Forever
*Sometimes, you just know.*
Three Months Ago.
He looked at her, carefully as if he was memorising her each move, her each smile and her each laugh.
He looked at her transfixed, as she bit onto that apple that he picked out for her, from the tree in his backyard.
He looked at her lovingly, as she sprouted all her secrets to him. He was, in fact, the only one who listened.
He looked at her broken-hearted, as she stood up suddenly from their picnic in his backyard and hugged him, with her gorgeous brown eyes, like the whirls of chocolate he liked so much, swirling around him and drowning him within, looked intently at him, generosity and warmth shining in those two orbs. She laughed at his expression, as he looked mesmerised by her, and thanked him for being there for her as her friend. She then allowed her glossy plump red lips to form a smile on her face, while he looked at her, hypnotised.
But he banished such thoughts from his head as he saw her run away from him, towards her boyfriend's awaiting arms. No! He couldn't think like that. He wouldn't think like that. He was, after all, only her friend.
One Month Ago.
He was talking to his father when he received her call. His father, seeing the silly grin on his son's face as his son saw the caller id, patted him on the back and went out of the room.
Not able to understand anything that was coming out of her mouth by her intense sobs that wrenched him within, he panicked and told her that he was coming to pick her up. She had, between the sobs, agreed and given the address to the restaurant that she was in, it was the 'Passionate Dungeon', one of the most prestigious restaurants in the country.
He had hung up, after assuring her that everything was going to be okay, and rushed towards that restaurant, passing a few red lights, if not all of them.
As he panted, running out of the car to meet her, see her, hold her and finally know that she was okay, he saw her. She was outside the 'Passionate Dungeon', smiling at him like a lunatic, though he could see the tears marks on her cheeks and he knew that he would make whoever hurt her, pay. And she was swaying, in a red dress that looked heavenly on her. She was drunk.
He smiled, relieved to see her, and thanking God that she was okay, even if he actually didn't believe in him. She looked at him and smiled, but as he came close, she flung her arms around him and started sobbing. He stood there, shocked, his heartbeat eccentric at her antics before recovering and picking her up, bridal style, ignoring her feeble protests and brought her to his Audi.
She smiled at him, as he fumbled with her seatbelt before finally, successfully buckling her up, and he sped away, towards his mansion, knowing that her parents or her other friends won't approve seeing her in this state.
As he was driving, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Startled, he looked towards the passenger seat, before realizing that it was her head, that had took his shoulder's support as she had passed out, from all the drinking. He smiled and continued driving.
When he arrived home, his home, he picked her up once again, bridal style and went into the mansion, through the door like one takes their new bride across the threshold, but he could only wish that he would carry her like that, when she was sober. He was hoping too much, he was still, only her friend.
He laid her down in his guest room, and put the covers over her. He spotted that she was shivering. She would probably get a cold in the morning with those clothes, which were very cold, as she was standing in the cold outside, for quite some time. So he asked his maid, Maria, politely, to change her into more comfortable clothing. Preferably his.
His maid, an elderly woman, smiled at him lovingly. She had thought of him as her son, after he lost his mother, who died of a heart attack, in her sleep, two years ago.
Maria smiled a secret smile. He was in love with her. She knew. The tenderness in his gaze as he looked at her, like she was the most precious thing in the world. The way he carried her so delicately, like she was made of glass. The elder lady smiled once again. She knew that he would get his happy ending. He definitely deserved it.
Maria simply nodded and touched his cheek, a gesture that was becoming very frequent. He smiled a genuine smile at the petite elderly women in front of him. He considered her, his second mother.
He looked at the figure on the bed, but turned away quickly and taking long strides, he walked out from his guest room. He couldn't think about her like that, she was in love with another man, and he didn't deserve her. He knew that he loved her, that he was in love with her, but he shouldn't. He wouldn't. And with a new resolve that he didn't plan on breaking, he slipped off his jeans and shirt and wore sweatpants, and slipped beneath his silk covers in his king side bed. It took some time, but he finally slipped into the land of dreams where she was his. Forever.
She woke up the next morning, groaning with a hangover, but he was prepared. He came to her bedside with aspirin and water. She was confused at first, asking him what happened the previous night. He patiently answered all her questions, smiling at her. She took the aspirin gratefully and told him that her boyfriend of five months had been cheating on her. Tears welled up in her eyes, as she continued to tell him how she caught her boyfriend, no ex-boyfriend (she had hastily corrected herself) in the bed of some hooker, and her ex had the nerve to call her a prude, because he 'wasn't getting any' from her. She then burst into tears.
