Love Finds a Way !!!

Chapter 44

Aarav had been wrong. He had thought she would be a head turner today. He had thought wrong. She looked stunning. There was no other word. Beautiful beyond compare. Aarav had needed some time to get over how he felt before he went to talk to her. He had never felt this way. His breath had hitched when he had seen her. All irritation of not being able to do so earlier gone in a second. All frustration at the little goof ups during the media briefing disappeared. What remained was a strange feeling of calm and something else he couldn't really name yet. It was as if he couldn't look beyond. There might be better looking and better dressed people here tonight, but his eyes simply refused to look beyond her. That side bun she had made enhanced her soft look. Her delicate features stood out. And though whoever had done her makeup had accentuated her eyes with dark colors the person had failed to mask the innocence there. He could even at a distance see she was restless. She smiled but it was tight. More of a necessity than feeling. Her eyes scanned the crowd time and again and he wondered who she was looking for. Not him for sure. She had stood with another girl. And he wasn't sure who she was. Last night at the dinner she had told Chitra a friend would be coming to the party as well and if that was okay. Of course, Chitra had chided her for asking a silly question like that. So he deduced she must be the friend. She was a cute girl. And seemed more confident than Kanak herself did. Aarav had smiled at that. Kanak's apprehension wasn't something she knew how to hide. She had tried to show him she could look good all on her own yesterday. And she had. He didn't deny it. But the way she looked today, nope, no comparison there. It gave him a certain sense of satisfaction, after all he was the one who had chosen the dress and the colors for her. The designer was very much here. And he had wanted Kanak to meet her. So he had approached her with that intent sure, he would be able to talk to her without letting her know how much she had affected him today. That was till he had seen Tiwari try and act smart. And he had been irritated. He wasn't angry because he knew Tiwari to be a bumbling fool who only acted smart but the way Kanak was suddenly tense about it, had irritated him. When was the girl going to learn that being a bit impolite helped most times? So he had interrupted just when he had thought it might go far. Besides he didn't have the patience to wait. He needed to talk to her. And when she had turned to look at him. He had felt lost. Up this close she was nothing but looking sensational. He had felt the need to swallow. The tension he had sensed in her earlier left and she relaxed visibly. The softness returned to her eyes and he saw something else there as well. Shocked admiration. For him. And he had been amused beyond words. She had taken in what he wore and she had liked him in it. He had always known how he looked in what he wore and he never wore anything he wasn't sure about. But the appreciation he saw in her eyes made him feel so much better than he normally did. It was funny. Any other time and he wouldn't have bothered with what or how she viewed him physically. And he knew had he not met her before under the circumstances they were in, he would never have looked at her twice. He would never have bothered. But he knew her. He knew the person she was. Her selflessness, her gentle nature and her habit of rushing to the rescue even if the person didn't deserve it. He knew how she struggled with discovering herself. He knew the pain he had glimpsed when she had spoken of her parents. And that made her special. That made her views special. Though somewhere he also knew he could never be himself with her. There could never be a culmination to their association. He knew who he was and what was expected. And she did too. Their worlds were too far apart for them to ever even contemplate an 'us'. Once this was over they would go back to their different setups and live their different lives. And that had put a dampener on his feelings. Though for tonight he wanted to enjoy. After all she looked as much a part of this world as he did. And he had gruffly asked her to follow him. He hadn't missed the narrowing of her gaze when he had turned and he hadn't been able to smile about it. She had followed him a few seconds later. Her sweet fragrance had told him as much. Strange, with so many people around wearing different fragrances both strong and light he could distinguish hers from them. He had taken her straight to Sagarika. And introduced them. Sort of. She was the designer for what Kanak wore today. And Kanak was the person he had insisted would be the perfect fit for it. He had gone to visit his sister who lived in her own penthouse in Cuffe Parade. And had a small room dedicated to a studio. One look at the dress and he had instinctively known it was made for Kanak. Though Sagarika had argued with him over it but then given in at the challenge he had thrown at her. It had been great to watch them interact. He had seen a strange look on Kanak's face earlier, before Sagarika had told her she was his sister. What was that look all about? And now that Sagarika had moved to another group of old friends he stood alone with Kanak. She suddenly looked uncomfortable. And he couldn't fault her for it. He hadn't told her yet how she looked tonight. What he wondered was, would words do justice? But he needed to tell her that. It should be able to boost her confidence a little. Before he could say something he heard a voice from behind them and he turned at that.