Janani woke up to the rhythm of a steady heartbeat and the warmth of a strong pair of arms around her.
She slowly opened her eyes and was met with the peaceful sight of Armaan sleeping with her in his arms
She slowly raised her hands and touched his cheeks gently before pressing a feather light kiss on his cheeks
A smile formed on her face and she blushed remembering what happened before falling asleep in his arms.
She had been kissed before by Vikram and it had never felt like what it felt like yesterday. Whenever Vikram kissed her she could remember her thoughts drifting off to various happenings in her life unlike last night where all she was aware of was of his warm lips being on her.
She believed she was not a passionate person when it comes to physical intimacy and had always wondered how it would be to be passionately attracted to someone when Saanvi used to tell her about....
Saanvi!!!
The reminder was like pouring cold water on her feelings
Along with it the panic set it
How could she let it happen?? How could she let it happen before telling him the truth
She gently extricated herself from his arms without waking him and made a bee line for her room making sure the coast is clear
She just can't have anyone seeing her exiting Armaan's room in the early hours of the dawn
Once inside the room she started pacing to and fro cursing herself for being so stupid
To calm her mind she decided it's best to go to the nearby mandir and have a heart to heart talk with Lord Shiva.
Once she checked the kids and saw that they are already awake ,she thought it would be nice to take them to the mandir with her
Armaan woke up to an empty room and sighed
Did he really expect to wake up with her in his arms??
Maybe he did!!
A man can always dream ,he chuckled at the irony of the situation
All his life he had runaway from commitment and had never let a women stay over
He had never let a woman in his home .It had always been him going to their place which makes it easier to leave at night rather than trying and getting them out of his place
And the one woman he wanted to spend the night cuddled up with couldn't get away fast enough
Did that Vikram guy hurt her to such an extent??
He is by now convinced that whatever aberrations that happened in his Janani's life for the past two years to make her act so out of her character is the after effect of her heartbreak
And he would help her heal.
He would give her so much love that she would forget a Vikram even existed in her life
Armaan freshened up and got ready for his office.There is no point in taking an off today as Janani would be joining school.
He came down to an empty kitchen and frowned
Where is Janani?? Is she still sleeping?? He looked around only to find Khanna coming into the kitchen and pouring a cup of coffee from the kettle for him
So she made the coffee and disappeared??
Is she feeling awkward after last night. Its possible
He sighed and took a sip of the coffee only to spit it out
"What the hell is this??" He asked frowning at Khanna who was looking at him expectantly
"Coffee sir"
"Coffee??? This?? Where is Janani?? Who made this concoction??" He asked pushing the cup away from him
"I made the coffee just how Janani asked me to make" Khanna said
"Where is Janani???" His main question was not being answered and he is getting frustrated
"She has gone to mandir"
"Who has gone to the mandir??" Aadesh walked into the kitchen
"Janani and the kids" Khanna said
There was an unusual silence in the kitchen
Both the brothers couldn't look at each other after what happened last night
Aadesh doesn't want his brother to ask him anything regarding what happened yesterday and Armaan doesn't want his brother to know that he knows what happened
The silence was broken by the sound of little feet running towards them
They looked up to see Ava in a red silk skirt and top running towards them. She has jasmine flower pinned to her hair and tilak applied on her forhead
She did a little impromptu twirl in front of them
"Pwetty??" She asked earning a smile from her dada and chachu
"Ava baby is the prettiest " Armaan said and picked his daughter up and made her sit on the kitchen island after giving her a tight kiss on her cheeks
He again looked towards the door when he heard the footsteps and his breath caught in his lungs at the sight in front of him
Janani clad in a simple red chiffon saree with Advi on her hip and a small thali in her hands
Advi was wearing an off white silk kurta and he too had a tilak on his forhead.
Aadesh picked up Advi from her and Janani fed him the prasad and applied tilak for Aadesh too
Then she came towards him a forwarded the prasad towards his hand.
