Chapter - 38
Hey you all, hope you liked the chapter! Sorry for the delay.
Shivanya ~
"Vihaan will you please tell me where exactly are we going? You have been driving us for almost an hour now!" I looked at my wrist watch and then towards Vihaan who was behind the driving wheel.
"That is a surprise, Shivanya and I am telling you this for the eleventh time in this past hour." He replied, sighing, shifting the gear.
"You're mean." I huffed and unlocked my phone, deciding to text Radhika.
"How is surprising my wife mean?" He shot back, turning his head just a little before looking ahead once again.
"Keeping your wife in the dark is. I don't like surprises Vihaan. Will you please tell me?" I asked him once again.
He shook his head in a no, smiling.
"Fine. At least tell me how long till we get there?" I turned just a little towards him.
"Ten minutes."
I leaned back into the seat, You are enjoying this far too much."
Vihaan smiled, the kind that told me I was absolutely right. "Maybe a little."
True to his word, in almost ten minutes, we stopped right outside an animal shelter and Mom's words rushed back to me.
A few weeks back we were supposed to come here to pick a dog but Vihaan and I got so damn busy that I completely forgot about it.
I looked at him, only to find him looking at me, smiling.
"Oh my God! Really?" I asked him, my hand automatically clutching his forearm in excitement.
He just nodded, slow and sure.
"I can't believe you!" I whispered, unbuckling my seatbelt. "You planned this and still acted like you were torturing me for fun."
"Oh, I was absolutely torturing you for fun." he said, stepping out of the car and coming around to open my door. "This was just the good kind."
I took his hand when I stepped out, my fingers slipping into his without a second thought or hesitation.
"Come on." he said, already walking, almost pulling me along with him.
As we walked inside further, I could literally hear little barks and woofs around.
We signed our names at the desk. He leaned over to read the form properly, serious like he always was with paperwork, even here. I filled in my part and slid the clipboard back.
A volunteer smiled at us and pointed toward the main area. "You can walk around first. See who you connect with."
I nodded as we made our way ahead and looked around.
"Vihaan, look at him!! So cute." I pointed towards a beagle who was playing around with another one, probably his sibling.
"Do you want to go to him?" He asked me but I had no intention of disturbing those two cuties who looked so happy playing together.
"Let's walk on." I told him and he agreed as we walked ahead once again.
At one enclosure, a volunteer was sitting on the floor, trying to convince a dog to move.
"This one's a hybrid." she told us when she noticed us. "Indie and lab, we think. Very calm. Not great with loud noise, but very gentle. We found this one near Juhu beach. He must be around five weeks."
The cutie was sitting near the corner, not hiding, just observing. Big eyes, soft brown coat, tail resting on the floor. When I crouched, it didn't rush forward. It just looked at me.
I held my breath without realising.
"Hi there." I said quietly, reaching out but not touching.
He stood up slowly and took two steps forward, sniffed my hand and then sat again, closer this time.
"That's it?" I whispered. "You're just going to sit?"
Vihaan crouched beside me. "I like him."
I smiled.
"I love him." I agreed and Vihaan muttered something under his breath.
"Haan? Kuch bola aapne?" I turned my head just slightly and looked at him once.
"Nahi, kuch nahi." He was quick to reply, his soft gaze turning into a hard one as he looked at my cutie.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "You definitely said something."
He shook his head, way too innocent to be convincing. "You are imagining things."
"I am not." I said, but my attention shifted back to the puppy almost immediately because he had now settled right between my feet, like he'd decided this was a good spot and wasn't moving.
I slowly ran my fingers along his back. He leaned into it, relaxed and trusting.
I reached for the puppy again and this time he lifted his head and rested his chin against my knee and looked in my eye. Just like that.
"He is my one. Look at how innocent he is Vihaan!" I looked at Vihaan and said.
Vihaan's lips twitched. "Innocent? He is already manipulating you."
The volunteer smiled. "He usually keeps some distance. Looks like he's comfortable with you."
When she asked, "Should I start the adoption paperwork?"
