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Mythili's POV -

I hugged him. I HUGGED HIM.

SHIT.

" I am sorry." I murmured but Shivaay pulled me to himself even closer when I tried to get away from him.

" Mythili after what happened minutes ago right here, you cannot be getting embarrassed by a hug." He said and even though I couldn't see his face, I knew that he was smiling, referring to our almost kiss and I blushed profusely.

" I should be going Shivaay. I have work." I tried to wiggle free again, afraid that someone might walk in but he wasn't having any of it.

" You do?" He asked, raising a brow as he finally let me get away with a teasing smile.

" Yes! Now Bye." I tucked the hair strand away from my face and picked my phone up which was lying on the table before walking out, unable to look at him again for some stupid reason but then I walked back inside to say something to him.

" Mr. Rathore if you are taking me out on that date tonight, I'm taking you for Kulfi after that. Deal?" I poked my head inside. He was already behind his computer by then.

" Deal." He replied with a smirk and I finally got back to my work floor, working for the rest of the day.

After work, I went home and Anamika and Nupur somehow already knew that Shivaay was taking me out so they played some dress-up on me and did my hair and make-up and Maa was too happy that we were going out together voluntarily without her having to force us.

" You look perfect and even if jeans is not an ideal date night outfit, you are pulling it off like it's nobody's business M." Nupur whistled and Anamika nodded. Maa agreed and I laughed.

Mythili's Look -

" No need to come home soon. Go and enjoy. Perhaps my son will get some time off his work too or else he would work and work and work." Maa said, scrunching up her nose at the last statement.

" Now go! Bhai must be waiting for you." Anamika said, pushing me out of the bedroom door. Shivaay was waiting in the hall, probably.

As I descended down the stairs, I felt his eyes on me and just like that, my stupid self couldn't stop the blush forming on my cheeks. Ughhh!!

" Shall we?" He asked as I went and stood in front of him and nodded in a yes.

" Where are we going?" I asked as he opened the door to the car's back seat for me before sitting next to me from the other side while the driver started to drive.

" It is a small place by the sea. You will like it." He replied and I nodded, excited.

" I love the sea!" I told him and he rewarded my enthusiasm with a smile of his own.

" Can we please take a walk by the beach after dinner?" I mustered up my puppy eyes because I really wanted to do it.

" You don't have to ask Mythili. If you want to do for a walk, we go for a walk. That's how simple it is." He replied and I couldn't take my eyes off him.

" But what about what you want?" I asked him, fiddling with my fingers.

" I want what you do. I wanted to go on this date with you and here we are, aren't we?" I questioned back, slightly taking my hand in his, entwining our fingers together.

" Yes." I muttered and daringly, rested my head slightly on his shoulder, shifting the tiniest bit closer to him.

" We are here sir." The driver said looking at Shivaay from the rear view mirror. He gave him a nod and I sat up straight as he got down from the car, opening the gate for me.

As I stepped down and we walked ahead for a minute, I saw a beautiful set up by the beach. It wasn't a restaurant, instead, there was a table for two near the sea with lights and candles around and soft music in the background and I just couldn't stop looking around.

" Shivaay this view is so beautiful!" I said, taking a few more steps forward and glanced at everything again and again.

" Isn't it. Right in front of my eyes." I heard him and turned to face him to agree when I saw him looking at me intently and I realised the meaning behind his words, my face as red as a beetroot.

" I was talking about the decor." I clarified, bringing a curtain for hair between his gaze and my face.

" I am talking about you Mrs. Rathore." His words were do direct that for a second, I thought I misheard.

" Dance with me." He said and it wasn't a question as he turned me towards him.

" I thought you don't like to." I said immediately.

" You should have known this by now Mythili. I like to dance, only with you. That's why I ask and agree to." The second direct statement of the hour and I had no idea how to react.

" How do you always have an answer to every question that I have?" I asked again as he took my hand in his and started to twirl me around.

" I don't Mythili. You haven't been asking the difficult questions to me, yet. I may not be as confused as you are right now but I like what I have with you. I want to walk by your side." His words were as direct as an arrow and yet twisted in the most tangled sense.

As he placed his hands on my waist to pull me closer, I felt so many emotions at once, like a tsunami of them as he lifted and twirled me around. I closed my eyes in his arms and let myself flow as he wanted to go and perhaps this time, I had no problem is letting anyone take a lead in my life. I did it voluntarily without any pressure or obligation. It felt nice to be taken care of without being making to feel that I was a thing to be possessed by the burden of a family name.

