Two Birds One Arrow (Completed)

Chapter 16

"Bye, Neha. Have a very happy married life." Those were the words that I kept hearing since today's evening.

I had decided to take a break from office until all the wedding formalities are over. We also received the wedding invitations which we had given for printing, yesterday. So, it was decided that I'll be on break from tomorrow and while leaving the office, Gautham and I had decided to invite some of my closest colleagues by giving them the invitation.

So that's where we are now - leaving the office.

"Wow. I never realised that you had quite the fan base here at your office." Gautham remarks, jokingly.

"What can I say? None can resist my charm. Let us just say that you got lucky." I retort back.

"Quite the contrary actually. Else, I wouldn't have been unfortunate enough to end up with you." He laughs at me and I hit his chest.

"Okay, enough with the jokes now. " I tell him and he immediately gives me a reply back. "I was not joking. " However, he heeds to me and decides to shut his mouth when I shoot him a glare.

"Have you bought what I had asked you to buy?" I ask him as we walk towards the car parking where his car is safely parked at.

"Yeah. But to whom are they for? I first thought they were for one of your colleagues seeing that we were inviting them but you told me not to get to the office." He asks me, utterly confused.

"They are for someone else. We will be heading there before going for the dinner." I tell him refering to the pack of sweets that I had asked him to buy.

"Okay. It is too early for dinner anyways. " He shrugs, checking his phone for what time it is. "Where are we going?" He asks me, unlocking the car door.

"I'll give you the directions. Just keep driving. "I tell him, getting into my seat.

*

"Take a left here." I give him the last direction. As soon as those words leave my mouth, Gautham slams the brakes and the car jerks forward. I guess he understood where our destination is.

"Are you kidding me, Neha?" He asks and for the first time ever, I see anger towards me in Gautham's eyes.

"That is going to be my guest, Gautham. I can invite whoever I want." I reply back.

"The go and invite by yourself. Do not drag me into this mess." He shouts at me, irritated.

"You are coming with me, Gautham. Whether you like it or not, you are doing this for my sake." I order him.

"What is even running in your mind, Neha? Is this some kind of prank or are you on a mission to piss me off ?"

"You name it, Gautham. But we are going there. Please. " I lower my voice and plead with him.

"Neha, please. Do not do this. Please." His voice almost cracks and I begin to have second thoughts about my decision.

I get down from the car and walk to the other side. I slowly open Gautham's door.

He heaves a long sigh and finally gets down. But I can clearly say that he is still not happy about doing this. We begin walking towards the house and Gautham drags his step, halting every couple of seconds.

The door opens before we ring the bell and a girl walks out. She smiles widely upon seeing me and she immediately hugs me. "Hi, Neha."

"Hi, Sonakshi." I greet her as soon as we pull away. Sonakshi smiles at me and repeats the same gesture looking at Gautham. When he does not reciprocate her smile, her smile falters a little.

"Come on in, both of you." She opens the door wide enough for us to enter.

I follow her steps but Gautham hesitates. I had to literally pull him inside.

*

We have been in here for about fifteen minutes now and Gautham still is insistent on keeping a grumpy face. He did not even take the snacks that she had offered. Seeing that they seemed quite tasty, I took his share too which quickly earned me a glare from him.

"Guys, I am getting a call. I will join you guys soon." I get up with my phone in my hand, though I did not get any call. Both of them know that too.

Gautham grabs my hand and I turn to look at him. He pleads me with his eyes and I smile at him. I give his hand a reassuring squeeze and walk away.

I stand in the terrace and enjoy my own company for quite sometime. I go to my WhatsApp audios and play the "I Love You" recording that Gautham sent me yesterday.

A few minutes later, I receive a call from Gautham.

"Hello, Gautham." I press the phone to my ear.

"Come down, biwi." He tells me. I could understand that everything is cleared by the sound of his voice.

"Coming, hubby." I immediately hang up and walk down.

I find both of them standing and waiting for me.

"Shall we leave?" He asks me.

"Yeah, wait." I open my handbag and take an invitation out. Gautham hands me the sweet box.

"Both of us will be expecting you. You should be there." I beam at her.

"Sure." She then turns to Gautham. "You are lucky to have her. Take care of her." She tells and I could feel the sincerity in her voice. She then proceeds to hug me once again and I return her hug.

*

The walk back to the car was not as bad as the one we had when we came here. In fact, we were side-hugging each other the entire time and even the ride was equally sweet. We were holding hands and our fingers were intertwined. I had also managed to subtly snap a picture of it.

"Neha, can I ask you something? What the hell just happened?" He asks me, not able to hold the curiosity any longer.

"Well, after the coffee shop incident, I got her phone number from one of your friends. I spoke to her only to find out she was sorry about the way she behaved. We soon became friends and I decided to resolve the conflict between the both of you. That is all." I lay on his shoulders.

"Why did you even care?"

"I can understand that the fact she cheated on you has left a major part of you scarred. I want you to know that it was not your fault. Hearing it from me won't do damage repair but seeing it for yourself can help." I squeeze his hand as my way of telling him that it's okay to let go.

"Just so you know, I was only kidding earlier. I am lucky to have you and I know it too. Nobody would ever do what you did today. I am falling deeper every moment I spend with you." He kisses the side of my forehead.

*

Until we finished our dinner and headed back to the car, he was being a total flirt all the time.

We again continued to be total love birds in the car. We then reached my street. The car came to a halt in front of my home.

"Hey, my hair is stuck in the clip part of the seat belt ." I inform Gautham, trying to pull it away.

"Wait." He leans towards me and gently untangles my hair. I gulp as I realise the position we are in. Gautham successfully gets my hair out and turns to my side to inform me. His speech falls short as he slowly takes in the proximity between us.

The next thing I know, he leans towards me and kisses me.