"Yes." we both answered at the same time.
"Give me twenty minutes." she said and excused herself and I looked down at him again.
"Well," I said softly, mostly to the puppy, "looks like you're coming home."
He responded by pressing his face deeper into my leg and letting out a small woof.
When the paperwork was finally done, the volunteer returned with a small bag and some papers. A blanket too. She handed it over, explaining things again, slower this time. Vaccinations, food schedule and a number to call if we had questions.
I nodded along, trying to remember everything she was saying while also watching the puppy chew lightly on the edge of my top and I held him in my arms as Vihaan took the bag and we walked out to our car and Vihaan opened the passenger's seat door for me.
I settled into the seat carefully, adjusting the blanket over my lap before placing him down properly. He protested for half a second, a tiny sound, then circled once and curled back up against me like this was exactly where he was supposed to be.
Vihaan shut the door and walked around to the driver's side. When he got in, he glanced over once, quick and quiet.
"He is comfortable." he said.
"He fell asleep already." I replied, lowering my voice without thinking.
Vihaan smiled at that and started the car.
The entire drive back home, Vihaan and I were discussing names but he found most of my suggestions funny.
"Toh aap kya chahte hain Vihaan? Iska naam kya hum Hritik Roshan rakh dein? Obviously Choco, Oreo, Teddy types hi rakhenge na." I narrowed my eyes at him after he had rejected all of them.
(So what do you want, Vihaan? Should we name him Hrithik Roshan? Obviously, we'll keep names like Choco, Oreo, Teddy, right?)
Vihaan laughed, proper laughed, his head tilting back for a second before he looked at the road again.
"Why don't we let Mom and Dad decide his name?" I suggested.
"You will get two suggestions so contrasting and both of them will make you sigh in disappointment." he replied, his lips pressed in a thin line as if trying to not laugh again.
I rolled my eyes.
"Mr. Birdbrain, I am sure they will be more helpful than you have been. I don't remember you suggesting any name." I looked down to the puppy who was now sound asleep.
Vihaan glanced at me again, calm but amused. "I am being strategic."
"Strategic?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. If I don't suggest anything, I cannot be blamed later for a bad name."
"Very smart." I shook my head, laughing.
We were home soon and Mom and Dad were waiting for us, so excited. Mom was already at the door before we'd even shut the car properly.
"You're back." she said, then her eyes dropped straight to my arms. "Oh."
Dad followed her out, slower, glasses slipping down his nose. "Is that...?"
"Yes." I said, smiling because I couldn't help it. "We adopted him."
Mom came closer immediately, hands hovering like she didn't know where to touch first. "He's so small." she murmured. "Did he sleep the whole way?"
"Almost." Vihaan said, picking up the bag from the back seat.
The puppy shifted slightly at the sound of voices, eyes fluttering open. He looked around for a second, then pressed his face back into my arm, clearly done with all of us.
Dad chuckled. "Bas. Abhi se attitude."
(See, he has an already developed attitude.)
We walked inside slowly. I sat on the sofa first, careful, adjusting the blanket again.
Mom sat beside me. "What breed did they say?"
"Indie and lab mix." I replied. "Very calm."
Eventually, I let the cutie on the floor as he walked around in a circle near the centre table and couch before deciding his next spot, right next to dad's feet, trying to chew his slipper.
"I have a feeling that he is not as calm as he looks right now." Dad announced, letting his slipper be chewed on.
Mom brought a bowl of water, Dad went to look for an old towel and Vihaan unpacked the bag from the shelter like he was organising a case file. I watched all of it from the sofa, my legs tucked under me, my heart feeling strangely full.
Eventually, Mom shooed all of us away.
"Tum dono jaake thoda aaraam kar lo." she said. "He needs to settle. Let him explore quietly. Your dad is not going to leave him anyway now."
(You both should go and rest.)
Vihaan nodded and held a hand out to me. I took it without thinking, just like earlier in the day, and we walked upstairs together.
I kicked my sandals off near the bed and sat down, leaning back on my palms. Vihaan closed the door behind us and loosened his watch, placing it on the dresser.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he looked at me.
