The Clingy Fiancee

Chapter Nine

I finally had the time to look at the room that had been given to me for my stay here in this apartment. The room was incredibly spacious and I had to say that it was big enough to fit three people in comfortably. The decor of the room was a combination in the shades of yellow and brown, something I never knew would look so beautiful.

The mattress, obviously, was as soft as probably what a cloud felt like, and that was why I was keeping myself from even touching it.

I knew I would fall asleep instantly.

I eyed the Sofa that dominated the left side of the room and sat down on it, curling up into myself so that I could feel more comfortable. Then I took out my phone and opened my gallery, finding pictures of Neil and me right on top.

I tapped on one of the pictures, and my heart melted at the way he was looking at me in it. It was one of my favourites; the others being just the same – both of us gazing at each other as if we were lost in our own world.

I sighed, loudly; where did everything go wrong? Why did things have to turn out for worse, and that too, one after the other. I was not going to stop myself from asking these questions, even though I knew that I was probably never going to get my answer.

A knock on the door brought me out of my thoughts, and I immediately turned off my phone.

“Come in!” I yelled, and the door opened.

I didn’t really have to look in his direction to know who was going to come in. The telltale tingles running down my spine, and the way he didn’t barge into my room the way Misha did, I knew it was Neil.

I stood up when he came into my sight, and grinned at the way his cheeks were flushed. How long exactly had he been standing out of the door before he actually decided to come in?

“Hey.” He said, in his usual cool baritone, sounding more confident of himself than he did back when we were talking about him accompanying me back to India.

“Hi. Did you need something?” I asked him, sitting down on the bed and patting the space beside me. Without any hesitation, he comfortable took his seat next to me – almost too close to me for a near stranger.

“It’s something I should be asking you, you are the guest here.” he said, “I actually wanted to ask you a few things about myself.”

I paled a little. What did he mean? I was not that obvious, was I? Also, I didn’t think Misha would tell him everything without informing me first.

“What do you mean? What can I possibly tell you about you?” I laughed slightly, hoping that it didn’t sound as forced as it was.

“I actually meant to ask you if my mannerisms, accent, anything...can tell that I come from India?”

“Hm...” I pretended to think, “Well, almost everything does. I also remember Misha telling me that you speak Hindi very fluently. Your features, skin colour, texture...I have to admit, when I first saw you, I had assumed that you came from somewhere in the Indian Subcontinent.”

He was deep in thought for a few moments, and I took advantage of his lost state. I leaned into him slightly, feeling the warmth that his body emanated. It was highly comforting; feeling him warm and alive right next to me.

I wanted to kiss him, badly.

“And Chandigarh...the name sounds familiar...too familiar. Could it be that I lived there?” he asked.

I gulped slightly, “Yes, it could be. Or perhaps, you frequented that city quite often, maybe your parents lived there, or your girlfriend...” I trailed off.

His brows scrunched up when I mentioned girlfriend, and then he took in a troubled breath, running his fingers through his hair, “I have people back at home, who love me, care for me, and are probably waiting for me...or thinking that I...I...”

“Hush,” I put my finger to his lips and stopped him from speaking further. No way was I going to blurt out that his family already thought he was dead. “I’m pretty sure that the people who love you are doing their best to search for you. Don’t worry, we’ll find them soon, alright?”

Immediately, a thought struck my mind. It was not going to be much of a help, but it would make him feel like we were making at least some kind of progress.

He frowned at me when I jumped out of the bed and opened the bedside drawers to find a pen and paper. Once I found them, I plopped myself next to him and handed him both the items.

“Now, M, look at me, and sign that paper.”

“What?” He asked incredulously.

“I want your signature on that paper.” I looked at him straight in the eye so he would know that I wasn’t joking. “And you are going to look at me when you do that.”

He nodded slowly, comprehending what I was trying to do. Then he looked at me, looked at me, and I was pretty sure that I was going to swoon with the way his gaze held mine.

From the periphery of my vision, I could see that his hand had already finished the movement, yet his gaze remained unwavering as if he could not look away from me. My breath hitched as the intensity of his gaze slowly increased, and he leaned in closer.

