The Clingy Fiancee

Chapter Six

“Why are you telling all of this to me?” I asked him. Surely if he didn’t remember anything, then he would have been slightly careful with whom he was sharing his current situation with. There were a lot of people in the world who could find him and use his clueless state to their advantage, “Do you keep telling your life story to any stranger you find here?”

He frowned slightly, and I couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t so expressive anymore. “No, I don’t…” He paused for a moment, as if he himself was wondering why he was telling me all of it, “One reason: you don’t seem to pity me. Two: I don’t really know. I just felt like you needed to know that you are not the one with the biggest problems in the world.”

“Well, I was not thinking of jumping off the bridge if that’s what you are still thinking.” I said, appalled. Surely, I didn’t look that suicidal for him to think that I was actually going to jump off and kill myself.

“Well, that’s good then.” He gave me s small nod, starting to walk away without even saying goodbye.

Guess what? He had lost his manners with his memories.

“Hey! Where are you going?” I yelled after him, and then ran after him till I fell into step with him.

“There was no need for me to stay here anymore.” He said.

I walked faster and stood right in front of them, stopping him from moving. “Don’t leave without an introduction.” I held out my hand and smiled sweetly, “I’m Myra Bhatt.”

He paused. And stared. He kept staring at me like he was trying to figure about something, and I knew my name had rung a familiar bell in his head - only that he didn't know who I really was to him.

He sighed, “Myra, I’m M.” He too, held out his hand to shake mine.

The moment his warm hand closed around my hand, I could feel the warm sparks that shot up my arm because of his touch. It had been months since I had last touched him.

And while I had completely expected the sparks and fireworks that lit up inside me merely at his touch, he did not expect them.

He immediately pulled away his hand and frowned slightly at me. “Who are you?” He whispered softly, his voice hoarse, and I knew it wasn’t just a question. It was a desperate plea that came from him because a part of him had recognized me, remembered me, and it was boggling him.

I was so, so damn happy!

“I told you, I’m Myra Bhatt.” The woman who loves you more than anyone else in this world.

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

We ended up walking towards the entrance of the skypark together. The walk was entirely silent, pretty much because he had nothing to share and I was too engrossed in my thoughts to talk to him.

I was confused about a lot of things when it came to him, and I knew I would only get the answers from the hospital where he had been during his three month coma.

Tears welled in my eyes at the image that formed in my head. Neil alone, fighting for his life while he was in coma without anyone else to help him; and then, waking up, only to find out that he was alone and didn’t remember a thing about the past.

“Why were you crying?” His voice interrupted my thoughts and I blinked back my tears. He didn’t need to know that I was crying, again.

“I lost someone, right in this place. I was wondering how it had been for him, going through all of it alone.” I smiled at him slightly.

At my words, I could see he swallowed before he asked, “Did you love him? Do you love him?”

“Very much, yes. I still do love him and I think I always will.” I replied sincerely.

He nodded - his features hardening into a blank expression. I was confused again; did I say something wrong? Or was it that I said something that triggered him.

Slowly, I realized that he had begun to walk away and in the past half an hour, I didn’t find a single way to communicate with him. I had to come up with something, soon, because once I lost sight of him, I knew it would be difficult to find him again.

“Hey! Ne–M!” I called out after him for the second time in the day. “I need a favour.” I said to him.

“What?” he snapped, sounding slightly annoyed.

“I…uh…don’t have a place to stay for the next two days. The hotel in which I had booked a room…they messed up the booking and ended up giving the room to someone else. I’m completely stranded with no place to go and no one to help.” I tried to sound desperate, because I was lying. I had no booking done in the first place; I had rented a car and was going to sleep in it for the night. “Do you know any motels around, or a place where I could stay at least for the night?”

He thought for a moment, “I don’t know if there are any good places to stay around for the night…” He paused for a moment, deep in thought. I waited patiently for him to come to a decision and hoped that it worked in my favour, “I live with an old couple at the moment. Misha’s son was the doctor who had tended to me during the coma and after. While he is out of the country for official reasons, he asked me to stay with his parents. It’s a comfortable arrangement for both of us. There’s an empty room in the house; I don’t think they would mind you occupying it for a couple of days.”

He could see the way my face lit up at his words because he gave me his first genuine smile. I threw myself at him, unashamedly, and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, burying my face in his shoulder. I held on tight, even though he was standing very uncomfortably, and I was waiting for him to push me away.

He didn’t and I savoured the moment I had. I could feel my muscles slowly easing, the tension and the worries slowly leaving my body. For that moment I felt whole again, I felt as if I was at home.

So slowly, that even I didn’t realize, Neil brought his arms around me and leaned down slowly so his face was buried in my hair. My body was crushed against his, and no matter how inappropriate it was for two strangers to embrace so intimately, I didn’t want to leave him.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to cry and scold him for putting me through all of this. I wanted to hold his face in my hands and kiss him deeply so that he would remember how much I loved him.

I wanted him to know that he had a home, and I was not going to return to India without him by my side.

“Thank you, thank you so much!” My muffled voice was barely heard by him, but I was sure he could feel my tightened hold on him.

And in return, he held me just as tightly.

And at this moment, I finally let myself be happy.

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

I narrowed my eyes when I looked outside the window, and again narrowed my eyes at the impassive visage of the man next to me. There were motels everywhere here, and most of them looked pretty good enough. I internally smiled to myself, letting myself believe that he had wanted me close to him and it was why he had offered me to stay with him.

He was probably thinking I was some kind of a fool, going willingly with a stranger without thinking of the repercussions. He was the one driving the rental car and I was thankful because I was a very shitty driver. For some reason, his driving seemed to be just the same as before his accident.

Hell, was he even allowed to drive a vehicle, right now?

He pulled into the parking lot of what looked like an apartment building. I was too busy staring at the man taking my luggage out of the trunk to notice the other things around me. Once my only two bags were out of the trunk, I rushed to grab my bags before he could get hold of them. Even though I had loved it when he became the charming, chivalrous gentleman, right now was just not the time to burden him with more things. He was already doing a huge favour by letting me stay here at this place, so I thought it was better if I at least carried my bags myself.

“It was completely alright if I carried them, you know? You don’t have to act as if I’m going to take your bags and run away.” He sounded annoyed.

I smiled sheepishly at him, “I can hold them, you know. It’s just that you’re already doing me a huge favour by offering me a place to stay. I don’t want to burden you with more of my stuff.”

“They’re just bags, Myra.” My heart fluttered; my name fell from his lips so easily, so smoothly, and my insides melted. “Here, give one of them to me. I feel like a fool empty handed when I can easily help you out.”

I gave him the smaller bag out of the two and he rolled his eyes. I let out a small giggle as he led the way to the elevator that was going to take me to the place that had been his shelter for the past entire month.

“Adrian’s mother, Misha, is a wonderful woman and I think you will get along well. His father is barely at home but he is a warm person, too. They are used to having a lot of strangers at their home for a lot of time so don’t worry about them feeling uncomfortable about anything.” He told me as we entered the elevator.

“Okay.” I said in a small voice just when the elevator closed.