Chapter 38-Gurleen
Of all the things she had expected him to do this definitely took the cake.As he pulled her closer, she lost her balance and narrowly escaped falling on top of him by bracing against his shoulders.It took her a few seconds to regain her balance and she found herself staring into his eyes.Meanwhile,his arms had found their way around her waist,supporting her.He gently lowered her and adjusted his position;she found herself sitting on his lap.
He waited for her to pull away but she didn't.He caressed her face with one hand with the other still around her waist.She felt him trace her forehead,eyes and nose before hovering over her lips.She closed her eyes as she felt him touch them reverently.A curious tingle shot up her spine as his hand made his way to her neck.He ran down the entire length of her neck ,all the way upto her shoulder blade before retracing his path.He even undid her braid and combed through her tresses,separating each strand.
Without realising it, they'd moved closer to each other,their noses almost touching.She opened her eyes and found herself staring into deep pools of melancholy.He seemed rather dazed as he fixated her with an intense stare.She was unable to move,captivated by his gaze and found herself leaning towards him subtly;she paused ,giving him the window of opportunity to push her away.
When he didn't,her heart leapt and she swiftly closed the rest of the distance between them, her lips meeting his.When he stiffened,she tried to pull away but to her surprise,he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms tighter around her, deepening the kiss.Tendrils of electricity danced up her arms ,sizzling her skin.Her heart beat wildly ,almost as if attempting to break out of her ribcage .Meanwhile,he had moved on to her chin and jaw,each peck burning her from within.He quickly made it down her neck ;she gasped when he approached her pulse point.
He returned to her lips and the kiss which had started off soft,grew more demanding;they finally broke free when both of them needed air.She knew she looked a mess with her hair askew and lips swollen,not to mention the blush creeping up her face.He looked no better,she had managed to mess up his hair again;she attempted to smooth it over.
They sat in silence for a while attempting to find their bearings.The dazed look hadn't left his eyes yet ;he was in an entirely different world it seemed.When he finally let go of her,she scrambled off and elected to sit beside him again.Neither said a word,both too confused to contemplate.
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The next morning
"It's just a sprain; there are no fracture lines on the x ray.I'll just stabilize your ankle and you'll be good to go.Make sure you give that foot a lot of rest though and take these tablets when it hurts badly."said the doctor.
It wasn't long before her foot was patched up and she was cleared to go home.
"Parjaai,could you please drop me off at the Brar office building?"
Her Parjaai looked at her quizzically.
"Why do you wish to go there?"
"Daarji wishes me to meet the board before I officially take over tomorrow."
To their surprise,they found Jaspal waiting for her at the reception desk.Her Parjaai raised an eyebrow at her while she shrugged.
"Sat sri akaal Pammi ji, Gurleen."
He refused to meet her eyes.A flicker of irritation passed through her.
"I would like to drive Gurleen to our office."
Her Parjaai didn't look too pleased.
"You need not concern yourself with her.I am more than capable of driving her around."
Gurleen sighed.It seemed the cold war between the Brars and Babbars would never abate.No matter how much they professed to tolerate each other,too many egos had been hurt for any pretence of civility.And her Parjaai had started growing possessive on top of everything, suddenly worried that Jaspal would take her place in her life ,hence the extra hostility.
"Pammi ji,I wasn't asking for permission.I just declared my intentions.I have no intention of backing out until and unless Gurleen herself declines my offer."
He still didn't look her in the eye.
"No one needs to drive.I can hail a cab and reach the office by the time you finish squabbling."
It effectively shut the two of them up.
"Gurleen, I'm afraid I have a lot of work at home.I trust him to drive you safely."
Jaspal nodded with a slight smirk.To her shock,he took her arm and led her to his car parked outside,opening the door for her.
Once the two of them had settled in,he started to drive.It took her a while to finally find her voice.
"It's strange that you are perfectly capable of asserting your right over me in public,but when it's just the two of us,you conveniently forget everything."
"We have appearances to keep up in public and in front of the family."
She rolled her eyes.
"Did we have an audience yesterday night as well?"
He blushed deeply.
"We should talk about it, shouldn't we?",he asked softly.
She sighed,
"Yes,it has complicated everything.It's a bit difficult to pretend that nothing has changed between the two of us."
"I know Gurleen.But perhaps we should slow down and think this through.I'll admit that I have been attracted to you from the beginning.However,it has not evolved into love and I'm sorry, I'd like to keep it that way."
She mused over his words before replying.
"I too am not in love with you.I have a great deal of respect and admiration and think you'd make a good friend,but my feelings do not run deeper than that.At the moment, I'm just disappointed that we cannot trust each other, there's nothing more to that as well."
She knew she had been the one to kiss him first;but that was one topic she conveniently ignored.Her feelings were too messy to handle.
He suddenly stopped the car;they had arrived.
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