" Hungry?" He asked, a while later and I nodded my head in a yes as he pulled a chair for me. One of the waiters brought food and was about to serve when I asked him to stop. I also asked him to keep the food here and go. Shivaay looked at me questioningly.

" What's wrong?" He asked as the waiter walked away.

" Nothing. I like to serve food to us. That's all." I shrugged while replying and he laid back relaxed with a dancing expression of amusement in his eyes as I begun to put food on our plates.

We ate together like we always do, then we went to a nearby stall where I got us Kulfi and then we currently we were walking along the beach when my feet started to hurt and i stopped.

Shivaay did too. I took the support of his arm and removed my heels and was just about to bend down to pick them up when he beat me to it.

" Shivaay, what are you doing?" I asked, trying to take them away from his hands.

" Come along now." He held my hand with his free one and dragged me ahead lightly and I couldn't help but smile as we spent the night under the stars.

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The next few weeks along with New Years passed by just like that with work and since I had my internal exams starting this week, I had taken an off from work but other than that, tomorrow was my birthday, 17th of January and like all those other years, I was going to spend it alone probably since we were busy with our exam preparations. Here at home, I hadn't told anyone about it. Why bother?

After dinner, we all had retired to our respective rooms. Shivaay was in his study, working for the London launch and I was studying in the room. I was almost done reading about Union and Labour Standards when my eyes flew to the clock which read that it was just two minutes to twelve and I also knew that my friends will call me so I decided to stop studying and carried my phone to the terrace to talk so that no one overhears me.

It was a breezy night and I wish I had carried a stole with me but before I could go and fetch it, my phone went off. It was a group video call from my idiots.

" Happy Twenty Second Birthday M!" They chorused together and I laughed.

" Thank you guys!" I replied with a smile on my face and they started demanding gifts from me on my own birthday and then teased me some more about Shivaay giving me something really good. I refrained myself from telling them that he doesn't know because they would have went ahead and told him that themselves.

We then played a few online games before finally calling it a night.

" Happy 22nd Birthday Mythili." I whispered to myself, looking at the moon which was crescent and clear.

I took a deep breath before deciding to go back to the room and as I turned around, I found Shivaay leaning on the wall next to the door of the terrace with folded arms and a frown on his lips and a gasp escaped me.

" Why do you keep scaring me!" I asked, trying to calm my racing heart down and made way towards him but he kept his mouth shut.

" How long have you been standing here?" I asked him in the hope that he hadn't heard.

" What are you doing up here without a jacket or something. Do you wish to catch a cold or fall sick right before your exams?" He asked me and I was grateful that he hadn't found out.

" Umm....I needed air." I lied, trying to keep a straight face and he clicked his tongue in disagreement of sorts.

He extended his hand for me to take it as I did. Somehow, it was getting comfortable for me to stay in his presence these days than to avoid him and I was pretty sure that he was aware about the fact.

" There won't be one time that i will not find out that you are trying to lie Mythili." He teased me, pulling me further to himself and my hand landed on his chest for support as a shiver ran down my spine.

" I...we....should...." I tried to put some distance between us but he was not taking that. Instead, he brought his right hand's fingers to trace them down my face and jaw, his eyes never wavering away from mine.

" Come with me." He said after a few seconds, breaking my trance and he held my hand once again as we made our way back to the bedroom.

" Put on a jacket. We are going out." He said and I looked at him, totally confused.

" It is almost one in the night Shivaay. Where are we going?" I asked him, trying to figure out what was going on with him.

" Just come out to the car. I am waiting for you." He did not answer but left me in the room alone with my thoughts.

" Is he alright?" I sighed, asking to myself before changing from a night suit to jeans and a sweatshirt.

Mythili's Look -

I walked down out of the house to the car where he was waiting for me and took the passenger's seat.

" Will you now tell me where are we going?" I whined to get the information out of him.

" No." He said with a straight face and focused on the road instead.

" But why this hush hush?" I tugged his sleeve slightly and he turned his face which had a smile before looking to the road again.

" Patience Mrs. Rathore, patience." He said in a teasing tone and I sighed, giving up. There was no way that he would tell me what was going on.

As we drove in a comfortable silence for the next half an hour, the car then came to a stop in front of an old-age home.

" I was waiting for the right time for this but there cannot be anytime better than now." He cryptically spoke up before getting down from the car and held the door for me too.

" You are scaring me Shivaay." I was suddenly getting really weird thoughts and sensations from within me and I voiced it out.

" There is nothing to be scared about Mythili. Do you trust me?" He asked, looking intently.

" More than I would ever care to admit. I trust you with my everything, I swear it." I held his hand in mine and he pulled me closer to him and pecked my forehead softly before we started walking inside.

