10. Sunny Is Ridiculously Hot
Even if we have everything, there's always something others have that we envy.
* * *

|Anmol|

For the next few days, Ashar slept on the sofa in our bedroom.

Maybe it was because of the closet incident or because of my distant attitude towards him.

Who knew?

I resumed working on the set of In Too Deep with loads of patience and dedication. The Director turned out to be a strict man with no time for any little mistakes. He gave me absolutely no breaks.

As for home, school was starting for Ashar's sisters and he took care of that. They were being sent to new private schools which my mom was paying for.

I wondered how he was going to explain that to them.

In the midst of that, Mom called me and told me to attend Yash uncle's party. Yash uncle was my dad's older brother. Only because he always treated me like his own daughter, I accepted the invitation through Mom. She couldn't make it due to her being out of the country for a business trip.

"Ashar, do you have any plans for Friday night?" I asked him after dinner in the bedroom.

He sighed, fixing his pillow on the couch.

"Yeah. I have a date."

"With who?" I frowned, pulling my blankets only to my waist as I sat up in bed. He grinned slightly and I realized how it wasn't my business.

"Why do you care?"

"Look, Mom wants us both to attend my uncle's business party. He's pretty close to us. If you don't want to go, it's fine--"

"Do you want me to go?" he interrupted calmly.

"I don't really care." I shrugged. "I mean, if you really have a date on Friday, then you can tend to that." It felt odd to be intruding on someone and asking for their time. Genuinely, I wondered if he was serious about having a date or not.

"Don't worry, my date will understand. I have to perform my husbandly duties, first." He was definitely serious about a date.

Nevertheless, Ashar said he was going with me.

I gave him a nod before laying down and pulling the blankets up to my face. My thoughts wandered around Ashar's words regarding a date. Who would date him?

He was a waiter!

A married one.

* * *

"How do I look? Before you say anything, the dress is Prada."

I stood in front of Ashar wearing my black, tube dress with a round collar covered with lacing. Since a certain someone was going to be at the party, I wanted to look the best. Ashar's gaze went up and down, surverying my body for a good five minutes before I slapped his arm and urged him to tell his opinion.

He gave a thumbs up.

"Beautiful. You look beautiful," he said, his gaze holding mine.

I smiled cheerfully. "Great! If I can impress a waiter, I can impress plenty of people at the party." Plopping on the seat in front of my dresser, I began doing my makeup, finding Ashar shaking his head from the mirror. He was dressed in a white button up and black pants.

"Who are you trying to impress?" he asked.

"Not impress, just outdo," I replied, applying mascara to my eyelashes. "Yash uncle's daughter and my cousin, Jhanvi, is a complete witch when it comes to our society. Attention seeker. She'll be there with her husband, Sunny, who is a model," I sighed, just staring at myself in the mirror. "He's ridiculously hot."

"Sunny is ridiculously hot. Is he related to Sunny Leone?" Ashar laughed at his corny joke.

"Ha ha," I mocked. "That's funny. You should be a comedian. In fact, I'm sure you can get away with your waiter uniform in that profession." That shut his laughter and I carried on with my makeup. From the mirror, I watched Ashar quietly pick up his tie, loop it around his neck, and shuffle over to me. He crouched, his face down next to mine and met my eyes in the mirror.

Putting his hands on my shoulders, he whispered, "Don't you get tired of putting make up on two faces every day?"

I shrugged his hands away. I wasn't a two-faced person!

He gave me a pitiful look in the mirror.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get that--I don't speak idiot," I said and applied blush to my cheeks, smiling slightly.

"I was hoping for a battle of wits, but you appear to be unarmed." He clucked his tongue before bumping his cheek against mine and ruining my makeup.

What a jerk!

Seeing his victorious smirk, I raised my makeup brush and started hitting him with it. He laughed, trying to stop me by grabbing at my wrists. His own cheek had some of my blush. In our small battle, he knocked over my expensive perfume, spilling the liquid all over the floor. Content that I wasn't wearing heels, yet, I chased him around the room. Ashar stumbled lightly on one of the carpets, which I took as an advantage. I was just about to stab him with my pencil eyeliner when he grabbed me, pivoting me so that my back was resting against his chest. His arms tightly locked around mine to prevent any murders.

Both of us were breathing heavily from the exercise. I could even feel his heartbeat drumming against my back in the bear hug. Tiny tingles ran in my body and I felt the need to separate from Ashar immediately.

"Let go!" I hissed.

"If I let go, promise you won't kill me," he bargained.

"No."

"I guess you can enjoy the evening in my arms than the party." I could hear the amusement in his tone. He pressed the side of his head against my temple, pushing back some loose strands of my hair--a mess, now.

I tried to elbow him, but because of a lack of space, the attempt failed.

"Fine. Just release me," I said. As soon as he began loosening his grip, I endeavored to leave, but he tightened the hold again.

"Wait, promise me you'll stay away from Sunny at the party," he said.

My irritation transformed into undeniable smugness.

"Jealous?"

"Not at all. I don't want to feel bad about postponing my date just to see you flirt with some married man," he said. Of course, he was concerned about his own date with some unknown girl.

I was contemplating an answer when Cecily entered our room.

Without knocking.

Seeing the both of us in a bear hug, her eyes popped wide and she awkwardly looked away. Too bad, I had already seen her disappointed expression.

