Chapter 2

‘So I was right. It’s him,’ Shanaya thought when the windows rolled down to reveal the guy who had sent her the note and those ugly yellow tulips.

Dhruv Kapoor.

Nonetheless, her shoulders tensed. The air shifted, prickling gently at her bare arms.

He sat there, clad in all black, blending well with the dark interiors. It was dark inside, except for the little neon blue light coming off the dashboard, highlighting features of his face.

There were things Shanaya knew she was capable of forgetting about him someday. The sound of his voice, the curve of his smile, the little flat mole on his wrist. But she knew she could never forget his eyes. The color of caramel enhanced by a black outline, his eyes were one of the most intense things to behold. But in the dark, his pupils had dilated almost completely, giving them a pitch-black appearance.

Shanaya couldn't tell how long they stared at each other before Dhruv finally shifted in his seat, turning his torso.

"Shanaya," he said, biting down on his lower lip. “All these years… and you’re still so gorgeous.”

"Dhruv," she mumbled instantly, her eyes still glued to his.

"You liked my gift?" he asked, tilting his head. And she wondered if he had truly called her gorgeous a moment ago or if it was something her mind had conjured up.

"Those tulips? Yes. But you could've done a lot better. Flowers are cheap. Very cheap for someone the likes of you," she complained, folding her arms.

He snickered, his eyes shutting for the briefest of seconds. "Well, the next time I'll bring you roses carved out of gold."

Shanaya smiled, unsure of whether he was bluffing or being serious. "How about you never bring me any flowers? Of gold or otherwise," she suggested.

"Now I'm wondering if you really liked those tulips."

"Let me help you with that. Actually, I didn't. Not much," she confessed with a tiny shrug of her shoulders.

For a prolonged moment, silence surrounded them. The whooshing of speeding cars fell on her ears, the murmurs of people walking by, but her sense of touch was heightened under his gaze. She got aware of the ends of her hair brushing over her bare arms as it swayed along the light wind. The coldness of the road beneath seeped slowly into her feet despite wearing boots.

She had enough time to think of how little Dhruv had changed. His voice was the same, only a bit rougher. More manly. He was a grown man after all, not the teenager she once knew. She had the liberty to look into those beautiful brown eyes that were once trapped behind reading glasses. The years had given his face a hard look. Sharper jaw and more prominent cheekbones.

It was hard to believe she was seeing him for the first time in eight years. So much had changed and yet all was still the same.

When Shanaya sighed, Dhruv finally parted his lips to speak. "Get in," he said, turning his eyes to the road ahead, his hands returning to the steering wheel.

In a second, she was seated in the front seat, throwing away any sense she had out of the window. 

‘What does he want? Why is he back? Why am I in his car? What the fuck am I doing?’

Thoughts popped into her conscious brain, one after the other. But for some reason, only her subconscious knew, Shanaya pushed them away.

He jerked his head towards her in surprise. Little did he know just how surprised she herself was at the action.

"That was easy. I didn't need to persuade you. I thought I'd have to."

She gave him the side-eye and said, "What makes you think I got in because you wanted me to?"

"Why did you, then?" he asked his eyebrow in confusion.

With a smirk, Shanaya opened her palm. "Where's the other gift?"

"Oh," Dhruv sighed and laughed to himself, amused. "You haven't changed at all!"

"Don't tell me it's another bouquet. Of roses. Or chrysanthemums. Eww."

Dhruv laughed again. The sound was pleasant to her ears but she tried not to think more of it. 

"No, don't worry. And I'm allergic to chrysanthemums."

"Really? How sad."

He placed a hand on his chest and said dramatically with a deep frown, "Sadly, yes."

"Don't change the topic now. Where's my gift? Or are you lying?"

"Even you wouldn't accuse me of something like that," Dhruv claimed, causing the smirk on her face to widen.

"You think so? Try me."

"Let's not waste time on that. We could be doing something else instead," Dhruv claimed, his voice suddenly lowering to a seductive whisper. 

Shanaya smirked, gazing out of the window to hide her flushed cheeks. "You're the one wasting time."

"I'm only waiting for you to ask me why I've returned," he said, his voice going from sarcastic to serious with a blinking.

Shanaya tensed again. She turned her head and looked dead into his eyes, ignoring the intensity. "You'll wait till the end of time."

"Why?"

"I'm not going to."

"Why not?"

"Three words: I don't care."

But she cared. Shanaya cared so much that she wanted to scream at Dhruv. Why had he returned after cruelly tearing her apart? Where was he when she needed him? When the whole world was turned against her and all she wanted was to be in his arms?

Dhruv shook his head gently, humming. "You're good at many things. But as far as I remember, lying isn't one of them."

Shanaya steadied her breath, but on the inside, she felt like a sensitive switch, ready to cause an explosion at any moment. "How do you know I haven't got better at it in your absence?"

"Shanaya."

"Dhruv."

The way he was looking at her made the hair on the nape of her neck rise. She couldn’t help but stare at his lips. The thought of wanting to close the distance between them was hard to keep at bay.

Why did he still have such an effect on her? She knew she hated him, but now in his presence, the attraction she felt was undesirable.

He turned his head back to the road, finally accepting his defeat. "Okay," he said, "You win. For now." What he didn't say was: I'll have you begging me for the answer.

Shanaya took the fleeting seconds for which her sense returned and sent a quick text to Neil, informing him that she had to go back to her apartment for some reason.

The key turned and the engine started and soon the car revved across the road.

"Where are we going?"

Before Shanaya had the time to think over it, the question was out. The amusement on Dhruv's face was visible from miles away when he claimed, "Somewhere."

The urge to ask more was strong but she settled it by losing herself on the sight outside. The noisy part of the city had passed. They were heading somewhere quieter, surrounded by more trees and lesser skyscrapers.

The pounding in her chest made a return. She worried about what this gift may be. A surprise of some sort she hoped. When the thought of him possibly wanting to introduce her to his wife and two years old child appeared in her mind, her heartbeat ceased for a second.

‘He's not married,’ she assured herself. ‘He can't be.’

If the situation was any different, a quick G****e search would've cleared her doubts but she couldn't risk it with him sitting close enough to get a peek. She had no mind to amuse him any more than she had done.

Shanaya was more concerned about his reason for returning though she made all efforts to conceal it. She counted on Neil to give her the answer. Her cousin was close friends with Dhruv's younger sister, Kirti, and thus likely to know what had caused him to enter her life again.

The car stopped outside a big house. It wasn't his family home, Shanaya knew long before they halted. She had spent too much time there to not recognize it from miles away.