Chapter 6

Rafael stepped out of his car and so did five armed bodyguards from the two black cars that were following him.

"Ruhi, enough with your tantrums! I haven't complained even one bit about this morning." He followed her as she click-clacked her heels extra hard against the concrete floor when she heard the word 'tantrum'. She spun around when he caught up to her.

"I wish you complained. Instead of saying one or two classic jerk lines and be done with it, you are acting passive aggressive ever since the phone call. Is it my fault if you can't use those big eyes of yours with extra-long eyelashes to find me at the mall entrance? I was starving and was about to eat lunch when you called, but you talk like only your time is precious. I got time off from work after one year of slogging and guess how I'm spending it?"

"Don't blame me for your problems since you were born, Ruhi. We could have reached the lawyer's office by now if you didn't enjoy listening to yourself talk so much."

"Well, if you were a good listener, it would have sunk into your busy brain that I ain't going nowhere with you."

She turned around to resume walking. He caught her by the wrist when she refused to stop. She was about to protest but was taken aback by how rough his hand was.

"Y-your hands?" She grabbed hold of his other hand, discreetly touched his palm with her fingers, and looked at him in shock. Rafael pulled his hand out of her grasp and released her wrist to stand at least a foot away from her.

"What about my hands?" He asked, looking at them to see what was so interesting about them. "Have I grown Wolverine claws?"

"They are very rough. I never saw anyone's hands feel calloused except my grandfather's. He was a farmworker."

Rafael sighed, wondering if she was going to start talking about her entire family tree. 'She will get butt hurt and cause even more drama if I cut her off,' he thought.

"Are you an imposter? Like the poor coal miner twin of the wealthy heir who is temporarily taking the place of the rich, spoiled brat and running the company in his absence?"

Rafael thought she was kidding, but her face looked darn serious like she was really considering it as the only possible explanation. He felt the chilly air blow the first few raindrops as they hit him in the back, and a large droplet trickled down the tip of Ruhi's nose, but she was oblivious to her surroundings.

"I guess you watch a lot of downmarket movies to come up with something so ridiculous. I lift." He said, running his thumb across his forehead to wipe off the rainwater. 

"Lift?"

"I lift weights at the gym. God, Ruhi. Do you even have electricity in your hometown?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know you can't help being a jerk, don't you?" Her brows scrunched in annoyance. 'Did he get extra handsome suddenly? Is that even possible?' She wondered while watching him run his hand through his thick mop of hair and put it back on his hip.   

"I don't have to be nice to you. It will only take me a second to let these men put you in the back of their car and drag you to wherever I need you at." Ruhi followed his gaze to see that his armed bodyguards were waiting for his instructions, standing only a few feet away from them. 'How long have they been standing there?' She was surprised.

She was so lost looking into his eyes and examining his hands that she didn't feel the icy raindrops beating against her face. She glanced at the men and remembered seeing one of them last night at the rooftop. She thought he was the bouncer at the club, not his bodyguard. Once she was done staring at them, she let out a peal of laughter.

Rafael crossed his arms and said in a firm tone, "I'll count to three and you are going to be abducted after that." "One..."

She ignored him and prattled on.

"I thought bodyguards looked unnaturally grumpy only in the movies. The one on the left looks like he is constipated. The one next to him is so pissed as if his wife took the remote away when he was watching a football game. Do you specifically look for men with such appearances to qualify during the interview?"

She asked while facing the men in black, not noticing Rafael approach her to wrap his arms around her waist and pick her off the ground. "This buzz cut one-- ahh, Rafael! Put me down!"

She wiggled around and wrapped her legs around his torso in the fear of being thrown into the car trunk. Subtle notes of his perfume, patchouli and bergamot, filled her nostrils when she leaned in closer and put her arms around his shoulders.

"Guess we will be here all night if I let you talk." He pushed away her wet hair sticking to his face.

One of his men opened the passenger door before he reached for it. He unhooked her legs from around him and shoved her inside his car.