He looked ready to kill. How dare anyone mess with her? Was her ex-boyfriend stupid to let her go, to cheat on her? But he snapped out of his murderous thoughts by her sobbing. His face softened looking at her. She was perfect. How could anyone do this to her?
He came forward and sat on the bed and pulled her in his arms, where she belonged. He comforted her and told her that her ex was 'an idiot' and 'didn't deserve her' and he promised that he would 'beat him up'. She had laughed at that, but told her that she wasn't worth the trouble.
If only she knew how much she was worth to him.
After a long time, her sobs subsided and she smiled at him, and thanked him once again for being there, for being her friend.
Ignoring his heart shattering into small fragments within him, he managed a small smile and he nodded.
He was, after all, only her friend.
One Week Ago.
He had ignored the warning that she had given him, and had got into a fight with her ex. He was proud to say that he had defeated him. That asshole didn't hold a chance against his fighting skills. He was proud at something, finally until she found out.
She cornered him at her house one night and told him how angry she was for his 'immature actions'. He, immediately boiling up with anger, told her that he was angry at her ex's actions, and her ex, frankly deserved that split lip and black eye that he had given him and asked why she was defending that 'prat'. She, obviously denied. He then taunted her that she still had feelings for an 'imprudent git', even though he cheated on her.
Her face fell and he knew that he had gone too far. He immediately backtracked and pleaded with her that he didn't mean it 'like that' and that he was 'so sorry'. She just looked him in the eye, outraged and asked him why did he say those things if he didn't mean them.
He didn't have an answer for that.
She then shook her head, and walked out of her house. The worst part was that he saw one lone tear slip out of her eyes, as she turned away.
Four Days Ago.
He had made her cry. That was all he could think about. How could he be so stupid? How could he be so inconsiderate of her feelings? He was an idiot.
For the past three days, he didn't have the guts to go to her and beg for her forgiveness. But he would today, he had decided. He didn't care if he had to start from square one again. He couldn't live without her. Christ, he was in too deep to even think about coming out.
He reached her house. It was a decent two bedroom house at the middle of London. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants, nervously and rang the doorbell. He was carrying lilies, her favourite flowers and he brought her the book that she was eyeing in his library one day, it was a first edition book, by her favourite author. He was wearing office pants and a shirt, from which he nervously loosened the tie.
Then the door opened.
Her hair was unkempt and wild, like she just woke up and she was wearing grey sweatpants and a blue oversized hoodie. His heart skipped a beat, his blue hoodie. Her eyes looked red and swollen and she had dark circles below her eyes, due to the lack of sleep.
She never looked more beautiful.
Her eyes widened slightly, in surprise as she looked at him, before she quickly hid her shock and put on a poker face. Well, she tried to, but didn't quite succeed.
She moved aside and allowed him in. He looked at her hopefully. She must have realized that so she quickly snapped and said that she wasn't forgiving him, but allowing him to defend himself. He had nodded at that. It made sense, but he was more hopeful than ever, because if she was willing to listen meant that she was willing to forgive!
He took a deep breath and started begging. He literally got down on his knees, kept the book and lilies on the kitchen counter and begged for her forgiveness. He looked at her expression which was one of bewilderment, and he got nervous.
What if she doesn't forgive him? What if she hates him?
His heart literally broke as he thought of the last one. His nervousness increased as he finished and she wasn't saying anything. He got so terrified that he started babbling inane things about how she was so important to him and how amazing she was and much, much more.
She then looked down at him, sitting on his knees and suddenly flung her arms around him, with so much force that he almost toppled over. But he wasn't complaining. But then she started crying hysterically. He froze. What did he say? He immediately pulled back, ignoring his excited heart's complaints and immediately apologised.
She looked at him in confusion. He then proceeded to ask her the reason for her tears, and he was sorry that it was his fault and much more. She laughed at him, tears glistening on her perfect face, as she smacked him on the chest and told him that she was crying because she was so exultant. He nodded at that, even though he was really confused. She was crying because she was happy?
Well, that was a new, even for him.
She then started apologising since it was her fault as she had overreacted and had behaved as a drama queen. He had laughed at that and accepted her apology even though he tried to convince her that it was his fault.
She was too stubborn and didn't back down, so he didn't either. This quickly rose and before they knew it, both of them were shouting at the top of their lungs, on a different matter altogether.
"You never cared anyway-" she started yelling.
He looked mortified and replied, equally fuming "I never cared? I freaking LOVE YOU!"
Both of them froze. He looked at her with an expression that could only be described like a deer's is when it is caught in the headlights of an emerging car.
She was rendered speechless. He loved her?
He looked at her once more, and seeing that he wouldn't get any response from her, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He ran.
One Day Ago.