"Happy?" he asked.
"More than happy." I replied.
He nodded and came closer, stopping right in front of me. I could feel him there even before he touched me. He placed his hands on the bed on either side of my legs and leaned in slightly.
"Beautiful." he said, his eyes boring into mine.
I swallowed.
I did not know what he saw when he looked at me like that. I only knew the way it made me feel, exposed in the safest way possible.
"You are staring at me." I said quietly, mostly because my heart was starting to beat too loud.
"I am." he replied without apology, his eyes softening.
I let out a small breath and looked down at my hands, suddenly very aware of how close he was.
"You make it hard not to." he added, quieter now.
I looked back up. "Hard not to what?"
"Look at you." he said simply.
I blinked a few times, looking at him before I felt a blush creep my neck and cheeks, making me look aside, away from him again, letting my hair fall on the side of my face deliberately.
I felt his fingers lift a strand of my hair gently, not tucking it away, just holding it for a moment and leaning into me further.
Then, he leaned in, his lips brushed my cheek, soft and warm, right where the blush had settled and did not pull away immediately, letting himself stay near me before pressing his lips on the side of my forehead between my eyebrow and hair.
"You do this." he said softly, not pulling away. "And you don't even realise it."
"Do what?" My voice came out smaller than I intended.
"Make me forget everything else." His thumb brushed lightly against my jaw, barely there. "Office, files, deadlines. Even my own head."
That made me look at him.
"And then you do this." he added, meeting my eyes.
"What?" I asked again, slowly blinking like a fool.
"Look at me like you are right now and expect my heart not to skip a beat." he confessed, his fingers coming up to entangle in my hair.
I almost gasped.
This man was going to make my heart stop beating with his words someday. Fuck, I really need to tell him that I love him too, with all my being but I could not just do it like this. I had to plan it, it was the least I could do for this man who had literally made me fall for him second by second.
"Vihaan....." I started but he placed a finger on my lips, quieting me.
"You don't have to say anything." he said before he straightened himself and sat right next to me on the bed, entangling my hand with his, resting his head on my shoulder gently.
It sent a slight shiver through me and I allowed my hand to tug on the sleeve of his shirt, tracing little patterns on the back of his palm.
He leaned into me a little more, his shoulder fitting perfectly under my chin.
"Vihaan." I said his name.
He hummed.
"When we get into an argument," I said very seriously, staring straight ahead, "remember this exact moment because right now I think I like you too much to stay angry for more than maybe eight minutes at you."
He let out a laugh against my shoulder, not loud or teasing.
"Eight minutes?" he said. "That is oddly specific and generous Sunshine."
"I am a very kind person." I replied, dead serious.
"Shivanya with the way I am smitten with you, do you really think I will ever argue with you?" he asked, completely serious, making me laugh.
"Vihaan you seriously cannot believe that we will never get into an argument." I said, turning my head to look at him as he had straightened himself.
"I am not saying that we will never get into an argument, Sunshine. I am saying that I know that I will be losing every argument I get into with you." he replied, shrugging.
I laughed, shaking my head. "You are impossible."
"I am experienced." he corrected calmly. "And very aware of my strengths and weaknesses."
"And I am your weakness?" I asked, unable to help myself.
"You are both. My weakness and my strength." he told me with all honesty.
Something warm settled in my chest at that.
"You know," I said after a moment, "if people saw you like this, they would never believe you're the same man they call as the hawk of the court."
"What makes you think they ever will?." he replied. "That man belongs to the court and this one belongs to you."
For a second, I forgot how to breathe again.
Vihaan..." I murmured, already pushing myself up from the bed. "You can't just say things like that."
I stood up quickly, smoothing my hair unnecessarily, suddenly very interested in the far corner of the room, in the curtains, in literally anything that was not him.
"I need water." I announced, even though I absolutely did not.
I had taken barely one step when his hand closed gently but firmly around my wrist.
"Shivanya."
Before I could say anything, before I could even turn properly, he tugged me back and I stumbled slightly and landed right back beside him on the bed, my shoulder brushing his chest.
