Javed raised his hand to knock when he's heard muffled crying from behind Anjali's door. Panic ran through Javed's mind and he walked in without asking for permission.

Anjali was sitting on a far side of the bed hugging her knees and rocking a bit. When she saw him entering Anjali tried to hide her face and whip out her tears… but she just couldn't stop crying.

- Don't look at me! – she shouted waving him to go away. Javed disregarded her gestures and her words and came closer to squat beside her bed.

- Anjali… are you hurt? What is it? Your leg again?

Anjali shook her head in denial and whined:

- You… you… then…

She really had troubles talking through tears but Javed seemed to have understood the reason behind her devastation:

- Yes, I know. And I am truly sorry!

He was talking with passion and conviction and tried to express how truly sorry he was it has happened this way.

Either Anjali didn't understand him or didn't even hear him but she started sobbing violently and only managed to squeeze:

- I get it! Why come here to confirm your regrets?

Javed looked abashed and even leaned backwards as if from the direct blow. Regrets? Who was talking about regrets?

Anjali stopped crying and was only rocking on a bed trying to get her emotions in order. Her eyes were swollen and… empty. She looked so broken, so rejected…

Rejected! An epiphany has hit Javed like a lightning!

He reached out to take Anjali's hands and help her to sit on an edge of the bed. She'd tried to fight it but he just said "Shhh, it's ok, trust me" and Anjali stopped fidgeting. She was looking at him expectedly… not really being sure what to expect.

Javed raised his hand and touched Anjali's cheek ever so lightly, whipping away one late teardrop. Javed cupped Anjali's face in his big warm hands and touched his forehead to hers. They were silent for a long time, just breathing each other in, getting lost in each other's eyes.

Then Javed spoke softly, tenderly:

- Anjali… I never said I was sorry I kissed you. I meant I was sorry I kissed you the way I did… Our first kiss was never supposed to be like that…

Anjali furrowed her brows being genuinely astonished… so there were some expectations for the first kiss? Javed didn't regret it?

- Um… Javed-ji… I'm a big girl, no need to sugar-coat it for me…

Javed pecked her in the nose making Anjali to stop talking out of surprise. He used this pause to say:

- For such a big girl you manage to be very silly sometimes, Anjali.

She shook her head because what he was saying right now didn't fall into the picture of today's evening… Anjali moved away and looked at him accusingly:

- Javed-ji, I saw you today with the whole Mister Universe act! And don't get me started on your pairing up with Lavanya!

Anjali rested her fists on her hips and made a challenging nod with her chin:

- But for all I know… go on! Marry her, make perfect kids with perfect skin and perfect smiles and… tall!

He chuckled on this sight of adorable aggression from Anjali's side. She really didn't know how to be subtle about her jealousy!

But it was not the time to make fun of how Anjali acted. Her jealousy meant so much to Javed, it implied so many possibilities… possibilities he never dreamt of before.

But first Javed needed to deal with an issue at hand:

- Anjali, Lavanya is like a little sister to me! I met her when she was dating Arnav – how could I have formed any other feelings towards her except for friendly?

- Oh really? So all the compliments and hand holding are results of your brotherly affection?!

- Well, yes! If I remember correctly, when I came back from Canada I heard NK showering all of you with compliments – and you didn't mind! I get it, Arnav is not this type of brother, but sometimes brothers are like this!

Anjali looked around to find some new argument because she seemed to have been losing her case. She squinted her eyes and argued:

- Have you had enough time to develop brotherly feeling for all the ladies today?

Javed sighted – she was difficult to pacify:

- Anjali, I'd told you already, I always find something to praise in women to please them. Allah mia, I'm a lawyer, my job highly depends on people skills!

Anjali smirked mocking him:

- Oh, right! And you are such a good lawyer because…

Javed interrupted her before she had a chance to offend him for real:

- Anjali, stop it! Why are we even discussing this? What does it have to do with us?!

She shouted back:

- Well, I don't know! It's you who's been finding "something worth praising" in EVERY passing woman! Some of them are nearly perfect, aren't they?

Something broke in her voice as she remembered today's evening and the way Javed was such a chevalier, elegant and charming… and the way all those women clung to his forearm…

Javed took Anjali's palm and pressed it to his chest so she could feel his heartbeat. It was drumming like crazy – but he spoke calmly… almost too calm:

- Anjali… all of them had a major absolute flaw.

She asked not taking her eyes off her hands where it was pressed to his broad chest:

- Which is it?

Javed smiled adoringly:

- None of them were you…

…

- Anjali… I've told you before… I love you. Loved you since the day I met you. You are in every corner of my mind, in every dream I have… In every breath, in every heartbeat… do you hear it?

She nodded absentmindedly mesmerized by his velvety voice and hammering heart under her palm. Javed took her other hand and kissed an inside of her wrist… It made her shiver but not out of cold but out of pleasant sensation that spiked through her body…

- Anjali, there is a difference between being polite and been flirty. To flirt a man would need some sort of physical or romantic interest in woman… and why would I ever be interested in anybody else when you exist? When you are everything I wanted, everything I never hoped to dare for… until today…

Anjali raised her eyes feeling really shy. Blush painted her cheeks red and Javed zoned out for a second watching her beauty being affected by his words. Anjali was blushing… because of him. Crying, laughing, throwing jealousy tantrums… because of him.

She asked in a small voice:

- So… I guess… it's a good thing I went a bit… hysterical today?

Javed hugged her tightly not able to conceal the happiness that was trying to break out from his body:

- I will praise Allah for the rest of my life for your hysterics today because it gave me so much hope… about us. Today was my favorite hysteric of all times!

Anjali's voice sounded strangled and Javed realized he might have been crushing her with his embrace. He loosened the grip but didn't let go of her – he was afraid that she might dissolve in a thin air because it all seemed like a dream to him. "The dream" spoke again:

- So… you don't think I'm crazy?

Javed laughed happy and easy laugh:

- You can be crazy all you want as long it will result in kissing you!

Anjali mumbled:

- Kissing you were sorry about…

He leaned away to look her in the eyes:

- Only because I didn't want our first kiss to be like that…

Anjali inclined her head and raised her eyebrows questioningly. There was so much innocent challenge in her eyes… so much unintentional seduction… This woman simply didn't know what kind of power she had over him!

Javed brought Anjali closer to him embracing her with one hand. The other hand cupped her face with his fingers getting tangled in her thick locks… He kissed her softly, barely touching her lips… And kept kissing her while saying:

- Our first kiss was supposed to tell you a story… of how I longed for you all these years… and how I would keep waiting for eternity… because with you every moment would seem infinite… and without you I don't need a single second of this world…