She looked at the album in her hand. It was the first gift he had given her. As she opened it, she remembered the first picture, fondly. She laughed at the second picture. She smiled at the third one and tears escaped at the forth.
She couldn't handle this. She tried to, for the past two-three days, but she couldn't. She missed him. She kept the album down, abruptly. All of the pictured conveyed something she couldn't see before, but now it was everywhere.
His love for her. She saw the adoration he had in his grey-blue eyes, as he looked at her in those pictures lovingly. She saw sadness in his eyes, as she was hugging her ex. She saw a light hope in his eyes, as she hugged him.
Those grey eyes that looked shined so bright, like a thunderstorm, yet she felt safe as she gazed at them. Those swirls of silver, trying to convey the hidden feeling that she never was able to realize.
But then she realized one thing. She knew why she wasn't happy in any of her relationships. She wasn't comfortable with her ex, as she should have been. She only cried so much after he left, because he had the nerve to cheat on her. The guy before that was so considerate and sweet, but somehow she didn't feel strongly for him.
As she thought about them, she felt nothing. But as she thought about him, her heart would pick up its speed and she would get a weird feeling in her stomach, like butterflies or something. She never paid attention to such feelings, waving it away for signs of hunger, but now her breath caught in her throat. Butterflies! Increase in heart beat! She knew those symptoms. Her best friend had them, a while ago, for a guy. Nora, her best friend, found out that those weren't some abnormality, but those were the symptoms of love!
She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. She was in love with him! She had been in love with him, for more than two months! She was an idiot for not figuring this out sooner! She had to go meet him! Tell him!
She got up and brushed her wild brown curls. She had to do this. She would tell him.
Today.
As he sat in his office, which was in his mansion, on the laptop, he felt depression rising within him, but he stubbornly ignored it. So she didn't love him, it was ok.
He hoped that if he told that to himself repeatedly, he would actually believe the lies that he was thinking.
He slammed his fist on his office table and groaned. He wouldn't get over her, but he had to. He was stupid for telling her what he felt, he should have just kept quiet. He knew that she didn't feel the same, yet he, stupidly, had hope.
He returned to his laptop, trying to read the contract that he had made the 'Harman Industries', yet he wasn't able to understand the words. He felt irritation rising within him, not for the first time in three days. He just couldn't concentrate on anything. It was as if his mind was preoccupied somewhere else. He groaned again, of course his mind was preoccupied somewhere else. It was her.
He took deep breaths, trying to focus on the contract before him. That didn't work. He tried again, refusing to give up. He had to do something else, he had to distract himself.
There was a knock on his door, a very faint one. He only heard it, because he was trying to embrace the silence in the room, as according to the internet, that was one of the many ways to distract one's self.
He called out "Come in", not really caring who was behind the mahogany door. He didn't have time for this, he had to finish proof-reading the contract and he wasted too much time, as it is.
The gold-plated doorknob twisted slowly and she entered the room, nervously. Her heartbeat was so rapid in her ribcage that she feared that he could hear it. She saw him, in that Armani suit that looked so good on him, and her nervousness rose. What if he doesn't love her anymore? What if he doesn't believe her? She took a deep breath. She had to do this, and she would.
"Um…" He froze at that sweet, velvety voice. He knew that voice, it belonged to her. He slowly turned around, in his revolving office chair, his contract lay forgotten and saw her standing in his office, her face filled with nervousness. She was fidgeting with her thumbs, something she did when she was nervous.
Her wild brown curls, that he loved so much, was pulled back in a messy bun, but some escaped and continued to frame her face. She was wearing that yellow sundress that he picked out for her. Was God trying to kill him?
He cleared his throat uneasily, hating the awkwardness that hung in the air. There never was any with them.
She raised her head slowly from her thumbs and looked at him, with her shinning chocolate brown orbs, and before he could make a complete fool with himself and say something that he wouldn't understand, she blurted out those same three words that he had blurted the last day. Well, he had told four words but he wasn't complaining at all.
He quickly got up and within two long strides, he came in front of her 5 feet 8 inches frame, that was acceptable for her, but still small compared to his towering 6 feet 2 frame. He then gently put two of his fingers below her chin and raised her eyes to meet his.
"Are you absolutely certain?" He asked, softly, as if he couldn't believe that she was finally his. Her glossy red lips turned into a smile and she nodded.
She was never so sure of anything in her life.
His lips captured hers, in one fervent kiss, in which, both individuals poured out all their love for each other. Their lips fit perfectly against each other.
Oh, there wasn't fireworks, it was an explosion of passion that she never felt before, in a kiss. Nor did he, for that matter.
At that precious moment, they finally realized that they belonged together. Forever.
