The Clingy Fiancee

Chapter Seven

And just then, we were both wrapped in heavy silence. I didn’t know what was happening, but the air in the lift was thick with tension and I couldn’t help but peek at him through the corner of my eyes. I was suddenly reminded of the time when it had been just days since we had met each other. We had been trapped in the elevator that day...and it had been very awkward.

His stance was rigid as though he was uncomfortable. Was he claustrophobic? I didn’t think so. His fingers were twitching as if they were itching to grab onto something, and he was trying his best to control them. He looked confused, and glanced down at his hand once, and then turned to look at me.

I blushed slightly when I met his gaze, and then his eyes darkened.

Oh my God. That look…it had always managed to take my breath away, because it was the look he had which always led to me ending up under him on the bed.

Thankfully, just as the moment, the doors of the elevator opened and we were free from the confinement. Neil shook himself out of his haze and grabbed my bag, once again leading the way down the corridor. He stopped in front of the door at the farthest end and knocked on the door, thrice.

Even though we were no longer in the elevator, the air between us was still sizzling with electricity, and I was sure it was boggling his already confused mind. For me, it was a sign of hope because I had thought that I didn’t affect him the same way anymore. Now I knew that nothing had changed between us – between our bodies – even if his brain refused to remember anything.

Within a few moments, the door opened and revealed a woman who seemed to be somewhere in her late fifties, or early sixties. Yet, there was some kind of a spiritual aura about her that made me feel the positive vibes. I instantly knew that Neil had been in good hands and that caused to a genuine smile forming on my face.

“M, who is it that you have brought here?” The woman asked, him, standing at the door with a beautiful smile on her face. All the while I was wondering if I was going to age just as gracefully as her. She had those exotic Russian features, and I was sure she was a beauty in her younger days. She took another look at me and her eyes swept all over me, a twinkle entering them as I could almost see the gears ticking in her mind.

“Oh how impolite of me,” She spoke in perfectly fluent English, and thankfully it made conversation easy with her, “Please do come inside, sweetie, make yourself at home.”

Neil – no, sorry – M and I entered the house and I was immediately awestruck by the size and beauty of the apartment from inside. The décor had an ancient charm about it, and a slow grin formed on my face as I took in the wooden furniture and the beautiful, vibrant paintings that hung on the wall.

“Misha, this is Myra. She’s from…” he trailed off and looked at me; of course, I didn’t tell him where I had come from.

“India,” I answered for him, “I met M at the skypark in Sochi. I didn’t have a place to stay so he offered to bring me here.”

Misha smiled at my answer, but with it there was a look on her face. A look that said: I know there’s more to the story than what you’re telling me.

I gulped slightly. I had no intentions of hiding the truth from the doctor Adrian, the man who had treated and operated Neil, which meant I was sure as hell not going to hide it from Misha. But I was just slightly nervous about how they were going to react. Everything was going along perfectly at the moment, and I wanted nothing to ruin it.

“Oh indeed, it was very nice of you to bring her here. Why don’t I show you the room you’ll be staying at? Come with me.” She said and started walking out of the living room. I turned around to give Neil a smile but found that he was staring at me, instead, and immediately, another blush covered my cheeks.

I held out my hand for my bag, but he just rolled his eyes instead, and brushed past me towards the direction in which Misha was headed. I had no other option but to follow him.

Damn, he had become such a difficult man in the past few months.

************************************

I plopped down on my bed once I had taken a bath and had nothing left to do until it was dinner time.

So can you guess what I did?

I cried.

I cried, finally shedding those happy tears to erase those horrible memories from my mind. Everything was going to be fine now, and I was going to start a new chapter of my life with Neil. I really didn’t care about what would happen after Neil regained his memories; I just wanted everything to fall back into place as soon as it could.

My heart clenched at the thought of his parents and the misery they were going through at the moment. They had always loved me as if I was their own daughter and I knew one of the reasons why I flew all the way here was to make sure if they even had a reason to be miserable - which I could now prove that they didn't.

And I was so happy that I didn’t believe his stupid friends. I was so happy that I finally found him.

My phone on the side table rang and I took a look at the screen. Mehak was the one calling me and I picked up the call with a sob.

“Hey, Myra, how was day one? Found any clues?” She started off right before I could say anything else.

“I found him, Mehak.” I told her with a sob.

There was silence for a moment on the other side, and then I heard her voice, “Oh my God, Myra, I’m so sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Mehak. He has amnesia. I’m so glad he’s alive –”

“Wait! You…you mean to say, he’s alive? He’s actually alive? Neil is alive?”

“Yes, yes and yes.” I told her, a small squeal escaping my lips.

There was another lingering pause on the other side, and I knew Mehak was contemplating to ask me whether I was hallucinating or not.

“Wow, you really found him, didn’t you?" Another pause, "I never thought you would actually find him. When are you heading back to India?” She asked, her voice still distracted and shocked, and I was sure she probably didn’t believe me.

“Just the moment I can convince him to come to India with me. I’m not returning without him.” I told her.

“Alright, I understand. But s**t…you did find him. Do you know how the media’s going to hover over you if you aren’t careful? You wouldn’t want the news spreading around like wildfire when he’s in such a vulnerable state.”

“Yeah…I mean, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Clearly it is going to be a really tough job because I need to help him and it can only happen in Chandigarh. But it is a really small city and a lot of people know him there. This is a huge risk I’m taking.”

I heard her inhaling deeply on the other side, “s**t, Myra…I still can’t believe you found him. I’ll keep this news to myself though.”

Just at the same moment, I heard a knock at the door.

“Mehak, I’ll call you later, I need to go.”

“Alright, love you, bye.”

“Love you, too.” I hung up the phone and then got off the bed to open the door.

“Hey, Misha.” I smiled when I found the woman standing in the doorway with what looked like pillows and bedsheets in her hand.

“Do you like the room? Are you comfortable enough here?” She asked me, entering the room after handing me the bed sheets and pillows.

“Yes,” I gushed, “It’s so wonderful here. I really love your place.”

She grinned at me, “My husband had bought it right before our marriage. Piece by piece we had added colours and memories to our new home.”

“Wow.” Was all I could say as I grinned back.

She kept staring at me for a while, tilting her head to one side with a small smile on her face. I felt self conscious for the time she was staring at me - I didn’t know what exactly was going in her mind while she was staring at me.

“So…” She sat down on the bed and gave me another smile that lit up her eyes, “What is his name?”

My eyes widened in surprise, “What do you mean?”

“Now that I know that M stands for Myra, tell me, what is his name?” She gave me a knowing look and I realized that this old woman was more perceptive than she looked.

Suddenly, my admiration for her increased tenfold.

“Neil.”