I abruptly broke away the eye contact.

“I see, you already have the signature.” I took the paper from him and placed it between us, creating some distance, “And see what your signature is.”

Right on the paper was the signature that I had been so familiar to. The same strokes, the same symbols, and the same handwriting, yet it was just as confusing for Neil. Well you see, my ex fiancé had a very complicated signature, and it meant that no one could really figure out what was written in it.

I could make out the ‘Neil’ of his name very well, although, Neil was looking at the signature from a different perspective.

“See here, that’s the ‘M’.” He told me, tracing out the ‘M’ overwritten over the ‘N’ with his fingers.

I never knew it was there; perhaps it was just out of coincidence that an ‘M’ formed in his signature. This was not really going to help in any way.

“Well,” I scrunched up my nose, “The signature is not at all legible. I don’t think it’s of any help.”

For a few moments, there was silence and I did not hear any response from him. Instead, I looked up to find him staring at me with a lost frown on his face.

Then, I remembered.

“You are Neil Singhania, aren’t you?” A little boy came up to him and asked, “Can I have your signature?”

“Yes, buddy.” Neil sat down on his haunches, grinning at the little boy from ear to ear. The boy grinned back, shyly handing him a photograph for him to sign on.

Once they had chatted up a little and I had enjoyed the sight of my boyfriend being heart-meltingly good with kids, I glanced at the signature.

“Well,” I scrunched up my nose, “The signature is not at all legible. I don’t think anyone can make head or tail out of it.”

I cleared my throat. And then fell back on the mattress, slowly feeling the sleepiness fogging my brain. Told you, I only needed to touch the mattress and I was ready to fall asleep.

“Don’t you worry your head so much, M. We will get you back home.”

And then the sleep paralysis overtook me.

“Wait...you were awake just now...and you fell asleep?” when I didn’t respond for a long time, I heard a chuckle, “Definitely weird.”

I heard shuffling of footsteps for a while and then slowly, I was being lifted into the air, and then set down on the bed so that I was completely lying down. He brought the covers over me as he tucked me in, and then I could feel his breath on my forehead, “I don’t know about getting home, Myra...

“But I am sure, that I have found my home in you.”

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The next day was spent with Neil’s presence looming over me all the time, so much that Misha was getting annoyed. It was like he had his ears pressed to the door of my room so that he could know what I was doing at what time. At first, I had thought it was her doing – sending him my way all the damn time, but when I saw that Misha was nearly dying to find me alone, I realised that it was all him.

The moment I had woken up in the morning, a knock was on my door, and Neil entered in, staring at me as if I was the most beautiful thing in the world even with all my morning glory. My eyes looked large and slightly puffy, there was drool on the corner of my mouth, my clothes were rumpled and my hair was a wild mess.

Yet, he stood there, staring at me, and grinning at me widely, “Good morning, Myra. The breakfast will be ready in a few moments so quickly freshen up and come outside.”

It had dazzled me then, watching him so carefree and relaxed as he grinned at me in the morning. I was in a daze for a few moments at the sight that had greeted me in one of my most vulnerable states and I could only nod at him.

I did just that and was just about to step out of the room when Neil was passing by, and again he said, “Hey,” which startled me. He was back to his reserved self, yet his eyes were full of intent, which I later realised was me spending my entire time with him.

I didn’t really understand if it was endearing or scary.

“Finally got you alone.” Misha muttered when she sent him on an errand, “Or that boy absolutely refused to leave you. He even asked me if he could take you with him.”

I let out a chuckle at the way she was huffing. “What?” she asked, “There’s nothing to laugh about! His behaviour was borderline obsessive and it has been only a day. Don’t tell me he mooned over you like this all the time before the accident.”

At that line, my smile faded slightly. It was me who clung to him all the time and mooned over him. He was the one who desperately wanted his space.

“That brings me to ask you another question that he had interrupted yesterday.”

Oh boy, she wasn’t leaving me until she had all the answer squeezed out of me.