"You won't feed me??" He asked in a slight whisper and Janani silently fed him the prasad and applied the tilak for him too
He had never been a believer in God and had never stepped foot in a temple before but if this makes her happy ,then so be it
She looked at the coffee cup on the table and raised an eyebrow
"You didn't have your coffee??" She asked
"Its not a coffee...its some sort of concoction Khanna made with coffee powder. I need your coffee to start my day Janani" he said and she busied herself in making the coffee
As she took the sugar tin she saw it was empty. The larger tin was in the top kitchen cupboard and she raised on her tip toes to reach for it
Armaan saw her tucking in the pallu of her saree around her waist and and he gulped seeing the creamy perfection of her waist
Janani felt extremely tensed. At the mandir she had made the decision.
She is going to tell him the truth. She can't keep up the ruse anymore. She has started to like him very much. And if she so much as wants to even think about a future with him she will have to come clean in front of him
And she is terrified of his reaction. All she can pray is that he wouldn't hate her once he knows the truth.
She was thinking about what would happen when the truth comes out that she didn't realise his presence until he reached for the tin himself
She stiffened when she felt him pressing himself closer to her
"You are a vision in saree ,sweetheart and red suits you" he whispered in her ears and was fascinated by the scarlet spreading from her neck towards the cheeks and he wondered if her entire body blushes like this
"Red is definitely your colour" he said huskily eyeing her blush and just because he couldn't help it he skimmed his fingers along her exposed waist just for the hell of it
Janani felt the electricity passing through her entire body at the mere touch of his fingers
She looked around to see if anyone was around only to see Aadesh making funny faces at the kids making them laugh
"What are you doing Armaan??" She whispered slightly pushing him away
"What am I doing??" He asked huskily looking straight into her eyes and Janani's resolve strengthened
It's time he knows the truth
"We have to talk Armaan" she said and he frowned
"Talk what?" He didn't like the tone of it.
Call it a premonition, but he could feel it in his bones that something unpleasant is going to happen
"We will talk in the evening Armaan. It's very important" she said and his lips thinned in frustration
"Fine. I will drop you at the school. Get ready "
Armaan drove Janani and the kids to the school
Ava is over the moon that her momma is coming to school with her along with her baby brother.
Now she could show off at the school especially at Aarav who keeps boasting that his momma is their teacher.
Now her momma is also a teacher and she has an upper hand too. She has a little brother whereas Aarav doesn't have that.
Maybe she could ask her dada too to come inside so that she could tell him she has her own superman too
Armaan saw the devilish grin on his daughter's face and wondered what is going through her little head
Armaan got down from the car along with the rest of the them and walked them towards the entrance
Once they reached, Armaan dropped a kiss on both his kids' head and gave a quick peck on Janani's cheek which unfortunately for Janani was witnessed by a grinning Ananya
"Welcome Janani. And welcome little man" she gave a little handshake to Advi too who was hopping on his momma's hip to get down so that he could play on the swing over there
"Ananya miss..where is Aaarav??" Ava could hardly contain her excitement and her voice was practically strumming and Armaan frowned at that
Why is his little girl so excited to see some boy
Aarav who heard his name came running forwards to meet them
"Aarav this is my spiderman" Ava made a quick change in her decision. If Aarav has a superman then she has a spiderman
"Spiderman??" Armaan looked at Janani who shrugged her shoulders
"And this is my momma. She is also a new teacher here" Ava proudly introduced her momma
"But this is my momma's school" Aarav simply couldn't give up
"This is Ava's brother. You don't have a little brother" Ava said smugly
"Ava..." Janani called in a warning tone
Ananya shook her head at the competition among the toddlers
"We will have a baby soon. Superman told me" Aarav informed folding his little hands across his chest with a cross look on his face and Ananya gasped
"He said what??" She whisper yelled
Armaan raised an eyebrow at the spectacle and Janani tried to defuse the situation
"That's enough babies. Let's go inside and play"
She bid a quick bye to Armaan and ushered the children inside
