Lies About Us

Moments

...AUTHOR'S POV...

It's late at night, and Haarika glanced at the door. "He isn't here yet," she thought. Deciding to find out where he was, she eventually spotted him on the terrace. 'Maahir,' she called out, and he turned towards her. "You haven't slept?" he asked. "Nah, I was missing the idiot I married," she admitted sheepishly. He frowned and chuckled, replying, "Yeah, yeah, whatever.'" Seems like a normal Maahir... she thought. They chitchatted a little and then decided to go back to their room. While going down the stairs, "Whaaat-," her footwear got caught on the hem of her dress, causing her to slip and lose her balance. Maahir acted quickly on reflex and his arms went around her just in time, preventing her from tumbling down the steps. She gasped and closed her eyes. For a moment, she thought she was about to fall, as if gravity had complete control over her. However, a strong and protective grip had saved her. Her heart was racing, and her breathing was uneven. Slowly, she opened her eyes. That could have been a terrible fall. "Fuck! You good?" He muttered, his hands grabbing her waist and gently pulling her closer to him so she wouldn't be near the edge of the step. Some of the steps were covered in fake grass. Maybe she didn't see it, or maybe it was her nightgown getting in the way, or maybe she was just being dumb and not paying attention while talking, he thought. She stumbled a bit, trying to find her balance before standing firmly on her feet. Slowly turning around to face the person behind her, she realized that his arms were still around her torso. "I'm fine," she blinked disoriented, feeling his arms providing her the support she needed. "You should watch where you're going," he advised her. "Yeah," she replied, slowly lifting her head up to meet his gaze, realizing how close they were to each other. They were looking at each other, their faces aligned as she looked up and he looked down at her. She felt his hands slowly move away from her waist, but he held her elbows in the next second. It was like he didn't trust her to keep her balance. "That was minor," she spoke but he interrupted, "if I hadn't been here to catch you, you could have fallen down in an ugly way." She blinked and looked up at him, realizing he was right. "Thank you," she whispered. He nodded and advised her to descend slowly and watch her step. He then guided her hand from her elbow to her wrist, and she turned to proceed cautiously down the stairs. She felt uneasy around him and knew she had to move away. As she adjusted her dress, she realized he was still holding her hand. She tried to subtly pull away, but he refused to let go. "Let go of my hand," she said, turning to face him. "I don't think so," he replied, stepping down to the same level as her. She looked at him as his grip tightened, holding her palm firmly. "Let's go," he said, and she used her other hand to hold her dress up as they walked slowly down the stairs. She tried to assert her independence, saying "I can go down by myself," but he held her hand like she was a child just learning to walk. "Sure, it depends on how you go down," he replied, a hint of a smile on his lips. Despite his dark and rare sense of humor, she knew she needed to keep her distance from him.

"After you," he said, standing by the steps. "So that if I trip and fall, we both go down?" she remarked. He sighed, "No, so that I can save you again." "Well, then, thank you, Mr. for being my savior!" she said in mocking tone, turning to him. He exhaled sharply, "How about you just focus ahead and walk?" She rolled her eyes. The man was a lost cause. With every step, she braced herself for dealing with the man on a regular basis. Maahir stared at her back, shaking his head. The woman and her humor. His eyes unintentionally noticed the strings tied on her dress, whose back was a deep U. Now that she had tied her hair up into a messy bun, there was a lot of skin on display. His gaze slowly cascaded to her waist and then lower as she climbed up. He looked away, blinking. He couldn't believe he just checked her out. Don't act like a pervert, Maahi, he scolded himself. At one point, Haarika pretended to lose her balance and swayed back with a gasp, only for Maahir to place his hand on her back, saying, "careful". "Just kidding," she singsong quickly, running up the final steps and finally turning to him. He sighed, almost glaring at her. She turned around and walked ahead, ignoring the glares.