

"You watched them?" He suddenly stood staight and asked excitedly.

"Every kid has watched it. That was the source of ghost stories at sleepovers" She said shrugging her shoulders.

"What was your favourite episode?" He asked suddenly way to exicted.

"Khooni tasveer" Both of them replied together and burst out laughing.

"By god kya episode tha" She said clapping her hands at finally having someone to discuss the episodes with.

Both walked to the sofa and sat down at a safe distance from each other.

"Mumma and I used to watch it the whole day and then at night sleep with dad hugging him to death. Those were the days" Aryaman said becoming nostalgic at the memories.

"Divi, papa and I used to watch it together. Every Friday, we used to tell the neighbor aunty to keep mumma busy until the episode ends. All three of us used to sit extremely close to each other with blankets and popcorn and scare each other more than the episode could" She smiled at her memories.

"What did your siblings and your father do when you used to watch the serial?" She asked interested in knowing him.

"Papa, Avi and Aaru all three of them stayed away from us during that time knowing that even if by mistake they came infront of T.V then we can't promise that we might turn into ghosts and haunt them. Dad used to make dinner while Avi actually helped and Aaru pretended to help. She'll sit on the counter and make demands, 'Dad add salt, Avi bhaiyu cut the onions properly. Can someone give the small girl some food?'" He mimicked Aarchi and failed terribly but made the point clear to her. His failed attempt at mimicking his sister caused her to laugh loudly.

Her melodious laughter warmed his cold heart, making him feel bothered at how fast she was incorporating herself in his life. It was fast and steady and instead of feeling worried he was happy to have her.

"If you've watched Aahat, you must have watched C.I.D and Aadalat" She asked crossing her legs on to the sofa. He hummed the tune of C.I.D and Aadalat making her giggle.

"You know there was this time when we went to papa's friend's house. His sons asked me and Divi what we'd like to watch. You should have seen their faces when we said Aadalat. Those poor boys thought that we'll pick DDLJ or MPK but then there was us. After that day, we all became such good friends. I'll take you one day to meet them. We all would have a lot of fun" The night went on and on with them telling each other the stories of their childhood that they didn't realize when the slept on the sofa itself.