" Wait here. I will be right back." He said as soon as we had reached a room. The whole area was lit up but it was pin drop silence here as I waited for Shivaay in the lobby as a thousand questions ran in my mind.

Why were we here?

What was happening?

Why are we in a old-age home at two in the night?

..............

........

....

" Mythili we are here to meet someone. Walk with me." He altered my chain of thoughts as he took my hand in his once again and I looked at him questioningly.

" Meet someone?" I repeated him words looking up to him and he chuckled.

" Yes. I believe I just said that." He said and I blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what was going on and then started to walk ahead till we stopped again in front of a door and the man who was along with us opened the it for us to get it.

" Don't scream. He will be startled." Shivaay whispered to me before turning the night light on and the room had a dim yellow effect and I could clearly see the room and that is when my eyes landed on the figure sleeping on the bed and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

It was my grandfather who was sleeping there with the most peaceful expression on his face, just like a baby and my head immediately turned to Shivaay as I couldn't stop myself from shedding the tears to properly look at him.

" Wha...How....Shivaay how is this possible?" I clutched his upper arm and shook it for him to answer and look at me.

When he didn't say anything, I asked him the same question again but again, he kept quiet.

" Shivaay please...." I begged him and without a hint, my body lost all the control and I dropped on the ground, breaking down but tried to muffle my sobs, biting my hand so that Baba doesn't wake up but in all honesty, all I wanted was to just go and give him a tight hug. The one he used to give me when mom or dad would scold me.

There are not many pleasant things I remember from my childhood but his embrace, his love and his smile were a few things which would brighten by day till I was seven before he left me alone with them.

" Mythili." I heard Shivaay call for me and found his hand on the back of my head as he pulled me to his chest, his hold never loosening as I clutched his arm tightly.

No matter how hard I tried, the damn tears did not stop.

" Shh, it's okay. Let it go, let it go." I heard Shivaay's voice again and started to focus on my breathing as he asked me to.

" He...Baba, how?" Were the only words I could comprehend when once again I started making sense of things.

" I will tell you everything Mythili but now is not the time for that. We are going to get him home first. He has stayed here for far too long. I am going to go and get the paperwork started. You sit here, alright?" He asked after I had visibly calmed down.

" But we need to talk to him first, don't we?" I asked Shivaay.

" Mythili currently he is not in a position where he can make his decisions on his own. When he wakes up, it will be a miracle if he ends up recognising you. He suffers from dementia." Shivaay dropped another bomb on me.

" He will recognise me." I don't know what came over me as I uttered those words, pulling myself up on my feet.

" Don't do this to yourself. Don't give yourself any false hope." He asked me, his tone changing to a demanding one now.

" I am not giving myself any false hope Shivaay. I know it for a fact that he will know it is me. He has to." There was a confidence I never had when I told him that and truly, somewhere inside me, I knew that I may be wrong but there was a huge part of me which kept on telling me that Baba will recognise me when he wakes up tomorrow morning.

He did not say anything to me, perhaps letting me live in the delusion for a few hours more.

" I will be with you soon." He said, planting a kiss on my head before leaving the room and I took a seat next to Baba's bed and looked at him.

" I have missed you so much Baba. So much." I let myself cry for the second time and gently took his hand in mine, careful not to wake him up.

" I have so many things to tell you and even more questions to ask. Please don't forget me. Please Baba." I begged him and kept my head on the side of the bed, still holding his hand just like I used to when I was a little girl and just like that I found myself falling asleep.

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" Mythili." I heard my name and a shake on my shoulder as I opened my eyes and rubbed them before looking at the source of the voice. It was Shivaay.

" Huh?" I asked, looking around and everything that happened a while back started coming back to me and I stood up.

" Where is Baba?" I asked, looking at the empty bed beside me.

" He woke up a while back and then forbade me from waking you up before he could go to the garden and get your favourite Lillies." He said with a small smile which I returned.

" I told you that he would remember, didn't I?" I was so happy and excited!

" Happy Birthday Mythili." He said, running his fingers in my hair and pulling me for a hug as I was left surprised.

" You knew?" I asked, unable to hide the element of shock in my voice.

" What kind of husband would I be to not remember my wife's birthday?" He retorted and I gave him a half smile.

" When were you planning to tell me though?" He asked back and I immediately looked away.

" In the morning?" I posed my answer as a question with some guilt.

" You, Mrs. Rathore, cannot lie to save your life." He smiled and shook his head in an amusing disappointment and then kissing the knuckles.

This might perhaps, turn into the best birthday I ever had!

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Please vote and comment! Motivates a lot!

I love you all. Until next time. Byee!!❤❤