"Why is your hair wet?" She asked as a drop from his damp hair touched her chin when he leaned down to fasten her seatbelt. She forgot to unwrap her arms around him.

"You are wearing a thick sweater and this skullcap to cover your numbskull. You would obviously not feel--" He paused without knowing when he saw her cup her cheeks in surprise and suck in a deep breath. 

"They are cold and wet, I didn't notice." She said in a shaky voice, unable to look away from his lips. She chewed on her own lips nervously, taking in every subtle detail of his wet face from up close.

He ignored her words and what she did to her lips and closed the door.

"Why don't you have someone chauffeur you around as some rich folks do?"

"I love to drive. It's a great stress buster after work."

She suddenly missed her new car.

"I also--"

He cut her off, "Not when I have company and they refuse to shut up." 

He sped on the freeway while the wind howled against them. She only heard of speed maniacs until then but was seeing one today. Watching him maneuver through the rain and traffic without braking or slowing down made her throat go dry in fear.

"You are giving me palpitations," she said, holding her breath.

"Good. Now I know I should tie you up in my car and race it on the freeway whenever I want to talk to you... um, need, not want. I'd never want to talk to you."

She didn't respond and diverted her attention to the dashboard instead of looking at the road and be terrified. Scanning for the local radio station, she stopped when she heard a LoFi version of Frank Sinatra's Fly Me to the Moon.

"Your phone is buzzing," he told her, unable to suppress a smile when he saw her scared face.

"Please look at the road." She almost begged him while fishing for her phone in the handbag.

She saw her sister's name and dismissed the call. Adira was being very nosy about knowing every single detail these days, and it was getting on her nerves. Soon it will be morning in India and her mom will also call her and reprimand her for not calling them back on the first day of the new year. She saw Dhruv's missed calls as well, and it dawned on her then that she hadn't thought about him even for once since Rafael called her.

A cold draft of wind hit her on the right and she looked up to see Rafael holding the door for her to step out.

"Oh..."

"You okay?" He smirked.

She ignored him and walked to the nearest elevator in the underground parking lot to push the button as if she already knew the place. How did she forget about Dhruv's existence? She hated herself for being the unfaithful one while she used to get mad at him all the time for merely looking at someone. Stepping into the elevator, she put her phone back into her purse without calling him as there was no reception in that part of the building.

Rafael followed her and pressed number 15 and waited, watching her feel uncomfortable and angry.

'God, what is she mad about now. I just need her to behave until she signs the papers,' he thought. His dad already found a backup woman to marry if things with Ruhi and her parents didn't work out. He rather choose Ruhi, who had a boyfriend and a solid reason to not want the wedding just like him.

The entourage of bodyguards and some other man who was from the law firm followed them as they walked into the law office suite.

"Mr. Emhoff will be available in just a minute. He's wrapping up with a client." The lawyer's assistant said as Rafael and Ruhi sat down on leather armchairs. She brought out some light refreshments and Ruhi's stomach growled in agitation.

She devoured the muffins and gulped down the coffee in the blink of an eye.

"Wow, she's quite a spectacle," Mr. Emhoff's lips curled up in a sarcastic smile as he whispered to Rafael, staring at Ruhi's outfit. Ruhi wiped her hand to her pants and extended it for a handshake.

"Save your remarks. Don't fuck this up," Rafael whispered back and jabbed his lawyer friend in the arm.

"I'm Eddy. It's very nice to meet you, Ruhi." He smiled warmly and set up two stacks of papers on his mahogany desk.

"The wedding is in nine days? And it's not happening in India??" Ruhi stood up in disagreement when her eyes fell on the first page of the contract. 

"Why would it happen in India? I'm a third generation American and have no ties with India." Rafael realized she was going to make his lawyer rewrite the entire contract by nitpicking and blabbering about big fat Indian weddings and how each one of her friends got married.

He sucked in a deep breath and looked at Eddy helplessly.