"Vihaan!" I protested, breathless. "Yeh aap kya kar rahe hain?"
(What are you doing?)
He did not let go of my wrist immediately. His grip loosened, thumb brushing lightly over my pulse instead, like he was feeling it race.
"Aap jab bhi mujhse bhaagti hain," he paused, eyes searching my face, "mujhe bilkul accha nahi lagta hai."
(I don't like it when you run away from me.)
Something inside me melted completely.
I swallowed hard. "Mai aapse bhaag nahi rahi hoon."
(I am not running away from you.)
"Toh phir kyun jaa rahi hain mujhse door?" he asked, not accusing. Just asking.
(Then why are you putting this distance between us?)
"Kyunki aapki aankhein mujhse kabhi kabhi aise sawaal puchti hain jiska jawaab mere paas nahi hota hai." I whispered.
("Because sometimes your eyes ask me questions that I don't have answers to.)
His other hand came up, cupping my cheek gently, forcing me to look at him.
"You don't have to say anything." he said. "Just stay."
My heart thudded painfully against my ribs.
I nodded once, small and quiet, and stayed right where I was for a second longer. Just enough to steady myself.
Then I pulled my hand back gently and smiled, a little shy and a little overwhelmed.
"Come on." I said softly. "I need to go and help mom with dinner."
Vihaan studied my face for a moment, like he was checking if I was alright.
Then he nodded. "Okay."
We walked downstairs together.
The living room lights were on and Mom was sitting on the floor near the puppy, trying to get him interested in a small soft toy. Dad was on the sofa, pretending to read the newspaper but clearly watching every move the puppy made.
"There you both are." Mom said when she saw us. "Come see what he's doing now."
Cutie was in the middle of the room, sitting very seriously, chewing on the corner of Dad's towel.
"That towel was clean." Dad announced.
"It was." Mom corrected. "Past tense."
I laughed and sat down on the floor immediately. The puppy noticed me and toddled over, tail wagging, leaving the towel behind without a second thought. I picked him up and settled him in my lap. He sniffed my face, then yawned widely and tried to lick my chin again.
I laughed.
Vihaan sat down beside me, leaning back against the sofa and I could feel his eyes on me without looking.
"Bas," she said finally. "Enough playing. Dinner time."
There were mild protests, mostly from me, but the puppy was gently transferred to Dad's arms again.
"Careful," Mom warned. "Support his neck."
"I know, I know." Dad said, offended. "I have raised Vihaan too."
After dinner, Mom leaned back in her chair, satisfied. "Ice cream?"
I blinked. "Now?"
"Yes now." she said. "Why should you children have all the fun?"
Dad nodded immediately. "Good idea. He should experience the outside too."
"He is five weeks old." I reminded him.
"I will hold him." Dad said. "Nothing will happen."
Vihaan glanced at me. "Ice cream?"
I smiled. "Yes, Ice cream!"
Ten minutes later, we were all outside. Dad held the puppy carefully, wrapped in a light cloth. Mom walked beside him, one hand hovering like she might snatch him back at any moment. Vihaan and I followed, fingers brushing occasionally.
Just as we locked the gate, the door next door opened.
Radhika stepped out first, heels in hand, hair slightly messy, laughing about something. Taran followed her, jacket slung over his shoulder.
"Why is everyone out?" Radhika asked, then her eyes dropped. "Oh my God."
She rushed forward immediately. "DI. WHAT IS THAT."
"That," I said proudly, "is our dog."
"Our?" she repeated, eyes wide.
"Yes," Vihaan replied calmly.
Radhika squealed. Actually squealed. She bent down in front of Dad. "Can I hold him? Please. Please please please."
Dad handed him over to her.
She held him like he was made of glass. "He is perfect. Look at his face, Taran."
Taran nodded and we made them join us for ice cream too and Vihaan pulled me closer to himself, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and another hand in the pocket of his sweat pants, his eyes ahead as I looked at him.
He was smiling and I was too as we walked behind everyone, together.
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