Janani walked gingerly up the red carpet ,her fingers gripping tightly to Armaan's rock hard biceps .
There was a huge crowd in the foyer and cameras were flashing in all the directions and she felt very uncomfortable
They paused to talk to a couple who seemed vaguely familiar .They are foreigners and she had no idea how she knows them.Relieved to see atleast two friendly faces and trying to work out where she knew them from ,Janani smiled and chatted ,finding them surprisingly approachable .She definitely knew them from somewhere
As Armaan led her away into the foyer, she was still smiling.
"They were nice. I know I’ve met them before somewhere ,I can’t think where—. Do they work with you? What are their names? Which country are they from??"
When he told her, she stared at him in mortified silence.
"Right. Both of them Hollywood stars. The reason I know their faces is because I’ve seen them both in the movies. Now I’m embarrassed. Oh, my God—they must have wondered why I was grinning at them like an idiot." She cried in embarrassment
"You were charming and not at all star-struck. And you didn’t ask for their autograph ,which is always refreshing "
"That's because I didn't recognize them. If I had I would have definitely asked for an autograph" Janani tightened her grip on his arms "Do you think they realized?? What if I offended them??"
"They enjoyed talking to you.There is no need to make holes in my arm" and she slackened her grip
Armaan gritted his teeth.
Finally he saw Janani Trivedi in action
This is how she does her magic around people
Janani was relieved when they moved into the event hall but the relief was short lived as she was forced to separate away from Armaan, the only person she knows here, by the hostess of the event
She became even more apprehensive when the hostess made her sit between two old men roughly in their early seventies who appears to have a poker face.
A while later Armaan was talking to Arjun Shastri the PRO of the hospital for which the charity event is conducted
"I thought you are off dating scene Armaan. I thought you would be coming alone for the event like you did for the last one year" Tabitha the hostess said as she approached them.
She stroked her long red fingernails on his sleeves and continued
"So tell me what's it about her that brought you out of your self imposed celibacy??"
"You need to ask??" Armaan asked raising his eyebrows
"Well, she’s pretty, of course, in a slightly unsophisticated way that a man might find appealing—"
There was a flinty glint in Tabitha’s eyes and Armaan turned his head and noticed Janani laughing uninhibitedly with the two South Indian billionaires, both known for their arrogant refusal to speak English at social events.
They were taciturn, remote and notoriously unapproachable and yet both appeared to be listening to Janani with rapt attention.
How was she making herself understood??
From across the table, Armaan tried to hear what she was saying. She was chatting non-stop, her hands moving as she illustrated her point. Occasionally she paused to sip champagne or listen to their response.
"Clever of you to find a woman who speaks both Tamil and Malayalam" Tabitha said "given your business interests with them. Is that how you met? Is she an interpreter or something?"
Janani spoke Tamil and Malayalam??
Unable to hear her above the noise from the surrounding tables, Armaan focused his gaze on her lips and realised that she was indeed speaking a different language
His hostess was watching him.
"You didn’t know, did you? Well, if she can persuade them to open their wallets when the charity auction begins, then she’ll certainly get my vote." She said and walked away
Where had Janani learned to speak their language
Why hadn’t she mentioned it when he’d told her that they didn’t speak good English and that she wouldn’t be able to communicate without an interpreter?
And then he remembered her responding that she wouldn’t need an interpreter. At the time he’d assumed she’d meant that she’d be using sign language and lots of smiles—not once had it occurred to him that she spoke their language.
"Isn't that Janani Trivedi???" He heard Arjun Shastri asking
Armaan stiffened
How does Arjun knows Janani
Did she have a fling with him too??
"You know her???" Armaan asked and held his breath
Arjun looked a little uncomfortable and then answered vaguely
"Through a friend. My room mate at university ,Vikram is from Janani's hometown. I have met her a few times" Arjun said avoiding Armaan's eyes
Armaan tensed hearing the name Vikram
"Dr Vikram Thakur??" He asked for confirmation and saw the startled look in Arjun's eyes
"You know about Vikram?? " he asked and then sighed in relief
"That's good anyway. I'm happy that Janani has moved on finally, even though it took two years for her.Don't hurt her Armaan. She had been hurt pretty badly by Vikram. I know you are not into commitment. Don't give her hope" Arjun said and Armaan didn't know what to feel
Two years he said?
Wasn't it two years before she came for the surrogacy
It was in the last two years only there were multiple crimes in her name
Before two years, she had an absolutely clean chart
What happened two years ago??
Was that heartbreak the reason for her to go off the trails for the last two years
It seems a very convincing reason
People behave differently when heartbroken
Janani might have had a terrible one if she did things so out of her character
And maybe having Advi brought her back to tracks
Having Advi might have helped her to get over her heartache
But the thought of her being so in love with Vikram Thakur brought a strange ache in him
He sighed
Now he is making excuses for her behaviour ,great!!
He is definitely going crazy
He came out of his mental discussion and saw Janani having a brief talk with Arjun after which she returned back to Rajath Pillai and Raghu Ramaswamy.
Coffee was served as the auction began and there was a sudden flurry of movement as people swapped seats.
Her cheeks pink with excitement,Janani swayed to her feet and found her way to the seat next to him.
"I’m having such a nice time. Those men are so sweet. You should have mentioned how funny they were."
Armaan tightened his grip on the glass.
"Just as you should possibly have mentioned the fact that you’re fluent in their language "
"You were being arrogant and I thought it would be more fun to just surprise you. I thought it might teach you not to underestimate people." Craning her neck, she looked over his shoulder towards the stage and the dance floor. "What’s happening now?"
Armaan fingered the stem of his glass.
"I do not underestimate people."