Armaan still had a grin on his face while he walked into Verma Industries
His daughter was showing him off ,he slightly chuckled remembering that
The employees gaped at him seeing the grin on his face and the tilak on his forhead
***
Inder sat in his car in front of the pre kindergarten and gave himself a prep talk
He will have to woo her somehow
He will have to make her believe that whatever she said didn't matter to him in the least
He didn't respond yesterday because he was simply taken aback
He remembered the conversation they had over dinner last night
"Look Inder. You have to stop doing this. I don't want Aarav to get close to you and end up getting hurt" Ananya said
"I would never hurt him Ananya. I love him as much as I love you" he declared for the umpteenth time
"What do you even know about me to fancy yourself in love with me"
"I know that you are a wonderful mother and I also know that you have a big heart that could love me if you can let the barriers you have built around yourself down" Inder said earnestly and Ananya felt herself moved
"I know you have been hurt Anany. I know you are scared to love and loose. But that doesn't means you stop living. Do you think Dhruv would want you to give up on life like that?? Do you think he would be happy looking down on you two??" Inder asked and her lips thinned in anger
"Don't bring Dhruv into this" she said through gritted teeth
"Fine!! I won't. All I'm asking you is to give me a chance Ananya. Let me love you" he whispered the last part holding her hands
"Your parents would never accept me Inder. You belong to one of the richest families in Mumbai. Do you think they will be happy for you to take on another man's child??" She asked withdrawing her hands from his
"My mother already loves you. She is dying to meet Aarav. How can she find any fault in you. You lost your husband to fate. It is neither your fault nor Aarav's"
"That's the matter Inder. Dhruv was not my husband" Ananya delivered the shocking truth of her life leaving Inder stunned
"Society would never accept an illegitimate child and I wouldn't have my child exposed to that kind of treatment Inder" she continued when he remained silent
"I hope now you realise that you have been wasting your time on me. I have to leave now. I have a new staff joining tomorrow. I have to make sure everything will be fine for Janani. Wish you all the best Inder" she stood up and walked away from him leaving him to think over what she had just said
"Come on Inder.You can do this" he encouraged himself and got down the car
He walked towards the entrance and was shocked to see the person standing there
Janani Trivedi??
What is she doing here??
Does Armaan knows that she is here??
"Janani" he didn't even realise he called her out loudly until she looked up to him with a confused frown on her face
"You know me??" She asked frowning
This is the man Aarav calls superman. How does he knows her??
"What?? What kind of question is that? Ofcourse I know you??" Inder said perplexed at the puzzled look in her eyes
Eyes which were no more cold and detached ,he thought absently
Janani suddenly tensed.
Have he met Saanvi when she was parading around as Janani.
God help her if he has??
She chuckled nervously
"Yeah we kind of met at that party..." she mumbled
Where else would have Saanvi met him??
"Party??" Inder was even more confused
He saw Ananya coming towards them with a frown
"You again??" She asked frowning, though a corner of her heart soared at the thought that he hadn't given up on them
"I was talking to Janani" Inder said
"You know Janani Verma??" Ananya asked and both Janani and Inder looked at her in shock
"Ananya. Its Janani Trivedi" Janani said awkwardly making Ananya frown
"You didn't tell me how you know each other" Ananya asked deciding to leave the other topic for the moment
Inder let out a forced laugh
"Ofcourse I don't know her. I was just pulling her leg. You told me yesterday right a new staff is joining." Inder said and saw Janani letting out a breath of relief
"Aap bhi na bhaiyya. I really got worried that I met you somewhere and forgot you somehow" Janani smiled
Something is not adding up ,Inder thought
"I will let you two talk then" Janani excused herself and went inside
Ananya turned towards Inder and folded her hands across her chest
"Didn't you hear anything I said yesterday??" She asked
"I did. And I just came to tell you that it doesn't matters to me. I still love you and will always love you. Now I have a very important thing to do. I will meet you again soon. Give Aarav my love" he said it in a go and rushed out towards his car
His destination - Verma Industries