Ashar released me, immediately and stepped back, running a hand through his hair.

The entire room fell in dead silence and I couldn't help but wonder if she was the date Ashar was talking about.

"Sorry, there were a lot of noises coming from your room and I was sent to check if everything's okay," Cecily explained.

"It's all fine," Ashar replied.

"I disagree. Clean up that mess," I ordered, pointing to the broken perfume bottle.

Cecily gave a small nod before looking at Ashar. He was obviously showing his disapproval of my rude attitude towards his "friend." I sighed, not caring. My makeup and hair was ruined.

We spent the next half hour getting ready.

Because of the last party experience, Ashar refused to bring his sisters along. He genuinely treated them like little princesses, not wanting them hurt even a little. I praised that trait of his and was even jealous of how much he cared for the people he loved.

Not everyone was that lucky.

We reached the venue in record time.

Chandeliers and elegantly dressed people lit up the entire mansion. Gaining some negative and positive attention, I resumed strolling next to Ashar down to Yash uncle. Fortunately, his daughter wasn't accompanying him.

"Anmol," Yash uncle beamed.

I smiled politely and gave him a hug. The balding man had gotten fatter and darker after his trip to Hawaii last month. His dark brown eyes wandered over to Ashar. The men waited for me to do the introductions.

"Ashar, that's my uncle. Uncle, meet Ashar, my husband," I said quickly.

Uncle extended his hand for a handshake instead he--actually, we both received a shocking action in return. Ashar bent down to touch his feet, but Uncle quickly brought him up into a hug.

I couldn't help but fall into bewilderment.

Why did Ashar do that?

Who touched elder's feet outside movies?

Maybe he wanted to impress Uncle . . . ?

"Good boy," Uncle patted his shoulder and turned to me. "Where did you find such a gem, Annie?"At my mom's restaurant working as a waiter? I depended on Ashar to answer on my behalf. Uncle saw the lack of response and added in a lowered tone, "It's alright. Your mom told me everything about the marriage circumstances."

So, he was aware of the contract.

Great.

Someone called him and Uncle left us alone to enjoy the party.

Before I could ask Ashar about the purpose of touching my uncle's feet, my eyes landed on Jhanvi. She stood tall in her extravagant navy blue dress matched with a diamond necklace and earrings. Her eyes caught me watching her and she waved she was coming over.

"Shoot!" I said and checked my own ears and neck. I forgot to wear a necklace!

Score one for the witch.

Ashar didn't get to ask what was wrong as Jhanvi reached us holding a wine glass and an artificially excited expression.

"Anmol, so good to see you!" Jhanvi said in an overly sweet tone.

"Same," I said in an unenthusiastic tone. The witch and I exchanged air kisses before she turned to my husband who stood. I wondered if he'd touch her feet, too.

"Your husband?" Jhanvi asked, nodding towards him. I nodded. "Yes, yes, I saw your pic on social media. Quite the cute couple you both are. I heard some rumors about you denying your relationship at some fashion show . . . is that true?" She didn't even bother acknowledging Ashar who patiently waited.

Rather, Jhanvi dug out everything forgotten tales.

"Rumors are rumors," I said sweetly. "Last year, weren't you rumored to be cheating on Sunny with your boss . . . isn't that true?"

I saw her expression drop.

Ashar coughed to cover his laugh.

"Rumors, sis," she said and waved her hand loosely, dismissing the conversation. "By the way, nice earrings. I have a diamond necklace that'd go perfectly well with those. Your neck really looks empty." Before hearing my answer or excuse, she turned to Ashar. "Didn't you notice either?"

As if.

The guy couldn't even afford anything diamond related let alone notice.

"You see, her biggest diamond is standing right by her side," Ashar winked. "And my Ano looks great without everything." For a moment, I stared at him, for once, my cheeks burning. Between the both of us, he had actually seen without almost everything. Realizing the same thing, he added, "I mean, without all these materialistic, show off things. Surely, you care more about your cousin's well-being than how many diamonds she's wearing, right?"

It was surprising that he was taking my side.

Maybe he wanted to get brownie points.

Even Jhanvi seemed a little taken aback. "Of course. Definitely. I'm sure you take marvelous care of my little sister."

Sure he did.

He tried to.

"Yup," I mumbled.

"Good. Let me introduce you to my husband as well, though Anmol has already met him," Jhanvi said. She turned and told one of the waiters to fetch Sunny.

Hearing his name earned me an eye roll and head shake from Ashar.

I tried to hide my smile, but I was sure my dimples made it hard.

In about ten or twenty seconds, the six-foot, black haired and blue eyed male model joined his wife's side. Seeing the high cheekbones, solid jawline, and flawless face had my heart melting. Jhanvi was lucky.

"Sunny. Nice to meet you."

____________

A/N

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Thank you to BollywoodLoveStories for this amazing trailer which is litterally on point. I love it so much! Thanks again! Guys, check out her amazing work.
And if you also want a trailer, you can request in the trailer shop of TheOriginalCrew

Touching elder's feet is a must in my familia. Actually, my mom just makes my brother do it and I find it extremely cute. Genuinely speaking, when I saw Ranveer Singh doing it at an award show, I gained so much respect for him. He's so well-mannered and down-to-earth. I don't even know why I don't like him :P

How was the chapter?

Who could be Ashar's date?

What qualities do you look for in a partner? (If you even want a partner) xD

--K-K-Kiran