"Yes, you do. But you probably can’t help it" she said kindly. "Is there going to be dancing?"
"It’s the auction first. The bidding will raise money for the charity." Armaan was still watching her. "Do you speak any other languages?"
"A little bit of Kannada and Telugu. So am I allowed to bid for something?"
"You speak four languages?"
"Six, if you count Hindi and English. How much am I allowed to bid?"
"Why didn't you learn any foreign languages??" He asked sarcastically
"Maa wouldn't allow me to watch foreign movies when I was a kid as they have so much kissing and all"
"Movies??? Are you telling me that you learned all these languages on your own" he asked and Janani laughed taking another sip of her champagne
"I'm a movie buff Armaan. And I'm a sucker for south Indian movies. At nursery age when my friends used to watch cartoons I was fascinated by movies and serials."
Armaan brooded
Everything about Janani Trivedi is so very contradicting and he is so damn confused
He was dimly aware of Janani leaning across the table, coaxing the South Indian billionaires into bidding enormous sums of money in the charity auction.
Even Tabitha was looking impressed as Janani switched between Tamil Malayalam and Hindi, extracting more money from the billionaires
If the circumstances had been different, Armaan would have laughed. As it was, he just wanted to leave.
Armaan watched with a frown as Tabitha made sure that Janani's glass was kept topped up. She was drinking the champagne as if it were soda, and he realised that if he didn’t remove her from this table quickly she was going to be drunk.
As the auction ended and a band started warming up on the stage, Armaan drained his glass and turned to Janani. "We’re leaving."
"No way. The dancing is about to start" Janani swayed in her seat
"I’ve never known Armaan to dance. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he didn’t have rhythm." Tabitha said looking at Armaan giving him a knowing look and he saw Janani's happy smile falter as she digested the meaning behind those words.
And as it is an already established fact that he could do anything to make her smile he pulled her into his arms and made his way to the dance floor making people who know Armaan Verma look on in wonder
"Smile." Armaan said as he slid his arms around her waist
"What is there to smile about? She’s flaunting the fact she’s had sex with you. She’s vile. And you have no taste. No wonder you’ve never wanted to settle down with anyone if she’s the sort of person you’ve been seeing." Janani said
She is definitely drunk
She would have never said that if she is not
"I have not had sex with her" Armaan breathed, bending his head so that he spoke the words in her ear and couldn’t be overheard. Immediately, her perfume wound itself round his senses.
"She was trying to cause trouble. Trying to hurt you. Don’t let her. You’re just over-emotional because you’ve had too much champagne. Now smile"
"Well, if I was really in a relationship with you as she thinks we are, I would have punched her. And I’m not over-emotional, I’m justifiably emotional." She said
They swayed together on the dance floor on the romantic number
Armaan felt every cell in his body getting alive as they are plastered to each other chest to chest ,hip to hip.
Janani hiccuped and then looked at him apologetically
"Sorry. I may have drunk just a little bit too much champagne—I’ve never had it before and it’s delicious."
"You’ve never had champagne before?" He asked frowning suspiciously
"Never." She said leaning her forhead against his chest
He lifted his hand and removed a strand of hair that have managed to loop itself around his bowtie
"I think I would better take you home"
"No way. I want to dance more. I like it here and I have never been to a party like this before" she swayed forcing him to sway along
Never been to a party like this before??
"There is another event tomorrow. I will take you with me for that. And I will make sure to not give you champagne " he muttered the last sentence under his breath
"I don’t care about tomorrow. I want to live for today. I like this party." She slid her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, her breath warm against his neck. "Please, Armaan, dance with me. You know you want to."
He locked his fingers around her wrists, intending to remove her arms, but then she smiled up at him and he found himself so captivated by that smile that instead of removing her arms, he slid his hands down her warm skin.
Her back was bare, her skin warm and smooth and tempting and raw lust shot through him. Without thinking about what he was doing, Armaan lowered his mouth towards hers.
"Teri Galiya....galiyaa teri..."
Armaan froze as she started to sing along
"Janani" Armaan felt tension prickle down his spine
"I like singing while dancing" she giggled merrily
Armaan picked up a drunk Janani in a swift move making her squeal
She wound her arms tightly around his neck and her face nuzzled against his neck increasing the tension in Armaan's body
"You smell so good" she mumbled making him groan as he took long strides across the hall
As soon as he dumped her in her room he could have a cold cold shower
Driving with a drunk Janani in the passenger seat singing nursery rhymes to herself, he cursed under his breath
He had no idea Janani had such a low tolerance for alcohol
Once he dropped her in her room and turned to go he heard her wailing loudly
"Where are my babies??" She asked looking around the room
"They are sleeping Janani. You too go to sleep" Armaan said
"Sleeping?? Without me?? I want to see my babies" she cried and he sighed in frustration
What had he brought upon himself
"You will wake them up Janani" he tried to make her understand
"I won't" she said straightening up and placing her index finger on her lips indicating that she would be silent
She is not going to lie down without seeing them
So he took her to Ava's room where both Ava and Advi are cuddled together with pillow walls around them and Mrs Seth on her bed already sleeping
They walked in without waking them and stood there looking contentedly at the children
Armaan felt the scene too intimate
He wanted this forever ,the unbidden thought rushed into his mind and Janani chose that moment to lean her head on to his shoulders
"Don't take my babies away from me Armaan" she mumbled before passing out
He silently picked her up and carried her to her room and placed her on the bed
He unhooked the buttons of her dress to make her more comfortable without removing the dress and he covered her with the duvet
He slowly tucked the wayward fringes of her hair behind her ears and bent down to press a light kiss on her forehead
"Why are you so difficult to understand Janani??"